“This place... it's not where we were a moment ago,” Jake murmured, his voice tinged with fear.

  His words sent chills down everyone’s spine. Instinctively, the four of them drew together, forming a defensive circle, backs pressed against each other, eyes scanning the darkness vigilantly.

  From every direction, faint footsteps echoed through the shadows. Each step seemed closer, like silent predators closing in on prey. Their breaths grew shallow, hearts racing in tense anticipation.

  Jake had already picked up a wooden stick from the ground, gripping it tightly in a defensive stance. His knuckles whitened from tension, beads of sweat forming on his forehead, yet his gaze remained fixed on the unknown in the shadows.

  The footsteps drew nearer… and nearer…

  Finally, from behind piles of debris, a stooped, shadowy figure slowly emerged.

  Nora's pupils constricted, her breath quickening momentarily. She instantly recognized it—the fox from her dreams, the figure that had tormented her relentlessly.

  Instinctively, she stepped protectively in front of her friends, clenching her teeth as she demanded angrily, "Fox! What do you want? Give us back our memories!"

  The shadow halted, then slowly advanced into the dim light.

  The group collectively inhaled sharply.

  The figure was half-human, half-fox. Her face was wrinkled and dry like cracked bark, deep-set eyes dark enough to devour all light. She leaned on a cane carved at its tip with a ferocious fox head.

  Nora stared in shock.

  The fox looked older than before, nearly decaying.

  With a gravelly laugh that grated unpleasantly, the fox spoke, “Nora, did you bring what I asked for?”

  Nora's heart tightened as the fox-tail necklace under her mother’s bed flashed through her mind. She was certain the necklace had something crucial to do with the fox, yet she hesitated, unsure of the fox’s true intentions.

  Stolen story; please report.

  But she still had no idea who the little girl was or what exactly the fox wanted. With fists clenched tightly, she inhaled sharply and said, “I... haven’t found it yet,” her voice briefly uncertain before turning firm, “But I won’t stay here! You won't manipulate us!”

  Seeing Nora able to converse with the fox, Alex bravely stepped forward, speaking calmly yet cautiously, “We’ve genuinely tried our best but found nothing.” She paused, then continued boldly, “But… what benefit would it be for you to make us disappear?”

  The fox’s eyes narrowed, lips curling into a mysterious smile. Instead of answering, she slowly raised her cane—

  —and struck the ground forcefully twice.

  “Boom!”

  The ground shuddered slightly. From the point of impact, a dazzling wave of light spread swiftly outward, rippling like water.

  They watched in horror as objects dissolved wherever the ripple passed. Walls, floors, ceiling—everything in the warehouse was being erased!

  In a blink, the world beneath them vanished completely.

  Now, they stood atop a sphere, surrounded by the infinite expanse of a starry cosmos.

  A luminous galaxy encircled them, countless stars pulsating gently, as if observing their very souls.

  For a moment, Nora held her breath, awed by the breathtaking spectacle. Even fear yielded momentarily to the splendor of space, each of them momentarily forgetting the danger they faced.

  Yet soon—

  The sky opened like a grand curtain, revealing a surreal scene overhead, like a cinematic projection.

  An elderly figure lay frail on a hospital bed, breathing weakly, evidently immersed in a dream.

  The scene shifted: the elderly woman trudged through a snowy mountain landscape.

  She staggered through snow until she encountered an injured fox, which she picked up and carried forward.

  Abruptly, the fox’s eyes glowed eerily. Leaping from her arms, it opened its mouth, speaking in a low, ethereal voice:

  “I am the Night Fox, dwelling within human dreams. Punished by the gods for betraying my own child, condemned to eternal existence within others’ dreams, forever witnessing my offspring's torment. Though omnipotent within dreams, my immortality has become unbearable.”

  The fox blinked slowly, a single tear slipping from its eye.

  “The gods promised redemption and rebirth if I find someone willing to take my place.”

  The elderly figure hesitated for a long moment. Frail and at the end of life, she gazed at the fox with internal conflict before finally—

  She nodded.

  Instantly, the scene shifted dramatically!

  The snowy peaks transformed into a boundless ocean, waves roaring, wind howling. The elderly woman watched in terror as her own body changed—her hands becoming fox paws, skin shedding, and a tail emerging slowly from her spine.

  —She had become a fox.

  The fox’s laughter echoed from the sky, fading gradually into a ghostly silhouette, vanishing slowly among the clouds.

  Thank you for reading. The Dream of the Night Fox is now available in full on Amazon—both as paperback and ebook.