The specters beyond the silver light continued to curse Mu Anxiao.
“Why do you call me weak?” the woman retorted, glancing at the specters within the silver light, their eyes closed as they cursed Mu Anxiao one after another. “I don’t believe you feel nothing.”
Mu Anxiao endured the tearing pain of his wound and lowered his gaze, a faint smile touching his lips. “If this were dozens of years ago, I’d be furious. So furious I’d want to hurt myself, so furious I’d go argue with them. But now, I feel absolutely nothing.”
“Dozens of years ago?” the woman repeated, scrutinizing Mu Anxiao from head to toe. “You truly are a monster.” Her eyes were filled with loathing for him.
Mu Anxiao’s lips curved. “Whether I’m a monster or not isn’t up to you. You’ve lost, now leave.” He pointed towards the direction leading out of the forbidden forest.
The woman’s eyes darkened. “I never agreed to that.”
“From the moment you started fighting me, you implicitly agreed.”
“You…”
“What ‘you’? Leave quickly, or those specters will come out, and you won’t get another chance.”
“I’m not afraid of them.”
“You’re not afraid of them,” Mu Anxiao said, scoffing. “I know you aren’t, but unlike me, they won’t hold back.”
“You weren’t holding back at all,” the woman said, looking down at her own wounds, then at the dagger in Mu Anxiao’s hand.
Mu Anxiao let out a cold laugh. “If I hadn’t held back, do you think you’d… be only this injured?”
In truth, Mu Anxiao hadn’t intended to harm the woman. It was just that he hadn’t expected this sealed dagger to sharpen itself. He was quite perplexed by it.
However, due to the woman’s presence, it was inconvenient for him to take out the dagger and speak to it. So, it was as it was.
“You mean you intended to injure me more severely…”
“I am a monster, after all. My showing you mercy is already a kindness. Now,” Mu Anxiao interrupted, no longer bothering to be polite, “Go.” He raised the dagger.
Seeing this, the woman frowned. “I’m not leaving. I’m going to…”
“Do you not understand what I’m saying?” Mu Anxiao grew angry.
The woman flinched at Mu Anxiao’s indignant expression. “I understand, but my objective was to find them. You’ve already verified my capabilities, so I can.”
“Young lady, don’t be too confident.” Mu Anxiao lowered his tone, his back throbbing.
The woman, seeing Mu Anxiao’s pale face, said, “You’re the one who needs to leave, not me.” With that, she gripped her short blade and turned towards the silver light.
“Don’t go,” Mu Anxiao shouted, his wound tearing open further. He then endured the pain, standing his ground and watching the woman who had stopped before the silver light, glancing back at him. He warned, “You mustn’t move.”
“Why?”
“You mustn’t move. Those are specters. If you…”
“I said, I’m not afraid,” the woman stated with conviction.
Mu Anxiao looked at the stubbornly unyielding woman with a sense of helplessness. “I know you’re not afraid, but the people they devoured had the same thoughts as you when they were alive.”
“I’m different from them. Those brutes are just thugs.”
“Then you’re a lunatic.”
“You’re cursing me.”
“Aren’t you? Knowing the danger but still venturing into it. You’re courting death,” Mu Anxiao said, gasping for air and enduring the pain.
The woman said, “You’re just a monster. I think you’re in league with them. Otherwise,” she narrowed her eyes, “how could you feel nothing when they curse you like that?”
“By the time you finished speaking, I was already out.”
“You must be their leader,” the woman guessed.
On the other side of the silver light, the specters stopped their curses upon sensing the woman’s presence.
Mu Anxiao was speechless at the woman.
“…”
The woman sneered at Mu Anxiao’s exasperated expression. “Listen, they’ve stopped cursing you. It must be like this.” With that, she raised her short blade and slashed towards the silver light.
Mu Anxiao, enduring the pain, watched the woman vigorously hack at the silver light and sighed. He thought, it’s just an ordinary knife, how could it possibly cut through the silver light?
As he thought this, he gasped for air again.
Immediately after, the dagger couldn’t help but speak, “I should have struck her a few more times.”
Hearing this, Mu Anxiao calmly raised the dagger and asked, “Why can you hurt people?” He stared at the bloodstains.
The dagger replied, “When you used me to block her short knife just now, I became sharp.”
“That works too,” Mu Anxiao exclaimed in surprise.
“If I hadn’t become sharp, I would have just been cut down by her short knife. In other words,” the dagger said solemnly, “this is a form of self-protection.”
“Her short knife has that much power?”
“It’s a underworld short knife, so of course it’s powerful.”
“Underworld? Are you joking?” Mu Anxiao retorted, looking up at the woman’s retreating figure.
“Really,” the dagger stated seriously. “When you resisted that short knife with me just now, I felt immortal energy. In other words, if that short knife were just an ordinary knife, do you think I would have become sharp?”
“…” Mu Anxiao’s heart sank. “Then, tell me, can the short knife cut through the silver light?”
The dagger replied indifferently, “Who knows? But I think… if it could make me sharp, then… the possibility of it cutting through the silver light shouldn’t be small, right?”
“Not small?” Mu Anxiao repeated, lowering his gaze. After a moment’s thought, he quickly shouted, “Stop!” Then he retracted the dagger, endured the intense pain, and quickly walked to the woman’s side.
The woman, while slashing, said, “Don’t try to stop me. I came here specifically to kill them.”
Since this short knife was from the underworld, it guaranteed the woman’s safety. Thus, Mu Anxiao put aside his concern for her and pointed at the short knife in her hand, asking, “Who gave you this?”
Hearing this, the woman stopped slashing and turned to look at the curious Mu Anxiao. “My father.”
“Where did your father get it?”
“How should I know? Anyway,” the woman glanced at the short knife, “I got this from my father. With it, I’m not afraid of them anymore.”
“I know.”
“You know?” the woman repeated, frowning. “If you know, why are you trying to stop me?”
“…” Mu Anxiao stared at the short knife.
Conversely, the woman continued to stare at Mu Anxiao’s face, saying with a forced smile, “It seems you really are in league with them.”
“Let me see the knife,” Mu Anxiao interjected, extending one hand.
“Why should I let you? My father gave it to me,” the woman said, glancing at Mu Anxiao’s back. “Honestly, you should worry about your own wounds.” She turned her gaze back to Mu Anxiao’s face.
“Let me see it,” Mu Anxiao insisted, disregarding his own injury.