Each tail has a bronze bell attached to its end.

I stared at the swaying fox tails, the bronze bells at their tips gleaming eerily.

The girl next to me suddenly turned pale and abruptly pushed me down onto the bamboo bed.

My lower back hit the edge of the bed. Just as I was about to speak, she pounced on me, pulled the rough cloth blanket over our heads, and pressed her body almost against mine.

"Don't make a sound!" Her breath brushed against my ear, carrying a sweet, grassy scent.

"They locate things by sound!"

The girl covered my mouth tightly with her hand, her fingertips still trembling, but she used all her strength to press me down into the blankets.

I heard light footsteps overhead, the sound of bells growing louder as they approached, each step feeling like it was pounding on my heart.

What are you doing!

I scolded her from under the covers, my wrist aching from her grip.

Her pounding heartbeat sent shivers down my spine, and her body heat seeped through my rough clothes: "Please! They'll pounce on me as soon as they smell the scent of living souls..."

She suddenly fell silent, the downy hair on her neck brushing against the back of my hand.

The distant bells stopped, replaced by the screeching sound of fingernails scratching at the door.

The air inside the blanket grew thinner and thinner, and the girl's body suddenly tensed up.

The bell above rang again, but its sound gradually drifted towards the next room.

She breathed a sigh of relief, her warm breath brushing against my chin: "I'm so sorry, sir... just bear with it a little longer, until they go to the other rooms..."

I smelled the sandalwood scent mixed in with the fragrance of her hair, and suddenly remembered the "fox spirit fragrance" recorded in the Taoist Canon.

The incense, crafted by spirits using living souls, can entice a person's seven spirits.

But at this moment, the aroma was mixed with a hint of blood, like the mournful cry of a wounded animal.

The sound of the bells finally faded into the distance.

The girl suddenly threw off the covers, and the moonlight revealed the tear stains at the corners of her eyes. The birthmark on her wrist gleamed faintly in the cold sweat.

"I'm sorry."

She got up and straightened her disheveled clothes: "My name is Xiaolian..."

"The 'Nine-Tailed Immortal' you just saw was actually pieced together from the spines of nine men..."

"I...I really didn't mean to hurt anyone..."

Before he could finish speaking, the bell rang again, this time even more urgently.

Xiaolian tensed up, her pretty face flushed, and she ripped her clothes open in a flash...