Jiu Baiyun leaned against the doorframe, watching A Ran and Su Zhiyun moving about in the morning light.
A Ran, with her small frame, carried stones to build a stove, while Su Zhiyun handed her firewood on the side.
The two whispered to each other, and now and then, Su Zhiyun’s muffled laughter could be heard.
Watching this scene, Jiu Baiyun couldn’t help but smile.
However, before the smile could fully bloom, an indescribable stirring suddenly surged up.
“Mmm…”
Jiu Baiyun let out a muffled groan, his body instantly tensing.
His fingers, leaning against the doorframe, unconsciously dug into the rough wood.
Subconsciously, he staggered a couple of steps back into the house to avoid being seen by Su Zhiyun and A Ran.
Almost the moment he entered the house and was out of their sight, a clear, tingling sensation—like invisible fingers brushing through the hairs on his scalp—appeared without warning on the top of his head.
It felt as if something was trying to break free from the roots of his hair, pushing outward.
Immediately after, at the base of his tailbone, a sharp, numbing, and itching sensation rapidly spread along the end of his spine, emerging with a familiar feeling.
His clothes were stretched taut by whatever was emerging.
He unconsciously reached for his head, but his fingers stopped abruptly when they touched the furry, snow-white fox ears.
Turning to look behind him at the fluffy tail that kept swaying, trying to break free from the confinement of his clothes, Jiu Baiyun felt a headache coming on.
“Hey, Yao Fox, what’s going on!”
At this moment, Jiu Baiyun felt a bit relieved.
Good thing he hadn’t gone out, or he would have been seen by Su Zhiyun and A Ran.
“What else could it be? Demon Power and Spiritual Energy have merged, but you’re still a human body. Using Demon Power is bound to have some side effects.”
As if annoyed by Jiu Baiyun’s fussing, the Yao Fox Demon Venerable’s tone carried a hint of impatience.
Hearing the Yao Fox Demon Venerable’s explanation, Jiu Baiyun’s mouth twitched involuntarily.
‘This explanation isn’t even close to what I wanted. It’s completely irrelevant!’
‘It’s not like I didn’t know that. The Yao Fox Demon Venerable explained it before, and I’m used to the side effects by now.’
‘But the problem is, what I want to ask is: before, only the tail came out, but now even the ears have popped out!’
‘If I remember correctly, the Yao Fox Demon Venerable said that as long as I don’t deepen the fusion of Demon Power and Spiritual Energy, the side effects wouldn’t get worse!’
Feeling that his internal Demon Power and Spiritual Energy were still in balance, with no change at all, Jiu Baiyun’s mouth twitched again.
‘He did it on purpose! The Yao Fox Demon Venerable said that on purpose!’
“Enough! You know what I’m asking!”
As he said this, Jiu Baiyun vigorously rubbed one of the fox ears on his head.
The next moment, an indescribable sensation—like an electric current mixed with extreme tingling—exploded violently.
“Ugh—”
A short, strange gasp escaped Jiu Baiyun’s throat.
Jiu Baiyun snatched his hand back as if burned, as if he had touched a red-hot iron instead of his own ear.
Yet the intense feeling did not fade; instead, like a stone thrown into water, ripples instantly spread across the entire ear, even shooting along the nerves straight to his brain.
“What the hell are you doing?!!!”
Almost instantly, the Yao Fox Demon Venerable’s voice rang out in Jiu Baiyun’s mind, tinged with embarrassment and anger.
After all, she was still in the same body as Jiu Baiyun.
No matter how much she blocked her perception of the body, some sensations would still reach her.
Especially certain areas after the Fox Demon Transformation had an even greater effect on her.
The sensation from the fox ear almost made her scream curses.
The moment it was rubbed, instead of relief, it was like countless tiny needles simultaneously scraping against the most delicate skin inside the ear canal.
A wave of intense itching, slight stinging, and a strange electric current surged forward.
Jiu Baiyun was also suffering.
He was in control of the body, and his perception was ten times stronger than the Yao Fox Demon Venerable’s.
The sensation was so intense that it even caused a brief dizziness, with tiny white lights flashing before his eyes.
Accompanied by this powerful sensory impact, an indescribable heat rushed to the roots of his ears.
He could clearly feel the uncontrollable fox ears trembling violently and rapidly.
Along with this, the fluffy tail behind him bristled like a frightened cat’s tail, stiffly standing upright with its tip quivering slightly, stretching the clothes even further.
However, perhaps because of what Jiu Baiyun had just done, the Yao Fox Demon Venerable began to explain grudgingly.
“It’s all because of last night.”
“Last night?”
After a while, Jiu Baiyun finally felt a bit better.
Hearing the Yao Fox Demon Venerable’s words, he was puzzled.
“Remember the Fox Demon Transformation last night?”
Hearing this, Jiu Baiyun immediately recalled.
After dealing with that Twisted Shadow last night, he had dismissed the Yao Fox Demon Venerable’s Demon Power and, as usual, fallen into a state where he couldn’t undo the Fox Demon Transformation for a while.
Normally, it wouldn’t be a big deal—he could just go home, lie down, and sleep it off.
But the problem was that it was already very late last night, and he couldn’t use Demon Power for long.
Going back was out of the question.
Plus, Jiu Baiyun was worried about Su Zhiyun and A Ran and also afraid they would worry about him, so he chose to forcibly undo the Fox Demon Transformation and returned to the Ancestral Hall.
It couldn’t be that forcing the Fox Demon Transformation undone caused it, right?
Seeing Jiu Baiyun lost in thought and seeming to have figured something out, the Yao Fox Demon Venerable continued in a displeased tone: “Figured out the reason?”
“But… why does this deepen the Fox Demon Transformation?”
Jiu Baiyun was still puzzled.
He had done this before, and it hadn’t deepened…
“What else could it be! Who told you to choose the most aggressive and fastest method!”
Such a simple logic and he still didn’t get it? The Yao Fox Demon Venerable was a bit annoyed, not knowing if Jiu Baiyun was truly ignorant or pretending.
“You opened a wound in yourself and forcibly extracted and injected spiritual energy from the Spirit Stone. Sure, it sped up the removal of the Fox Demon Transformation.”
“But haven’t you noticed? The balance between your Spiritual Energy and Demon Power is still there, but it’s clearly undergone a deeper fusion!”
After the Yao Fox Demon Venerable’s explanation, Jiu Baiyun finally understood.
He had been too anxious last night, but without using that method, neither being seen by Su Zhiyun and A Ran nor staying out in the night was acceptable.
‘But deeper fusion? This means the characteristics of the Fox Demon Transformation will become more pronounced in the future, harder to control, and possibly even…’
“Yao Fox,” he quickly asked in his mind, a hint of anxiety in his tone, “is there any way to…”
But before he could finish, A Ran’s clear and slightly urging voice came clearly from outside the door.
“Big Brother Jiu! Breakfast is ready! Come out and eat!”
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