Mei’er had disappeared…
It was as if she had never existed, as if everything I had experienced was just an illusion—no fox immortal, no cultivation…
Drip!
A teardrop fell to the ground. The surroundings were deathly silent. No one spoke. Only the sound of the wind outside the window could be heard.
“Xia… Xia Tian… Where’s Mei’er? How could she just disappear?!” Sister Lin’s voice came from behind me.
I didn’t respond. Wang Ziyan had also stopped sobbing, staring blankly at everything before her. A living person had vanished right in front of their eyes.
I shouldn’t have tried to unlock my Ren and Du meridians. Everything, all of it, was because of me.
Why did I want to unlock them?
If I said it was to become stronger, I would be lying. That was just an excuse. Yes, an excuse! I never cared about flying through the skies or walking through walls. What I truly wanted was to hold Mei’er in my arms all night and spend eternity with her.
But now that Mei’er was gone, what was the point of unlocking my meridians?
“Xia Tian? Xia Tian, say something! Tell me what happened!” Sister Lin stood in front of me, looking at my dazed expression. Though she tried to hide it well, I could see the pain in her shocked eyes, the glimmer of unshed tears.
“Gone… Everything is gone…” I muttered words that even I couldn’t understand. Tears streamed down my face, yet I forced a smile.
Sister Lin frowned and said, “What are you talking about? Tell me, why did Mei’er disappear?”
“Disappear? What disappearance? Isn’t Mei’er standing right in front of me?” As I spoke, I reached out and caressed Sister Lin’s face. It was just as smooth and delicate as Mei’er’s.
Slap!
Sister Lin’s face flushed red as she smacked me across the face. “Xia Tian! Snap out of it!”
I remembered the first time Mei’er and I flew together—she had hit me just like this. Why did girls always resort to slapping people?
“Xia… Tian…” A weak voice called out again.
I panicked, lifting my head and looking around frantically. “Mei’er! Mei’er, where are you?!” I shouted, but no answer came. It seemed like my mind had been playing tricks on me.
“Xia Tian!” Sister Lin called my name loudly once more, but I ignored her, desperately searching for Mei’er’s figure.
“Do you remember the ancient book you brought back yesterday?”
“I am that fox, and you helped me grow my tails and set me free!”
“What are you doing? Don’t poke me with that! It… it feels weird!”
“I’m sorry, Xia Tian. If I don’t give you a blood transfusion, you’ll die…”
“That’s what you get for sneaking my food! Now you’ve lost your own too!”
“Mei’er…” Tears poured from my eyes uncontrollably. I couldn’t stop them no matter how hard I tried.
“Xia… Tian…”
Mei’er’s voice rang in my ears again. This time, it was real. It wasn’t an illusion—Mei’er was still alive!
As her voice faded, tiny specks of light appeared in the air, slowly gathering at the spot where she had just disappeared.
Sister Lin was so frightened that she collapsed onto the ground, but I was overwhelmed with excitement.
Mei’er was alive! She was alive! She hadn’t died! She hadn’t died!
The glowing specks condensed into a brilliant flash of white light, so bright that I could barely keep my eyes open.
I thought Mei’er would reappear before me, but…
What the hell?! This is too much of a joke!
Mei’er didn’t appear. Instead, a white fox materialized before me. It had three visible tails, while six others flickered in and out of sight.
This… this was Mei’er’s true form! It looked exactly like the fox I had seen in the Purple Palace!
“Mei’er! Mei’er! Wake up!” I shook the fox’s body anxiously.
Her once-bright, intelligent eyes slowly opened, staring at me blankly, devoid of their usual spirit.
Mei’er forced a weak smile. “Xia… Tian… I’m… sorry…”
With those words, her eyes closed again.
“Mei’er! Mei’er!” No matter how loudly I called, she didn’t respond.
Sister Lin looked at me in shock. “T-This fox… is Mei’er?”
Mei’er’s body was still warm, and her heart was still beating. That meant she wasn’t dead. There was still hope. But now that she had reverted to her true form, taking her to a hospital was out of the question.
I held the fox-shaped Mei’er in my arms and turned toward the bedroom.
Behind me, Sister Lin called out, “Xia Tian, where are you going?”
I paused, then turned to look at her apologetically. “Sister Lin, I’m sorry.”
With that, I struck the side of her neck with a swift chop, knocking her unconscious.
Turning my head away, I continued walking, only to find Wang Ziyan standing there, dumbfounded.
I took one step after another toward her. Mei’er being a fox demon was something that no one else could know about—otherwise, it would bring unnecessary trouble.
As Wang Ziyan watched me approach, she swallowed hard and said, “I can do it myself!” With that, she prepared to ram her head into the wall. However, halfway through, she suddenly stopped. “Can I just pretend to faint?”
“Sorry,” I shook my head before delivering a precise chop to her neck, knocking her unconscious.
I placed Mei’er on my bed, then carried the unconscious Sister Lin and Wang Ziyan back to their rooms, laying them on their respective beds.
They would likely remain unconscious for a long time. If I could wake Mei’er during this period, I could use her power to cast a spell and erase their memories of this event.
However, I wasn’t sure if I could revive Mei’er in such a short time. More importantly, I wasn’t certain if she had a spell capable of making them forget.
I didn’t have the luxury of overthinking things. I had to find a way to wake Mei’er as soon as possible!
Her heartbeat was still strong, and aside from her body being unusually warm, there were no other symptoms.
Based on my assessment, it was likely due to an excess of Qi in her body, leading to an imbalance of essence, energy, and spirit, which caused her to lose consciousness.
As Mei’er had mentioned before, she was originally a Nine-Tailed Fox, possessing a resilient body. However, in human form, she couldn’t withstand the surge of True Qi within her, which forced her back into her original form. The glowing light from earlier was probably an instinctive reaction during her transformation.
I actually thought Mei’er was disappearing—how ridiculous.
Since her essence, energy, and spirit were out of balance, I decided to use my own blood to replenish the vital essence she lacked.
Last time, Mei’er had saved my life with her blood. Since our blood was compatible, it meant she should be able to absorb mine as well.
With that thought, I pulled out a black dagger and made a cut on my palm. Due to the dagger’s properties, the blood didn’t flow out immediately.
Enduring the pain, I clenched my fist and placed it near Mei’er’s lips. As I applied pressure, drops of blood slowly dripped into her mouth.
Sure enough, she was able to absorb my blood, and her complexion visibly improved.
At this rate, she should wake up soon.
However, my hand had already turned pale, and I was feeling lightheaded, yet Mei’er still hadn’t woken up. Gritting my teeth, I retrieved a thousand-year-old Blood Ginseng from my Storage Ring and swallowed half of it.
The moment it entered my mouth, it dissolved into a surge of warmth, circulating through my meridians before splitting—half flowing into my dantian, while the other half rushed to heal my wounds.
The Blood Ginseng was an incredibly potent tonic. Just half of it was enough to replenish my lost vitality, with some excess energy even leaking out, causing two streaks of crimson to trickle uncontrollably from my nostrils.
Finally, after my desperate efforts, Mei’er slowly opened her fox-like eyes.
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