Estranged - Chapter 120

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Zhou Keyi had quickly adjusted to being a dog.

When people saw this small, pitch-black dog, they would simply think it was quite cute, and no one would have thought that the dog used to be human. And, certainly, no one would have guessed that inside the dog resided the soul of a person from the future, and not only that, this soul belonged to a demonic cultivator who killed people like flies and made everyone tremble in fear.

Now, the dog was standing on Jiufang Changming’s shoulder and twisting its face in ways that were by no means common among dogs. It seemed as if Zhou Keyi had seen through Yun Weisi’s intentions. The dog rubbed against Jiufang Changming’s neck, putting on airs.

Yun Weisi blinked.

He and Zhou Keyi were fellow disciples in name, since they studied under the same master. However, one of them was a Daoist cultivator, while the other was a Demonic cultivator, so they had virtually nothing to do with each other. While Zhou Keyi was dominating the Demonic clans, Yun Weisi had already become the master of a Daoist sect—even the leaders of the Wanjian Immortal Clan and the Celestial Abode Shenxiao had to address him respectfully with the title of Daozun. However, the two fellow disciples had never encountered each other in person. Maybe, Zhou Keyi’s subconscious unwillingness to meet the other led to the fact that these two men of influence had never come face-to-face with each other.

Yun Weisi held no compassion towards Zhou Keyi.

As he saw it, all the misfortunes that had befallen Zhou Keyi were his own fault. But Yun Weisi also knew that even though Shizun would have never demonstrated this, openly he actually cared deeply about this disciple.

In other words, all four of his disciples occupied some of Jiufang Changming’s thoughts. If he could save them, he would definitely reach out to help.

Thinking about Zhou Keyi’s tragic condition in the Wanlian Buddhist Temple, Yun Weisi lowered the hand he was about to extend, looked at the smug dog briefly and turned to Changming.

“You want to infiltrate the enemies’ ranks, using the identity of the fox spirit.”

He would not have objected if it was only about the fox spirits. However, some unknown person had been helping the demons from behind the scenes, and many other evil spirits, including nightmare demons, were on the loose in Hongluo. They did not know their enemy, while the enemy saw them clearly—the circumstances were too complicated for Yun Weisi to let Changming tempt fate.

Even though the fox spirits were dead, the guest house was still in an uproar. People had not recovered from the fright, and were still afraid that a demon would pop out from some corner and were suspicious of everyone around. They started to look for any traces of spirits, and soon the chaos was amplified.

Yun Weisi found the worker of the guest house who was at that time hiding in the back room of the kitchen and shaking in fear. They asked him about the whereabouts of Old He, and the worker answered: “Master He left with constable Xing earlier—how could he bear staying here? You should look for him in the yamen. Ai, even though he’s left, after what happened to his people, we have all lost sleep, and master He himself was emotionally unstable. He was sitting there mutely, and when I came over to ask him whether he wanted a cup of water, he just raised his head and stared at me. The expression in his eyes made my skin crawl…”

Yun Weisi interrupted him: “Did he say anything when they took him away?”

The worker said: “He kept spouting nonsense endlessly, saying that you two killed his daughter together with the people of his caravan. How is that even possible? We’ve all seen it just now, if it wasn’t for you, we’d have ended up dead in the hands of those evil spirits!”

After his daughter was killed, Old He seemed to be lost, almost deranged. Conversely, Yun Weisi and Changming resembled immortals who had relinquished mundane life. It was obvious whom the worker would trust after comparing these three.

The two of them left the guest house.

It was getting late already. The snow had piled up on the ground, and people who walked on it left behind their footprints.

“Shixiong, let’s part ways. You should go to the yamen and check what’s going on there, while I’ll look for the fox spirits’ lair.”

Although he was calling him shixiong, Changming’s tone was decisive.

Yun Weisi knew he would be unable to stop him.

“Take the Bell of One Mind with you.”

Yun Weisi had asked Jiang Li for one more bell, and now gave it to Changming.

The moment their hands touched, Changming felt the warmth of the bell that had just been held by Yun Weisi. Even the snow could not dispel this heat.

“Call me if something happens.”

Before Changming retracted his hand, Yun Weisi had already let go. He looked at Changming deeply, then turned around and strode into the night.

The relationship between the two was quite delicate. At first, Changming had thought that Yun Weisi was his daoist partner, but later he realized that was not the case. But that subtle lingering ambiguity still bothered Changming.

Yun Weisi was still attached to his shizun. He cared so deeply that he was willing to spend his life alongside Changming and die for his sake.

Then what about Changming?

Changming looked at the scratches on the back of his hand, left by the fox spirit. He faintly felt that burning pain once again.

Maybe when Yun Weisi returned, Changming would have a proper answer.

“Wait.”

He stopped Yun Weisi, picked up the dog and passed it over to him.

“It’s inconvenient for me to take him, so you should take him with you, shixiong. His nose is good. He might notice if anything is wrong with Old He and be of help.”

Yun Weisi looked at the dog with mild disdain but said nothing. He just picked the dog up with two fingers.

The dog was shocked to the core. What “his nose is good, he might be of help”? Do you really treat me like a dog?! Hey, I’m a human!

Jiufang Changming, are you crazy!

The dog was barking wildly, but was soon muted by Yun Weisi’s incantation. Not a sound could escape his mouth now, so he could only move his tongue to no avail. He stared at them with round eyes that were supposed to be fierce, but in reality seemed ridiculous.

He could not do anything to prevent Yun Weisi from lifting him up and leaving. His four legs had left the ground, and he was just paddling in the air, which did not help at all.

After the man and the dog disappeared from his line of sight, Changming raised his hand.

A paper puppet, stained with a trace of dark red, was lying on his palm. That mark was, obviously, the blood taken from that fox spirit.

He clearly remembered the Art of Transferring Spirit even after losing a part of his memories. The skill had almost become a part of him at that point.

He raised his fingers to the level of his chest and chanted an incantation in a low voice.

In a moment, a faint golden mist ascended from the tip of his fingers, and thin threads of it flowed into the puppet. The puppet, which had originally been colorless, slowly saturated with golden light and moved, as if coming to life.

The dark red stain on the puppet gradually dissolved, and the puppet changed its color into bright red, as if a girl had tipped a bottle of rouge on it. The puppet now looked unexpectedly beautiful—it was almost graceful.

It had nothing in common with the puppets that Changming used to create. Soaked in fox spirit’s blood, it resembled a painting of a dragon with its pupils added to the canvas—it looked as if the puppet was alive.

A painting of a dragon with its pupils added to the canvas: add the touch that brings a work of art to life

Changming blew on it slightly, and the puppet rose from his palm with the air, gradually expanding in the air until it reached the height of a person. Then, it pressed close to Changming and slowly integrated into his body until they became one.

Sun Wuxia walked out of the side gates, staggering on his way, just in time to see Changming.

Sun Wuxia gasped and stared wide-eyed and terrified at Changming.

Although the person in front of his eyes still resembled Jiufang Changming vaguely, they looked different.

His chin was pointier now, and his expression was even more lifeless. His hair that used to be half-gray was now completely black, and the corners of his eyes had reddened, making him look like another person.

If he was not wearing Jiufang Changming’s clothes, Sun Wuxia would have never guessed his identity and decided that it was just another fox spirit.

Was it actually a male fox spirit?

“You…”

The moment he opened his mouth, the wind blew some snow into his mouth, and Sun Wuxia could not help bending over to cough violently.

By the time he looked up again, there was not even a shadow of the person he had just seen.

Sun Wuxia stood transfixed to the ground for half a day, looking at the ground covered with snow.

Could it be that Jiufang Changming had been part fox spirit?

No, of course not! He’s just pretending to be a fox spirit to infiltrate their ranks!

But would there be a single bone left of him if he was exposed? Surely, the angered demons would tear him into pieces in a fit of anger.

Whatever. What did it have to do with Sun Wuxia anyway? He had almost become a good-for-nothing. Would people not laugh at a cultivator walking around without his arm?

Dispirited, Sun Wuxia wanted to turn around and rest in the guest house. But just as he stepped over the threshold, he heard someone yelling inside. After the rowdy accident with fox spirits, many people were wounded, so everything was in chaos now. An image of his shishu’s miserable condition on his deathbed flashed through his mind, and Sun Wuxia stopped. Grabbing his empty sleeve, he gnashed his teeth, turned around and went out into the dark night.

…

A-Rong was running through a field covered in snow.

She was thin and small, and had been starving for a long period of time—until this small girl that this body belonged to had died from hunger.

A-Rong had a hard time obtaining this body, yet everyone mocked her. There were so many talented men and alluring women, but she chose this half-dead body. It was simply a bag of bones, its charm was completely non-existent. A-Rong was like a different species compared to other fox spirits.

Yet now she was rejoicing at having chosen this body. At least, it could run, and did so quite nimbly.

A-Rong bent down and hid in a stable, daring not even to breathe.

The horses, suffering from cold and hunger, had noticed her presence and became restless. A-Rong held her breath desperately, shrinking herself even further into the corner.

“Anyone here?”

“I saw her just now!”

“I told you, something was off about this child! She was dying from hunger several days ago, how could she recover from it? Of course, an evil spirit has occupied her body!”

“Go, check that place!”

The sound of chaotic steps was coming from all over the place as they were walking around and screaming something to each other. Soon, the people left for some other place, but another group of humans started scouring the stable before A-Rong could breathe a sigh of relief.

“There’s room to hide in, so, look over here!”

“Fortunately, it’s winter, so this place doesn’t reek all that much!”

“Knock it off. That fox spirit has been injured, otherwise it would be running much faster. We should capture it and take it to the yamen for a reward, we can’t let it go.”

“What if someone of its kin decides to take revenge…”

Two or three people kept talking without getting to the point, and the light of a swaying lantern was getting closer. A-Rong held her breath. A snowflake landed on her nose, but she remained motionless.

One step, two steps, three steps.

She was hiding behind a pile of firewood. Once the oil lamp got any closer, she would be exposed by the shadows.

“Who is there!”

They suddenly heard a sound of movement outside, and the people turned around to chase the source.

Before A-Rong could react, she was lifted by someone.

She was going to scream, but sensed a familiar aura, and her mouth was immediately covered.

“Don’t shout, I’ll help you out,” that person said softly. With these words, their chest moved, resonating against A-Rong’s back.

She had never heard that voice, but recognised that the aura belonged to a fox spirit. She nodded and did not shout when the person removed their hand from her mouth.

A-Rong realized that their cultivation level must have been high. His steps left no traces, as if he was flying over the walls. Even though there were many people around, no one noticed them as the two floated out far away from the stables right to the outskirts, where the person took her into a room of a ruined house to hide.

Air was leaking in through many cracks as all the walls had been damaged, unable to prevent the wind from blowing inside. Obviously, nobody lived here.

The person found a corner to take shelter from the wind and set A-Rong down.

“Are you wounded?”

“I’m fine. These are all just scratches,” A-Rong raised her head reluctantly, “Who are you? I don’t think we’ve met.”

There were not many of her kind in Hongluo, and almost everyone had a skin, all with different appearances and voices. A-Rong thought she knew most of them, but she had no impression of the person in front of her eyes.

They turned around and removed their hood, revealing black hair, dark eyes, and refined facial features. The person was neither adorned nor particularly recognisable, but this only attracted more attention.

A-Rong stared, dumbfounded.