“Squeak squeak~”
The dark three-tailed fox let out a few painful whimpers.
At this moment, its body was undergoing a massive transformation. Those parasitic fungus-like growths that had tightly clung to its rotting flesh began to visibly fade and fall off. The disgusting worm-like parasites, like withered dead branches, shriveled and dropped away.
Song Linjia’s eyes widened like bronze bells, staring in disbelief at the monstrous creature undergoing a miraculous transformation.
The foul stench and black cursed aura surrounding the three-tailed fox were also dissipating. Strangely enough, the rotten parts of its body started to regrow fresh flesh and fur. The pierced, decayed areas near its cheeks began to heal, and its once sharp, terrifying teeth slowly retracted, now hidden within its mouth.
Its fierce, blood-red eyes gradually regained clarity, transforming into a pair of bright, dazzling doll-like eyes—still a deep crimson, but now with a small black diamond-shaped pupil in the center, making them appear lively and eerily enchanting.
“H-How… How is this happening?” Song Linjia was dumbfounded, unable to believe the drastic change unfolding before her eyes.
If the three-tailed fox had looked like a stinking, hideous monster before, now it was a completely different creature—elegant in appearance, with flowing tails and adorably dazed expressions.
At this moment, the fox could clearly feel the chronic pain and torment that had plagued it for so long vanish completely. Even its violent and bloodthirsty urges were inexplicably soothed, and for the first time, it felt an unprecedented sense of peace and comfort.
She was a beauty-loving vixen—how could she possibly tolerate being covered in rot and decay, much less endure the putrid stench? But she had been unable to control herself. It was as if an evil soul inside her was manipulating her body to commit things she loathed deeply.
The curse, the plague, and relentless afflictions had torn apart her once beautiful form and pure spirit, leaving her devastated and broken.
All she ever wanted was to become a powerful and proud nine-tailed fox of legend.
Why did it have to end with her becoming that grotesque monster?
During those days, she had already given up resisting. No matter what she did, the evil soul within could easily suppress her. She had lost all hope.
Yet today, the human who had once interrupted her feeding had suddenly appeared again and used a strange potion to dispel the evil soul from her body.
The evil soul that had tormented her for so long… just vanished like that?
“Was it… this human who saved me?” The three-tailed fox stared suspiciously at the human before her.
That human was smiling… and had even untied the ropes binding her?
What’s going on?
“Doesn’t this human fear I’ll eat him?”
“Wait, why am I having such evil thoughts? He just saved me!”
“What does he mean by this… is he letting me go?”
One person and one fox stared at each other in silence.
Li Ran had no idea what was going through the fox’s mind, but he knew that after the curse was lifted, the three-tailed fox would become his most loyal companion.
Li Ran pulled out some preserved fruits that Su Bingyao loved to eat from his storage space and handed them to the fox. “Here, eat. You must be starving.”
“He’s… feeding me?” The three-tailed fox looked at Li Ran in disbelief, deeply moved.
In her memory, humans always drove her away or tried to kill her. Never before had a human treated her this kindly.
“Is she… crying?”
Song Linjia was stunned.
Tears filled the fox’s bright, lively eyes, flowing like a broken faucet.
“This tastes too good… wuwu… I’ve never had anything this delicious before…” the fox burst into tears, collapsing emotionally.
Wuwu… Seriously, being a fox is so tiring.
“You can change size, right?” Li Ran asked.
He remembered how, in novels, the protagonist’s tamed beasts could shrink and ride around in their pockets, becoming loyal sidekicks.
“Can it even understand him?” Song Linjia rolled her eyes in disbelief.
Li Ran was actually trying to communicate with a fox—he was speaking human, the fox was squeaking, how could they possibly understand each other?
But just as she mocked the idea in her heart, she watched the three-tailed fox blink her big pretty eyes and nod. Then, before her utterly shocked gaze, the fox began to shrink and transform into a mini three-tailed fox, pitch black with crimson eyes.
“Come here!”
Li Ran crouched down and placed his hand on the ground, gazing earnestly at the tiny fox.
The little fox hesitated for a moment, then darted forward, climbing up his arm with ease and finally perching on his shoulder.
“This…” Song Linjia was so stunned she couldn't speak.
If everything that just happened wasn’t a dream, then Li Ran, who she’d called for help, had just tamed a terrifyingly powerful three-tailed fox?
Wait, wasn’t she supposed to be the one completing the taming quest?
Just as she was lost in thought, Song Linjia received a notification of mission completion.
“The mission’s done?” Li Ran asked with a cheerful grin, clearly in a good mood, playfully teasing the tiny fox on his shoulder.
“Yeah.” Song Linjia nodded, confused. “But I was the one supposed to tame it. You’re the one who ended up with it—how do I explain this?”
Li Ran kept feeding snacks to the mini fox and said without turning his head, “Since the mission is completed, taming this little one doesn’t affect your mission progress.”
“Really?” Song Linjia looked doubtful. She felt like she’d just been swindled.
She had only called Li Ran to help her, yet it felt like he completed the mission. He got the pet reward, and she got the points and eerie power.
That seemed kind of unfair.
“Your mission said to tame, not capture. There’s a difference. Anyway, I should thank you for helping me get such an adorable little one.” Li Ran said with a smile.
“Hmph, acting smug after getting the benefit.” Song Linjia pouted unhappily.
But then again, if she hadn’t called Li Ran for help, she would’ve never been able to complete this quest on her own.
She had to admit, Li Ran got super lucky—he happened to have the rope and the Purification Potion.
Li Ran stretched out a finger, and the mini fox immediately hugged it with both paws and playfully bit down, the tickling sensation making Li Ran burst out laughing.
“This human is strong! I can’t even bite through his finger,” the fox was stunned.
“From now on, you’ll follow me,” Li Ran said.
“Squeak?”
What?
“You want me to follow you?”
“Well… I guess it’s not too bad, as long as there’s good food every day. Wuwu, I never want to be hungry again…”
With that thought, the three-tailed fox nodded lightly, agreeing to follow this human.
“Since you’re following me, I should give you a name.”
Li Ran rested his chin on his hand, thought for a moment, then casually said, “I’ll call you Mo—”
Song Linjia and the fox both widened their eyes.
Li Ran cleared his throat and continued, “Are you a boy fox or a girl fox? Let me check—hey, don’t run!”
“Okay, with that attitude, you’re definitely a girl fox.”
“Then your name will be… Chitong (Red Eyes),” Li Ran declared.
Song Linjia and the fox were both surprised again.
“Chitong?” Song Linjia looked at the fox’s crimson eyes—it did resemble a ruby. The name fits pretty well.
“Chitong… is that my name? Well, better than having no name, I guess.”
Thinking that, the mini fox squinted its eyes in delight and stuck out its tiny tongue.
Of course, Li Ran would never admit the truth—that he was too lazy to think of a better name, so he just picked “Red Eyes” because her eyes were pretty.
“Let’s go, Chitong.”
“Your master is taking you to eat something delicious.”
“Squeak~”
...
Happiness Supermarket
Li Ran spent 10 points to buy about a week’s worth of food for Chitong.
He discovered that Chitong had a strong preference for sweet dried fruits, preserved snacks, and sour plums.
Li Ran started carrying some in his coat pocket, so whenever Chitong got snacky, she could crawl in and help herself. It was pretty convenient.
After deducting the 100 points he spent on the [Purification Potion], Li Ran still had 3,050 points in the store.
2,500 points could buy him top-tier fine-quality equipment.
But he didn’t want those anymore.
As the saying goes, once you’ve had luxury, it’s hard to go back—and it was absolutely true.
Now that he’d experienced high-end gear, he no longer had interest in lower-tier stuff.
In the rare equipment section, the point cost varied wildly, ranging from 3,000 to 10,000.
Basically, 3,000 points could only get you rare equipment with no active skill.
“High stats are great, but the cost-performance ratio is nowhere near that of a fine-quality piece with a skill. If I buy a rare item now and later get something better in a mission, this gear becomes useless and the points wasted. Might as well buy a skill book—rare-quality skills are just as good as gear, and they’re permanent assets that won’t get replaced.”
With that thought, Li Ran decisively ignored the equipment section and headed to the skills section.
He went straight to the rare-quality zone.
Soon, he found a skill that he was quite satisfied with.
He wasn’t choosing blindly—he considered the synergy with his current skills, aiming to maximize effectiveness.
He spent a total of 2,900 points.
Looking at the remaining 150 points, he felt a stab of pain in his chest.
[Shadowfang Bite]
[Quality: Rare]
[Requirement: Eerie Power 500]
[Active Skill: Demonic arm transformation. Attacks mimic the ferocious bites of a shadow wolf, inflicting Bleed and Corrosion on targets for five minutes. When in a dark domain, gain the "Shadow Trample" effect.]
[Passive Effect: While active, strength and speed increase; armor on affected areas is reinforced. The larger the dark domain, the stronger the "Shadow Trample" effect.]
“Shadowstep, Shadow Assault, now Shadowfang Bite—finally, I can stand my ground if a burst combo doesn’t kill.”
“No more of that three-second glass cannon nonsense.”
Li Ran was quite pleased with this skill choice.
Next, he had to go complete his own quests and accelerate his power growth.
His wife’s hidden marriage certificate, Grandma Mi’s follow-up mystery, hunting down the serial killer Wang Qian…
Oh right, and the ID card from the beauty salon.
Li Ran pulled Chitong—who was secretly munching on snacks in his pocket—out and poked her chubby belly. “If you keep eating, you’ll turn into a fatty.”
“Squeak~” Chitong protested—she hadn’t eaten enough!
Li Ran’s eyes gleamed mischievously, and he gave her a wicked grin. “Your fur’s looking a bit rough. How about I take you for a full-body spa?”
“SQUEAK?!”
(End of Chapter)