Wuwu, Truly, Being a Fox is So Tiring

"Squeak~"

The Dark Three-Tailed Fox let out a few whimpers of pain.

At this moment, its body underwent a massive transformation. Those rotting chunks of flesh, which had been firmly attached to its body like parasitic fungal colonies, were visibly fading and sloughing off, while the disgusting, earthworm-like insects fell away in segments like withered, dead wood.

Song Linjia's eyes widened to the size of copper bells as she stared in disbelief at the monster undergoing such a drastic change.

The foul-smelling gas and black aura of the curse radiating from the Three-Tailed Fox were also dissipating. Miraculously, new, tender flesh and fur began to sprout where its body had been rotting; new flesh grew over the perforated, decaying areas near its gills, and its sharp, hideous teeth slowly shrank, retracting back into its mouth.

Its fierce, bloodshot eyes gradually regained their clarity, transforming into a pair of bright, doll-like eyes with crimson irises and a small black diamond shape in the center, making it look incredibly spirited and mystical.

"H-how... how is this possible?" Song Linjia stared at the changing Three-Tailed Fox in disbelief.

If the Three-Tailed Fox had previously been a foul-smelling, ugly monster, it was now a completely different creature—possessing a handsome appearance, elegant tails, and an adorable, dazed expression.

At this moment, the Three-Tailed Fox could clearly feel that the chronic pain that had plagued it for so long had completely vanished. Even its wild, bloodthirsty emotions were inexplicably soothed, leaving its mind in a state of unprecedented tranquility and comfort.

It was a vain female fox; how could it have endured the ulceration and rot on its body, let alone the stench that filled the air? Yet, it couldn't control itself; it felt as if an evil soul within its body was manipulating it to do things it detested.

Curses, plagues, and diseases had constantly tortured it, destroying its beautiful body beyond recognition and shattering its pure heart.

All it had ever wanted was to become the legendary, powerful, and proud Nine-Tailed Fox.

Why had it been turned into such a ghastly sight?

In recent days, it had long since given up resisting, for no matter what it did, the evil soul within could easily suppress it. It had long felt its heart turn to ash.

However, today, the human who had interrupted its feeding suddenly appeared and used a strange potion to dispel the evil soul within its body.

Had the evil soul that had plagued it and caused it such agony really just vanished from its body like that?

Did this human save me? The Three-Tailed Fox watched the human before it with suspicion.

The human wore a smile, and he was actually untying the ropes that bound it?

Nani?

Human, is he not afraid that I might eat him?

Wait, why would I have such an evil thought? He just saved me.

But what does he mean? Is he letting me go?

Human and fox stared at each other.

Li Ran did not know what the Three-Tailed Fox was thinking, but he knew that after the curse was lifted, the Three-Tailed Fox would become his most loyal companion.

Li Ran took some candied fruit that Su Bingyao loved from his storage space and handed it to the Three-Tailed Fox: "Eat up, you must be starving."

He's even giving me food? The Three-Tailed Fox looked at Li Ran in disbelief, instantly moved to tears.

In its memory, humans either chased it away or beat it; never had a human been this kind to it.

"It... it's crying?"

Song Linjia was dumbfounded.

At this moment, the Three-Tailed Fox's large, spirited eyes were brimming with tears, which flowed down as if they were free of charge.

"This is too delicious... sob, this fox has never eaten such delicious food before." The Three-Tailed Fox began to wail, completely breaking down.

Sob, honestly, being a fox is so tiring.

"You can shrink, right?" Li Ran asked tentatively.

In the novels he read, protagonists could always shrink their tamed spirit beasts to carry in their arms, and they would become the protagonist's best wingman.

"Can it even understand him?" Song Linjia rolled her eyes in silence.

Li Ran was actually trying to communicate with a fox; humans speak human language, foxes speak fox language—could they really communicate?

But just as she thought Li Ran's idea was ridiculous, she saw the Three-Tailed Fox blink its beautiful eyes and nod. Then, its body began to slowly shrink and undergo an Illusion Transformation. Before Song Linjia's shocked eyes, it turned into a miniature, jet-black three-tailed fox with crimson pupils.

"Come!"

Li Ran crouched down, placed his hand on the ground, and looked at the miniature fox with sincerity.

The little three-tailed fox hesitated for a moment, but then it scampered over, jumped directly onto Li Ran's hand, and nimbly climbed up his arm to his shoulder.

"This..." Song Linjia was too stunned to speak.

If everything that just happened wasn't a dream, had Li Ran, whom she had called for help, just tamed a terrifyingly powerful Three-Tailed Fox?

Wait, wasn't the subjugation mission hers?

Just as she was wondering, Song Linjia received a notification that the mission was complete.

"Mission accomplished?" Li Ran asked with a grin. He seemed to be in a great mood, playing around with the miniature three-tailed fox.

"Yeah." Song Linjia nodded, not quite understanding as she said, "The mission was supposed to be for me to subjugate it, but since you tamed it, how am I supposed to turn it in?"

Li Ran continued to feed the miniature fox candied fruit, not even turning his head as he said, "Since the mission is complete, it means my taming the little guy doesn't affect your follow-up tasks."

"Is that so?" Song Linjia wondered suspiciously. Why did she feel like she had been played by Li Ran?

Li Ran was only supposed to be the help she hired, so why did it feel like he was the one who completed the mission? He got the pet reward, while she only got points and Mysterious Power.

That didn't seem right.

"The mission specified 'subjugate.' There is a significant difference between subjugating and taming, but regardless, I must thank you for helping me obtain such a cute little fellow," Li Ran said.

"Hmph, you're just gloating after getting a bargain," Song Linjia pouted, looking displeased.

However, truth be told, if she hadn't called Li Ran to help, she would never have been able to complete this mission on her own.

It could only be said that Li Ran was incredibly lucky to happen to have both the Enslavement Reins and the Purification Potion.

Li Ran extended his finger, and the Three-Tailed Fox immediately grabbed it with its two paws and began to nibble gently, the tingling, itchy sensation making Li Ran burst into laughter.

This human is so strong; I actually can't bite through his finger, the Three-Tailed Fox thought, quite shocked.

"From now on, you'll follow me," Li Ran said.

"Squeak?"

What?

This fox has to follow him?

Well, I suppose it's not impossible, as long as there's good food every day. Wuwu, I never want to go back to those starving days again.

Thinking of this, the Three-Tailed Fox nodded gently, agreeing to follow the human before it.

"Since you're following me now, I have to give you a name."

Li Ran rested his chin on his hand, thought for a moment, and blurted out naturally, "I'll call you Mo..."

Song Linjia and the Three-Tailed Fox widened their eyes simultaneously.

Li Ran coughed dryly and continued, "Are you a boy fox or a girl fox? Let me see... hey, don't run around."

"Alright, with this personality, you must be a girl fox."

"Then I'll call you Scarlet Iris," Li Ran said.

Song Linjia and the Three-Tailed Fox widened their eyes again.

"Scarlet Iris?" Song Linjia looked suspiciously at the Three-Tailed Fox's pupils, which resembled crimson gemstones; the name did fit well.

Scarlet Iris? Is that my name? Whatever, it's better than having no name at all.

Thinking this, the miniature fox curled its eyes and stuck out its little tongue.

Li Ran would never admit that he was just too lazy to think of a name and, seeing the miniature fox's beautiful eyes, simply decided to call it "Scarlet Iris."

"Let's go, Scarlet Iris."

"Master will take you to eat something delicious."

"Squeak~"

Happiness Supermarket.

Li Ran spent 10 points to purchase about a week's worth of rations for Scarlet Iris.

He discovered that Scarlet Iris was very interested in sweet dried fruits, candied fruit, and dried plums.

Li Ran would keep some small snacks in his coat pocket; if Scarlet Iris got hungry, it could just crawl into his pocket to eat, which was quite convenient.

After deducting the 100 points for the Purification Potion, Li Ran had 3050 points left in the store.

2500 points could buy top-tier refined equipment.

But he didn't want to look at refined equipment.

As the saying goes, it is easy to go from frugality to luxury, but hard to go from luxury to frugality; this was true.

Ever since he had better equipment, he had lost interest in lower-grade items.

The point range for rare equipment in the store was vast, varying from 3,000 to 10,000.

It could be said that in the rare equipment section, one could buy both ordinary items and extremely top-tier gear.

However, 3,000 points could only purchase rare equipment without skills.

High stats are good, but the cost-effectiveness is far inferior to a piece of refined equipment with a skill. If I buy a skill-less rare piece now and then get an item for the same slot with better stats and a stronger skill from a mission, then this purchase would have been in vain, and the points wasted. Instead of that, it's better to buy a skill book directly. A rare-quality skill is not inferior to a good piece of equipment, and besides, a skill book is something tangible in your hand that won't be replaced.

Thinking of this, Li Ran abandoned the equipment section and headed decisively toward the skill section.

He went straight to the (Rare) quality area.

Soon, Li Ran selected a skill that he was quite satisfied with.

He didn't choose blindly; instead, he combined it with the skills he currently possessed to maximize the effectiveness of the new skill.

He spent a total of 2,900 points.

Looking at the remaining 150 points, his heart ached for quite a while.

[Magic Shadow Bite]

[Quality: Rare]

[Requirement: Mysterious Power 500]

[Active Skill: Demonizes the arm. Attacks resemble the bite of a Demon Shadow Wolf, inflicting tearing and erosion effects upon hitting the target, lasting for five minutes. When the player stands within a Darkness Domain, they gain the (Demon Shadow Stomp) effect.]

[Passive Effect: Skill activation enhances strength and speed, increases armor within the Darkness Domain, and the effect scales with the size of the Darkness Domain (Demon Shadow Stomp).]

"Shadow Escape, Shadow Assault, Magic Shadow Bite—do these give me the ability to stand and fight even if the first strike fails?"

"No more worrying about losing all combat effectiveness if I can't finish them in one combo."

This could be considered a successful escape from the embarrassing predicament of being a "three-second man."

Li Ran was quite satisfied with his choice of skills.

Next, he had to complete his tasks to accelerate his growth in strength.

The marriage certificate his wife hid, the follow-up to Grandma Mi's quest to find the true culprit, and eliminating the Demon King of Killing, Wang Gan.

Right, there was also that Beauty Salon ID Card.

Li Ran grabbed Scarlet Iris, who was busy snacking in his pocket, and poked its bulging belly: "If you keep eating like this, you're going to turn into a giant fatty."

"Squeak~" Scarlet Iris protested, clearly not having had its fill yet.

Li Ran's eyes rolled around, and he suddenly gave Scarlet Iris a wicked grin: "Look at how coarse your fur has become; how about I take you for a 'big sword' spa treatment?"

"Squeak?!"