Chapter 541: I Said! Right Now!

White Mane Peak, one of the four guest peaks of Tushan, had always been the place reserved for the most important guests the clan received.

And in a large four-courtyard residence at the very summit of White Mane Peak, Little Green was still going through the dossiers she had been gathering over these past days on the subject of "Xiao Mo” but the information available about a "Xiao Mo in the Demon Realm" was remarkably sparse.

All Little Green had managed to piece together was that from a young age, this Xiao Mo had been sold into the Tushan household in Immortal Fox City.

By some turn of events she could not yet account for, he had eventually become an attendant at Tushan Jingci's side.

Later, when Tushan Jingci went to the Hanshan Academy to study, he had gone along with her, serving as her book attendant.

By this point, Little Green already understood clearly that this Xiao Mo's place beside Tushan Jingci was something far more significant than that of a mere book attendant.

Otherwise, why would Tushan Xinhua ever have allowed a person of the human race, and a man at that, to serve as her daughter's personal attendant?

After all, the path by which the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox clan attained the Dao was altogether too particular.

If childhood familiarity and years of closeness were to slowly become something more, that would be a very difficult situation indeed.

Reading further, Little Green found that the only other thing recorded about Xiao Mo was a conflict he had once had with the First Prince of the Heavenly Demons Kingdom at the Hanshan Academy, after which there were no further entries.

However, once Little Green also learned that the cultivation method Xiao Mo practiced was the Great Dream of the Yellow Millet, she began to dimly trace out the rough shape of the situation.

To begin with, though the specific reasons remained unclear, Xiao Mo had certainly done something to earn Tushan Xinhua's recognition and confidence.

Otherwise Tushan Xinhua would never have given the Great Dream of the Yellow Millet to Xiao Mo.

Because the Tushan clan had an unspoken rule, one known to very few, that whoever came to cultivate the Great Dream of the Yellow Millet would by custom be given the most outstanding woman of the current generation as a wife but knowing the old fox Tushan Meng as she did, Little Green felt quite certain that old creature would almost certainly refuse to honor that rule.

In Tushan Meng's heart, only Tushan's interests mattered above everything, and for the sake of making Tushan ever more powerful, there was nothing she would not do and in the Demon Realm as it stood now, the demon and human races were at each other's throats, as incompatible as fire and water.

Even ordinary demons looked on the human race as lowly slaves.

If Tushan Meng were to genuinely agree to let Tushan Jingci be with Xiao Mo, setting aside for a moment how the rest of the Demon Realm would view Tushan and mock them behind their backs, within Tushan itself the clan would simply never accept a marriage like that.

And at that point, how would Tushan Meng possibly retain the standing to lead Tushan to the pinnacle of the Demon Realm?

"The most troublesome thing right now is not knowing how Tushan Jingci actually feels about Xiao Mo."

Little Green's brow furrowed slightly, and she lifted her teacup and took a slow, quiet sip, a thoughtful look in her eyes.

If Tushan Jingci genuinely had feelings for Xiao Mo as well, then if Little Green were in Tushan Meng's position, she would absolutely never allow Xiao Mo to come back alive but if Tushan Jingci held no romantic feelings for Xiao Mo, and it was simply that Tushan Xinhua admired this young man, then Tushan Meng might perhaps spare his life.

After all, a cultivator who had entered the Nascent Soul realm before turning thirty would almost certainly reach the Upper Three Realms someday, that much was as good as decided. A person like that could become a tremendous asset to Tushan.

Any power in the world would be desperate to bring a talent like that in as a retainer.

And from Tushan's perspective, Xiao Mo was even better than an ordinary talented retainer, because he was someone they had known and watched grow up from the very beginning.

"It is simply that my position is far too sensitive, or I would have gone to the front lines long ago to see for myself what the situation truly is."

Little Green let out a quiet sigh, a measure of helplessness in her voice.

The three great demon alliances were locked in a war of mutual annihilation right now, the fighting raging without ceasing.

Though she had come on behalf of the Four Seas to attend the Tushan Holy Woman ceremony, she remained a neutral party in the end, and had no business getting entangled in the internal conflicts of the Demon Realm.

If she were to go rushing to the front lines of her own accord, the implications would be entirely different, and would only bring unnecessary trouble down on the Four Seas and beyond all of that, at this point the person she was concerned about was still only a cultivator by the name of Xiao Mo.

How many people in the world shared the same name? A single name alone was far from enough to justify making the trip to the front herself.

"I will wait a little longer for the results before making any decision."

Little Green gave a quiet shake of her head, a thread of uncertainty and restraint in her tone.

A few days before, she had managed by some means to obtain an object that had once been kept close to Xiao Mo's person.

Objects kept close to a person for a long time would always carry some residual imprint of that person's soul.

And so Little Green had personally laid down a formation, placing inside it both the personal object that Elder Brother Xiao had left behind in his time and the object that the present Xiao Mo had been using, and then she had waited quietly for the result.

If all went as expected, she should know the answer within the next day or two.

"Elder Sister..."

Just as Little Green sat patiently in her room waiting, the voice of her maidservant drifted softly in from outside the door.

"What is it?" Little Green raised her head and asked in a flat tone.

"Elder Sister, the formation seems to have stirred. Would you like to come and have a look yourself?" the maidservant said slowly, a note of urgency creeping into her voice.

And in the very instant the maidservant's words had barely settled, the door was suddenly thrown open, and Little Green had already transformed into a streak of light, shooting toward the rear courtyard in a flash.

The maidservant did not dare to lag behind and hurried after her.

In no more than the blink of an eye, Little Green and the maidservant named Han'er had arrived before the formation.

Within the formation, the old brush that Elder Brother Xiao had left behind long ago was being drawn slowly forward by the formation's pull and activation, a thread of golden light fine as a strand of hair gradually emerging from it, trembling faintly.

And the garment belonging to the cultivator known as Xiao Mo had likewise produced a thread of golden light, its glow warm and subtle.

At last, when those two golden threads of spiritual energy drifted slowly toward each other and connected lightly, merging into a single indivisible radiance, Little Green's eyes contracted sharply, her pupils tightening to a point, her mind going utterly blank in an instant.

"Elder Sister, did something unusual happen with the formation?"

Han'er looked at Little Green standing beside her, her eyes full of alarm and concern.

She did not know the purpose of the formation Elder Sister had laid down.

Only that she had never once seen Elder Sister wear an expression like this.

"Han'er!" Little Green opened her mouth slowly, her voice carrying a trembling she could not suppress.

"Elder Sister, Han'er is here." Han'er immediately lowered her head and waited respectfully for her instructions.

"Go and prepare at once! We are leaving for Quicksand City immediately!" Little Green's heartbeat was quickening with every passing moment, pounding like a drumbeat against her ribs.

"Quicksand City?" Han'er blinked, entirely at a loss. "Elder Sister, given our position representing the Four Seas, if we were to go to Quicksand City without any prior arrangement, would that not..."

"I said!"

Little Green spun sharply around, the rims of her eyes tinged red, her fists clenched so tightly her knuckles had gone white, her face drained of all color as though every drop of blood had left it, her gaze fixed on Han'er as she repeated the words in a voice that was nearly beyond her control.

"Right now!"