Tell you a secret.
I don't want to listen.
If you don't listen, I promise you'll regret it.
Mu Anxiao hesitated for a moment, cleared her throat, and said, "Fine, tell me."
"Didn't you say you didn't want to listen?" Shen Yan asked, her gaze casually fixed on the middle-aged man opposite her, speaking with her heart.
Mu Anxiao swallowed, shifted her upper body, and said, "Don't you know women are fickle? Hurry up and tell me."
"Are you a woman?" Shen Yan glanced disdainfully at Mu Anxiao's profile.
Mu Anxiao raised her hand to scratch her forehead, frowning. "What do you mean by that? Then I'll ask you, are you a man?"
Shen Yan ignored her.
Mu Anxiao cast a sideways glance at Shen Yan, let out a soft scoff, glanced at the others picking up their chopsticks, pursed her lips, and happily grabbed her chopsticks, ready to eat and drink.
"Alright, everyone, please eat."
"Yes, Master." They replied in unison, cupping their hands.
Mu Anxiao looked awkwardly at both sides, cupped her hands as well, and then began to eat.
Shen Yan did not pick up her chopsticks. Instead, she glanced at the dishes, narrowed her eyes, and reached out to grab Mu Anxiao's wrist, saying, "Don't eat."
"I'm hungry," Mu Anxiao stared blankly at the dishes.
The others also put down their chopsticks.
The middle-aged man frowned, looking at the visibly tense Shen Yan, and asked, "What's wrong?"
Seeing that they had put down their chopsticks, Mu Anxiao simultaneously released her grip and dropped hers. She glanced at Shen Yan, who had suddenly lifted her face, and then, following his gaze upwards towards the rafters, her eyes widened. "What is that?"
"A ghost," Shen Yan said, looking at the white-haired woman clinging to the rafter.
"Why does she look like that?" Mu Anxiao's scalp tingled.
The other cultivators simultaneously looked up at the empty rafters, their brows furrowed.
"What did you see?" the man who had guided them earlier asked.
Mu Anxiao swallowed, following the water droplets dripping from above into her bowl, and said, "Nothing, nothing."
Shen Yan was very pleased with Mu Anxiao's uncharacteristic reticence. She said, "Everyone, leave. And don't eat any of these dishes."
"What did you see?" the middle-aged man asked Shen Yan.
Shen Yan glanced at the white-haired woman looking down at her from above and said, "You know her, but you can't see her."
Mu Anxiao glanced at Shen Yan and stood up without a word.
Then, the boy, who was fifteen or sixteen, stepped forward and asked, "Could she be a deity?"
"Did you see her today?" Shen Yan asked.
The fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy hesitated and said, "She came to find me today and said her powers were weakening, then she said she was going to find the reason. After that, I don't know."
"Is she the sect's ancestor?" Mu Anxiao exclaimed, looking at the white-haired woman above who tilted her head to look at her, and sneered.
Shen Yan ignored Mu Anxiao and turned to the others, saying, "Your powers can't subdue her at all. If you don't believe me, stay."
"Alright, we'll listen to you," the middle-aged man, who valued his life, turned and led his disciples away from the main hall.
The girl and the boy looked confused as they emerged.
"Father, what's wrong?" the girl asked the middle-aged man.
The middle-aged man reached out and pulled the girl's arm, saying, "Don't stand here. There's a ghost inside."
"Ah?" the girl was shocked, looking at the door. "Father, that boy is still inside."
"Don't worry about it. Staying alive is most important now," the middle-aged man said, pulling the girl away.
The boy smirked, thinking of Mu Anxiao inside.