"It seems you've learned a lot from him," Ye Yin said, a smirk on her lips.
"Ever since I followed him, I learned how to resist hunger, forged a resilient body, and incidentally honed a few more layers of..." Mu Anxiao patted his cheeks, "Thick skin."
"You're calling yourself thick-skinned," Ye Yin stated plainly.
Mu Anxiao forced a wry smile, pretending to be serious, "That's right, I am calling myself that. Perhaps this is another skill I've learned from him."
"For a mortal like you to be able to associate with him, you must possess some extraordinary abilities," Ye Yin said, patting Mu Anxiao's shoulder.
Mu Anxiao chuckled dryly, lowering his head to look at the vines and leaves binding his hands. "Miss, we've talked about my thick skin, so I'd say we're quite familiar with each other now. If it's possible, could you make this… this thing disappear?"
"No, if it disappears, what if you run away?" Ye Yin refused.
"It's not like that," Mu Anxiao said, glancing around. "You see, this is your territory, I don't have any talismans on me, and I don't know any magic. Even if I wanted to run, where do you think I could go?"
"That's true," Ye Yin nodded. She then lightly tapped the vines binding Mu Anxiao, and they vanished.
Mu Anxiao rubbed his wrists and asked, "Speaking of which, how are you planning to find a partner for that old-fashioned guy?"
Ye Yin smiled. "It's very simple. I have the names of all the unmarried girls in the village who have a connection to the immortal path. I'll just go from house to house, and I'm sure I'll find a suitable woman for him."
"How can I help you?" Mu Anxiao leaned in, blinking at Ye Yin.
"You..." Ye Yin narrowed her eyes slightly, scrutinizing Mu Anxiao from head to toe. "Here's the thing, you can be my assistant. Your sharp tongue seems quite capable of speaking, so you can help gather all those women here."
"No problem, but what if that guy comes looking for me later?" Mu Anxiao feigned concern.
"You hide in that well later," Ye Yin said, pointing to the side.
Mu Anxiao turned his head to look at the old well, entwined with vines, and his mouth twitched. "If I go down there, won't I drown?"
Ye Yin also glanced at the old well and smiled faintly. "Don't worry, I've already cast a spell on that dry well. You'll be fine if you go down."
"Will there be poisonous gas down there?" Mu Anxiao expressed some concern.
Ye Yin's gaze turned firm. "I already said I cast a spell, why don't you believe me?"
"You're a demon, is your magic reliable?" Mu Anxiao cautiously glanced at the dry well.
"You don't trust me."
"It's not about not trusting you. Many people before thought that dry well was fine, but shortly after going down..." Mu Anxiao's mouth twitched, and he tilted his head. "...they died. If you send me down there, what if I die?"
Ye Yin impatiently waved her hand at Mu Anxiao, and he disappeared.
The next second, Mu Anxiao opened and closed his eyes, finding himself standing in the dry well. "Good heavens, must it be this fast?" he exclaimed. He reached out and gently touched the moss-covered surroundings, then looked up at the round opening above and shouted, "Ye Yin, I haven't finished speaking yet! You're too heartless!"
Ye Yin let out a soft sigh, stepped forward to the dry well, and leaned down to look below. "You just stay down there quietly and stop your nonsense." With that, she stood up and walked towards the main entrance.