Chapter 583 - 476: Will You Kill Him Yourself, or Shall I?

"Brother Xiao, I was wrong yesterday. I, Wang Zhong, am here to apologize to you. I hope you can be the bigger person and forgive me! This will absolutely never happen again!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Wang Zhong slammed his head against the ground three times in loud kowtows, his forehead becoming smeared with dirt.

The wound on his forehead split open again, dripping fresh blood. It was a display of utmost sincerity.

Seeing this, Tushan Jing Ci remained silent, her eyes fixed on Xiao Mo.

As far as Tushan Jing Ci was concerned, she would support Xiao Mo whether he forgave the man or not.

Xiao Mo, too, stared down at Wang Zhong kneeling by his feet, seemingly lost in thought.

"Brother Wang, please get up. Since you’ve admitted your mistake, there’s nothing more to be said. Let’s just put this behind us."

After a long moment, Xiao Mo said to Wang Zhong, appearing to have let the matter go.

"Get up already!"

Hearing Xiao Mo forgive Wang Zhong, Chen Jue let out a sigh of relief and quickly stepped forward to kick him.

Chen Jue looked at Tushan Jing Ci and said with a smile, "Jing Ci, now that Xiao Mo has forgiven Wang Zhong, let’s do as he says and put yesterday’s incident behind us. We shouldn’t let it affect the amicable relationship between our two families."

"But Chen Jue, Wang Zhong is your man. You said it was your failure to discipline him. Now Wang Zhong has admitted he was wrong, but what about you?" Tushan Jing Ci clearly wasn’t ready to let Chen Jue off the hook. "You have to apologize to my Xiao Mo, too!"

"..."

The moment Tushan Jing Ci finished speaking, silence descended upon the courtyard once more.

Yue Shi, who was hanging laundry to dry off to the side, watched the scene unfold in silence.

But she didn’t intervene.

Behind his back, Chen Jue’s right hand was clenched into a tight fist.

But when he thought of his father’s words and the power of the Tushan Clan, the hand behind his back slowly relaxed.

"Brother Xiao, I was not strict enough in his discipline. I apologize to you."

Chen Jue bowed to Xiao Mo with clasped hands, his expression one of utmost sincerity.

"Young Master Chen, you are being too formal," Xiao Mo said, nodding and returning the bow. "When people are around each other, friction is unavoidable. The most important thing is to maintain harmony."

"Fine. Since Xiao Mo has spoken, I’ll consider you forgiven for now! We’ve accepted the gifts. You can leave. What? You’re not planning on staying for breakfast, are you?"

Tushan Jing Ci was kicking Chen Jue and his servant out.

"We have other matters to attend to, so we won’t disturb you further, Jing Ci," Chen Jue said with a smile, straightening up.

"I won’t see you out."

"Let’s go."

Chen Jue led Wang Zhong out of the courtyard.

"My lady, that really wasn’t necessary." After Chen Jue and his servant had left, Xiao Mo shook his head. "The Tushan Clan and the Celestial Demon Country are allies. Offending the future Crown Prince of the Celestial Demon Country for my sake... it’s not worth it, my lady."

"What do you mean, ’not worth it’?"

Tushan Jing Ci crossed her arms and lifted her small, proud chin.

"Anything for you is worth it!"

"Besides, who cares if he’s the Eldest Prince of the Celestial Demon Country!"

"If you hadn’t given the nod, I wasn’t going to forgive them at all!"

"All right, Xiao Mo, you go back to your cultivation. I have to do my lessons, or in two days at the academy, the master will be paddling my palms."

Tushan Jing Ci retrieved a copy of the *Classic of Poetry* from her room and sat in the courtyard, reciting its verses from memory.

Watching her focused expression, Xiao Mo also sat cross-legged in the courtyard to resume his cultivation.

Xiao Mo, however, didn’t believe for a second that the matter was truly over.

’That master and servant pair, Chen Jue and his man, hadn’t genuinely wanted to apologize.’

But Xiao Mo couldn’t afford to dwell on it. For now, all he could do was cultivate.

’Only by increasing my strength and raising my Realm will I have the freedom to do what I want in the future.’

’Otherwise, I’m just a sitting duck.’

...

「Nightfall.」

Within Tushan Mansion in Xianhu City.

Tushan Xinhua was reading a letter sent by Yue Shi from Cold Mountain Academy.

The letter described a conflict her daughter had with her peers at the academy.

As she read Yue Shi’s account of the events and understood the full story, Tushan Xinhua’s elegant brows furrowed slightly.

’This Eldest Prince of the Celestial Demon Country... so young, yet so ruthless.’

After she finished reading, Tushan Xinhua placed the letter in the flames of a brazier.

In moments, the letter was reduced to ash that scattered and drifted through the room.

’To others, this conflict might have seemed like a simple accident.’

’But in Tushan Xinhua’s eyes, the Eldest Prince of the Celestial Demon Country, Chen Jue, had deliberately targeted Xiao Mo.’

’As for the reason...’

’...it was probably because of the *Great Dream of Yellow Millet*.’

’Otherwise, how would a mere Scholar’s Attendant dare to try and kill her daughter’s own attendant?’

’And how coincidental that Xiao Mo happened to appear right when they were bullying a young girl from the Human Race.’

’It had to have been premeditated.’

’Fortunately, the Sovereign of the Celestial Demon Country must have intervened. Worried about damaging the relationship between the Celestial Demon Country and the Tushan Clan, he must have ordered Chen Jue to bring that Scholar’s Attendant to apologize to her daughter.’

’They had done enough to save face, so the matter was considered settled.’

’Otherwise, she would have had to pay a visit to the Imperial City of the Celestial Demon Country and have a long ’chat’ with Chen Bing.’

’That reminds me, it’s about time. I should make a trip back to the clan.’

Tushan Xinhua glanced at the moon, her expression tinged with resignation and reluctance.

’Sigh... such a hassle...’

With a soft sigh, Tushan Xinhua’s form shifted, transforming into a snow-white Nine-tailed Celestial Fox. Using her Divine Abilities, she rode the night wind, speeding off a million li into the distance.

「Two mornings later」, Tushan Xinhua arrived before a mountain peak.

The giant name "Tushan" was carved into the face of the peak.

Beyond the peak, a vista of mountain ranges and ridges unfolded before Tushan Xinhua’s eyes, interspersed with small plains.

Villages and towns dotted the plains.

Houses were built upon the ridges as well, where members of the Demon Race cultivated.

This entire ten-thousand-li expanse was suffused with dense Spiritual Power, making it a supreme location for cultivation.

This was the ancestral land of the Tushan Clan, and indeed, the ancestral land for all of the Fox Race in the Demon Race’s World.

Be they Nine-tailed Celestial Foxes or ordinary members of the Fox Race,

here they all shared but one surname: Tushan.

Tushan Xinhua had no desire to return to this ancestral land, but as a member of the Tushan, she had no choice.

Steeling herself, Tushan Xinhua flew directly toward one of the peaks.

This was the Council Peak of the Tushan Clan.

The council convened on this peak once every three hundred years.

Its participants were the ten Nine-tailed Celestial Foxes with the highest cultivation Realms.

They were also the ten Elders of the entire Tushan Clan.

Upon reaching the Council Peak, Tushan Xinhua shifted back to her human form and entered the great hall.

As Tushan Xinhua stepped into the great hall, she saw that the other nine Elders were already present. All of them turned to look at her.

"Grand Elder."

Tushan Xinhua bowed with clasped hands to the elderly woman leading the council.

"Xinhua, I was starting to think you wouldn’t make it," Grand Elder Tushan Meng said, looking at her personal disciple. "Take your seat."

"Yes."

Tushan Xinhua nodded and took the third seat on the right.

"Since everyone has arrived, let the meeting begin. First, let’s discuss the recently risen ’Human Alliance’..."

Tushan Meng began slowly.

For the next four hours, under the Grand Elder’s guidance, the ten Elders of the Tushan Clan discussed a variety of matters.

The main topics included alliances with other Demon Race powers, the future path of the Tushan Clan, and the "Human Alliance" that was steadily gaining traction in the Demon Race’s World.

But no matter what the Grand Elder said, reading between the lines of the discussion, Tushan Xinhua distilled it all down to a single word: Conquest.

"That is all for today’s meeting. You are dismissed. We shall continue tomorrow."

"Yes, Grand Elder."

After the meeting was temporarily adjourned, Tushan Xinhua and the other eight Elders bowed in unison before departing.

But just as Tushan Xinhua turned to leave, Grand Elder Tushan Meng called out to her. "Xinhua, wait a moment."

The other eight Elders exchanged a glance with Tushan Xinhua before exiting the great hall and closing the heavy doors behind them.

"Is there something else, Grand Elder?" Tushan Xinhua asked.

Only Tushan Xinhua and Tushan Meng remained in the great hall.

"I hear," Tushan Meng began, "that you taught the *Great Dream of Yellow Millet* to a man of the Human Race?"

Tushan Meng asked.

"Yes, Grand Elder," Tushan Xinhua said with a nod.

"I’ll give you two choices."

Tushan Meng clasped her hands behind her back and stared directly into Tushan Xinhua’s eyes.

"Do you kill him with your own two hands?"

"Or shall I?"