I, The Substitute, Am With The Main Character Extra 11

Xueya’s first transformation into human form wasn’t entirely successful. Although he managed to change into a human shape, his ears and tails remained visible. The new tail that had just grown was still soft, draped across the master’s hand.

Looking up from the tail, one would see the figure of a young boy. Likely because he was a snow fox, his skin was unusually pale, and his entire body seemed to have a delicate, youthful softness. The face that had taken shape caused the temple master to pause.

It was a face that bore about five or six similarities to the master’s own, with the primary difference being Xueya’s pair of fox-like eyes. Additionally, since he was a demon, his features had a demonic charm, though due to his young age, his face retained a youthful innocence despite the seductive aura. The best way to describe his appearance was with the words: pure yet alluring.

Within a single day, Xueya had grown a new tail and transformed into human form. His body was overflowing with spiritual energy, and before he could even take a proper look at his new appearance, he passed out.

When he woke again, he found himself inside a demon-sealing pouch.

The master of Baohe Temple, who was seated among the judges, suddenly felt a disturbance in his demon-sealing pouch. He patted the pouch gently to calm whatever was inside, but the moment he did, the fox inside began to thrash even more, biting at the pouch.

The demon-sealing pouch had an automatic defense mechanism that would produce lightning if the demon inside attacked too fiercely. After a moment’s thought, the master decided to open the pouch.

Half the people near the arena were watching the competition, while the other half had their eyes on the judges. Those watching the judges suddenly noticed that the master of Baohe Temple was now holding a fox. It was a pure white fox, though no one knew where it had come from. First, it rested its head on the table, its ears twitching in the breeze, and then it turned around and nuzzled against the master’s face.

As it turned, everyone saw the fluffy tails trailing behind it.

Many of the onlookers had never seen a multi-tailed fox before, and some gasped in surprise.

The master tilted his head to avoid the fox’s nuzzling while pressing the wriggling creature down with his hand. He warned in a low voice, “Stop moving.”

Although Xueya had woken up, he was still not fully conscious. The young man in front of him had fed him spiritual energy, and Xueya instinctively felt familiar with him, even wanting to absorb more. He affectionately nuzzled the man and even tried to wrap his paws around his neck.

At the same time, in a distant corner of the gathering, a tall, dark-skinned man was intently staring at the temple master. His companion noticed that he hadn’t blinked for some time and nudged him, asking, “Yi Yefeng, what are you staring at?”

The man didn’t respond.

His companion followed his gaze and saw he was looking in the direction of the Baohe Temple master. “You’re not thinking about joining Baohe Temple, are you? That’s impossible; they only accept people under sixteen, and we’re too old for that.”

Still staring at the fox’s tails, the man’s voice was deep. “Maybe I can be an exception.”

More and more people were drawn to the scene, even Wen Fu couldn’t sit still. Wen Fu had accompanied the temple master to the gathering and, seeing the fox acting so affectionately in the master’s lap, thought it was quite cute. But he also knew that this behavior could undermine the master’s dignity as a judge. So, he boldly stepped forward.

“Master, shall I take the fox away for some rest?” he offered.

The master understood that Xueya was still dazed and saw the growing attention from the surrounding crowd. Frowning more deeply, he finally agreed to Wen Fu’s suggestion.

“Take him to eat something, but don’t let him eat mortal food,” the master instructed.

Wen Fu took the fox and nodded to show that he understood. Holding the fox, he walked out and soon flew on his sword to the most renowned spiritual shop in the area. The shop sold all kinds of food, not only for cultivators but also specifically for spirit pets.

Wen Fu selected a variety of items, but when it came time to pay, he had to put the fox down since it was inconvenient to hold it while paying. As soon as he finished paying, the fox, which had been beside his feet moments ago, was gone.

***

In the deep mountains and forests.

An eight-tailed fox ran at full speed, carrying a smaller fox in its mouth. It didn’t stop until it reached a cave, where it slipped inside and dropped the smaller fox. As soon as it was released, the smaller fox tried to escape, but after only a few steps, a paw pinned it down.

“Where are you going?”

The eight-tailed fox’s sharp eyes locked onto the smaller fox. Only when the smaller fox let out a few pleading whimpers did it slightly relax its grip, but even then, it bit the smaller fox’s neck again and dragged it further into the cave.

This eight-tailed fox was the same one that had humiliated Xueya on Mount Huqi before. Shortly after Xue Ya left the mountain, the fox had also left, but its purpose was to train and grow stronger.

Because it was a training mission, the elders in its family didn’t allow it to bring any attendants. For days, it had been roaming alone, which it wasn’t used to. Back on Mount Huqi, it was always surrounded by followers or its siblings, who treated it with admiration. But now, out in the world, it had no one.

Many cultivators and spirit beasts had tried to befriend it, but it didn’t take any of them seriously.

One day, while roaming invisibly through a city, it unexpectedly spotted a six-tailed fox. Multi-tailed foxes were rare in the outside world, and seeing one with six tails alongside a human cultivator made the eight-tailed fox furious.

How could a descendant of the noble nine-tailed foxes stoop so low as to become a spirit pet for a human? What a disgrace!

Without hesitation, the eight-tailed fox kidnapped the so-called “disgraceful” six-tailed fox. But once it had done so, it noticed a familiar scent on the smaller fox.

The eight-tailed fox sniffed around the six-tailed fox and was soon certain of its identity. Wasn’t this the same five-tailed orphan fox it had once seen spying on them roasting meat at the academy? How had it grown another tail in such a short time?

“How did you grow this new tail?” the eight-tailed fox demanded.

Xue Ya, pinned under the other fox’s paw and intimidated by its higher cultivation level, didn’t dare to resist. But he had no intention of telling the truth. This secret method of growing tails was too valuable to reveal. If he told the eight-tailed fox, it might go and become the spirit pet of the arrogant head of Baohe Temple, and all the benefits of tail growth would fall to this hateful eight-tailed fox instead.

No way! He absolutely couldn’t let that happen.

“I had some instability in my inner core a few days ago, and that’s how the new tail grew,” Xue Ya said smoothly. In his fifty-plus years of wandering and survival, he had mastered the art of lying. Faced with the eight-tailed fox, he lied without even flinching. To make his story more convincing, he stared the other fox straight in the eyes.

The eight-tailed fox, being from a noble family, had always been surrounded by people who flattered it and never dared to lie. Seeing Xue Ya’s calm reaction, it started to believe him. “Really?”

“Of course. Why would I lie to you?”

“Then what were you doing beside a human cultivator? Are you trying to become their pet just to grow more tails?” The eight-tailed fox bared its sharp fangs, clearly implying that if Xueya admitted it, it would bite him to death.

Xueya didn’t dare tell the truth and had no choice but to continue lying. “I wasn’t! I just… I was overpowered by them and captured. How could I willingly become someone’s pet? If you don’t believe me, you can check if there’s a master-pet contract seal on me.”

Upon hearing this, the eight-tailed fox immediately scanned Xueya with its spiritual energy and found no contract seal. Finally, it stopped baring its fangs, though its tone remained harsh.

“Useless! You even got caught by humans. If you’re so weak, why did you leave Huqi Mountain?”

Xueya felt indignant at the mockery, but knowing he was no match for the eight-tailed fox, he could only lower his head and reply meekly, “Everyone bullied me on Huqi Mountain, so I thought… maybe it’s better to go out on my own. Things couldn’t possibly be worse than they were back on the mountain.”

“And then you got caught by human cultivators? Fool! If it weren’t for me, you’d already be a human’s pet by now.” The eight-tailed fox snorted and released its grip, turning to lick its own fur.

The moment Xueya was freed, he scurried to a corner. Watching the eight-tailed fox grooming itself, he waited until it wasn’t looking, then tried to escape. He managed to run a few more steps this time, but just as he neared the cave entrance, he was caught again.

This time, the eight-tailed fox was clearly annoyed. It dragged Xueya back by the scruff of his neck, its eight tails swishing furiously on the ground. Terrified, Xueya’s ears drooped, and he tucked his tail between his legs, too scared to move.

“Why are you running?” the eight-tailed fox demanded coldly, its tails still swaying dangerously.

“I… I was scared…” Xueya stammered.

“Scared of what?” The eight-tailed fox narrowed its eyes.

“I… I was scared… scared you would… hurt me,” Xueya blurted out, glancing nervously at the eight-tailed fox.

The eight-tailed fox snorted and resumed licking its fur. Back on Huqi Mountain, it often groomed its younger siblings, but now, outside the mountain, it hadn’t seen any other foxes—let alone its siblings. It would groom itself, but always felt like something was missing.

As it continued grooming, its gaze suddenly shifted to Xueya. Despite the other’s lowly status, it was still a fox, after all, the nine-tailed fox thought as it stared intently at him. Feeling the intense gaze, Xueya’s fur stood on end, and he desperately wanted to escape.

Before he could react, the eight-tailed fox lowered its head and moved closer to Xueya. Seeing the fox approach with its mouth slightly open, Xueya thought it was going to eat him and shut his eyes in terror.

Then, he was licked.

In all his life, Xueya had never been groomed by another fox.

The multi-tailed foxes never paid him any attention, and ordinary foxes without intelligence wouldn’t dare groom him. Of course, if they did, he would beat them senseless. This was the first time he had been groomed by another fox, and though he wanted to resist, he could only stand there stiffly as the eight-tailed fox licked him.

Fortunately, the grooming only lasted a few moments before the eight-tailed fox stopped.

But in the days that followed, Xueya found himself confined to the cave, where the eight-tailed fox would go out during the day and return late at night. Every night, without fail, it would groom Xueya.

At first, it only licked him a few times, but gradually, it wouldn’t stop until Xueya was soaked through with saliva. Tonight was no different. As the eight-tailed fox was licking his stomach, it suddenly heard Xueya make a sound.

“Eight-tailed fox,” Xueya muttered.

“What did you just call me?!” the fox snapped.

Xueya tried to turn over, but the other’s paw held him down. “Brother Lingjing, could you… let me go for a moment?”

The eight-tailed fox didn’t stop. It licked him a few more times before lazily responding, “What for?”

“I…” Xueya hesitated, unable to find the right words. Meanwhile, the grooming continued—until suddenly, the eight-tailed fox was flipped over.

The abruptness of it caught the eight-tailed fox off guard, and before it could even get angry, the six-tailed fox it had been grooming was now straddling it.

Not only that, but the audacious six-tailed fox was attempting to bite its neck, and even…

For the first time, the eight-tailed fox’s fur bristled in shock.