Leaving the stream behind, she waded through knee-high grass in the dim, hazy light.
Tiny flowers dotted the grass like scattered stars. At its far end stood a dark-red stone stele as large as a building, lustrous as blood jade, with a towering green hill behind it.
The mist shrouding everything churned eerily. At times, space itself seemed to twist; at others, it seemed someone was blowing into it. Then it would appear to transform into countless fox silhouettes, chasing one another in play.
Yin Luo channeled her magic and transmitted her voice toward the blood-red stele. "Yin Luo pays her respects to the Ancestor."
With that, she knelt on the grass and bowed.
A moment later, a woman's giggles suddenly drifted from the surrounding mist, followed by a cheerful voice like silver bells. "I told you to handle things yourselves. I have no interest in bothering with them. There's no need to ask me."
Yin Luo replied respectfully, "Ancestor, I naturally wouldn't disturb you unless this required you personally."
The silver-bell voice gave an amused "Oh?" "What is it?"
Yin Luo said, "I came specifically to ask whether you have a good friend named Shi Chun, Ancestor."
The intermittent giggles in the mist abruptly vanished. After a brief silence, the laughing, silver-bell voice sounded again. "What makes you say that?"
What else could Yin Luo do? Naturally, she recounted everything that had happened.
After hearing her account, the silver-bell voice said, "I don't know any Shi Chun. There's no such person among my friends. People find me detestable, and I don't have many friends anyway. Why would that Fox Clan junior falsely claim such a thing? Surely she wouldn't drag me into this without a reason. Find out at once and report back."
Yin Luo's expression darkened. On reflection,