Shi Ning shook his head helplessly. He too felt regret; in fact, he felt the most regret for Shi Chan. Shi Chan was the one he had brought into the Buddhist order, the one he had watched grow up. What an outstanding disciple Shi Chan was! He was born to enter the Buddhist path; his Buddhist heart was steadfast, his heart devoted to goodness, and he treated all living beings with kindness. His understanding of scriptures was extraordinary; he could memorize ordinary scriptures after reading them once, and recite them backwards after reading them twice. When Shi Chan was young, Shi Ning often marveled at how there could be someone in this world so suited to practicing Buddhism.

But now, a nine-tailed fox demon has ruined the most outstanding disciple of Bodhi Temple!

Shi Ning stared at Shi Chan with a low gaze and said in a deep voice, "Shi Chan, you shall stay here and think it over carefully in front of the Buddha statue and all the patriarchs!"

Shi Chan prostrated himself on the ground and bowed, replying softly, "Yes."

Shi Ning turned to look at Hong Can and Shan Hua, softened his voice, and said, "I still need to discuss the matter of the nine-tailed fox with you two senior uncles. Please postpone your return to the mountain and go to the meditation room to rest."

Hongcan and Shanhua stood up one after the other and nodded in unison, "Okay."

Hongcan and Shanhua walked out of the Buddhist hall first, while Shi Ning stayed behind. Before leaving, he looked down at Shi Chan and said in a low voice, "Shi Chan, if you remain stubborn and unenlightened, the 'Fox Tribulation' incident will repeat itself sooner or later. Buddhist disciples will suffer this disaster that could have been avoided, and you, who could have saved them from suffering, stood idly by."

"Think about it carefully yourself."

After speaking, Shi Ning took a step towards the exit of the Buddhist hall. He took a few steps forward, and by then Hong Can and Shan Hua had already opened the door and left. Shi Ning suddenly stopped, standing with his back to Shi Chan, so Shi Chan could not see his expression, only hear his very low voice, which contained a trace of regret and heartache, saying, "Shi Chan, your senior brother has watched you grow up, watched how outstanding you are. Your senior brother, like Master, has poured great expectations into you. Your senior brother firmly believes that you are destined to become a Buddha. But now, you have been bewitched by a fox demon, stubbornly refusing to see the truth. Shi Chan, if you calm down, can you think about your senior brother's feelings, think about how heartbroken your senior brother is?"

Having said that, he got up and left without lingering.

The two wooden doors creaked open, and the Buddhist hall fell silent once more. Wisps of sandalwood incense rose from the burning incense sticks, mingling and filling the entire hall with a light, lingering smoke.

The pleasant scent of sandalwood filled his nostrils, but Shi Chan couldn't calm down at all. His complexion was not good, and his eyes contained a struggle of despair, as if two thoughts were fighting in his mind, but neither of them would win.

--

After the calamity, Yu Ke led a group of demons back to the demon realm, leaving only Li Molin, Ji Jue, and the three demons Liuli, Lingxi, and Langyuan on this scorched land.

Liuli successfully gave birth to six tails, which can be considered a blessing in disguise, but Li Molin was extremely frightened and regretted giving her both immortality pills at the same time.

He turned to look at Liuli, and scolded her with an unfriendly expression: "Look at the trouble you've caused by your gluttony. If you had made even the slightest mistake just now, you would be dead, do you understand?"

Liuli shook her head proudly and said, "But I'm not dead now, and I've even successfully grown six tails! From today onwards, I'm a six-tailed fox! Li Molin, you can forget about bullying me anymore!"

Li Molin shook his head helplessly and muttered, "When have I ever bullied you..."

After a pause, Li Molin said, "Alright, let's go back to the Xuan Tie Mine."

Ji Jue and the others nodded in agreement, while Liu Li lightly ran two steps away, shaking her head and saying, "Li Molin, you guys go ahead, I'm not going to the Xuan Tie Mine with you."

Li Molin's face darkened, and he said in a deep voice, "Do you still want to go to Bodhi Temple?"

Liuli's eyes darted around a few times before she nodded and said, "Yes."

"You're not allowed to go!" Li Molin's face turned cold, and he said in a deep voice, "Before, you could conceal your demonic aura, and those bald monks from the Buddhist sect didn't know you were a nine-tailed fox, so you could freely roam the Central Plains. But now that you've sprouted a fox tail in front of so many bald monks from the Buddhist sect, do you still dare to go to the Bodhi Temple? Aren't you just courting death?"

Liuli was far from realizing the seriousness of the situation. She only thought that her fox demon identity had been exposed and that the Buddhist disciples would attack her in order to exorcise the demon. She was unaware of the "Fox Tribulation" incident from ancient times. She pouted and said in a low voice, "I can just be careful myself. It's just that my demonic aura couldn't be concealed for a moment when my fox tail was growing. Look at me now, there's not a trace of demonic aura on me."

Li Molin felt that he really needed to talk to her about the "Fox Tribulation" incident. He beckoned to Liuli and said, "Liuli, come here, I'll tell you all about it."

Liuli refused to step forward. She shook her head and said firmly, "No."

Li Molin shook his head helplessly, softened his expression, and said calmly, "Liuli, didn't you want to know what the Fox Tribulation was? I'll tell you about it in detail now."

Liuli's eyes darted around a few times, and she was indeed quite curious. She nodded and said, "Okay, go ahead."

Li Molin put his hands behind his back and slowly said, "This is a record I saw in an ancient book. It says: Nine-tailed foxes are born with stunning beauty and are naturally alluring. All living beings are bewitched by them and become like puppets to be manipulated by them."

"However, it is only because the disciples of the Buddhist sect practice the Dharma that their minds are firm, they are not swayed by the fox clan, and they do not obey the fox clan's orders."

"At that time, the fox clan leader refused to admit defeat and allowed his fox people to enter the world indiscriminately, while he alone tried to seduce Buddhist disciples who were traveling outside. Over time, most of them succeeded. From then on, Buddhist disciples suffered greatly from the fox clan. Their pure Buddhist bodies were destroyed, their Buddhist hearts were lost, and they had no hope of cultivation anymore. During that period, all Buddhist disciples turned pale at the mention of foxes, and of all the disciples who went down the mountain to enter the world, not one in ten survived."

"Afterwards, the Buddhist community rose up in resistance, and all the Buddhist temples united to fight a great battle against the Nine-Tailed Fox Clan. The Fox Clan suffered a crushing defeat and disappeared from the sight of the world, never to be seen again."

"Later, the surviving Buddhist disciples called this catastrophe 'the fox calamity' and deeply hated the nine-tailed fox clan. For a long time afterward, even ordinary foxes that had cultivated into demons were not tolerated by Buddhism and were tragically wiped out."

"Liuli," Li Molin said in a deep voice, "This is the legendary Fox Calamity Incident. Think about it, if you still want to go to Bodhi Temple now, isn't that just courting death?"

Liuli listened intently to Li Molin's words, utterly shocked. Her mouth agape, she exclaimed in surprise, "Such a thing actually happened? How come I've never heard Grandmother mention it before? Li Molin, you're not lying to me, are you?"

"Why would I lie to you?" Li Molin shook his head and said, "If you don't believe me, you can just grab any monk and ask him. Even today, the fox incident is still a top priority for Buddhism. Every Buddhist disciple knows about it."