The Blue-Lit Fox, the Legend of the Moonlit Yokai Fox (Complete)
Cold. Hungry. Save me. Cold. Hungry. Save me.
A blue-lit fox limped through the snow-covered forest, dragging its injured leg. The fierce wind whipping between the trees made its body tremble. It was a bone-chilling cold. Foxes normally endured the depths of winter thanks to their thick fur, but this blue-lit fox's pelt was torn and riddled with holes. Dark red blood dripped from its wounds, melting the snow beneath it. Clearly, the fox had been attacked by someone.
The blue-lit fox was never welcomed anywhere. Though foxes were not pack animals by nature, this one had been abandoned by its parents at a very young age—simply because it possessed that blue glow. To humans, it was nothing more than a rare prize. No one had ever seen or heard of a blue-lit fox before. Capturing it and selling it to a merchant from a neighboring country would have fetched a fortune.
The reason the fox was bleeding was also because of humans. They had hurled spears at it, loosed arrows, and when one finally struck, they said things like:
"Damn it, if you damage the pelt, what good is it?"
"Ah, you're right. My apologies. I'll aim for the head next time."
They spoke not as if facing a living creature, but as if appraising a tool or commodity. The wounded blue-lit fox's speed visibly slowed, yet the humans' pursuit continued. Humans had always possessed the greatest endurance among animals; a wounded fox stood no chance of escaping them.
Cold. Hungry. Save me.
The fox wanted to survive. It had no lofty goal like "ascension," nor did it hate humans. It simply… wanted to live.
It was hardly surprising when the blue-lit fox, consumed by its survival instinct, attacked the humans first. It ambushed a woodcutter in the mountains, tore out his liver, and in that moment, obtained the power known as yogi. That was when it truly became a yokai fox.
Ordinary hunters were no match for a yokai fox that had devoured a liver. Once again, it ripped out the livers of the hunters chasing it. The taste of human liver, experienced for the first time in its life, was astonishingly sweet.
* * *
In the seventh month of summer, the first year of Taejo's reign, the blue-lit yokai fox had devoured one hundred and thirty-two livers. The human world, thrown into unprecedented chaos by the founding of a new dynasty, was like a feast laid out before it. Because the nation had yet to stabilize, the blue-lit yokai fox could descend into the human realm and feast on men's livers without much difficulty. Occasionally, some among the uncivilized humans wielded mysterious powers, but after consuming one hundred and thirty-two livers, the blue-lit yokai fox had become unimaginably powerful. Nothing could stop her.
* * *
In the fourth month of spring, the third year of Sejong's reign, the blue-lit yokai fox had devoured three hundred and fifty-two livers. With the rise of a benevolent ruler, the country had stabilized, making it harder to hunt human men. Yet the sheer number of livers already consumed meant the fox felt no urgency. She still had no purpose. Even she did not know why she was devouring the livers of human men. But one fact remained crystal clear: livers were delicious. And so she could not stop.
One night, beneath a perfectly round full moon, she encountered a being called a dokkaebi for the first time. For reasons unknown, the dokkaebi was hostile toward her, and in a fit of rage, she killed it. Even a dokkaebi could not withstand a fox that had consumed three hundred and fifty-two livers. As it died, the dokkaebi clutched a certain book close to its chest. Intrigued, the blue-lit yokai fox took the book from the corpse. Its title was Taeja Singi.
Afterward, as if possessed, she stayed up night after night devouring the contents of the Taeja Singi. It became her guide to life. The book claimed that even a lowly wild fox could become a celestial fox by devouring the livers of one thousand human men. At last, she had found a purpose.
* * *
In the twelfth month of winter, the tenth year of Gwanghae's reign, the blue-lit yokai fox had devoured nine hundred and eleven livers. Just as she stood on the verge of ascension, she encountered the king of Yuldo-guk—as if she had committed some sin in a past life. The king of Yuldo-guk stripped her of her yogi.
* * *
In the twelfth month of winter, the tenth year of Gwanghae's reign, the blue-lit yokai fox had devoured zero livers. It was sometime after the king of Yuldo-guk had taken her power. As she lay waiting for death, having lost everything, a scholar approached her. The blue-lit fox tried to seduce him with words, but the scholar was a kind man, not so weak as to be bewitched by a mere yokai fox. Yet somehow, he willingly offered her his own liver. When the puzzled fox asked why, he simply replied that livers regenerated anyway, so she need not worry about him. The scholar pitied her.
It was the second time in her life she had received pity—the first being from the king of Yuldo-guk. Even the blue-lit fox, whose heart had long since frozen over, could feel the warmth of that kindness. But to a fox who had already taken the lives of over nine hundred human men, pity was nothing more than a trivial emotion that hindered her survival. She crossed the line. She betrayed the scholar who had tried to save her.
The blue-lit yokai fox had devoured one liver. For reasons she could not understand, she felt strangely unsettled as she entered hibernation to replenish her strength.
* * *
[…Ah.]
The blue-lit fox spoke. Its neck was half-severed, and its once massive body had shrunk back to the size of an ordinary fox. The overwhelming yogi that could have flayed skin from bone had also subsided. Shrrrk.
The fox's eyes were calmer than I had expected. It gazed at me steadily before continuing.
[What was that just now?]
"Fox magic. Foxfire."
[Fox magic… A power I have never even heard of in the Taeja Singi…]
"…"
As expected, not every yokai fox could use fox magic. She had only hurled raw yogi at me, never once attempting any technique. Accepting her death, the fox no longer resisted.
[Kehk, cough, cough… So this is it… The vessel chosen by fate… A lowly wild fox like this lady could never hope to stand against you…]
[But, my lord with many tails…]
[Why is it that you wear an expression as though you are about to cry?]
"…"
Because—
"This is the first time I've ever killed someone with my own hands."
[Hypocrisy.]
"Yeah. I know. It's hypocritical and an ugly excuse."
[You were planning to absorb this lady's yogi anyway. Hypocrisy does not suit the vessel of Dalki.]
"I thought about it… but I decided not to."
[Why…? In your current state, you will not last even a single day.]
"I know."
[This lady cannot understand why you would throw away your life when a way to continue living exists.]
"It's just… embarrassing."
[To whom…?]
"To myself."
[…]
After hearing my words, the blue-lit fox fell silent for a moment, deep in thought, before speaking calmly once more.
[Take this lady's yogi.]
"No. Even if it feels gross, I'm not eating it."
[…How detestable. Look over there.]
I followed the direction the fox indicated. There lay the Force Arts practitioner with black hair, collapsed and covered in blood.
[You can save him. Surely even a hypocrite like you would find that offer tempting.]
"…"
[Not only him—the human men hanging from the trees can all be saved as well. Not a single one has died yet.]
"…Why?"
I could not understand.
"Why? Why go this far? You hate humans. You even hate me, a yokai fox with multiple tails. So why…?"
[Pity.]
"…What?"
[This lady pities you.]
Pities me…? Why?
[This lady has lived a life that was, in its own way, satisfying. I killed everything I wanted to kill and ate everything I wanted to eat. I even felt a sense of superiority while looking down on those uncivilized beings who revered me.]
"…"
[But you… To this lady, you are nothing more than a foolish yokai who does not know how to enjoy life. What does it matter if you are the vessel of Dalki? You are still nothing but a novice.]
[Five hundred years ago, this lady received pity from two humans.]
[One was a lofty man who possessed divine authority.]
[The other was a lowly, insignificant man.]
[At the time, this lady could not understand why they pitied her.]
[However…]
The blue-lit fox slowly scanned me from head to toe, then smiled with a look of relief.
[Now that I see you standing before me like this…]
[I think I understand, just a little, why they pitied me.]
She said no more. Instead, she squeezed out the last of her yogi and severed her own tail completely. The blue-lit fox tail condensed from a circle into a line, then from a line into a point, until it became a crystal of pure yogi. The blue-lit fox offered it to me and spoke once more.
[Eat it. And then find it.]
"Find what…?"
[Find the purpose of your life.]
"…"
Truly, the feeling of receiving pity from a dying fox was an indescribably complicated emotion. I accepted the yogi crystal from her, brought it to my mouth, and swallowed it whole. At the same time, her form began to grow transparent.
[You… This lady does not think you are fated to become an evil fox.]
[A celestial fox… No, a heavenly fox. You are destined to become a heavenly fox.]
Those were her final words.