Mu Anxiao watched Ouyang Ye’s relaxed expression as he uttered those words, thinking of Feng Qishi and Yuan Yan’s current situation. She asked, “Will the poison from this fragrance dissipate on its own?”
“…” Ouyang Ye suddenly smiled at Mu Anxiao.
Mu Anxiao frowned, “What do you mean?”
Immediately, Ouyang Ye retracted his smile and became serious, “No, it will only worsen the condition and endanger life.”
“Death?” Mu Anxiao hadn’t expected the poison in the fragrance to be so potent, her eyes widening.
“Yes, death. Therefore, you must rely on me,” Ouyang Ye said indifferently.
Mu Anxiao had begun to trust Ouyang Ye, but the moment he spoke those words, she felt a degree of doubt towards him. However, to avoid offending him, she did not voice her thoughts, instead shifting her gaze to Shujia’s face.
Shujia, seeing Mu Anxiao look at him, suddenly understood, “What he says is correct.”
Mu Anxiao had expected Shujia to say this quietly, but he had spoken it out loud in front of Ouyang Ye.
Thus, she slowly turned her gaze back, offering Ouyang Ye a polite smile.
“You don’t believe me,” Ouyang Ye said with a forced smile.
Mu Anxiao’s eyes darted away, “No…”
“Tell the truth,” Ouyang Ye interrupted.
Hearing this, Mu Anxiao closed her eyes momentarily in feigned difficulty and said, “Yes, I don’t believe you. I think the poison from the fragrance shouldn’t be fatal.”
“…” Ouyang Ye chuckled, “It won’t be fatal to a demon soul. For immortals, after death, they become demon souls, and what’s more, they will be charged with fabricated crimes.”
“What did you say?” Mu Anxiao retorted, then added, “You’re saying immortals become demon souls?”
“Yes, immortals become demon souls. Humans will simply die. As for Feng Qishi,” Ouyang Ye shrugged his shoulders, “she would likely become a demon soul, and within five days.”
Five days?
Hearing the astonishing news Ouyang Ye provided, Mu Anxiao couldn’t help but recall Zhao Meier’s words when she took Feng Qishi and Yuan Yan away, “I want him. I’ll give you five days. If you don’t come find me by then, I will marry Feng Qishi. Afterwards, I will invite you and kill you. Of course, remember, the benefactor of the evil spirit is a woman.”
Recalling Zhao Meier’s words, Mu Anxiao’s eyes darkened, and she suddenly understood that Zhao Meier wanted Feng Qishi to become like her.
A sense of crisis washed over her, “This means I must find the benefactor of the evil spirit.”
However, the moment Mu Anxiao spoke, Ouyang Ye frowned, “What did you say?”
Mu Anxiao asked, “You’ve been by my side the whole time, you must have heard what that woman said.” She looked up at Ouyang Ye.
“I didn’t hear.”
Ouyang Ye had indeed been present, but his attention had been solely on Mu Anxiao, and naturally, he had not paid attention to Zhao Meier and the others’ words.
“You didn’t hear?” Mu Anxiao couldn’t believe it, but seeing Ouyang Ye’s serious expression, she didn’t think he was lying. So she repeated, “We must find the benefactor of the evil spirit to save Feng Qishi and Yuan Yan.”
“What do you mean by that?” Ouyang Ye feigned ignorance.
Mu Anxiao explained, “The woman who captured him said that if I don’t bring the benefactor to her within five days, she will marry Feng Qishi. Therefore, I must hurry and find the benefactor of the evil spirit.” Her gaze was determined.
Ouyang Ye’s eyes darkened, “You don’t want Feng Qishi to marry her.”
“Of course,” Mu Anxiao exclaimed excitedly.
Ouyang Ye, hearing this, became jealous, “You like Feng Qishi.”
“…” Mu Anxiao pursed her lips, “Now is not the time for you to ask this question. If you want to help me, take me to find them. If you don’t want to help, I’ll find them myself.”
Ouyang Ye sneered, “As if you’ve even seen their benefactor.”
“I haven’t seen them, but that woman said,” Mu Anxiao replied, “the benefactor of the evil spirit is a woman.”
“A woman?” Ouyang Ye frowned.
Mu Anxiao nodded, “Yes, she said it’s a woman. As long as you take me to infiltrate the evil spirit’s territory, I’ll find a way to locate the benefactor. Whether you help me or not then is up to you.”
“You are threatening me.”
“I’m not, I just don’t want to bother you,” Mu Anxiao said sincerely.
Ouyang Ye smiled, “You don’t want to bother me, but do you realize that from the moment I found you until now, you have already become my bother?” As he spoke, he met Mu Anxiao’s gaze.
Mu Anxiao disliked Ouyang Ye’s way of speaking, so she deliberately shifted her gaze, cleared her throat, and asked, “Which way should we go?” She looked in both directions.
Ouyang Ye said, “What? Are you shy, or…”
“I just want to save Shen Fengzi now. Can you stop talking nonsense?” Mu Anxiao was truly unable to tolerate Ouyang Ye’s attitude.
Conversely, the moment Mu Anxiao spoke, Ouyang Ye’s expression turned cold, “If Feng Qishi becomes a demon soul and marries that woman, you will be completely mine.”
Mu Anxiao’s expression froze. She suddenly realized that her tone of speech had indeed been problematic. Immediately, she put on a bitter smile, “I was joking. Say whatever you want, as long as you’re happy.”
Ouyang Ye stated, “You’ve already annoyed me.”
“I…” Mu Anxiao knew she had to rely on Ouyang Ye to find the benefactor of the evil spirit, so she suppressed her anger towards him and put on a playful demeanor, “I was joking. Don’t be angry. When this is over, I’ll share my silver with you.”
“I have no interest in silver.”
“No interest in silver…” Mu Anxiao said, after a quick thought, she continued, “How about I find you some unwanted suitors? Look, you’re not ugly, so any woman who sees you will surely like you. This way, the condition of unwanted suitors will be met.” She continued to smile.
Ouyang Ye didn’t want a response like this from Mu Anxiao. What he desired was for her to say, ‘I like you.’ Instead, she was now playing coy.
Moreover, she was pretending to be oblivious in front of him. It seemed he was both speechless and angered by Mu Anxiao.
“…” He just stared at Mu Anxiao, not saying a word.
Mu Anxiao looked at Ouyang Ye’s cold gaze, thinking about the suggestion she had just made, and gave a wry smile, “You don’t like my suggestion?”
“You are the one I chose,” Ouyang Ye said profoundly.
Mu Anxiao lowered her eyelids and gave a dry laugh, “I will disappoint you, you should give up.” After speaking, she slowly tilted her head up, cautiously fixing her gaze on Ouyang Ye’s face.
Ouyang Ye listened to Mu Anxiao’s words without any particular feeling. Instead, he quietly watched her evasive eyes and chuckled lightly without speaking.
Mu Anxiao became uncomfortable under Ouyang Ye’s gaze, “You said earlier that if you were in a good mood, you would help me save Shen Fengzi. You can’t go back on your word.” She looked at Ouyang Ye with forced boldness.
Immediately, Ouyang Ye’s gaze wandered over Mu Anxiao’s face before he said, “Do you think I’m happy or unhappy right now?”
“I think you’re quite happy.”
“Quite…” Ouyang Ye repeated the word in his mouth, laughing, “That means I’m unhappy.”
“You…”
“Alright, I won’t play with you anymore. Let’s go find Feng Qishi directly,” Ouyang Ye interrupted.
Mu Anxiao was surprised, “Go find her directly… How? She said she wants the benefactor of the evil spirit. If I don’t bring the benefactor, then…”
“What she tells you isn’t necessarily true. Are you sure,” Ouyang Ye observed Mu Anxiao’s expression, “you want to take it seriously?”
In the past, Mu Anxiao never believed the words of demon souls. She always captured them directly, completing all tasks very quickly.
This was precisely why those demon souls harbored such great animosity towards her.
However, ever since the vine spirit had unleashed the two hundred and fifty demon souls, she had completely abandoned her previous mindset. For ten years, whenever she captured a demon soul, she would try her best to fulfill their requests.
Although her current task completion rate was slow, the demon souls were mostly willing.
At this moment, Ouyang Ye’s words served as a reminder. As he said, not long ago, she had been completely manipulated by Zhao Meier and Jiong Ye.
Ultimately, it was a trace of trust in them that led to her current predicament.
It seemed she had fallen into a new wave of contemplation.
“…”
Ouyang Ye looked down at Mu Anxiao’s pensive expression, then glanced at Shujia and Mu Miyuan, who dared not speak a word, and said, “Just tell me, what are you thinking now?” He looked at Mu Anxiao again.
Mu Anxiao pursed her lips and said, “I don’t know.”
“You don’t know, what does that mean?”
“To be honest, that woman is a demon soul who escaped from the underworld. I’m worried…” Mu Anxiao said, looking up and meeting Ouyang Ye’s eyes, “if I don’t do as she says, she’ll harm Feng Qishi.”
“As far as I know, you weren’t like this before,” Ouyang Ye said in a low voice.
Mu Anxiao’s gaze flickered away.
“The old you wouldn’t have considered the words of demon souls. You always captured them directly. In other words,” Ouyang Ye said seriously, “you wouldn’t leave them any room for negotiation. It’s truly surprising that you’re like this now.”
“…” Mu Anxiao didn’t want Ouyang Ye to brainwash her, so she lowered her head.
Seeing Mu Anxiao’s unresponsiveness, Ouyang Ye narrowed his eyes and said, “Fine, I’ll take you to meet the evil spirit.”
Upon hearing this, Mu Anxiao’s heart leaped with joy, and she quickly looked up at Ouyang Ye, smiling, “Really.”
Ouyang Ye smiled seeing Mu Anxiao’s smile, “Of course it’s real. Let’s go.” He extended his hand.
Mu Anxiao looked down at Ouyang Ye’s hand and frowned, “What are you doing?”
Ouyang Ye replied, “Hold my hand, and the evil spirits won’t be able to sense you.”
“I was with you before, and those evil spirits could still sense me. Don’t try to take advantage of me,” Mu Anxiao saw through him at once and took a step back.
Seeing this, Ouyang Ye’s lips curved, and he lowered his hand, saying, “I saw you being toyed with by those two just now, why doesn’t it work on me anymore? Or perhaps,” he deliberately bent down, meeting Mu Anxiao’s eyes, “I’ve finally woken you up.” As he spoke, he reached out and cupped Mu Anxiao’s head.
“…” Mu Anxiao’s expression turned cold. She looked up at the smiling Ouyang Ye and said, “Don’t push your luck. Not anyone can touch my head.” As she spoke, she pushed Ouyang Ye’s hand away.
Ouyang Ye laughed, “Temperamental.”
“Yes,” Mu Anxiao did not deny it and nodded.
Ouyang Ye straightened up, still smiling, and turned to look at Mu Miyuan and Shujia.
Shujia, seeing Ouyang Ye looking at him, offered an awkward smile, “Is something the matter?”
“It’s very dangerous there. You follow me…”
“I’m not afraid.”
“I’m not afraid either,” Shujia and Mu Miyuan interrupted in unison.
Ouyang Ye sighed, looking at the two pretending to be brave, “I’m telling you, don’t follow me. She’s already enough of a burden,” he said, glancing at Mu Anxiao, “if you follow me, I’ll be utterly exhausted.”
“But…”
“But what?” Ouyang Ye interrupted Shujia.
Being interrupted by Ouyang Ye, Shujia’s carefully prepared words were scattered. Helplessly, he looked at Mu Anxiao and asked, “Is there anything I can help with?”
“Help me take care of her,” Mu Anxiao glanced at Mu Miyuan.
Upon hearing this, Mu Miyuan stepped forward, “Master, are you really alright? He…” she glanced at Ouyang Ye, then at Mu Anxiao, “won’t kill you, will he?”
“…” Mu Anxiao was stunned, unable to follow Mu Miyuan’s train of thought.
Seeing Mu Anxiao remain silent, Mu Miyuan continued, “Master, you can’t…”
“Disciple, are you particularly good at finding things?” Mu Anxiao interrupted, not wanting to listen to Mu Miyuan’s pessimistic words.
Mu Miyuan eagerly replied, “As long as it’s a person or an object I want to find, I can find it very quickly.”
“That’s great,” Mu Anxiao said. After hearing Ouyang Ye’s words, she was also worried that Mu Miyuan and Shujia would be unsafe following them, so she made arrangements, “You take Shujia with you to find Feng Qishi. Then, after one day, wait for me at the city gate.”
“One day?” Mu Miyuan felt that one day was a bit long.
Mu Anxiao, worried Mu Miyuan might overthink it, added, “Don’t worry, that place is quite far, and it will take us several hours to return, so one day is enough time.”
“Master, will something happen to you?” Mu Miyuan was still stuck on that issue.
Ouyang Ye looked at Mu Miyuan, who didn’t believe him, with a helpless expression and said, “Don’t worry, I won’t do anything to your master. Besides, she’s my woman. How could I possibly kill her? I don’t know what you’re thinking, you silly girl.”
“Then you’re the mistress,” Mu Miyuan suddenly stated.
Ouyang Ye’s expression turned cold upon hearing this.
“Am I wrong? You said my master is your…”
“Ahem,” Mu Anxiao truly couldn’t stand it any longer, “you’d better say less.” She stared at Mu Miyuan.
Hearing Mu Anxiao’s impatient tone, Mu Miyuan dared not say anything further.
Shujia, seeing Mu Miyuan quiet down, said, “I’ll take good care of her, don’t worry.”
“Mm…” Mu Anxiao nodded, sensing something else in Shujia’s expression, and asked, “Do you have something else to do?”
Shujia smiled, “Is there a mission?”
“Yes, Feng Qishi has a…” Mu Anxiao paused, then decided not to deceive Shujia, “demon soul beside her, but it’s similar to Mu Xi’s situation.”
“Really?”
“Not exactly the same, it’s just… when you see it, you’ll know.” Mu Anxiao said vaguely.