After closing the door, the horde of ghosts didn't dare follow us inside. With no immediate threats, Stella began explaining the temple's secrets.
Stella revealed there's a secret chamber beneath this temple containing everything about the Fox Fairy shrine. This Nine-tailed White Fox Temple was built by villagers, but the statue and its enchanted mana were consecrated by a high priest named Mats. He also secretly constructed the underground chamber. The temple's Fox Fairy, whose true form is called Jiuniang, had already departed with its yin and yang souls, leaving only an incorruptible fox body behind.
Mats concealed Fox Fairy's body in the secret chamber to protect it from disturbance, instructing villagers not to approach without offering incense. Still unsatisfied, Mats subdued most of the resentful spirits in Deadman's Gulch, leaving a small portion tamed to guard this Fox Fairy temple. Whenever intruders enter, these ghosts rise to attack.
After hearing Stella's explanation, I understood why those will-o'-the-wisps normally only hover in Deadman's Gulch. Our temple entry provoked their midnight assault. So the temple doesn't suppress ghosts - the ghosts guard the temple. Quite an unusual arrangement.
But it makes sense - places like Fox Fairy temples or Yama Temples commonly have ghost guardians, unlike divine Buddhist temples.
"Come on, let's check out that secret chamber." Though Stella summarized everything, I still wanted to see it firsthand.
Stella leaped onto the Fox Fairy altar again. Reaching behind the statue, she triggered the hidden mechanism. Within seconds, the altar silently opened, revealing an entrance just wide enough for one person.
We all jumped down into pitch darkness. Only by using phone flashlights could we see the descending wooden steps that creaked ominously with each step, sounding like an old woman's eerie laughter. The decaying stairs seemed ready to collapse any moment.
Reaching the bottom, we entered a spacious chamber. To my astonishment, an enormous white fox with nine fluffy tails lay within. Its snow-white fur gleamed beautifully, smooth as silk. Though its eyes remained tightly shut in peaceful slumber, Stella confirmed its yin and yang souls had departed.
A fox of that size, if alive, could probably swallow us whole in one bite - we wouldn't even reach half its leg height.
"Is this the Fox Fairy?" Stein actually knelt in worship upon seeing it, more devout than the little fox. He claimed worshipping the real Fox Fairy brings good fortune - "might as well since it costs nothing not to."
The little fox, however, was behaving strangely. Just moments ago when it was up there, it had seen a statue and bowed three times. But now, when faced with Fox Fairy's real body, it showed no reaction at all.
The little fox clutched its head with a pained expression, then crouched down, not daring to look at the Fox Fairy.
"What's wrong?" Sensing something amiss with the little fox, I asked urgently.
"A headache... terrible pain... and images keep flashing through my mind," the little fox mumbled, its expression growing increasingly agonized.
"Images? What images?" My voice trailed off. The little fox had reacted this way upon seeing the Fox Fairy - could there be some connection between them?
The little fox shook its head weakly. "I don't know... just saw a man."
A man? The fox's mind filled with images of a man... This little fox had certainly learned some peculiar things!
"If you're feeling unwell, why don't you go back up and wait for us?" I suggested. "We won't be long anyway. The air in this chamber isn't particularly fresh, and I don't want to stay here longer than necessary."
But the little fox didn't leave. It merely clutched its head tighter and crouched silently on the ground.
I had imagined the little fox would be excited to see the Fox Fairy, but this reaction was unexpected. I truly couldn't fathom what misfortune had befallen it - while none of us had headaches, the little fox was clearly suffering.
"Hey, Little Boss! Look - there's writing here!" Stein urgently waved me over.
When I joined Stein, I saw that the walls of the secret chamber were covered in inscriptions. The content matched what Stella had just told us. I guessed these were left by that high priest called Mats, and Stella must have learned about these events by reading them.
To verify that this Fox Fairy had a body but no soul, Stein and I examined it thoroughly. As expected, the Fox Fairy showed no response whatsoever - exactly like a dead creature, except its body showed no signs of decay or damage.
I wondered aloud what would happen if the three-tailed fox were to eat Fox Fairy's body...
Stella nodded, confirming my concern. Fox Fairy's body would undoubtedly provide tremendous cultivation benefits. While consuming it wouldn't make the three-tailed fox immortal directly, it would certainly gain significant cultivation progress - perhaps even growing several additional tails.
Suddenly, Stein exclaimed in realization. He suggested that perhaps the three-tailed fox had been coming here all along specifically to search for Fox Fairy's body, not to inhabit the place at all?
This made sense. The three-tailed fox might have heard rumors and been searching for Fox Fairy's body here regularly, though apparently without success so far. Stella's discovery might have been accidental. That said, this high priest had been remarkably careless - simply leaving Fox Fairy's body in a secret chamber like this. What if someone had come and taken it?
Stella laughed and said that if anyone wanted to take Fox Fairy's body out, they'd have to tear down the entire chamber—and if the chamber were demolished, the temple above would collapse. That wouldn't be a good idea.
She had a point. The exit wasn't even wide enough to squeeze Fox Fairy's body through. The only way to remove it would be to demolish the chamber, but since it lay beneath the temple, destroying it would bring the whole structure down.
Stella added that even if the three-tailed fox wanted to eat Fox Fairy's body, it wouldn't be easy—because without sufficient dao, no one could so much as bite into it.
To demonstrate, she pulled out a small knife and stabbed Fox Fairy's body a few times. Clang, clang! The blade snapped clean off, unable to pierce the flesh.
"See?" Stella shook the broken knife in her hand, as if to say Fox Fairy's body wasn't something just anyone could handle.
No wonder. In that case, even if the three-tailed fox found Fox Fairy's body, it'd be useless! A mere three-tailed fox's dao wouldn't be enough to devour the body of a nine-tailed white Fox Fairy.
This made me even more curious about Fox Fairy. With such formidable power, why had its yin and yang souls departed, leaving only this indestructible body behind? What had happened?
Just how powerful was a fox that could be called a fairy? Stella had said that even Raul Master—one of the top five underworld profiteers in Vervic City—would be no match for Fox Fairy.
So what had befallen this Fox Fairy? Where had its soul gone? And would it ever return?
Just then, the little fox suddenly stood up. Though its expression was still pained, there was a flicker of surprise. "Fox Fairy—ah, no—the three-tailed fox is here!" it said.
The three-tailed fox? Here? Really?
After waiting so long, it had finally arrived! Stella, especially, looked overjoyed—her face twisted into a fierce grin.
"That's right," she said with a dark chuckle, her voice dripping with malice. "I can smell its demonic aura too."