"That's more like it," the girl relaxed a bit.
Shen Yan, following behind, openly mocked Mu Anxiao who was being used as a horse.
After carrying the girl for an unknown distance, Mu Anxiao stopped, panting, in front of a large gate with the words "Cultivation Sect" hanging on it.
Shen Yan leisurely looked at the bamboo and various flowers and plants planted on both sides, thinking: these plants can glow at night, indicating they are no ordinary plants. Thinking this, he looked back at Mu Anxiao, who was still carrying the girl.
"Young lady, you can get down now," Mu Anxiao said, her face red.
The girl, however, was in a completely different state than Mu Anxiao. With a smile on her face, she said from Mu Anxiao's back, "I never liked men carrying me. You are the first man to carry me."
"So what?" Mu Anxiao asked helplessly, lifting the girl behind her.
"I'm not getting down until I go to sleep, you..."
Before she could finish speaking, a middle-aged man in a pale pink Daoist robe swung open the gate with a whisk and walked across the threshold, saying, "Daughter, this is no way to behave."
Mu Anxiao looked up at the middle-aged man speaking before her as if he were a savior and said, "Uncle, your little daughter is really too..."
"Is it your place to speak here?" the middle-aged man interrupted sternly.
Shen Yan stepped to Mu Anxiao's side, glanced at Mu Anxiao's awkward expression, and cupped his fists, "Your little daughter is too good at being difficult."
The middle-aged man frowned and looked at Shen Yan, asking, "Don't think I don't know, you two must be the masterminds behind my daughter running away from home."
Shen Yan remained silent, lowering his head.
Mu Anxiao loosened her grip and dropped the girl behind her onto the ground. She raised her hand to wipe the sweat from her forehead and face, saying, "Uncle, your little daughter scared me when she suddenly appeared on the road, but that's fine. She also drank my water all the way. This bill," she crossed her arms, "should we settle it?"
Shen Yan had long guessed that Mu Anxiao would speak up as soon as he did. Looking at her, he consciously took half a step back.
The girl sat on the ground and began to wail loudly.
Shen Yan didn't even look at her.
Mu Anxiao saw that this uncle was not someone to be trifled with. If she were to show concern for his daughter now, he would surely misinterpret it, so she remained unmoved.
The middle-aged man glanced at the girl crying on the ground and then at Mu Anxiao, asking, "So, you mean you are my daughter's saviors."
"Almost, but we intended to save her and leave. Who knew your daughter was so thick-skinned and insisted on following my young master? We had no choice but to bring her back," Mu Anxiao deliberately angered the girl in front of her father.
"You're lying," the girl shouted. She pushed herself up with the ground and stood up nimbly, grabbing Mu Anxiao's arm. "You agreed to come because you wanted to eat the food made by my family's cook."
"Oh?" Mu Anxiao yanked her hand away from the girl's grip and said with a forced smile, "Would I have known your cook made good food if you hadn't told me?"
"You..." The girl was speechless.
Mu Anxiao smiled slightly, then her expression turned serious as she looked at the middle-aged man, saying, "They say cultivators like to do good deeds. So tonight," she cupped her fists, "my young master and I will not be polite."
The middle-aged man never expected that his runaway daughter would bring back benefactors. Looking at Mu Anxiao, a forced smile slowly appeared on his face, "Very well, please come in."