“You want these too?”
“These are of no use to us, but I also won’t allow you to do this.”
“You can’t control me,” Mu Anxiao said. Just as she bent down to continue grabbing the money, Xu Lan immediately bent down and grabbed her by the collar.
Feng Qishi saw this and said, “You should understand the principle of separation between men and women, shouldn’t you?”
Upon hearing this, Xu Lan relaxed his grip and stood up, only then noticing Feng Qishi. “You’re here too.”
“You ignored me.” Feng Qishi smiled.
Xu Lan felt embarrassed and averted his gaze.
Then, Feng Qishi stepped forward and said, “I can prove that those five women did indeed say they would hand over all their inheritance to Mu the Fool.”
At the same time, Mu Anxiao stood up, smiling, and said, “Shen the Madman, you’ve finally spoken a human word.”
Hearing this, Feng Qishi glanced at Mu Anxiao, then at Xu Lan. “Besides, don’t you think, if they hadn’t said it, how could Mu the Fool possibly know about this place?”
Xu Lan: “…” He pondered Feng Qishi’s words for a moment and said, “What you’re saying isn’t without reason, but…”
Mu Anxiao: “But what?”
“But they said they didn’t.”
“Who did they tell?” Mu Anxiao stepped forward, her anger burning within her.
Xu Lan: “Who else could they tell, but the Yin Messengers managing them?” He looked at Mu Anxiao.
Mu Anxiao: “Why are you here?”
“They said it, but I didn’t know where their things were hidden, so an hour ago, I set up a spell here. Whoever comes, the wind will alert me.”
“So the wind was your doing all along,” Feng Qishi said.
Xu Lan glanced at Feng Qishi. “Yes, I just didn’t expect you to actually come.” He looked at Mu Anxiao.
Mu Anxiao’s eyes darted away. “Anyone who doesn’t want money is an idiot.”
“Mu Anxiao, you are truly greedy.”
Greedy?
People live in this world, and money is needed to sustain life. She, Mu Anxiao, naturally had to follow this way of survival.
Moreover, she was a celestial being working in the mortal realm. Without exposing her identity, she naturally had to live like a human.
Clearly, Xu Lan’s words were nonsense to Mu Anxiao.
“I call it cherishing wealth.”
Feng Qishi asked, “What does cherishing wealth mean?”
Mu Anxiao: “It means to cherish money. If those gold and silver treasures are buried here and no one uses them, aren’t they losing their value? Their inherent value is to be spent and used by people. I’m doing this for their own good.”
“Talking nonsense with a straight face,” Xu Lan frowned.
Feng Qishi: “I actually think what she’s saying makes sense.”
“…” Xu Lan took a deep breath, turned his head to look at Feng Qishi, and said, “Can you stop being a hind-sighted commentator?”
“Everyone is born, you and I are born, and we all have our own value, naturally,” Feng Qishi glanced at Mu Anxiao. “Those treasures are no exception. What she’s saying is not wrong.”
Hearing Feng Qishi’s words, Xu Lan’s eyes darkened. He looked at Mu Anxiao again. “What you’re saying does seem to have some truth to it.”
“Doesn’t it?” Mu Anxiao raised an eyebrow.
Xu Lan looked foolish and thought for a moment. “Then, if that’s the case, let us help them realize their value.” With that, he waved his hand, and four other small pits appeared on the ground.
Seeing this, Mu Anxiao was startled and asked, “What are you doing?”
Xu Lan: “You can leave.”
“What do you mean by that?” Mu Anxiao stared at the five small pits, her face full of bitterness.
As Xu Lan cast spells to bring up the gold and silver treasures, he said, “Those five women said that if we found their things, they would hand them over one by one. At first, I didn’t think it was a good idea, so I didn’t look. But,” he smiled at Mu Anxiao, “after hearing what you said, I think it makes a lot of sense.”
“…” Mu Anxiao’s heart sank. She took a step forward and said, “If that’s the case, give me some.”
She truly regretted putting that silver back just now.
Xu Lan continued to cast spells, looking down at Mu Anxiao. “No.”
“You…” Mu Anxiao uttered a word and pouted. “Damn it, I knew I shouldn’t have come.”
Hearing Mu Anxiao’s slightly choked tone, Xu Lan hesitated for a moment and said, “I can give you twenty taels.”
“Really?” Mu Anxiao’s face lit up again instantly.
Feng Qishi saw Mu Anxiao like this, his mouth twitched. He thought to himself that Mu the Fool’s mood changes were indeed quite rapid.
With that thought, he focused his gaze on Xu Lan.
Xu Lan: “Of course it’s true, but you have to help.”
“What is it?”
“Help me investigate the Willow Vine spirit.”
“Willow Vine spirit?”
“Yes, we seriously suspect that the Yin Messenger in charge has issues.”
“Issues,” Mu Anxiao said, looking down and thinking. She deliberately asked, “What does that have to do with the Willow Vine spirit?”
“Yesterday, he was drunk and mentioned the word ‘vine’. A subordinate Yin Messenger told me.”
“Oh?”
“What do you mean ‘oh’?”
“Just because he mentioned the word ‘vine’, you assume it has something to do with the Willow Vine spirit?” Mu Anxiao chuckled. “Aren’t you overthinking it?”
Actually, Mu Anxiao had always suspected that the matter was related to the Willow Vine spirit, but she couldn’t stay in the underworld any longer, so she had suppressed the matter.
Now that Xu Lan brought it up, it was an opportunity for her.
However, she couldn’t appear too obvious, so she played dumb like this.
“Yesterday, I also thought I might be overthinking it, but,” Xu Lan said seriously, “he got drunk again today.”
“Drinking at work and not getting fired, you’re too kind,” Mu Anxiao said helplessly.
Xu Lan withdrew his hand, looked down at the silver and treasures at his feet, and said, “He wasn’t drinking during work hours, but at home.”
“Oh?”
Hearing Mu Anxiao’s perfunctory reply, Xu Lan tutted. “What are you saying ‘oh’ for again?”
Mu Anxiao: “Then your Yin Messengers here are really quite idle.”
“Are you listening or not?”
“Listening.” Mu Anxiao withdrew her teasing remarks and nodded.
Xu Lan continued: “He just said ‘willow vine’.”
“Willow vine…” Mu Anxiao repeated, looking down at the dazzling silver and gleaming gold on the ground. She pursed her lips and said, “This is indeed quite suspicious.” As she said this, she slowly bent down.
Seeing this, Xu Lan quickly reached out, grabbed Mu Anxiao by the collar, and continued, “I and other Yin Messengers suspect that he is involved with the Willow Vine spirit.”
Mu Anxiao, unable to move because Xu Lan was holding her, looked up and asked, “How many in total?”
“How many in total what?” Xu Lan met Mu Anxiao’s gaze and retorted.
Mu Anxiao glanced downwards and said, “I mean, how many Yin Messengers feel that the Yin Messenger in charge has issues.”
“Twenty.”
“Twenty?” Mu Anxiao repeated, her gaze then locking onto the treasures. “Then, if that’s the case, why don’t you resolve it yourselves? This is considered an internal family matter!”
“He was recruited from the mortal realm. Due to our own tasks, we are unable to conduct investigations in the mortal realm.”