Piao glanced up at Feng Qishi as the wind picked up and said, "You don't need to know what I mean. However, I'm really not used to your scholarly demeanor." He then chuckled.
Seeing the smile on Feng Qishi's face, Piao stopped dwelling on it.
Then, Gu Xiao, recalling Shen Xian's obvious change, suddenly asked curiously, "What exactly happened between you two?" He walked up to Feng Qishi.
Feng Qishi stood up and replied, "Nothing!"
"Nothing," Gu Xiao repeated, then, thinking about Shen Xian's drastic change, he continued, "Then why did Shen Xian leave in a huff, only to return and no longer want to get married? And why does he seem to be more guarded around you, even preventing you from getting too close to Mu Anxiao?"
With Gu Xiao's repeated prodding, Feng Qishi's mind replayed the incident that had disgusted Mu Anxiao. He thought that if he told Mu Anxiao about it, the foolish Mu would surely erupt.
So, he casually offered a perfunctory explanation, "Shen Xian got jealous when he saw Mu Anxiao and I alone together."
"Jealous," Piao said.
"Yes, jealous!" Feng Qishi nodded.
Gu Xiao thought for a moment and said, "I understand."
"Understand what?" Feng Qishi asked. He had a feeling Gu Xiao wouldn't say anything good.
"I understand," Gu Xiao said, glancing at Piao, "It's because you and she were alone together that... we were locked up."
As Feng Qishi had guessed, he was right.
"Say whatever you want," he said, and then crouched down again.
Piao looked down at Feng Qishi and said, "Even without that incident, we would have been locked up anyway."
"Why?" A Xia asked.
Piao looked at A Xia, then back at Feng Qishi, and said, "Because we are in league with Mu Anxiao. Naturally, he wants to use us to threaten Mu Anxiao."
"Despicable," A Xia clenched his fists.
"And if he didn't know Mu Anxiao was... the reincarnation of that Gu An, what would he have done?"
"Now, it wouldn't be Brother Shen accompanying us, but Mu Anxiao instead."
"Why?"
Piao sighed, "You and I only came to find Chen. But he had already guessed that Brother Shen would come. Of course," Piao organized his thoughts and continued, "If not for that incident with Mu Anxiao, naturally, he would have used us to threaten Brother Shen."
"I knew I shouldn't have come," Gu Xiao looked at Feng Qishi.
Feng Qishi, while shielding the candle, said, "Gu Xiao, if you say one more word, don't blame me for getting angry."
Ever since they entered, Gu Xiao had been blaming him. At first, he didn't want to say anything.
But as Gu Xiao spoke more, he became annoyed.
However, Gu Xiao didn't realize he was talking too much. "I'm still angry."
Feng Qishi: "......"
Piao sighed and sat down next to Feng Qishi.
Chen said, "This is all my fault. Don't blame him."
Hearing this, Gu Xiao was speechless.
Then, Chen walked to Feng Qishi's opposite and said, "It's all my fault. I'm sorry."
Ever since they entered, Chen had been repeating that it was her fault. Feng Qishi had wanted to ignore her because he felt some comfort was unnecessary. The more he spoke, the more Chen would overthink.
Little did he know, he was wrong.
The reality was... even if he didn't say anything, she would still overthink.
Thus, he sighed and was about to look up and speak when Piao beat him to it, "Indeed, this is all her fault."
Chen: "....."
Feng Qishi glanced at Piao, then at Chen, who had lowered her eyes and looked like she was about to cry, and said, "I think..."
"It is her fault," Piao interrupted.
Then, Chen pouted.
Ever since they entered, Chen had been blaming herself, but she hadn't cried a single tear.
Piao thought that holding it in must be difficult for her, so he decided to provoke her like this.
The next second, as Piao had expected, she cried heartbrokenly.
A Xia flinched but didn't step forward.
Feng Qishi was about to get up, but Piao pulled him back. "Don't mind her," he said, glancing at Feng Qishi.
Feng Qishi: "......" He no longer got up.
Hearing Piao say that, Chen cried even louder.
Outside the woodshed, Mu Anxiao stopped. Hearing Chen's heart-wrenching cries from within, she looked at the sachet beside her and asked, "Why did you bring me here? Aren't you afraid Shen Xian will find out?"
Mu Anxiao had intended to sneak out later to check on them and find a way to free them.
Who knew that the sachet had used the excuse of needing to use the restroom to bring her here.
At this moment, she truly couldn't tell if the sachet was good or bad.
The sachet said, "If you didn't come to see, you wouldn't be able to sleep."
"....." Mu Anxiao lowered her head.
The sachet looked at Mu Anxiao and said, "I know what you're thinking. You want me to release them."
Hearing this, Mu Anxiao's eyes lit up, and she looked at the sachet, "Can you?"
"No."
"Why?"
"Because, even if you released them, they might not be able to escape."
However, this was a problem Mu Anxiao had never considered. She thought that as long as they passed through the ghost cave, they could find the tree that brought them here.
Who knew the sachet would say this.
The next second, she was confused. "Why?"
"Do you still remember how you got here?"
"At the time, we passed through a tree, then it was... the Garden of Eden, and then the ghost cave. I thought, as long as they pass through the ghost cave, they can find the tree with the peeled bark, and then they..."
"You are mistaken. The entrance and exit are different."
"What do you mean?"
"We'll talk about it on the way back." The sachet glanced at the door of the woodshed and walked ahead.
Mu Anxiao considered the sachet's words, so she temporarily abandoned her unrealistic thoughts and turned to leave.
At the same time, Feng Qishi saw Mu Anxiao's departing figure outside the window and said, "It's Mu Shazi."
"Mu... Mu Anxiao." Gu Xiao said, quickly turning to look, but there was nothing there.
Piao said, "She's been standing outside for a while."
Upon hearing this, A Xia exclaimed excitedly, "She's here to save us!"
Gu Xiao was closest to the window, but he didn't hear any sound from outside, which puzzled him. "Why can't I hear anything?"
Piao said, "This house was specifically built to imprison us, so naturally, we can't hear their voices. However, I think... they can hear our voices."
Gu Xiao nodded, "So that's how it is!"
Chen sobbed, "I was wrong."
Hearing this, Piao sighed and said, "You are not wrong."
"I..."
"You are not wrong," Piao said, standing up and looking down at Chen, "You just wanted to go out and find Brother Shen, but you didn't expect to encounter Shen Xian halfway. You were just unlucky."
"....." Chen started crying again.
Piao said, "Alright, stop crying." He reached out and patted Chen's head.