With a tremble of Feng Qishi’s hand, the bottle fell to the ground. His eyes glazed over as he leaned forward, collapsing onto Mu Anxiao. Mu Anxiao tilted her head slightly, looking at Feng Qishi lying on her, and asked, "Are you alright?" She gently patted his back.
"My whole body is weak," Feng Qishi summarized simply, closing his eyes.
A quarter of an hour later.
Mu Anxiao sat in place, looking down at Feng Qishi’s slightly trembling eyelids. She smiled and asked, "How do you feel?" As she spoke, tears of joy welled up, dripping onto Feng Qishi’s forehead.
The wolf demons and others surrounded them, all curious about Feng Qishi’s reaction.
"I... where is this?" Feng Qishi slowly parted his lips, opened his eyes, and met Mu Anxiao's gaze directly.
Mu Anxiao smiled, "In prison. How do you feel?" As she asked, she noticed the wound on the back of Feng Qishi’s hand had miraculously healed.
The wolf demons and the others saw this scene as well. They instinctively stood up and moved away.
"Much better," Feng Qishi said, raising his hand to gently wipe away the tears from Mu Anxiao's eyes. "Why are you crying? I'm not dead yet."
"This is just the beginning. I hope you can continue to cooperate in the days to come, otherwise I will..."
"I'll listen to you," Feng Qishi interrupted, not wanting Mu Anxiao to say the word 'self-harm'.
Mu Anxiao smiled. "That's more like it." She helped Feng Qishi up. "The demon-devouring beast is already preparing. We will definitely be able to leave."
"Ouyang Ye's goal is to conquer the Heavenly Realm. After marrying you, he will take action. So," Feng Qishi had not wanted to tell Mu Anxiao about this, but seeing what she had already accomplished, he no longer concealed it. "We must stop him, but my current condition does not allow it. The next steps, it's up to you."
"Yes, don't worry, I will definitely stop him. But before that, you must rest well, understand?" Mu Anxiao said seriously.
Feng Qishi hummed in agreement.
Mu Anxiao continued, "Also, from now on, you are not allowed to say words about abandoning me. If you do," she grabbed Feng Qishi's collar, leaned in close, and glared into his eyes, "I will never forgive you."
"I won't say it anymore," Feng Qishi said. As Mu Anxiao was about to release him, he kissed her lips and said, "Thank you for your trouble."
Mu Anxiao was startled by Feng Qishi's sudden action. She then averted her gaze and said, "It's nothing, it's all..." Before she could finish, Feng Qishi kissed her again...
Seeing this, the wolf demons and the others turned their backs one by one.
Finally, Feng Qishi was completely willing to cooperate. Soon, Mu Anxiao returned to the cave entrance. At the same time, the demon-devouring beast finished its work and turned to look at Mu Anxiao, who, though distracted, was secretly smiling with pursed lips. His mouth twitched. "What's wrong with you?" he asked, walking up to Mu Anxiao.
"Nothing. Have you removed that demon barrier?"
"Almost," the demon-devouring beast said. Seeing Mu Anxiao's lingering foolish grin, he smiled, "It seems your relationship with that immortal is indeed extraordinary."
"It's none of your business. But speaking of which, you actually managed to conceal the spiritual energy." Mu Anxiao said, becoming increasingly impressed with the demon-devouring beast.
"Yes, amazing, right?"
"Amazing."
"There's something even more amazing. Come back here at this time tomorrow."
"But tomorrow will be daytime."
"So what? Are you expecting me to take you underwater? Can you swim?" the demon-devouring beast said, taking a step forward.
Mu Anxiao then turned and followed the demon-devouring beast's steps. "I can't swim. See you tomorrow then."
"Yes, see you tomorrow," the demon-devouring beast said and disappeared.
Immediately, the area became pitch black again. "Daytime is still better," Mu Anxiao said, conjuring a ball of flame with her palm and walking back from memory.
Days passed. As Mo Juan had said, Ouyang Ye never returned. On the way here, Mu Anxiao had encountered Xi'er and Song Xi several times, but with her mysteriously growing powers, she managed to evade them each time.
Finally, it was the fifth day. Mu Anxiao arrived at the cave as promised and looked at the demon-devouring beast, whose face was beaming with a smile. She asked, confused, "Why are you so happy?"
"It's done," the demon-devouring beast said, stepping aside slightly.
Seeing this, Mu Anxiao's eyes lit up. She quickly stepped forward and peered into the cave. Indeed... the demon barrier was gone. Instead, there were blue light spots. Looking at those light spots, she felt as if she saw hope. She quickly turned to look at the suddenly solemn demon-devouring beast and asked, "What's wrong?"
"Today it's the blood on your cheek."
"My cheek... then let's do it." Mu Anxiao said calmly.
For five full days, the first day was blood from the back of her hand, the second day was blood from her palm, the third day was blood from her fingers, the fourth day was blood from her wrist, and the fifth day was blood from her cheek. Mu Anxiao knew that cutting her cheek was no different from disfigurement. But for Feng Qishi, she was willing to risk it all. After all, she believed... no matter what she looked like, Feng Qishi would not dislike her. Based on this alone, she felt it was worth it.
"The strength of the cut is not right. This could leave scars and disfigure you," the demon-devouring beast hesitated for Mu Anxiao.
Mu Anxiao smiled faintly. "This is my face, not yours. Come on."
"But..."
"If you don't do it, I can do it myself," Mu Anxiao interrupted, conjuring a dagger with her palm.
The demon-devouring beast frowned. "If you do it like this..." Before he could finish, Mu Anxiao had already acted. Fresh blood dripped down. She sat cross-legged and began. Seeing this, the demon-devouring beast helplessly took out a medicine bottle, preparing to collect the blood...
Half an hour later.
Mu Anxiao, with the wound on her face, stood up, took the medicine bottle, and instructed, "For the next period of time, you must keep an eye on the spiritual energy. As soon as it appears, you must lure those immortals this way and lead them away, understand?"
Mu Anxiao gave these instructions to the demon-devouring beast every day. The demon-devouring beast was already tired of hearing them. "I know. Go quickly. Perhaps Feng Qishi has a way to restore your former... ordinary appearance."
"Remember that. I'm leaving," Mu Anxiao pointed at the demon-devouring beast and ran off.
The demon-devouring beast smiled helplessly and also left.
A moment later, Mu Anxiao used her wall-phasing ability to enter the tower. Then, with the help of the immortals, she walked towards the iron cages where they were being held, conjuring the prepared meals and saying, "Eat this." She glanced at the wolf demon, the vine spirit, and Jiong Ye.
Then, they smiled faintly, stepped forward to take the food containers, and walked away. After they left, Mu Anxiao turned to look at Feng Qishi, who could now stand up, and said, "This is the last day." As she spoke, she walked up to Feng Qishi.