Free Web NovelChapter 13: Chapter 13—Illusionary Past
Chapter 13—Illusionary Past
’This might backfire—but to understand what that mark actually does, I have to take this risk.’
Lei Cheng repeated the thought to himself and kept the illusion steady.
"Where am I?"
Lin Mei asked aloud, turning slowly, scrutinizing her surroundings. She was floating atop a cloud in the middle of nowhere—endless sky and drifting golden clouds in every direction, not a single living presence anywhere.
"Hello—is anyone there?"
Her body flared with crimson energy. She extended all of her senses outward in every direction. "What kind of power is this?" she muttered. Then, in the next moment, she unleashed her energy in all directions.
’This must be an illusion.’
She confirmed it quietly. Lin Mei had encountered illusions many times throughout her life. As a Fox Bizarre, illusion was one of her racial powers. Yet even she could barely believe what she was sensing. ’Is there truly someone capable of weaving an illusion of this magnitude?’ She found nothing within her senses—no seams, no weak points. It felt completely, flawlessly real, as if she truly stood in the open sky.
She took a slow breath and pulled her energy back inward. Then she knelt, lowered her head, and pleaded in a soft, respectful tone, "Senior—who are you? Why are you playing with me?"
A figure appeared before her.
A young woman—beautiful, perfectly proportioned, her body draped in a white-sleeved purple brocade robe embroidered with red flowers. Her temperament carried a delicate, quiet softness—the kind that made one feel she might weep if spoken to harshly. Small. Exquisite. Her soft eyes made one pause. A gentle, fragile beauty—one capable of making others lower their guard without realizing it.
"Young Miss!"
Lin Mei’s voice rang out with a tremor. She rose to her feet.
Lei Cheng’s eyes narrowed behind his disguise. ’So it is true. Xiao Ming is the one orchestrating everything from behind the scenes.’ He had taken Xiao Ming’s form—and Lin Mei’s reaction had confirmed it without a single word being exchanged.
Lin Mei walked forward slowly, her voice warm and reverent. "Miss—why have you come here yourself?"
Just as Lei Cheng opened his mouth to reply—
Swish!
Lin Mei vanished from her position and reappeared directly in front of him in a flash. Crimson energy erupted from her body. A golden claw manifested across her palm—she slashed straight through Xiao Ming’s form.
Whoosh!
The claw passed through the illusory figure like a hand through fog. freewebnøvel.com
Lin Mei frowned. "Who are you?"
Lei Cheng didn’t answer.
He snapped his fingers.
The sound of that snap echoed from every direction simultaneously—above, below, left, right, in front, behind. In the next instant, the clouds dissolved. The sky shattered like broken glass. The entire fabricated space collapsed inward on itself.
"Where—where am I?!" fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓
Lin Mei found herself standing in a forest, a beam of sunlight cutting through the canopy, dense trees pressing in on all sides. She looked down at herself.
She was in her Bizarre form, clad in a delicate plain pink robe—fox head, chest facing upward, reversed limbs splayed beneath her, six tails swaying behind her. But there was one sharp difference from her present self.
She was a child—a six-year-old fox with a human body, standing on four reversed limbs in the middle of the trees.
’Is this an illusion?’ She narrowed her eyes, studying the surroundings with suspicion. Her eyes flashed briefly with white light. Then she shook her head, and the suspicion melted away, replaced by something urgent.
’Young Miss is waiting for me. I have to go.’
She dashed off.
Lei Cheng stood suspended in the air above and watched.
After a few minutes of running, Lin Mei reached a cave.
’A tribe.’ Lei Cheng breathed the word in quiet disbelief, scanning what lay inside. ’I assumed Bizarre creatures would either be solitary or serve beneath a stronger one. I never expected them to live together—like humans—in a community.’
At a glance, more than twenty Fox Bizarres occupied the cave. Every one of them moved in the same inverted posture—reversed limbs, chest to the sky, golden fox heads, claws at the end of each limb, tails of varying numbers trailing behind them. They all had six-year-old human body frames, clad in different colored robes, moving with a kind of eerie naturalness—as though this was simply how the world worked.
Lei Cheng stepped into the cave. Not a single one noticed him.
Lin Mei pressed through to the far end, where another fox of similar size lay curled up asleep, clad in a golden robe—but with nine tails drifting slowly through the air behind her.
"Miss." Lin Mei reached out a small claw and patted the sleeping fox’s head gently.
The nine-tailed fox stirred. She sat up and rubbed her eyes—golden claws glowing as they pressed against her eyelids. If a human child had done the same, it would have been endearing. Here, it was deeply unsettling. Despite her small, childlike frame, her eyes carried a deep, bloodthirsty red glint that no child’s eyes should ever hold.
"What is it?" The nine-tailed fox settled back on her hind limbs.
Lin Mei’s grin spread wide. "The Clan Head Nie has decided—we will invade the human cities and take them over."
"What?!"
Lei Cheng’s frown deepened. ’So that’s it. The city’s protective white flames were extinguished by these foxes.’ He still didn’t know how much of the city had already fallen to them. He made a quick estimate—when he had read Lin Mei’s aura earlier through the illusion, she had appeared to be around fifteen. That meant nearly a decade had passed since this moment in her memory. ’A large portion of the city had likely already fallen.’ His expression darkened with each passing second. He could only hope the damage wasn’t already irreversible.
The nine-tailed fox tilted her head, still yawning, entirely nonchalant. "So what about it?"
Lin Mei’s smile widened further—manic at the edges. "We can finally taste the humans."
The nine-tailed fox went still. Then her voice dropped—soft, almost tender, and deeply creepy. "Is that true?"
"Yes. Finally... we can eat the humans." Lin Mei nodded, grin unwavering. "I have heard they are far more delicious than anything else in the world. The more powerful the human... the more exquisite the taste."
The nine-tailed fox shook her head slowly, fox lips twitching. "Such a pity, though."
"Mn." Lin Mei sighed. "Those who walk the Bizarre cultivation path—they taste disgusting. They make us sick."
’Calling humans food.’ Lei Cheng clenched his fist. He drew a slow breath and steadied himself. ’This is the nature. Power determines the food chain. Just as humans consume other creatures... However, in this world, other creatures have grown powerful enough to consume humans in return. That is all it is.’
"We will be selected to depart soon," Lin Mei added, claws clasped together with barely contained excitement.
The nine-tailed fox’s tails shook eagerly. "How soon?"
"The Clan Head Nie just informed me," Lin Mei replied. "Selection will happen shortly—based on individual power levels and their servants. Each nine-tailed Fox Bizarre will be assigned one city, exclusively. And an Elder will accompany each group for security."
The nine-tailed fox let out a long, relieved breath. She patted her own head and licked her lips slowly. "I cannot wait to taste human blood and flesh."
In the very next moment, a small orb tied to each of their robes began to glow.
