"There's nothing to explain. I had an agreement with him, that he wouldn't reveal you're my sister."
Not long ago, Mu Xi had claimed his life belonged to Mu Anxiao. Now, his words had shifted, leaving Mu Anxiao bewildered by his statement.
As for Hei Feng, he had indeed promised Mu Xi that he wouldn't disclose Mu Anxiao was his sister. However, some matters were beyond his control. If he recalled correctly, Mu Xi himself had inadvertently revealed the truth at some point. Mu Xi's sudden change in demeanor left him feeling... perplexed? But more than that, it was guilt.
Seeing Mu Anxiao and Hei Feng remain silent, Mu Xi lowered his head. Before he could speak, Mu Anxiao interjected, "Mu Xi, you're being contradictory, aren't you?"
Upon hearing this, Mu Xi turned to Mu Anxiao. "I..."
"You said your life was mine, and now you're saying this. What do you mean? Are you doing this for my own good? Or do you not want me to watch you descend into the eighteenth level of hell?" Mu Anxiao interrupted.
Listening to Mu Anxiao's tone, Mu Xi's eyes darkened. "I've just realized, I don't want to be your shadow."
"You already are," Mu Anxiao said softly.
Mu Xi was taken aback.
Mu Anxiao continued, "Brother, actually, I had already decided to give up. It was your words that made me reaffirm my resolve to take you with me. It's not for any other reason," she said seriously, "it's simply because I want to see you leave. You are the only... relative who still remembers me."
"Sister," Mu Xi's eyes darkened.
Mu Anxiao smiled faintly and tilted her head towards the gradually brightening sky. "It's almost dawn."
"Yes," Mu Xi nodded.
Hei Feng, seeing that Mu Anxiao and Mu Xi had both regained their composure, let out a sigh of relief. He instructed, "The underworld officials below already know, and this is what you said." Fearing Mu Xi might misunderstand him, he preempted any accusations.
Mu Xi: "..." He looked at Hei Feng.
Hei Feng's gaze flickered. "At that time, you were always saying you hated your sister, hated your sister. I only said that after you did." Having said that, he straightened his back.
Mu Xi hadn't recalled this matter, but hearing Hei Feng bring it up made him feel awkward.
Mu Anxiao glanced at Mu Xi and Hei Feng, recalling Hei Feng's earlier words. "You should just shut up," she said.
Hearing this, Hei Feng glared at Mu Anxiao and fell silent.
Then, Mu Anxiao turned to Mu Xi, who looked at her with deep guilt. "Brother, you promised to watch the sunrise with me, you still remember that, right?"
Due to his demonic arts, Mu Xi was not afraid of the daylight, nor were the demonic souls.
"..." Mu Xi nodded.
Mu Anxiao smiled. "Watch the sunrise with me."
"Alright," Mu Xi agreed.
Hei Feng watched the reconciled siblings and sighed, turning his face away.
An hour later, as the sun rose, Mu Anxiao and Mu Xi stood on the edge of the cliff, watching the sun clearly. Mu Xi smiled and said, "Mother and Father are still alive."
Hearing this, Mu Anxiao's body stiffened. She turned to look at Mu Xi and asked, "Really?" Regarding her parents, Mu Anxiao had always harbored a guess. She had always believed her parents were alive, and she wouldn't allow anyone to say they were dead.
However, Mu Anxiao had never confirmed this. This was the first time she had heard anything about her parents, and it stirred a sense of anticipation within her, but more so, trepidation.
"Yes," Mu Xi nodded and met Mu Anxiao's gaze. "Mother and Father have long lives. I went to see them some time ago; they are living well. Elder Brother and the others have also aged. We have a younger brother and sister. They are not old, but one is married into a good family, and the other has become a high official. They are now only in their early sixties."
Mu Anxiao was surprised that Mu Xi knew such details. She suddenly felt like a 'white-eyed wolf.' For decades, she had never visited her parents, believing that as long as she lived well, that was enough.
Listening to Mu Xi's words, she lowered her head.
Mu Xi asked, "What's wrong?"
"I truly am a scoundrel," Mu Anxiao said softly.
Mu Xi replied, "What's there to be a scoundrel about? You and I," he turned to look ahead, "are both from the Mu family. You are the Mu family's sole divine being. I think it might be because of you that Mother and Father have long lives."
"What does that have to do with me?"
"You are a good immortal," Mu Xi said softly.
Mu Anxiao sighed, a thought of visiting her parents forming in her mind. However, she dared not tell Mu Xi, so she remained silent.
Mu Xi asked, "You want to go see them?"
Mu Anxiao shook her head.
"Say..."
As Mu Xi uttered the word, Hei Feng interjected, "Mu Anxiao, you cannot have such thoughts."
Mu Anxiao was stunned and turned to Hei Feng. "Why?"
Mu Xi was startled and fixed his gaze on Mu Anxiao's profile. "You admit it."
Mu Anxiao glanced at Mu Xi, then at Hei Feng, and remained silent.
Hei Feng said earnestly, "From the moment you became an immortal, you no longer belonged to the Mu family. You are the Heavenly Secret. If you return, you will be revealing the Heavenly Secret, and your fate will be banishment. Your decades of effort will be erased in an instant. Think carefully." Originally, Mu Anxiao had intended to visit her parents, as well as her two younger brothers and sister. Hearing Hei Feng say this, she dismissed the thought.
Seeing Mu Anxiao's silence, Hei Feng continued, "If you go back, you will also disrupt their rhythm of life, and it will be no good for them."
Mu Anxiao nodded. "I understand."
After hearing Hei Feng's words, Mu Xi said, "Sister, let's go."
Hearing this, Mu Anxiao looked at Mu Xi, her heart sinking. Since things had come to this, she couldn't change anything, so she agreed. "Alright, let's go." She nodded.
Hei Feng said, "Let's go back."
"Okay," Mu Anxiao agreed and voluntarily took Mu Xi's arm.
As the sky brightened, Mu Anxiao and the others returned to the reception hall. Feng Qishi saw her return and his heart, which had been filled with worry, finally settled.
"You're back," he said, rising from his chair.
Mu Anxiao nodded and looked at A Long, who stood beside Feng Qishi. "Remember your promise."
"I know, I will tell everything about Guan Mian."
"That's good," Mu Anxiao nodded and looked at Gu Xiao and A Xia. "You two will follow Hei Feng."
Hei Feng stepped forward.
At the same time, an underworld official walked up to Mu Anxiao. "He belongs to us," he said, glancing at Mu Xi.
Mu Anxiao frowned. "What do you mean by that?"
Underworld Official: "The matter has been resolved, and those lone souls have all been captured by us. Now, he has quite a few charges against him, so..." he said seriously, "he rightfully should be taken by me." He pointed at Mu Xi.
Mu Anxiao had always assumed she had to send Mu Xi away, but unexpectedly, an underworld official appeared mid-way. Looking at his face now, she was both speechless and angry.
"..."
Hei Feng had also assumed Mu Xi belonged to their side. Faced with the appearance of the underworld official, he became indignant. "You just can't get enough money, can you?"
Underworld Official: "What do you mean by that?"
Hei Feng: "Mu Xi is our soul, that's what you said. Now Mu Anxiao has captured him, and you show up again. You really know how to join in the fun."
"He killed people, and furthermore, what he has done has disrupted our rhythm. If it weren't for him, those lone souls wouldn't have been so audacious. Therefore..."
"Therefore what? He should..."
"Should what? Should what?" the underworld official interrupted Hei Feng. "Let me tell you, the higher-ups just issued an order that Mu Xi should be managed by us, because he is considered a lone soul, and he has already appeared on our Book of Life and Death. Even if you take him back, it's useless."
"How can this be?" Hei Feng asked, puzzled.
Underworld Official: "As far as I know, someone cursed him, and the way to break that curse is to open one's heart." He said, looking at Mu Anxiao, "Only by opening your heart can Mu Xi return to the Book of Life and Death. I'm not stealing your work, I can't help it." He shrugged.
Mu Anxiao said, "Since that's the case, then you can take him. However," she added, "I want to go with you."
"Go with you?"
"Yes, I want to see him off," Mu Anxiao said, glancing at Mu Xi.
Mu Xi remained calm, not saying a word.
The underworld official nodded. "Alright, I agree."
Hearing the underworld official say this, she breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you."
The underworld official shook his head and looked at Hei Feng. "I'm very happy to have met you. If there's an opportunity in the future, I'll cooperate with you again."
"Who's cooperating with you?" Hei Feng rolled his eyes.
The underworld official smiled. "Our respective matters have been resolved, and we've cooperated once. This is an undeniable reality."
Hei Feng ignored the underworld official and turned his face away.
Soon after, Mu Anxiao disregarded Hei Feng and asked the underworld official cautiously, "Um, what's your name?"
Hearing this, the underworld official looked at Mu Anxiao and, after thinking for a moment, replied, "My name is Shu Jia (Summer Vacation)."
"Shu Jia?" Feng Qishi interjected, expressing surprise.
Hearing this, the underworld official looked at Feng Qishi and nodded. "My name is Shu Jia. What's wrong?"
Feng Qishi thought of the summer vacations he had longed for and looked at the underworld official named Shu Jia. He gave a dry laugh. "Nothing."
"Nothing, then why are you surprised?"
"It's nothing." Feng Qishi knew he couldn't explain himself clearly to Shu Jia, so he gave a perfunctory answer.
Shu Jia was not curious about Feng Qishi's words and then shifted his gaze to Mu Anxiao. "Are you leaving?" he asked, glancing at Wan Sha.
Seeing Feng Qishi look at her, Wan Sha clicked her tongue. "Feng Qishi, why are you looking at me?"
Hearing this, Feng Qishi turned to Wan Sha. "They're leaving, shouldn't you be leaving too?"
"Mu Anxiao made an agreement with me to protect me for ten years."
Feng Qishi wasn't very clear about this matter, so when Wan Sha suddenly mentioned it, he looked at Mu Anxiao in disbelief. "Are you crazy? Letting the evil woman go free!"
Hearing Feng Qishi's words, Wan Sha immediately became agitated. "Mu Anxiao, Wan Xia..."
"Shut up." Mu Anxiao couldn't stand Wan Sha mentioning Wan Xia again. She interrupted her and said, "I did promise her, but it depends on her performance."
"My performance has been very good," Wan Sha said excitedly.
Seeing Wan Sha's excited expression, Yue Ci smiled.
Then, Wan Sha inadvertently saw Yue Ci's expression and said impatiently, "Hey, why are you smiling? Are you looking for a beating?" She raised her fist.
Yue Ci was startled and mumbled, "Everyone bullies me."
More than an hour ago, after talking with Feng Qishi, Yue Ci had gone to find his master. Who would have thought... as soon as he mentioned wanting to seek refuge with the old gentleman, before he could even state his reason, his master became angry and immediately ordered his junior disciples to beat him. After that, he didn't walk far before returning.
At that time, seeing that Feng Qishi had forgotten about his departure, he pretended as if nothing had happened and began to join their conversation.
Who would have thought... he would end up being countered by Mu Anxiao? He felt extremely wronged, especially seeing Wan Sha raise her fist. He couldn't help but recall the scene of being beaten by his fellow disciples in a few minutes, which made him feel dejected.
Seeing Yue Ci's demeanor, Feng Qishi remembered his departure after their conversation not long ago. He said, "Right, didn't you go to see your master?"
Yue Ci hadn't expected his dejection to bring back Feng Qishi's memory. Looking at Feng Qishi, he felt awkward. "I went."
"So quickly?" Feng Qishi hadn't noticed his return. Now that his memory returned, Feng Qishi couldn't help but be surprised.
Yue Ci replied, "Yes, my master wasn't there." He averted his gaze slightly.
"Oh, so you can't seek refuge with us then?" Feng Qishi asked deliberately.
Yue Ci gave a dry laugh. "I've thought about it. My master is quite good."
"That's good then," Feng Qishi nodded and looked at Mu Anxiao. "Why are you looking at me?"
Mu Anxiao replied, "You and the wolf demon should go back to the ruined temple."
"And you?" Feng Qishi frowned.
"I..." Mu Anxiao glanced at Shu Jia. "I'm going down with them. I have something to do."
"You really have a disciple?" Feng Qishi suddenly recalled Mu Anxiao's earlier words.
Mu Anxiao confirmed, "Yes, I need to help my disciple clear his name." As she spoke, she looked at A Long, who was staring at her. "Don't worry, I'll help you."
"Thank you," A Long nodded.
Mu Anxiao smiled faintly and looked at Gu Xiao and A Xia. "This is as far as I can escort you."
A Xia replied, "It's fine, it's all the same."
"When I'm not around, you need to take good care of yourself," Gu Xiao said earnestly.
Mu Anxiao nodded.
Mu Xi looked at Feng Qishi. "You are a good person."
Hearing this, Feng Qishi looked at Mu Xi, who had once considered him a 'master.' Before he could speak, Mu Xi looked at Lin Yan. "You've finally come."
Lin Yan said, "Farewell." Due to the previous incident, he still didn't dare to meet Mu Xi's eyes.
Mu Xi ignored Lin Yan and looked at Feng Qishi. "You really think I'm stronger than him, don't you?"
Feng Qishi hadn't expected Mu Xi to ask this question and felt awkward. "Yes."
Lin Yan dared not speak, feeling distressed.
Conversely, Mu Xi smiled. "Your words are enough."
"Farewell," Feng Qishi said softly.
Mu Xi nodded.
After giving a few instructions to Mu Long and Mu Xiang, the elder voluntarily walked over to Mu Anxiao and the others.
Thus, they split into two groups. Mu Anxiao accompanied Shu Jia to the underworld, which specialized in capturing souls. Hei Feng took Gu Xiao and A Xia and left. As for A Xia and Gu Xiao's reincarnation, she had instructed Hei Feng before leaving. Gu Xiao and A Xia also cooperated with Hei Feng.