Chapter 327: Chapter 327. The Abandoned Hei Mansion
Amon went to the Hei Mansion afterward. The mansion looked derelict as it should be. It had been abandoned for years. Wild grass grew all around its courtyard. Creeping plants filled its walls and even its roof.
Amon walked to the side of the mansion where he buried Hei Pho’s ring. Inside were the demon seeds and the to containing the Demon Body creation thod. The spot looked undisturbed. Shrubs had covered the place. He left it alone and went into the mansion.
The inside was not too different than the outside. Creeping plants were all over the place. So cracks in the flooring had grass growing out of it. There was even a small tree in the main hall. A portion of the ceiling above the main hall was broken, allowing sunlight to enter. A couple of squirrels scurried away when they saw Amon entering the hall.
Amon looked around the place. It didn’t seem anyone used this place to live for a long ti. He decided to go and check the inner rooms, but sothing caught his attention from the opening that led to the kitchen. He turned and caught a glimpse of a small head ducking out.
A common person would have thought his vision was playing with him, that it was just imagination. Not Amon, though. He trusted his senses.
He readied the swan dagger and walked toward the opening. The head he saw briefly appeared to belong to a child. He also didn’t sense any danger, but it was still better to be cautious.
He slowly moved around the opening to peek at the other side. After ensuring no nace was waiting for him, he crossed over. No one was there. When he tried to find the trace of whoever he had seen, his acute hearing picked up so noises. He decided to forgo caution and rush to where the noises were from.
He ca out into a small inner courtyard before the kitchen. He was surprised to find a small garden in that courtyard. The garden was filled with white flowers that grew on tall stalks. The stalks had lush leaves.
The arrangent of the flowers was too neat. These flowers didn’t grow naturally. Soone was responsible for them. He heard slight rustles from inside the flowers.
"Co out!" Amon commanded.
There was no response.
"Co out now, or I will burn all these flowers!" Amon warned.
Finally, so rustling sounds followed by movents inside the densely grown flowers. Amon had his swan dagger at the ready.
A head popped out. It was the sa small head Amon glimpsed earlier, the head of a little girl.
"Co out," Amon said again.
The girl eyed Amon suspiciously before complying. She stepped out from the cover of the stalks and their leaves. She looked like a girl with age between twelve and fifteen. Her dress was pretty elegant, and her appearance was neat. She didn’t look like a child abandoned in a derelict house.
"Who is here inside this mansion beside you?" Amon asked.
The girl shook her head in response to Amon’s question.
Amon found it hard to believe a little girl like her was alone here, but he rembered Madam Lin’s last words. Was this child the one she ant? Was this child hers? Did Madam Lin take his advice and use the drugs that allowed her to bear a child?
However, that was unlikely. Firstly, it would be strange if Madam Lin didn’t raise her child at the Lin Estate. The attack on the Lin Estate had been sudden and without warning. If this girl was her child, she would have been among the victims of the massacre. Secondly, her age didn’t make sense. He left the Lin Estate less than ten years ago. Madam Lin was not pregnant then. This girl was too big for soone below ten years old.
Amon gestured at the field of flowers next to them. "Did you grow these?"
The girl was silent.
"Did Lin Xi grow them?" Amon asked again. Lin Xi was Madam Lin’s na.
The girl finally spoke. "You... You know Lin Xi...?"
"She is... She was my mother," Amon answered.
"You are Lin Mo?" The girl asked.
"I am."
The girl’s face seed to brighten after hearing the confirmation. She said, "Lin Xi told
a lot about you. She was the one who grew these flowers. I help her tend to them."
Her face suddenly changed as if she was rembering sothing. She asked, "Wait... why did you say she was your mother...?"
"She is dead," Amon answered flatly.
"De–Dead...?"
"Dead. She is not coming here anymore. I take it you are waiting for her here. Did she let you live in this place?"
"No... Why is she dead...? How... How did she die...?"
The girl looked concerned due to the news. She approached Amon while asking the questions. As she did, Amon suddenly beca alert and pointed his swan dagger at her.
"Your sll...! You are not human!" Amon exclaid.
The girl stopped. She seed to have realized sothing. The scent Amon slled on her was suddenly gone. He didn’t know how she did it, but she seed to have the ability to mask her scent. She must have slipped when she learned about Madam Lin’s demise. Amon slled the scent during the brief window. It was subtle, but Amon trusted his senses. He had been dealing with spirit beasts so regularly that he could differentiate between their scent and humans’.
"What are you?" Amon asked. His swan dagger was pointed at her. He didn’t feel any danger from this girl, so she shouldn’t be a high-tier spirit beast. Still, the fact that she looked like a human child was alarming.
It was not impossible for a spirit beast to disguise itself as a human being. Though he had not t any spirit beasts possessing such an ability, he had read about them. Ha Gild had also taught about such spirit beasts in his theory classes. From the information provided by both the books and Ha Gild’s lecture, it was described that only Mythical-grade spirit beasts possessed such an ability. Even then, it was still rare. This ability was more common among Primordial-grade spirit beasts, which was one grade higher than the mythical grade.
Considering he didn’t feel any danger, he had a difficult ti believing this little girl was a mythical-grade spirit beast in disguise.
"Show
your true self!" Amon demanded. The girl could conceal her scent. Perhaps she could conceal her grade as well. He was studying his surroundings even as he made demands to the girl. He was ready to bolt out of there any mont.
"I... All right," The little girl said. "I do this because I trust you... because you are Lin Xi’s son."
A white and long furry tail appeared from behind her. It curled to her front and covered her. As it did, several more similar tails appeared. They all curled around her until she was almost fully covered. Her body started glowing, and she shrunk. When the glow vanished, it was no longer a little girl before Amon. It was a white fox with multiple tails.
"A five-tailed fox...," Amon muttered.
Seeing the girl’s real form, he had a better understanding of the situation. A five-tailed fox was only a lower-superior spirit beast. Its combat ability was nothing to speak of. However, it possessed special abilities not enjoyed by other spirit beasts, among which were its superior concealing ability and the ability to transform. If not for Amon’s acute senses, he would probably go around this mansion without realizing the five-tailed fox was there.
He rembered years ago when Madam Lin ca to this mansion to hunt this spirit beast because of a rumor about one sighted near this place. Did Madam Lin go on another hunt after he left the Lin Estate, except this ti, she actually caught one? But then, why was the five-tailed fox not in a cage? There were also no words of power around this place that prevented her from leaving.
"Why did you stay here?" Amon asked.
The fox barked a few tis. It couldn’t speak in its true form. Like the ability to turn into a human, only high-grade spirit beasts could converse in the human language while in their true forms.
"Turn back into a human," Amon said.
The five-tailed fox did. She beca the little girl from before.
"What is your na?" Amon asked.
"Lin Li," the fox answered.
"Lin...?"
"Lin Xi gave
the na...," Lin Li answered.
"... Why did you stay here?" Amon asked his previous question.
"Because Lin Xi said it is safe here. She said she had bought this place. No one would dare trespass on this place. No one will disturb
here."
"I see... Unfortunately, the Lin Clan is no more," Amon inford. "You won’t be safe anymore."
Lin Li displayed a sad and worried expression upon hearing Amon’s words.
During her uncertainty, Amon gave her an offer, "Would you like to co with ?"
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