Chapter 53 — The Strange Beast

Not long after Bili and the others gave chase, the dark place that had just witnessed such violent struggle was about to settle back into calm when a sharp whistling sound came from above. Two beams of light, one white and one blue, shot down, wavered twice, then paused, revealing a man and a woman within the halos of light—Li Xun and Yan Fei of the Fenxia Valley sect.

A faint trace of surprise showed on Li Xun's handsome face. By the glow of his magic artifact he surveyed the surroundings and said to Yan Fei, "Junior Sister, who would have thought that beneath this demon fox's lair there would be such a hidden realm?"

Yan Fei also wore a look of some astonishment. She nodded and said, "Yes, I have never seen anything like this before. All these strange beasts—I doubt they have ever appeared in the world." She paused, then lowered her voice. "Senior Brother, the situation here is uncanny. I fear it is exceedingly dangerous. We must be careful."

Li Xun gave a faint smile, a touch of arrogance surfacing on his face. "Rest easy, Junior Sister. That demon fox has at most five hundred years of cultivation—hardly worth mentioning."

Yan Fei smiled slightly. "Senior Brother, your talent is extraordinary and your cultivation profound, so naturally you need not fear the creature. But if that 'Six-Tailed Spirit Fox' happens to be at the side of the 'Three-Tailed Demon Fox,' with its thousand years of cultivation, I fear there may still be some trouble."

Li Xun glanced at Yan Fei, a smile flickering across his lips, and suddenly said, "Junior Sister, your words are fair enough, but in your heart I suspect you are thinking your senior brother is greedy for merit and reckless in advancing, and you are greatly worried, are you not?"

The corner of Yan Fei's mouth twitched. She said softly, "Senior Brother, you worry too much."

Li Xun turned and cast a glance around them. "Junior Sister, have you noticed? The temperature at the bottom of this abyss is somewhat unusual."

Yan Fei nodded. "Indeed. We have descended so deep, yet it seems to grow hotter instead."

Li Xun said, "Not merely hotter—far hotter than usual. And on the way down, I took care to examine the black stone within this abyss, and I am certain it was formed in ancient times when magma from ten thousand fathoms beneath the earth burst through the surface and cooled. This abyss is most likely the mouth of a volcano!"

Yan Fei gave a soft cry of "Ah," and then her beautiful eyes shimmered as understanding dawned. "You mean—"

Li Xun continued, "Exactly. That is precisely the meaning. The demon fox deliberately chose this volcanic crater as its lair. Three hundred years ago, that pack of foxes, with audacity beyond reckoning and no regard for life or death, trespassed into our Fenxia Valley's forbidden ground and stole the Profound Fire Artifact. But Uncle-Master Shangguan, who guarded the Divine Palace in those days, was a figure of no ordinary caliber. Hearing the alarm, he rushed over and unleashed his divine might, capturing the entire pack of foxes on the spot. It is only hateful that the Six-Tailed Spirit Fox, cunning by nature, slipped through the net."

Here he suddenly gave a cold laugh and continued, "But Uncle-Master Shangguan's cultivation was profound, and the artifact he forged, the 'Ninefold Frost Ice Spike,' is among the finest treasures under heaven, its power peerless. In the valley I once heard the Valley Master say that although the Six-Tailed Spirit Fox escaped by luck, Uncle-Master Shangguan had driven the Ninefold Frost Ice Spike into its fox meridians, crippling the very foundation of its cultivation. In these three hundred years, even if it has not died, it must be suffering unbearably, its cultivation scattered to nothing, while the ice poison gnaws at its heart and body day and night. Only by dwelling in a place of utmost yang and utmost heat can it find even slight relief from the pain."

Yan Fei smiled slightly. "So that is how it is. Then the Six-Tailed Spirit Fox is most likely down here at the bottom of the abyss. Senior Brother, your foresight is deep—I am truly in admiration."

The faint arrogance returned to Li Xun's face. "We are disciples of the Fenxia Valley and have received great kindness from our sect. Naturally we cannot bring shame upon it. This time I only hope heaven will bless us: that the artifact returns to its rightful owner, that it is restored to its proper place, and that the demons are vanquished."

Yan Fei smiled and said nothing. Li Xun glanced at her. "Let us go."

Yan Fei nodded. The two of them rose into the air, once more transforming into swift beams of light, and plunged down into the depths of the darkness.

Zhang Qingyue gripped the Dark Iron Staff tightly in his right hand, but his body was bound fast by that enormous tentacle, so tightly that he could almost hear the bones within him creaking and groaning. There was not a spot on him that did not ache. Carried by that giant tentacle, he hurtled downward into the depths of the earth, the wind slicing painfully across his face, stars bursting before his eyes, his mind a chaos of frightening images flashing past without end.

The length of this tentacle was truly terrifying—it had dragged him down a good five zhang or more. In his confusion, Zhang Qingyue caught a faint glimmer of light and cast a frantic glance around. Before him, the abyss had already reached its bottom. Not a blade of grass grew anywhere nearby; only on the stone wall ahead gaped an enormous cave, ten zhang high and seven or eight zhang wide, pitch-black within, its depths unfathomable.

It was from this great stone cave that the monster's giant tentacle emerged. Now, seeing its rear portion, it was even more immeasurably vast—who could say what the whole creature might look like, if indeed it was a living thing at all.

The tentacle swung Zhang Qingyue through the air in an arc, and he was being dragged, helpless, toward the mouth of that stone cave, when at that very moment a faint light flickered at the cave entrance. The Three-Tailed Demon Fox, who had been gone so long, suddenly appeared, holding the Profound Fire Mirror in her hand.

She looked up and saw Zhang Qingyue gripped fast in the giant tentacle, clearly with no strength left to resist. A flash of murderous intent crossed her soft, alluring face, and she turned back toward the cave as if to speak. But for some reason she seemed to think better of it, stopped, turned her head, and gave Zhang Qingyue—still struggling in agony, all to no avail—a long, deep look. She sighed and said softly, "Seeing how you looked at the Well of the Full Moon, you are a man who loves deeply. Enough. Enough."

With that, she raised the Profound Fire Mirror and shone it into the great stone cave, while uttering a strange, low cry—a shrill, mournful sound, like the howl of a fox in the wilderness.

A moment later, as though receiving some command, the giant tentacle gave a sharp hiss and retracted swiftly into the stone cave. Zhang Qingyue's vision went black; he could see no light at all. He was suddenly overwhelmed by a strange stench, and the surface of the tentacle coiled around him was slick and greasy, yet somehow its grip on him was immovable, so that he could not stir even a hair's breadth.

Meanwhile, outside the cave, the Three-Tailed Demon Fox heard the whistling sound and looked up. Above her, two beams of light, one gold and one white, appeared and shot down swiftly. She laughed coldly twice, flickered aside, and retreated to the cave mouth. Shining the Profound Fire Mirror into the cave, she once again gave voice to that fox-cry, similar to the one before.