The moment the bronze quicksand washed over her ankles, Su Jiuli caught the decaying scent of star marrow. The boy carried her on his back, rushing through the sand as the silver bells on his wrists vibrated with each stride, their clappers striking in a rhythm that mirrored the fox fire of the Qingqiu forbidden grounds. Deep within the quicksand, nine bronze lamps suddenly appeared. Within the flickering, deep-blue flames of their wicks, Lu Xiaopang’s distorted face emerged—he was embedding turtle-shell fragments into his chest, every single piece carved with Su Jiuli's tribulation mark.
"Big Sister, look at those sand patterns." The boy suddenly halted.
The raised patterns on the surface of the quicksand matched the twelfth tail bone on Su Jiuli's back perfectly. At the end of the patterns stood an ancient bronze mirror. Dark golden liquid seeped from the cracks in the mirror's surface, coagulating into the figure of Lin Xuan, who was pierced through by chains. The pile of scorched fox tails beneath his feet numbered exactly thirteen.
Chapter 114