The ambush came at dusk, when the sky bled purple and the shadows grew teeth.
One moment, Luo Feng's group was crossing the Obsidian Pass. The next, the mountainside erupted with Void Dynasty soldiers—their armor etched with the same sigils that had once adorned his robes in a past life.
At their helm stood General Iron Tide, a mountain of a man whose face Luo Feng recognized from the fractured memories of his original self. The general's eyes—one real, one a pulsating void-stone—locked onto him with terrifying familiarity.
"Storm Lord," he rumbled, the title hitting Luo Feng like a physical blow. "You shouldn't have come back."
The Fox Spirit's tails bristled, their tips flickering between colors like a broken illusion. "Uh, Feng? Why does the scary void man know your old name?"
[System Alert: Memory Corruption Detected]
[Mission: Survive the General's Warning]
[Reward: Answers About Your Past]
[Failure Penalty: Being Dragged Back to the Void Emperor in Chains]
Li Qing's sword was already drawn, frost creeping up her arm. "We fight."
General Iron Tide laughed, a sound like boulders grinding. "Still keeping the same company, I see." He nodded at Li Qing. "Your master's looking for you, girl."
Then he moved—faster than anything his size should—and clamped a hand around Luo Feng's throat.
[The Warning: A General's Loyalty]
The world blurred as the general yanked Luo Feng into a memory-vision:
The Void Emperor's throne room, centuries ago. The original Luo Feng—the Storm Lord—kneeling with a blade to his own throat. General Iron Tide roaring in protest. The Emperor's voice, cold and final:
"He volunteered. Would you deny him this?"
The general's face, twisted in grief. The Storm Lord's whispered last words:
"When the patch comes, don't tell him."
The vision shattered.
General Iron Tide released Luo Feng, his voice a whisper only he could hear: "The Emperor's lying to you. The rewrite wasn't to contain you—it was to save you from her."
He jerked his chin toward the Fox Spirit, whose tails were now glitching violently, fragments of them phasing in and out of reality.
"Xiao Jiuying wasn't just the scalpel. She was the infection."
[The Fox Spirit's Malfunction]
The moment the words left the general's mouth, the Fox Spirit screamed—a sound that wasn't entirely hers. Her fifth tail (the one that remembered everything) lashed out, its fur peeling back to reveal glistening void-flesh beneath.
"LIES!" it shrieked in a chorus of distorted voices. "HE'S THE LIAR!"
Li Qing moved on instinct, her sword slicing toward the corrupted tail—
—only for the Fox Spirit to warp mid-motion, her form flickering between her usual self and something older, something with too many eyes and teeth.
[System Override: Corruption Spread Detected]
[Fox Spirit Integrity: 67% and Falling]
General Iron Tide didn't attack. He just looked at Luo Feng, his gaze heavy with pity. "The Emperor gave you a second life. Don't waste it."
Then he vanished, his soldiers dissolving with him like smoke.
[Check-In Complete (More Questions Than Answers)]
[Reward: Memory Fragment (The Storm Lord's Choice)]
[New Problem: Fox Spirit's Corruption Crisis]
The Fox Spirit collapsed, her tails spasming. The glitching stopped, but the fifth tail's fur remained wrong—too dark, too slick, like oil on water.
Li Qing kept her sword raised. "We need to contain her."
Luo Feng grabbed Xiao Jiuying before she could hit the ground. Her skin was cold. "Like hell. She's part of this because of me."
The Fox Spirit's voice was barely a whisper: "Feng... I think... I'm not just me anymore."
Her fifth tail twitched, whispering in the Wife of Ashes' voice:
"Find the other nails. Before she does."
END OF THE CHAPTER34