"That has nothing to do with whether I know him or not," Jiong Ye found Mu Anxiao's words to be mistaken and said patiently.
Mu Anxiao looked at Jiong Ye's serious and solemn expression and smiled again, "Are you worried that I will drag you down, so you are kindly telling me this?" As she spoke, she gave a shallow smile and fixed her gaze on Jiong Ye's changing face.
Conversely, Jiong Ye did not dodge her gaze. Instead, he became even more solemn than before, "Mu Anxiao, do you think I'm joking with you?"
"No," Mu Anxiao shook her head.
"You..."
"I just feel that you are so kind to remind me because you are afraid of implicating me," Mu Anxiao said directly, her eyes firm. "However, what I want to say is that my matters are my matters. I will not drag you into them. As for your search for an exit, I will not mention a word. If Zhao Meier brings it up, I will speak for you."
"You are so good to me because of the Soul Sword, aren't you?" Jiong Ye's eyes sank as he said.
Mu Anxiao's lips curved, "Since it chose you, I can't say anything. From now on," she suppressed the sadness in her heart and blinked her eyes, "you'd better call it the Demonic Sword."
"I treated it like that, it probably won't forgive me," Jiong Ye said in a low voice.
Mu Anxiao smiled, "Oh, I really didn't expect you to have such feelings."
"A year ago, when it became like that, to be honest, I didn't want to pick it up. But seeing how loyal it was to you, I became jealous. It was this jealousy that made me bring it here. But I didn't expect," Jiong Ye said, recalling the moments he spent with the Demonic Sword, and smiled, "it was so foolish. Not only that, but it always caused me to be exposed. Gradually, I started to regret picking it up. I started... trying all sorts of ways to drive it away, but in the end, it never left me. Not only that, but this time it helped me so much. I really... didn't expect a mere weapon to be more loyal and righteous than I am. I truly feel ashamed of myself now." After speaking, he shook his head and sighed.
At this moment, Mu Anxiao could truly see Jiong Ye's regret. But even so, she knew that the Demonic Sword's choice ultimately had nothing to do with her. Just like this, after Jiong Ye finished speaking, she gave him another shallow smile, "Are you truly repentant, or are you pretending to be?" she said deliberately.
Jiong Ye's eyes were filled with tears, "If I were given another chance, I would definitely treat the Demonic Sword well. I definitely wouldn't order it around like that anymore, I definitely wouldn't... cause trouble again, but..." He stopped, hesitating to speak.
Mu Anxiao frowned, "But what?"
"But I know it's all too late. The Demonic Sword won't return to me."
"Why do you say that?" Mu Anxiao became interested in Jiong Ye's conclusion.
Jiong Ye's eyes sank, "Although its appearance was unsightly and I disliked it greatly, before this, whenever I got injured, it would rush to help me. Even if it couldn't win, it would do its best to block all attacks for me. But," he said, giving a bitter smile, "when I was being chased by the demon-eating beast just now, it didn't come."
"Based on this alone, you think it has no feelings for you?" Mu Anxiao said, couldn't help but miss the Soul Sword of the past.
Jiong Ye nodded.
Mu Anxiao smiled, "Perhaps it was unconscious and hasn't woken up yet. It definitely wouldn't abandon you."
"Don't comfort me. I know its thoughts. You..." Jiong Ye stopped mid-sentence as a strong wind suddenly blew, so he immediately swallowed the rest of his words and turned to look into the depths of the blood forest. "Mu Anxiao, there's a strong scent of blood in this wind."
Mu Anxiao gave a 'hmm' and then squinted her eyes and took a step forward.
When Jiong Ye turned around, he quickly reached out and grabbed Mu Anxiao's arm, "What are you going to do?" he asked, his eyes widening.
Mu Anxiao heard this, withdrew her gaze helplessly, and looked up to meet Jiong Ye's deliberately widened eyes, "I'll go and see. You stay here."
"It might be a monster," Jiong Ye's hand holding Mu Anxiao's started to tremble.
Mu Anxiao deeply felt the fear emanating from Jiong Ye's hand and said with determined eyes, "Since you're scared, stay here and don't move."
"Can't you see the skeletons of those monsters? The demon-eating beasts are not as easy to deal with as you think. You..."
"It's not a demon-eating beast," Mu Anxiao interrupted Jiong Ye.
Jiong Ye was stunned upon hearing this, "If it's not a demon-eating beast, then what is it?" he asked, turning his head to look at the blood forest.
Mu Anxiao looked at Jiong Ye's profile and said in a low voice, "I don't know, but," she glanced to the sides and continued, "if I'm not mistaken, it's a kind of... carnivorous monster hidden here."
"How do you know?" Jiong Ye turned back, stunned.
Mu Anxiao also withdrew her gaze and looked directly at Jiong Ye's face, "Do you think demon-eating beasts have such a big appetite?"
"Demon-eating beasts..." Jiong Ye said, suddenly remembering the process of the demon-eating beast taking him into the water and then throwing him back here, and said in a low voice, "Its appetite doesn't seem to be this big."
"That guy's appetite couldn't possibly be this big," Mu Anxiao repeated. Just as she was about to discuss further with Jiong Ye, a 'thump, thump, thump' sound came from behind Jiong Ye. Mu Anxiao heard it and quickly looked behind Jiong Ye, discovering... a barrier had been set up there, and on the other side of the barrier stood a monster with disheveled hair, whose gender was indistinguishable. Seeing Mu Anxiao looking at it, the monster also stopped hitting the barrier.
At the same time, Jiong Ye slowly turned around following Mu Anxiao's gaze and his eyes widened, "It's it."
Upon hearing this, Mu Anxiao frowned, quickly withdrew her gaze and looked at Jiong Ye, "You've seen it before?" she asked in surprise.
"No, the sound we heard from Zhao Meier over there was made by it," Jiong Ye said, listening carefully to the monster's breathing again, and continued, "That's right, it's it."
"You're telling the truth," Mu Anxiao said calmly.
Jiong Ye gave a 'hmm' and continued, "After I came to the waterfall, the sound stopped. At that time, I thought it was made by the demon-eating beast, but I also felt it wasn't. Anyway," he thought for a moment, "since I didn't see it, I was also half-doubting my own feelings."
"Now it's confirmed," Mu Anxiao probed Jiong Ye's reaction.
Jiong Ye nodded.
"There's a barrier here. Under normal circumstances," Mu Anxiao said, ignoring the monster for the moment and looking around, "the sound shouldn't be able to get out, right?"
"What do you mean by that?" Jiong Ye asked, confused.
Mu Anxiao heard this, turned back to look at Jiong Ye, "When I came over just now, I didn't see you," she said, meeting Jiong Ye's eyes.
Jiong Ye, as if afraid of being misunderstood by Mu Anxiao, quickly said, "I've been wandering around this area just now. I think..."
"Where?" Mu Anxiao interrupted.
Jiong Ye thought for a moment, as if forgetting something, turned around... and pointed in the direction of the monster, "Over there." As he spoke, he looked at the monster's face and was stunned.
Mu Anxiao took a step forward and placed her hands on Jiong Ye's shoulders.