In the confined space, the white fox and the young man stared at each other in silence. Various emotions surged in his eyes. After a long moment, he finally spoke.
“Hmph, meddling. I’m not your friend, I…”
Just as the white fox was about to say something, the rattling sound of chains suddenly echoed in the space. Upon hearing this sound, the white fox immediately shut his mouth. He quickly hid Seimei behind him and turned his head towards the source of the sound.
It was an iron prison gate embedded in the rock wall. At this very moment, the chains wrapped around the gate were automatically unraveling like snakes, and the heavy iron gate was slowly opening with a creaking sound.
“Long time no see. How have you been, little fox…”
Approaching was a man dressed in black, with a long sword on his back, wearing a crown and a veil. He smiled and greeted the white fox, but the white fox was fully alert, watching him.
“It’s you…” The white fox gritted his teeth, speaking in an extremely unfriendly tone. Since the other party had appeared before him now, he had some premonition of what would happen next.
“Yes, it’s me. Have you missed me since we last met? My cute little fox, I’ve brought you a new mission.” The man spoke casually, despite the white fox’s extreme unfriendliness.
“A mission… Where is it this time? How many people to kill?” Hearing the man’s words, the white fox paused, then slowly continued. To him, this matter seemed all too familiar.
“This time it’s not just humans, but yokai too. The location is Ogura Pond to the south. With your speed, you’ll get there quickly.” The man said with a smile.
“However, you don’t need to remember any of this, because this time, you won’t need any sanity.” As he spoke, the man formed a hand seal, and then, the intricate magical array beneath the white fox, reflecting the Sasa Rindo pattern, suddenly emitted a faint red glow.
“What…”
Before the white fox could say anything more, he was dominated by the intense malevolence from within the array. Both his temperament and appearance began to change at that moment.
“Ugh, ahh!” Within the eerily glowing array, the white fox cried out in pain as he transformed. Most of his fur instantly turned black, his eyes were replaced by a mad red glow, the ethereal masks encircling his neck began to twist and deepen, and his self-awareness rapidly faded.
The transformed, irrational white fox roared furiously. Then, he leaped, instantly clearing the round well opening above and disappearing into the outside world.
“What a truly wonderful little fox… One day, I will make you mine alone…”
Watching this scene, the man nodded in satisfaction. Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly seemed to realize something, his gaze constantly sweeping over the empty space where the white fox had been, but he detected no abnormalities.
“A delusion?”
Muttering to himself, the man turned and left. The heavy iron gate automatically slid shut, and the chains re-wrapped themselves around it.
A moment after the man left, Seimei’s figure, forming a hand seal, gradually materialized from transparent to clear. Once fully visible, he released his hand and looked up at the round well opening.
“Mindless slaughter, then…”
Seimei whispered, then threw out a small paper figure. From the flames consuming the paper figure, a large, beautiful white crane soared forth.
The white crane lowered itself. After Seimei sat on its back, it flapped its wings and ascended, flying out of the well opening and straight into the sky, then heading south.
…
In the underground cave of Ogura Pond’s island, Miketsu narrowly survived after Torin’s fierce sword thrust. She then realized what had saved her: the mask she had brought with her, a mask from Matara Okina!
And at this moment, Miketsu held the mask in her hand, her eyes glowing faintly. The entire mask trembled slightly, and demonic energy wildly emanated from it.
Miketsu knew it was trying to convey something to her.
“What is that thing?” Seeing his powerful strike blocked by this strange mask, Torin’s anger flared. He immediately commanded the Ice Leopard Cat to charge at Miketsu, while also beginning to condense and fire ice spikes to support his puppet giant cat.
Miketsu quickly dodged. Because most of the cave floor was covered in slippery ice, she was forced to move in the narrow areas along the ice’s edge, severely limiting her movement space.
Under the relentless pressure from Torin and the Ice Leopard Cat, Miketsu saw more and more hits landing, and fewer and fewer successful dodges. This situation was definitely unsustainable!
During one dodge, Miketsu hid in a crevice in the rock wall. Using exploding talismans, she blasted down stalactites from the cave ceiling to form a barrier, temporarily isolating the Ice Leopard Cat and Torin. This gave Miketsu a moment to breathe, but also blocked her escape route. In this desperate situation, Miketsu looked at the fox mask in her hand, which was trembling with increasing intensity, and a thought sparked within her.
“Do you want to fight together?”
The speechless fox mask trembled even more violently, its eyes glowing brighter, and a chilling aura emanated from it.
“Alright… If that’s the case, let’s do this together.” Seeing the mask’s reaction, Miketsu smiled faintly. At this point, she was purely in a ‘nothing to lose’ state of mind.
Regarding the mask, Miketsu thought of the most natural way to use it: wearing it.
Miketsu picked up the fox mask and placed it on her face. Subsequently, the wild blue demonic energy from the mask seemed to break free from its shackles, gushing out and enveloping Miketsu.
At the same time, the Ice Leopard Cat shattered the rock barrier in front of it, preparing to deliver a fatal blow to Miketsu, who was cornered behind it. However, what awaited it was a blue light rushing straight towards it.
“Roaring Demonic Fox Mask!”
The Ice Leopard Cat let out a silent roar; its left forearm was shattered by the sudden blue light. The blue light then swiftly passed the leopard cat yokai, appearing behind it.
“What?!”
Torin was startled, then quickly shifted his gaze to where the blue light had landed. There, he saw Miketsu, her body emanating blue demonic energy.
The blue demonic energy had transformed into the shape of a fox, enveloping Miketsu. This was the origin of the blue light from before.
At this moment, Miketsu was caressing the fox mask on her face. The instant she put on the mask, she felt a connection with it, understanding its use in a flash.
Even more importantly, Miketsu learned more about this mask, including its name.
“Is this your name?”
Looking directly at Torin through the mask, Miketsu slowly spoke to the mask on her face, her comrade in this moment, “Thank you for lending me your power. Now, let’s go together…”
“Qin Xin!”
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