Feng Qi Shi heard this, reached out and pinched Mu An Xiao's cheek hard, and whispered, "I know." Then he removed his hand.
Mu An Xiao endured the pain and rubbed his face. Just as he was about to speak, Feng Qi Shi shushed him.
Mu An Xiao was speechless.
Yan and the red-clothed rabbit spirit remained silent.
Piao said, "Can we go in?"
The Rabbit Queen deliberately glanced at Mu An Xiao and the others, saying, "Come in, I'd like to see how you stop me." With that, she turned and went back into the room first.
Piao glanced at them and followed.
"Since she knows," Feng Qi Shi played dumb.
Mu An Xiao said, "So many people have come. If she didn't know, then she wouldn't be such a cunning rabbit."
"Didn't you say mice are cunning?" Feng Qi Shi retorted.
"It's all the same," Mu An Xiao said, taking a step forward.
Feng Qi Shi frowned and turned his head, saying, "Follow me."
"Okay," Yan and the red-clothed rabbit spirit agreed in unison.
At this moment, a crowd of rabbit spirits had gathered outside Hun Ling's room.
"You've come," Hun Ling said, standing at the top of the steps and surveying the rabbit spirits lined up below.
"Was it the Rabbit Queen who summoned us?" Rabbit Spirit Number One asked.
Hun Ling paused for a moment and said, "Yes, but no."
"What exactly do you want to say?" Rabbit Spirit Number Two asked, looking half-asleep.
"I want to ask if you want to eat," Hun Ling said with a smile, waving his hand towards the ground. A basket of carrots appeared before the rabbit spirits.
"Is this a reward from the Queen?" Rabbit Spirit Number Three asked.
Hun Ling gave a dry chuckle and said, "No, it's from us to you."
"You?" Rabbit Spirit Number Three pointed at Hun Ling, then looked at the inexplicable sadness on Hun Ling's face and asked, "What's wrong?"
Hun Ling lowered his eyelids and said, "I watched you all grow up. I know the habits of each of you. Some don't like to eat carrot peels, some only like to eat cabbage leaves and not the stems. Thinking that we will be separated soon..." He was moved by his own words, his voice becoming choked, "I feel so reluctant to part."
"Aren't you coming with us?" Rabbit Spirit Number Four asked.
Hun Ling shook his head. "No. If I leave here, I will be discovered by those below very soon. I can only stay here."
"Although you're sometimes very talkative, we all know you're doing it for our own good," Rabbit Spirit Number Five said, her eyes darkening. "If you leave us, we will miss you."
"Yes, just like before, when you suddenly disappeared, I looked for you for a long time. We were so happy to see you back," Rabbit Spirit Number Six said, glancing at the other rabbit spirits beside her.
The rabbit spirits nodded in unison.
The rabbit spirits had always been very disrespectful towards Hun Ling. Hun Ling had never expected them to say such things to him. Now, looking at them, his heart sank, and tears welled up in his eyes. "Thank you for your kindness. I cannot be with you. Please, eat this." With that, he turned away.
The rabbit spirits watched Hun Ling's retreating back and began to cry.
Hun Ling listened to the crying behind him, and tears fell uncontrollably.
"Come with us," Rabbit Spirit Number Two suggested.
"If I go, I will surely implicate you. Then the Yin Messenger won't let you go either. I..." Hun Ling said, crying, "cannot go with you."
"But we can't bear to leave you," Rabbit Spirit Number One said.
Hun Ling's shoulders twitched twice. He turned around and said, "I can only say, may we meet again in the future." He cupped his hands.
"Don't go," Rabbit Spirit Number Three shouted.
"I..." Hun Ling sobbed twice and said, "I don't want to see you die."
Hearing this, they were all stunned.
As they suddenly fell silent, Hun Ling covered his mouth. "I'm sorry, I said something I shouldn't have."
"Do you know something?" Rabbit Spirit Number One stepped forward and asked.
Hun Ling shook his head slightly.
"Before, the great demon also looked for us like this, but didn't say anything. I've been bothered by this. Tell us," Rabbit Spirit Number One said, glancing at the other rabbit spirits, and continued, "Is something going on with the Rabbit Queen?"
"Yes," Hun Ling nodded slightly, then his eyes darkened and he said, "At first, I didn't want to tell you, but thinking of your lives, I feel I should speak."
"Tell us," Rabbit Spirit Number One said, nodding in agreement.
Hun Ling took a deep breath and said, "Those rabbit spirits who were banished were all killed by the Rabbit Queen. Of course, don't blame her, she..."
"It really was her," Rabbit Spirit Number Seven suddenly said.
Hun Ling frowned and looked at Rabbit Spirit Number Seven. "You know?"
"I guessed it, but I never thought about it deeply," Rabbit Spirit Number Seven mused. "Can you let out those who are locked in the woodshed?"
"Huh?" Hun Ling was surprised.
"Let us hear what they have to say," Rabbit Spirit Number Seven said.
Hun Ling paused and looked at Rabbit Spirit Number One, who was not guarding the woodshed. "Go there."
"Yes," Rabbit Spirit Number One nodded slightly, turned, and ran away from the team.
Rabbit Spirit Number Seven walked out of the team, looked up at Hun Ling, and said, "I've been waiting for you to speak."
"Me?" Hun Ling pointed to himself, then looked at the other rabbit spirits. "How could you possibly listen to me? What a joke."
"We're not joking. In our hearts, you are the one we trust most, besides the Rabbit Queen. Because without you, we wouldn't be able to live at all. But back then, we didn't listen to you."
"Why have you suddenly changed your minds?" Hun Ling asked in disbelief.
"They told us," Rabbit Spirit Number Seven said, turning to look at the three rabbit spirits who had fled with Hong Yan at the very front.
Hun Ling looked at the three of them and exclaimed, "Why are you back?"
"We just don't want to run anymore," Rabbit Spirit Number One who had fled said.
"Why did you come back?" Hun Ling asked excitedly again.
Rabbit Spirit Number One who had fled glanced at the other rabbit spirits and said, "Although they heartlessly pushed us out, after entering the broken temple, we realized that even so, we couldn't just watch them die."
"How do you know about this place?" Hun Ling asked, confused.
"We only found out last night. At first, we just wanted to come back and expose the Rabbit Queen's true face," Rabbit Spirit Number Two who had fled said.
Hun Ling was silent for a moment and said, "You've explained everything to them."
"Yes, we explained it clearly last night," Rabbit Spirit Number Three who had fled said.