"No need," Mu Anxiao said. "I already have someone in mind. You can all get back to your tasks."
"If you do this, how will I explain it to Feng Qishi when I return?" Xu Lanyan grabbed Mu Anxiao's arm.
"Tell Feng Qishi I said, 'We shall never meet again, and I bid you farewell,'" Mu Anxiao replied.
"Isn't this ending the relationship rather abruptly?" Xu Lanyan asked Mu Anxiao with a helpless look.
"It should have ended long ago," Mu Anxiao said.
"It's truly easy for that word, 'end,' to come from your mouth!" Xu Lanyan thought Mu Anxiao was quite heartless. However, considering his own distant relationship with her, he lacked the courage to persuade her otherwise.
"Alright, I'm leaving now," Mu Anxiao said, turning to look at Hun Ling. "We shall meet again."
"Yes, I should be going too," Hun Ling said, turning to look at the Yin Messenger who was waiting for him.
Mu Anxiao glanced at the Yin Messenger in the direction of Hun Ling's gaze and then walked ahead.
Xu Lanyan watched Mu Anxiao's retreating figure, thinking about Feng Qishi's situation, and sighed helplessly.
Following this, the black-clothed monster appeared before Xu Lanyan, looking disheveled, and asked, "Why didn't you call me?"
Xu Lanyan was startled, staring at the black-clothed monster for a few seconds before realizing, "Oh, I completely forgot about you."
"By the time I woke up, everything was already resolved," the black-clothed monster said, yawning.
"Yes, you are truly fortunate," Xu Lanyan said helplessly, inwardly beginning to admire the black-clothed monster's ability to sleep.
"Are you going back?" the black-clothed monster asked.
Xu Lanyan nodded. "Yes, everything is resolved, and there's no point in staying here. How about you?"
"I'm going back to find my brothers. Take care of yourself," the black-clothed monster said, cupping his hands. Then, he couldn't help but smile, "Come to think of it, it seems I didn't do anything."
"You kept me company," Xu Lanyan said.
The black-clothed monster awkwardly scratched the back of his head and said, "Well then, until we meet again."
"Until we meet again," Xu Lanyan smiled.
The black-clothed monster smiled, spun around once in place, and then vanished.
"Are we still keeping this place?" the Yin Messenger stepped forward and asked Xu Lanyan.
Xu Lanyan thought for a moment and said, "No matter what, this place was built by humans. Never mind, let's go."
"Alright," the Yin Messenger agreed and turned to look at Hun Ling and the others. "Okay, let's go."
Following this, they disappeared one by one.
Xu Lanyan was the last to leave.
Mu Anxiao walked out of the deep forest on foot and returned to the inn.
"You're back?" the waiter ran up and looked at Mu Anxiao's clothes, asking, "What happened to you?"
Mu Anxiao managed a strained smile at the waiter. "It's nothing. You can go back to work." After saying this, she glanced at the proprietress standing behind the counter, her eyes darkening.
The waiter dared not ask further and turned to get busy.
The proprietress, noticing Mu Anxiao's strange demeanor, walked around the counter and approached her, asking, "What's wrong?"
Looking at the proprietress's face, Mu Anxiao couldn't help but call out, "Tian Jiang."
The proprietress was taken aback and said, "How do you know my name?"
"Do you remember Xiao Nian?" Mu Anxiao asked directly, without beating around the bush.
Tian Jiang's eyes darkened, and she said, "I remember. Who are you?"
"I was a passerby back then, someone you met once. You might not remember me, but I remember you," Mu Anxiao said calmly.
Seeing Mu Anxiao's serious expression, Tian Jiang blinked and asked, "Is there something you want to ask me?"
Mu Anxiao nodded.
"Come to my room," Tian Jiang took Mu Anxiao's arm.
Following this, a young man appeared reluctantly beside Tian Jiang and said, "I've packed everything."
"You go rest," Tian Jiang glanced at the young man, then pulled Mu Anxiao away.
The young man turned to look at the bloodstains on Mu Anxiao's body with a surprised expression and muttered, "She's covered in blood. Are you sure she's okay?" He then handed the rag he was holding to the waiter who passed by, saying, "Change of shift."
The waiter took the rag, glared at the young man, and walked away.
The young man smirked. Just as he turned, his junior disciple blocked his path.
"Senior brother, let's go take a look," the junior disciple said softly.
"Look at what?" the young man asked his suddenly nervous junior disciple with confusion.
The junior disciple said, "Senior brother, I think this proprietress is suspicious. I saw a demonic glow in her hand."
"Demonic glow?" the young man was startled and said with a wry smile, "Don't joke around. I didn't even want to go back to the cultivation sect."
"Senior brother, I think the same as you, but... I really saw a demonic glow in her hand," the young man's junior disciple's voice trembled.
The young man hesitated for a moment and then said, "Alright then, let's go take a look."
"Yes," the young man's junior disciple nodded and followed his senior brother upstairs.
In the blink of an eye, Mu Anxiao returned to the room with Tian Jiang.
"Who exactly are you?" Tian Jiang asked, standing by the door.
"I am merely someone who listens to stories and watches stories," Mu Anxiao said, walking to the table and sitting down.
Tian Jiang bolted the door, turned, and sat opposite Mu Anxiao, then looked down at her and asked, "What do you mean by that?"
"It doesn't mean anything. Um, I just wanted to ask you, where is Bìhǔ?" Mu Anxiao asked, looking up at Tian Jiang.
Tian Jiang's eyes darkened. She sat down and uttered two words: "He's dead."
"Dead?" Mu Anxiao repeated, her brow furrowing tightly. "How is that possible? You must be joking. I distinctly remember Bìhǔ being rescued, right by the back door of the mansion."
Tian Jiang looked at Mu Anxiao, who knew everything, with surprise. Then, putting aside her doubts, she said gracefully, "He didn't die there. It was in the past few months."
"What do you mean?" Mu Anxiao was confused.
"He achieved human form. One day, he found a chain and was strangled by it. His body was gone, and his soul... was also gone," Tian Jiang said, lowering her gaze.
"Why would this happen?" Mu Anxiao couldn't believe what she was hearing, thinking: It's that vine spirit again.
"Reality is often this abrupt. It took me a long time to accept it," Tian Jiang said softly.
"Why did he want to cultivate?" Mu Anxiao asked again.
"For Xiao Nian's reincarnation," Tian Jiang said suddenly.
"Xiao Nian's reincarnation?" Mu Anxiao murmured, her gaze involuntarily drifting as she asked, "Where is she?"
"In her previous life, she was a child with an affinity for spirits. In this life, she is just an ordinary mortal. Bìhǔ transformed to be with her forever. But who knew that on the day he was about to go find her, he died. Xiao Nian's reincarnation also got married a few days later. Anyway," Tian Jiang closed her eyes, "they are destined to have no connection across lifetimes."