"You are..." the woman in floral clothes spoke halfway, stood up, glanced at the bell lightly swaying at her waist, and exclaimed, "You are not human."
"You figured out I'm not human, but your sister with the dog's nose didn't," Mu Anxiao's lips curved into a smile. "That shows you're the real one."
"You..."
"You raise demons and kill people," Mu Anxiao interrupted, leaning forward to sniff the floral-clothed woman. "Hmm, there's no scent of blood."
"Who says I raise demons and kill people?" the woman in floral clothes retorted indignantly.
"No one said it, I guessed it," Mu Anxiao said, pointing to the tavern. "Let's go in and eat something."
"I'm not going," the woman in floral clothes averted her gaze.
"Why?" Mu Anxiao asked with a smile, "Are you afraid I'll eat and run, leaving you here?"
"You really are good at guessing people's minds," the woman in floral clothes said, staring at Mu Anxiao.
"I can see your future, do you believe me?" Mu Anxiao met the woman's eyes and asked.
"I don't believe you," the woman in floral clothes quickly averted her gaze and said.
"Believe it or not, now, don't pester him, otherwise, I'll tell you your future," Mu Anxiao said, intending to threaten.
The woman in floral clothes glanced at the gecko who had transformed into a little boy and said, "He betrayed me, I want a reason."
"A reason," Mu Anxiao repeated, chuckling. "Then let's go inside, and I'll have him explain it to you properly."
"You said so," the woman in floral clothes pointed at Mu Anxiao.
"Let's go," Mu Anxiao said, pulling Xiao Nian and entering first.
Seeing Mu Anxiao enter, the waiter eagerly stepped forward and asked, "Guests, how many people?"
"Four..." Mu Anxiao uttered one syllable, deliberately glancing at the gecko, and said, "Three people."
"Alright, three guests, please," the waiter gestured towards the tables and chairs nearby.
Mu Anxiao looked at the tables and chairs in the direction the waiter pointed and asked, "Do you have private rooms?"
"Private rooms, alright," the waiter said enthusiastically.
Immediately, Mu Anxiao followed the waiter upstairs.
The woman in floral clothes walked up the stairs behind them.
Soon, they entered a private room and ordered their dishes.
"That's all," Mu Anxiao said to the waiter, sitting at the table.
The waiter smiled and replied, "Alright," and left the room.
Xiao Nian dared not look directly at the woman in floral clothes, keeping his head down the entire time.
The woman in floral clothes asked, "Are you that afraid of me?"
"Yes," Xiao Nian nodded.
The woman in floral clothes sighed and asked Mu Anxiao, "Why don't you take it off?"
"I won't take it off," Mu Anxiao uttered two cold words.
"If you don't take it off, how can you eat?" the woman in floral clothes was full of curiosity about Mu Anxiao's true appearance.
Mu Anxiao thought of her first meeting with the woman in floral clothes at the inn and thought, "It seems she doesn't recognize me at all. If I reveal my face now, it might not be good." With that thought, she said, "I'll lift the cloth and eat, is that not allowed!"
The woman in floral clothes twisted her lips and said, "Fine, whatever you wish."
"What's your name?" Mu Anxiao asked.
The woman in floral clothes glanced at Xiao Nian and said, "Why should I tell you my name?"
"It's fine if you don't say it," Mu Anxiao said, looking Mu Anxiao up and down. "Then I'll just call you Hua Yi."
"Hua Yi?" the woman in floral clothes repeated with a frown.
"If you don't tell me your name, I can only call you by these two words," Mu Anxiao said matter-of-factly.
"My name is Tian Jiang," the woman in floral clothes introduced herself shyly.
Mu Anxiao called out, "Tian Jiang."
The woman in floral clothes nodded and said, "My Jiang is the Jiang from ginger."
Mu Anxiao chuckled, "I didn't ask how to write your name, you don't need to explain so meticulously."
Tian Jiang lowered her head.
"My name is Xiao Nian," Xiao Nian said casually.
The gecko was startled and nudged Xiao Nian's arm with his elbow, saying, "Don't speak."
Hearing this, Tian Jiang shifted her gaze to Xiao Nian's face. "I know you, my sister mentions you to me often."
Mu Anxiao picked up her teacup, lifted the black cloth with her other hand, and took a sip of tea. "Speaking of which, you said you don't raise demons and kill people, so why did you send this fellow to Xiao Nian's side?" She put down the cup.
Xiao Nian was stunned and turned to look at the gecko.
The gecko said, "I'm sorry."
Mu Anxiao did not hear the gecko's voice, her gaze still fixed on Tian Jiang.
Tian Jiang said in a low voice, "My sister said to scare Xiao Nian."
"And you did as she said?" Mu Anxiao could not believe that Tian Jiang was so bored.
"My sister said it. If I didn't do it, she would go back and tell our parents how useless I am, and then I would have to marry someone like her, making all my efforts over the years in vain," Tian Jiang explained softly.
"So you went to scare a child for your own sake," Mu Anxiao said, laughing helplessly. "Serves you right that the gecko betrayed you."
"Why did you betray me?" Tian Jiang immediately reacted and asked the gecko.
"You said that as long as I found a target, I could leave you," the gecko said righteously.
Tian Jiang was stunned for a moment and asked, "Did I say that?" She pointed at herself.
"What kind of memory is that?" Mu Anxiao glared at Tian Jiang.
Tian Jiang cautiously looked at Mu Anxiao and said, "Then you should have at least told me, this is really too much."
"You said I could leave you quietly, didn't all the demons you raised leave?" the gecko said, cautiously observing Tian Jiang.
Tian Jiang's body stiffened, and she lowered her eyes, saying, "Even you want to leave me. I haven't treated you badly, have I?"
"Your magic is indeed powerful, but it's really hard to follow you," the gecko said, glancing at Xiao Nian. "Please let me go."
"Do you really want to leave me?" Tian Jiang asked.
"Yes, I don't want to help your sister do bad things anymore, it's really tiring," the gecko said firmly.
Hearing this, Tian Jiang looked up and asked, "My sister... what do you mean by that?"
The gecko hesitated for a moment and said, "Although she can't see me, she comes to that moldy wall every day and assigns me many tasks I don't want to do, like scaring Xiao Nian, and then pouring dirty water on Xiao Nian's quilt. She always mentions you and says you are an immortal." He frowned. "The passing demons saw me being commanded by her and mocked me. I really hate that feeling."
"She really did that?" Tian Jiang asked incredulously.
"You didn't know for half the time," Mu Anxiao interjected.
Tian Jiang looked at Mu Anxiao and said, "I didn't know."
"How could you not know?" Xiao Nian asked with a mature tone, looking up.
"I..."
"I don't believe you didn't know," Xiao Nian said firmly.
The gecko looked at Xiao Nian and said again, "Xiao Nian, I'm sorry."