Estranged

cause

All of these fox spirits had been related to her by blood.
She did not want to sacrifice anyone.

But fingers are unequal in length—Hua-Shan had favorites and those she treated coldly.

Fingers are unequal in length: people are different

She thought of A-Rong.

This child was the weakest of them and the least remarkable.
When they were eating, she always finished the last.
Even though she was not unintelligent, her luck had run its course here.

And as luck would have it, not only was A-Rong unskilled, but she was even compassionate, which was uncharacteristic of her fox clan.
When she was choosing a human body, she went for a recently deceased beggar, so her appearance exacerbated her already poor position.
Fox spirits, who valued looks a lot, resented her for that.

A-Rong it is, then.

Hua-Shan exhaled a breath slowly.

She was no longer that tormented by her conscience after making this decision, but she had some lingering fear left.
She was afraid that one sacrifice would not be enough to satisfy this man.
Would she have to continue to give up on her kin as soon as something did not go according to his plans? Her credibility in the eyes of her clan would plummet if that happened.

“Young Master, after this is over…”

“After this is over, I’ll give you what’s left of the alchemy pills.
You’re free to distribute it as you wish.
We’ve worked well together.
I don’t need you to use your last ounce of strength for me, and after this, you can take your kindred and leave. The sky is high, and the seas are vast.”

The sky is high, and the seas are vast: I think it means “go wherever you want” in the context

He seemed to have guessed what she was worried about, judging by how naturally he picked up where she had left off.

Alright, then it’s decided.
A-Rong, sacrifice yourself for the sake of your kind. Hua-Shan said silently.
She had seen this person defeat a nightmare demon with his bare hands, so she had no resolve to resist at all.

She took a jade flute out of her belt and played a song that only her clan could hear.

Hua-Shan played it so that only A-Rong could hear the sound.

A-Rong thought that all of them had been called by Hua-Shan, but in reality she was going to her death alone.

Half of the song had been played, but A-Rong still had not appeared.
Hua-Shan even started to suspect that the girl could have overheard her dialogue with the young master and now did not dare show her face.
But, after giving it more thought, Hua-Shan decided that this was highly unlikely.
Although A-Rong was quick-witted, she was not that worthless.

Just as she thought of this, a thin figure appeared on the other side of the wide street.
It was moving slowly, as if it could not beat the wind and snow that was about to blow her away.
Step by step, she approached Hua-Shan.

A-Rong was walking and speaking to Changming in a low voice at the same time.

“Sir, you’re a senior to our clan.
Sister Hua-Shan would certainly be glad to meet you, so why are you hiding yourself from her eyes?”

She could not see Changming, but his voice reached her ears.

“The person standing next to sister Hua-Shan is that young master, right?”

“Yes,” A-Rong was surprised, “Wasn’t the entire clan summoned? Why was I the only one to come?”

Changming squinted, watching the man near Hua-Shan carefully.

He was wrapped in black clothes from head to toe, so Changming could not see his face.
The man resembled that Sir An who was with head constable Xing, but Changming was not quite sure.

Even if their guess had been completely correct, and Sir An was actually Jiang Li’s dashixiong from the past, Yao Wangnian—did that mean that he was behind all the murders in Hongluo?

“I can’t come closer.
Even if I stay invisible, they’ll be able to sense my aura.
Go first.
After that young master leaves, I’ll reappear and talk to her.” Changming said to A-Rong.

A-Rong did not think too much about this decision.
Talented people had their own etiquette and rules about interactions.
Perhaps, Sir Zhou did not want to get involved in this case, and just wanted to help the other fox spirits a bit.
A-Rong felt that meeting him was a great boon to her.

She walked up to Hua-Shan and the young master and greeted them.

“Young Master, Sister Hua-Shan.
Is there something you wanted me to do?”

But sister Hua-Shan did not answer her, and turned her head to the man instead: “Young Master, take a look, is she alright?”

Alright? In what way?

Before A-Rong could comprehend the hidden meaning, she heard the young master hum in agreement.
Without saying anything, Hua-Shan stretched out her hand.
Her fingers moved as fast as lightning as she reached towards the top of A-Rong’s head.

A-Rong turned pale with fright.
Everything was happening too fast for her to avoid the attack, so she could only wait for her death to come.

Jiufang Changming, who was hiding in the dark nearby, was facing a choice.

Should he strike or not?

If he did not step in, A-Rong would die.

If he did not, he would have to fight against not only Hua-Shan, but also that young master.
This person’s cultivation could not be measured.
If that really was Yao Wangnian, with his current cultivation, Changming would probably lose.

More importantly, showing himself ahead of time was beating the grass to alert the snake!