Mu Anxiao felt deeply embarrassed and shifted her gaze back to Feng Qishi.
Seeing Mu Anxiao look at him, Feng Qishi no longer reacted as before. He said calmly, "Next, we look for Mu Long."
Mu Anxiao: "You say, he will..."
"You are looking for Mu Long." The underworld escort, holding one end of a black rope, turned and looked at Mu Anxiao and Feng Qishi with surprise.
Mu Anxiao showed disdain: "Weren't you not going to bother with me?"
"Am I not bothering with you now?" The underworld escort grinned playfully before becoming serious again. "By the way, are you really looking for Mu Long?"
"You know Mu Long?" Mu Anxiao asked, confused.
Feng Qishi glanced at Mu Anxiao, then at the underworld escort, "..."
Lin Yan was about to speak when he inadvertently looked at the wolf demon who was about to speak. So, to give the wolf demon a chance to show off, he closed his mouth.
"He..."
"Mu Long is the soul he is trying to capture." The wolf demon excitedly interrupted the underworld escort's words.
The underworld escort looked at the wolf demon speechlessly, "..."
Seeing the underworld escort looking at him, the wolf demon chuckled awkwardly, "Why are you looking at me? Am I wrong?"
Lin Yan listened to the wolf demon's half-baked words and lowered his head speechlessly.
Underworld escort: "It's better if you don't speak."
"You..."
"Shut up." The underworld escort interrupted, then turned back to Feng Qishi and Mu Anxiao who were waiting for his reply, "It's like this, he is indeed the soul I need to capture..."
"I was right." The wolf demon interrupted.
As expected, the underworld escort glared at the wolf demon. The wolf demon felt awkward and shut his mouth tightly.
The underworld escort glared at the wolf demon before looking back at Mu Anxiao and Feng Qishi. "However, his lifespan is still very long, yet he is dead. For this reason, his name on the Book of Life and Death," he gestured to Zhang Mai, "like hers before, is gradually fading."
"Fading?" Mu Anxiao had only ever completed tasks assigned by Hei Feng. Hearing the underworld escort's words, she felt a sense of novelty. "What do you mean?"
"You don't have the Book of Life and Death?" the underworld escort asked, bewildered.
Mu Anxiao: "Book of Life and Death..." She frowned. "Isn't that something judges or internal underworld escorts carry? How could I have one?"
"..." The underworld escort, upon hearing Mu Anxiao's words, began to stifle a laugh.
Seeing the underworld escort's obviously suppressed smile, Mu Anxiao frowned. "No, if you want to laugh, just laugh. Isn't it tiring to hold it in?" She didn't know what he found so amusing, but seeing his sudden behavior, she became angry.
"Are you an underworld escort?" the underworld escort asked, then openly burst into laughter.
After all that, the underworld escort was laughing at Mu Anxiao's ignorance. Hearing this, Mu Anxiao was too lazy to talk to him anymore. "..."
"Why aren't you talking to me?"
"Do I even need to ask that? Are you stupid?"
The underworld escort was confused. "Every underworld escort has their own Book of Life and Death for capturing souls. This is common knowledge. You don't have one?"
"Do I look like an underworld escort?" Mu Anxiao retorted, her mind drifting to the previous failed mission due to this fellow, and she clenched her fists.
Immediately, the underworld escort, upon hearing Mu Anxiao's words, suddenly remembered his act of tarnishing Mu Anxiao's reputation in the underworld. He smiled awkwardly, "I was wrong, I was wrong." He raised one hand.
"It's good you know you were wrong," Mu Anxiao said. She then recalled the situations of Mu Long and Zhang Mai and asked, "By the way, Zhang Mai has been dead for years, hasn't she? Why hasn't her name disappeared yet? Could it be that you tampered with it?" She tilted her chin upwards. Tampering would result in punishment, so the moment Mu Anxiao said this, the underworld escort became agitated. "Don't talk nonsense. Escaped souls have a few years. If they are not caught by an underworld escort or return on their own within these years, their names will fade on the Book of Life and Death, and they will become lonely souls. Then, they will have the age of lonely souls."
"How long can lonely souls usually live?"
"Not long. Half the lifespan of mortals."
"Fifty?"
"Some might live a bit longer, but... it's less than seventy years."
"Disappear?" Mu Anxiao casually uttered two words.
The underworld escort sighed. "Disappearing is considered a comfortable end. Those who are unlucky will... be struck by lightning, and then electrocuted, in a way that they can feel the pain."
"..." Mu Anxiao's eyes darkened. "So, you've harmed quite a few lonely souls."
"What about us?"
"If you don't take in lonely souls, aren't you... harming them?" Mu Anxiao said.
"How have we harmed them? I told you, we give them a chance, it's they who don't cherish it."
"My brother, Mu Xi, what's going on?"
Mu Xi's matter had been widely rumored in the underworld. When the wolf demon suddenly mentioned that name earlier, the underworld escort hadn't recalled it. Now, upon hearing Mu Anxiao mention it, his memory was triggered. "Oh, I remember now, Mu Xi is your brother."
"..." Mu Anxiao clicked her tongue. "What am I saying? What are you saying?"
"I forgot just now, and now I suddenly remembered, so I'm a bit excited," the underworld escort said, chuckling foolishly.
"Stop laughing," Mu Anxiao pointed at the underworld escort's face. "Tell me, what's the situation with my brother?"
"Your brother also missed his chance. It's just that he has committed evil now, so naturally, we must..." The underworld escort, seeing Mu Anxiao's glare, felt a sense of fear. "Naturally, we must capture him. However, he requested that you capture him, so we can only hand him over to you." As he spoke, his gaze deliberately shifted to Feng Qishi's face.
Feng Qishi, not understanding the matter, remained silent.
"Speaking of which," Mu Anxiao shook her head slightly, "you are quite foolish."
"Why do you call me foolish?" the underworld escort asked indignantly.
"He possessed Lin Yan's body, and you didn't see through it."
"You didn't see through it either."
"I did see it, it's just..." Mu Anxiao's eyes darkened. "I didn't realize he was my brother. But speaking of which, you are quite useless for not realizing he was a demon soul, or a human soul?"
The underworld escort had to admit it was his oversight, but now, with Mu Anxiao pointing it out, he felt a sense of defeat. He thought that if it weren't for Mu Anxiao, Mu Xi would never have admitted to killing the beggar.
If anything, Mu Anxiao could be considered a contributor.
However, he felt too embarrassed to thank Mu Anxiao.
"..." He lowered his head.
"Ignoring me again." Mu Anxiao glared at the underworld escort.
The underworld escort was startled and looked at Mu Anxiao. "Your brother has committed many sins."
"And then?" Mu Anxiao knew Mu Xi was a cunning person and cautioned herself not to be soft-hearted towards him no matter what.
"And then..." The underworld escort looked at the surprisingly calm Mu Anxiao with surprise, swallowed, and said, "Your brother is going to hell to receive the most severe punishment."
"That is his own doing." The moment Mu Anxiao said this, her heart suddenly ached.