Chapter 1:Luliang woodland

BEFORE YOU CONTINUE:

⚠️!! TW!!⚠️::

CONTAINS:

-MENTIONS OF D!M0NS

-G0R3

>If you feel triggered/discomfort in these contents,please kindly scroll/skip away.

"Everyone, the d-demon fox has arrived!!"

Outside, a pale lady gasping for oxygen and coughing was yelling as she was covered in dark-red dusts.

"Everyone, assemble!! summon the elders!"

After seeing the pale lady who had just died in front of him, a male villager yells.

The elders of the village assembled with the rest of the inhabitants. When they came close enough, a red rose sprouted out of the pale lady's mouth and erupted, releasing dark-red smoke.

"Everyone,cover your nose! Do not

inhale the deadly smoke!"

Says one of the elders.

As another senior said something, everyone coughed. "What happened to her?"

The elder inquired.

"Elder..I simply saw her crawling from the entryway, yelling that the demon fox was here..Then she have stopped breathing" a witness said.

"Elders, would you mind if I examined her?" enquired Runa, a young girl from another region. She had come to examine the fatalities that had been reported in the area.

The elder said, "Yes sure... go ahead."

"Hmm.. there are scratches in her legs, pale and...a there's dark red dusts..I guess the red dusts were deadly. " Runa said.

The elder said, "It's the demon fox truly."

Runa inquired, "the demon fox?"

The elder responded, "Yes, the demon fox."

"The demon fox was a malevolent demon in the form of a fox spirit who preyed anyone.

Rumour has it,she ate those who went missing and never returned.Some were lucky to escape but.. They're always like this, in a state where roses grow from their mouth once they got here, so they still end up dying," the elder explained.

"What is her motive to all of these madness? They wouldn't do this haphazardly, would they?"

Runa was the inquired.

"As far as we can tell, she was a girl who had an awful existence.We don't know much about her, rumors abound about her, but the most widely believable is that she was unfortunate. They claimed she was a spiteful fox spirit who turned into a demon from the sacrificial ceremony several years ago.The evil energy surrounding the impure place where was she supposed to make pure surrounded her being the reason for her new form..It was said that she didn't want to be a sacrifice and had alot of resentment so the negative energy followed her."

"But that's all we know.Her tale may be tragic, but she's vicious and insane, so there's no need to learn more about her or feel sorry for her."

The elder elaborated.

As she bowed down, Runa said,

"Oh.. I see.. Thankyou for letting me know."

As the villagers returned to their homes, the elder remarked, "Alright Alright, burn this lady while the others go home."

"Burn?" Runa inquired.

"Yes, burn.Once, we allowed a corpse to be buried, it exposed the surrounding area to great calamities, and even the victim's family died," the elder responded.

"I see.." Runa said.

"Weird.. why would someone do it only for that reason?" thought Runa.

"There's obviously something going on...

I have to witness it for myself," she reasoned as she set out towards the misty forest near Hanabaki town.

"There has to be something," Runa thought to herself as she walked through the woods with a flickering lamp in her hand.

"There must be something—" she thought to herself as she noticed movement in the undergrowth.

"hm?" she wondered as she returned her gaze to the bulb, which had abruptly gone dark."Argh.. Why did this lamp have to... I have to go back...I'll go back tomorrow...chilly it's here...if I keep walking, I'll freeze..." Runa pondered as she headed back to the settlement.

[### The next morning.]

As the sunray reached Runa's face, she awoke.

"Ah..Runa, you're awake," said an elderly lady named Bao-Cheng, who had taken Runa in.

Runa said, "Ah..Yes Mrs. Cheng."

"Come on, I just made you some soup," Bao-Cheng said as she set a bowl of soup on the table.

"Thank you, Mrs. Cheng, for the food."

As she dropped her head and stood up, Runa uttered. She then took a seat in the chair.As she sat in front of Runa, Bao-Cheng said, "How was your sleep? I hope you didn't get scared of the pale lady earlier..."

"I'm fine, Mrs. Cheng. Thank you for asking. I'm not afraid, so don't worry too much." Runa said.

"Really? I'm surprised to hear that..

Some people were assigned here but fled when they saw the cases, claiming there was no possibility of figuring it out.. However, you're a brave one.." Bao-Cheng said with a smile.

As she ate her soup, Runa exclaimed,

"I wouldn't be frightened.. I have to learn the truth behind this!"

"But Runa..Would you still find the truth if it meant there was a need for something in return?" Bao-Cheng said.

"Well, it depends on that return." Runa said, "but Mrs. Cheng, why are you asking? Is there anything wrong?"she asked.

"Ah—nothing," Bao-Cheng said,as she let out an awkwardly smile"Just finish the soup, ehehe."

"Mrs. Cheng, you still like to joke around at your age hahaha," Runa said, laughing.

"Mrs. Cheng, I'm finished eating! thank you for the soup.It was tasty!"

"I'll take my leave to go outside for more information.Thank you very much," Runa said as she bowed and walked away.

As she watched Runa walk away, Bao-Cheng thought to herself, "Ah.. Runa, I hope you'll be safe on your journey..May Buddha bless you with blessings to succeed.

"[RUNA'S PERSPECTIVE]

"hmm.. I wonder if there are more stories to this?" Runa wondered."Perhaps I'll ask the man who witnessed yesterday."

"Hello, Mister!" I exclaimed as I bowed down and introduced myself as Zhen Runa from Hualian Capital.

The man said, "mhm, I know."

"Would it be okay if I asked you a few questions?" I inquired.

"And what?... You're leaving too, like those people? tch. Kid, there are other things to occupy your time with.You'll just believe this is a fairy tale, so please leave our small village and do something like your age does," the man answered.

hmph.. It's not like I believe it's a fairy tale. Why would I be here if I believe that? This man irritates me a lot, but I have to put up with it.

"Ah, it's just that I'm curious.Could you please just let me ask?" I replied.

"I'll ask the elders if you won't."

mwehehe.. He is unable to disagree! If he does, I'll use my triumph card.

"Fine..Ask," he said as he paused from

what he was doing.

"You're easy to talk to," I said, "but could you tell me where the dead were discovered and where the survivors came from?"

"The Luliang Forest, where bodies were discovered, we were forbidden to go because it was dangerous.The misty mountains, on the other hand, are merely a forest for hunting, with mostly rabbits and deers," he said.

I murmured, "Oh— I see why I felt something in the bushes yesterday..."

Was it true that they were bunnies? I was on the verge of passing out deep from my nerves!! .. Once I find those bunnies, I'll make them into a rabbit stew!!

"Ah.. I have another question.. Did any of you see the demon fox? If so, what did they seem like?" I inquired once more.

"Hm.. Someone did," the man said, "but they died afterwards, much like the lady yesterday."

"Really?" I inquired.

"Yes, it was Tangerine, Mrs. Chen's daughter.

She saw the demon, as she described it, the demon has black long hair, and bright purple eyes.The appearance was pale and horrifying.Tangerine also said the demon had a very sharp long nails, and a Black ribbon accessory was also seen.Tangerine hadn't finished her words when a roses suddenly grew inside from her mouth," the man replied.

genuinely terrifying!!

.. Tangerine was only a tiny child when she was slaughtered by this wicked creature.

Mrs. Cheng's daughter will undoubtedly

receive justice from me.

"That's it, thanks for the trouble!" I said as I bowed and walked away. I'll sneak away to the Luliang woodland!

(3RD PERSON PERSPECTIVE)

"Ahh.. Why are there guards here? It'll take me a while to go in..." thought Runa, who was dressed in black.

"H-hello Guards," Runa said quietly so as not to be recognized.

The guards exclaimed, "What are you doing here? You aren't authorized to enter."

"I-I live there!! Why wouldn't I be allowed in?" Runa exclaimed.

"Argh.. What is this idiocy?" Runa wondered.

"Do you live here? No one is allowed in," the security said.

"Check it out! It's uh—

The f-fox demon!! "As the guards looked, Runa pointed somewhere and dashed inside.

The guards exclaimed,"What?— H-hey!! chase her!!"Runa took a wrong turn and ended up in a place she didn't recognize. She simply ran while the guards pursued her.

"Ahh!!.. What am I doing, I'm starting a very risky move!! nevermind.. I have to run—" Runa was thinking as she closed her eyes and ran as she collided and lost consciousness.

"What is this odor..." she exclaimed as she collapsed someplace.

[GUARDIAN PERSPECTIVE]

My colleagues and I were hunting down a female dressed in black who had ventured to enter the forbidden forest. This girl deceived us by pointing to a specific location.

"Find her!! Don't let her get any further or the elders will punish us!" I exclaimed.We were hunting her down and had caught up with her. However, she raced quicker than us, causing us to lose track of her.She is now nowhere to be found.

"Sigh.. That wicked youngster!! Didn't she know it's prohibited to enter here? What a pain!" exclaimed one of my coworkers.

"Sir, we couldn't find her. And we have reached the limit of the land we're allowed to step. If we go further, we might get lost and be devoured by the monster..what are we going to do?" one of my coworkers inquired as he approached me.

"This is a huge problem.. We can't tell anyone," I was thinking.

"Everyone! get back to your places, don't bring this up, don't tell anyone, or we'll all lose our jobs!" I exclaimed as I walked out of the jungle and returned to guarding.

(THE FIRST CHAPTER COMES TO AN END)

For faster updates, support the author!<33