A moonless night, the wind howling.
The desert town lay utterly still.
As the last household's light went out, it was as if the entire world dimmed, sinking into darkness and unease. Thin desert winds swept through the streets, letting out low, mournful whistles.
It was already eleven at night.
Most people had returned to their rooms, turned off the lights, and settled into sleep.
Grandpa Max slept alone in one room.
Ben and Gwen shared another. Naturally, it was a twin room. After some playful roughhousing, they wore themselves out, climbed back into their own beds, closed their eyes, and gradually drifted off.
Lucian also had a room to himself. His room was located between his grandfather's and Ben's.
The arrangement was mainly for emergencies. If anything happened, Lucian could respond immediately and support the others.
As for the fox girl, her room was set directly across from Lucian's.
At first, Yenji insisted on staying in the same room as Lucian, her attitude unwavering.
She claimed she needed to be his personal bodyguard, just in case any blob aliens were still lurking around. With her keen sense of smell, she said, she could detect them and provide an early warning.
Gwen was, of course, unhappy about this. She immediately got into a fierce argument with the fox girl, and they nearly came to blows.
In the end, Lucian stepped in to stop the chaos, saying that he wasn't feeling well and needed some time alone.
That wasn't an excuse. It was the truth.
Hearing this, Yenji instantly deflated like a punctured balloon. She slumped in frustration, then reluctantly nodded.
Still, there was no way she would behave herself…
When the night grew deep and everything fell silent, that would be her time to act…
...
Silence.
A deathly silence.
In the darkness, the fox girl moved on tiptoe, quietly opening Lucian's door. Like a nimble loach, she slipped inside without making a sound.
Then she gently closed the door behind her and locked it.
"Lucian…"
Yenji was dressed in a white dress, her crimson fox tail swaying slightly as her heart thudded wildly in her chest.
Outside the window, pure moonlight spilled in like a veil of white gauze, falling across Lucian's handsome face. Yenji's heartbeat quickened, and she couldn't help swallowing.
"So handsome… the more I look, the more I'm drawn in…"
She murmured softly, a greedy glint lighting up her crimson eyes.
A slender figure carrying an alluring scent carefully climbed onto Lucian.
Staring at his sleeping face, the fox girl let out a soft sound of surprise. "Strange… why is he sleeping so deeply tonight?"
With Lucian's usual level of alertness, he should have reacted the instant she opened the door.
But now, he was completely unresponsive.
She extended her pale, delicate hand and pressed it against Lucian's chest, carefully sensing his life energy.
"There's nothing wrong. His temperature and heartbeat are perfectly normal…" Yenji frowned slightly.
More than that, she could feel his life energy rising rather than weakening.
"Hm?"
Her gaze quickly shifted to Lucian's slightly raised abdomen.
"Looks like you ate too much tonight. Let me help you digest it."
The fox girl narrowed her eyes, her lashes fluttering as she finally got down to serious business.
Half an hour later.
Her eyes bloomed with a deep crimson glow.
The single tail behind her had grown into three.
Three red fox tails shimmered under the hazy moonlight, radiating an enchanting, dazzling glow.
Lucian was still fast asleep, his breathing steady and even.
"Hmph. You're definitely pretending." Yenji flicked one of her soft tails and guessed, "So this is what you're into, Lucian."
"Playing dead, huh…"
"Then big sis will play along to the very end."
With that, the fox girl acted without hesitation.
…
More than an hour later, the wind and rain gradually died down.
At the same time, Lucian's body suddenly tensed. After a long while, it slowly relaxed again, returning to stillness.
Next door, Grandpa Max, who had been lost in thought, suddenly heard a strange sound.
"Youth really is something," Grandpa Max let out a long sigh.
He knew exactly whose voice it was, and he knew it was coming from Lucian's room.
That kid was already an adult. As for himself, he was old. There were things he couldn't control anymore, and frankly, didn't want to.
Maybe that was just how the Tian family had always been…
In Lucian's room, the fox tails behind the fox girl suddenly surged, growing to nine in total.
In the pitch-dark room, countless crimson lights bloomed from the Nine-Tailed Fox's back, spreading outward like a fully blossomed rose, seductive and breathtaking, standing proudly at its peak.
"Lucian…" Yenji murmured softly, her eyes hazy.
;;;
One hour earlier,
In a dim, boundless space, Lucian stood alone, unable to see even his own fingers.
"Where… is this?"
He swept his gaze around, but there was no sign of anyone else.
Was this a dream?
Suddenly, a hoarse voice sounded behind him.
Lucian's body jolted as he quickly turned around.
"You're… Big Chill?!"
Floating in the emptiness before him was a blue moth, its expression cold and indifferent, faint waves of icy chill radiating from it.
"Why are you here? No, wait. Where is this place?" Lucian felt a wave of confusion.
If this were a dream, it didn't feel like one. It was far too real.
Big Chill drew back its wings and descended to the ground, its form seeming to shift into that of a wizard draped in a robe as it walked straight up to Lucian.
"We Nakvargians lay eggs once every eighty years," Big Chill said in a raspy voice. "Unfortunately, today happens to be my laying day."
Lucian's pupils shrank slightly, shock surging through him.
So Big Chill was about to give birth.
No wonder she'd been craving sour food so much lately. She was pregnant.
In the original story, Big Chill took control of Ben's consciousness on the eve of laying her eggs. Her true body developed a strong craving for sour foods, though after transforming, that craving shifted to iron.
During pregnancy, Big Chill's genes possessed independent consciousness. In order to successfully lay her eggs, she would take control of the host's mind, build a nest, lay the eggs, and remain there until they hatched.
"Alright, I get it." Lucian took a deep breath. "But where exactly is this?"
"This is your consciousness," Big Chill replied.
Lucian froze for a moment.
In the original story, Ben never seemed to enter his own conscious space. Otherwise, he would have noticed something was wrong and realized that Big Chill was the one having a problem.
Big Chill spread its wings and floated into the air, its body phasing into a shadowy, intangible form.
"Your consciousness was already dormant," Big Chill said. "I deliberately woke you up."
"Why?" Lucian couldn't understand. Was it because his body was somehow special?
"Because this pain must be endured by you alone…" Big Chill sighed.
"What pain?" Lucian was completely lost.
None of this made sense. He had been asleep. How could there be any pain at all?
Big Chill waved a claw.
Above them, the dark space immediately began to spin, gradually brightening as a vivid, intoxicating scene came into view…
...
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