"Me!"
"Mu An Xiao!" Xiang Nang uttered, rising and walking to the door. Without hesitation, she pulled it open and looked out at Mu An Xiao, asking, "Why have you changed your clothes again?"
"You have sharp eyes."
"Why are you scolding me?"
"I didn't?"
Xiang Nang frowned. "You're saying you didn't scold me, but you just called me a贱 (jiàn)."
"Uh, I said sharp, which is the same as 贱 (jiàn)."
"Aren't they the same?"
"Of course, they're different." Mu An Xiao said, glancing behind her. "Is anyone else here?"
"Anyone else? What are you thinking? Ever since you went to Shen Xian's place, I've been the only one here."
"That's good, let's go in."
Seeing Mu An Xiao's mysterious demeanor, Xiang Nang didn't think further. She stepped back, clearing the way. "Please, come in!"
"You're too kind!" Mu An Xiao smiled and walked past her into the room.
Xiang Nang held the door, and after confirming no one else was outside, closed it.
Immediately, Mu An Xiao walked to the table, picked up Xiang Nang's used cup, and drank some water, saying, "Remember to prepare the travel token."
"You succeeded?"
"No, I just came to tell you. Anyway, just remember it."
"Okay," Xiang Nang nodded, then looked at the cup in Mu An Xiao's hand. "Can you please not drink from my cup?"
"I didn't even mind you."
"But that's my cup."
"....." Mu An Xiao felt awkward, put down the cup, and said, "Alright, alright, I won't use it anymore. Happy?"
"Yes."
"Okay, just prepare it for me. I'm leaving," Mu An Xiao said, standing up.
Xiang Nang asked, "Awakening a conscience is not an easy task."
Mu An Xiao thought of Shen Xian's stubbornness to hunt monsters, which she had gradually resolved. Thinking of that, awakening a conscience seemed even less of a problem.
Therefore, she didn't heed Xiang Nang's words and casually replied, "I know," and left the room.
Xiang Nang stood in place, sighing.
Shen Xian's room.
Shen Xian had finished washing up and was sitting at the table. He looked up at Mu An Xiao, who had startled him, and asked, "Where did you go?"
Mu An Xiao said, "I went to the latrine," feigning composure, she patted her stomach. "Feels good."
Shen Xian: "....."
"You're already up."
"Mm."
"....." Mu An Xiao felt awkward, turned around, swung her arms, and walked to the desk, asking, "When do I depart?"
"Soon."
"Soon..." Mu An Xiao froze after uttering the word and quickly turned to look at Shen Xian. "You mean, I'm going after I finish eating?"
"Yes. Based on years of experience, daytime monsters should be more knowledgeable. Also, I want to..."
"Stop. Gu An died at night."
This was something Mu An Xiao had read in a book. The description was that she lay on the ground in pitch darkness. Thinking of that passage, she added, "If I go during the day, I won't find any clues."
"How do you know she died at night?"
"I..." Mu An Xiao came to her senses and gave an awkward smile. "I just heard it."
"Who told you?"
"Xiang Nang. She said it was night when she found Gu An."
"....." Shen Xian's eyes darkened.
Mu An Xiao's gaze flickered. She suddenly remembered the matter of the soul sword and the words of the first monster yesterday. Her eyes widened. "That guy knew about the soul sword, so he must also know about Gu An's death." Thinking this, she suddenly regretted letting him go yesterday.
Seeing Mu An Xiao silent, Shen Xian said, "Don't worry about it too much. Just go."
"Oh."
"Prepare yourself." Shen Xian finished speaking, turned, and walked out of the room, then set up a barrier at the door.
Mu An Xiao: "....." She had always thought she would act at night and intended to rest a bit longer, and also study the soul sword more for combat.
Now, things were much earlier. She then thought that if Feng Qi Shi and Piao hadn't been there yesterday, and she had to deal with ten monsters, it would have been a sure failure.
Especially since today's mission was not just to kill monsters, but also to find out the cause of Gu An's death from them. Thinking of this, she suddenly lost confidence.
"Damn it, I should have asked Shen Xian to send some subordinates with me." Saying this, she looked down, walked to the door, and just as she reached out, she was shocked by the barrier, staggering back several steps.
"Are you kidding me?" She stared at her hand.
Garden.
Shen Xian looked at Piao and Chen who were weeding and said, "You two don't go to the front yard today." He then looked towards a thatched hut and said, "Xu Lan, come out."
The vine spirit heard Shen Xian's call, curled its lips, and replied, "Coming." It rushed out of the thatched hut and ran to Shen Xian.
Shen Xian glanced at Piao and Chen and said, "Come, I have something to tell you." He then walked ahead.
Next, the vine spirit looked smugly at Piao and said, "What are you looking at? Get back to work." After saying this, it left.
Piao: "...."
Chen said, "So arrogant."
Piao looked at Chen, thinking about what the vine spirit and Shen Xian had said together yesterday. He quickly dropped his weeding tool and said, "I'm going to see if our food is ready."
"He's not..."
"Need to eat," Piao interrupted and walked towards the front yard.
Unexpectedly, after only a few steps, a barrier suddenly struck down, hitting the ground in front of his feet. He immediately stopped and looked at Shen Xian, who was casting a spell not far away, shouting, "What are you doing?"
Shen Xian lowered his hand, turned to look at Piao, and said, "I hope you don't take my words lightly."
"..." Piao frowned deeply.
The vine spirit glared at Piao, turned, and followed Shen Xian.
Kitchen.
Feng Qi Shi had finished cooking and was preparing to deliver the food when Xiang Nang walked in. "It's all ready."
"It's ready," Feng Qi Shi turned to look at Xiang Nang and asked, "Are you hungry?"
"So-so."
"Then I'll take it to that silly Mu An first," Feng Qi Shi said, picking up the tray.
Just as Feng Qi Shi was about to walk towards the door, Shen Xian entered. "Junior brother."
Feng Qi Shi stopped. "Senior brother, why are you here?"
"You don't need to deliver it."
Shen Xian said, walked to Feng Qi Shi, and reached out to take the tray. Feng Qi Shi deliberately took a step back and asked, "Senior brother, what do you mean by this?"
"Mu An Xiao is in my room. I don't want you to enter."
Feng Qi Shi: "....." Helplessly, he compromised and handed over the tray.
Shen Xian said, "Our marriage will be decided soon." As he spoke, he took the tray and turned away.
Feng Qi Shi wondered, "What does he mean by this?"
Xiang Nang watched Feng Qi Shi lost in thought and asked, "What's wrong?"
Hearing this, Feng Qi Shi came to his senses, looked at Xiang Nang, and then walked past her towards the kitchen door.