The Legend of the Nine-Tailed Fox

Epigraph

Three hundred li farther east is Qing Qiu Mountain, where much jade can be found on its south slope and green cinnabar on its north. There is a beast here whose form resembles a fox with nine tails. It makes a sound like a baby and is a man-eater.

—Excerpt from the Shan Hai Jing (The Classic of Mountains and Seas)