The woman, seeing Mu Anxiao’s persistent expression and the outstretched hand still before her, added, “You should tend to your wounds first, lest you die and blame me.” With that, she suddenly grabbed Mu Anxiao’s arm and flung her forcefully aside.
Instantly, Mu Anxiao involuntarily retreated two steps, finding her balance as she panted, enduring the pain.
The dagger asked, “Are you alright?”
Mu Anxiao lowered her head, gazing at the dagger that cared for her, and shook her head slightly.
The woman, unable to hear the dagger’s words, continued to watch Mu Anxiao’s gasping state with indifference, scoffing, “A gentle toss and you’re like this? A monster.” So saying, the woman shot Mu Anxiao a disdainful glare, turned, raised her short knife, and continued to hack at the silver light.
The evil spirits on the other side of the silver light deeply felt the Yin energy emanating from the short knife. After nudging each other, they began to retreat.
In contrast, the First Evil Spirit remained at the forefront. Feeling the Yin energy from the short knife, he said, “Don’t be afraid.”
The Second Evil Spirit, clearly hearing the sound of the short knife striking the silver light, whispered, “Boss, that’s something from the underworld. If we come into contact with it, we’ll die.”
“Yes,” the Third Evil Spirit concurred, his eyes still closed. “That is an item from the underworld. We…”
“It’s full of that woman’s aura, and there’s not much immortal energy left. We, right now,” the First Evil Spirit said, attempting to open his eyes, then glancing through his fingers at the silver light, which was no longer so blinding, and chuckled, “Everything restrains something else. That’s the principle, isn’t it?”
At the same time, the First Evil Spirit’s words reached Mu Anxiao’s ears. However, Mu Anxiao had no intention of interrupting him; on the contrary, she wanted to hear what else he had to say.
Inside, the Fourth Evil Spirit, not understanding the First Evil Spirit’s meaning, asked, “What do you mean?”
The First Evil Spirit glanced at the silver light, which was beginning to crack, then turned to the evil spirits who still had their eyes closed, saying, “Open your eyes. It’s fine now.”
The Fourth Evil Spirit scoffed, “Are you joking? That’s the silver light from the silver rope. If…”
“Everything restrains something else. Do you understand?” the First Evil Spirit said impatiently.
The Fourth Evil Spirit fell silent, closing his eyes.
Hearing the First Evil Spirit’s impatient tone, the other evil spirits were startled and opened their eyes, including the two female evil spirits in red.
Finally, only the Fourth Evil Spirit remained skeptical of the First Evil Spirit.
The First Evil Spirit looked at the Fourth Evil Spirit’s smirking, disbelieving expression and said coldly, “You can keep your eyes closed and leave.”
The Fourth Evil Spirit laughed, “No, if I leave, I won’t get to eat.”
“You know you need to eat,” the First Evil Spirit said, walking up to the Fourth Evil Spirit and grabbing him by the neck. “Since you know you need to eat, and yet you don’t trust me, you’re being quite excessive.”
The Fourth Evil Spirit froze, his eyes snapping open as he met the First Evil Spirit’s gaze. “Really.”
“Why did you open your eyes?” the First Evil Spirit asked.
The Fourth Evil Spirit understood that the First Evil Spirit was no easy adversary; many evil spirits had been bullied by him before. Therefore, he was well aware of the First Evil Spirit’s methods.
Looking at the First Evil Spirit’s face, he smiled, “I believe you.”
“You would have believed me if I hadn’t grabbed you,” the First Evil Spirit leaned in, meeting the Fourth Evil Spirit’s eyes.
The Fourth Evil Spirit, seeing the First Evil Spirit’s fierce eyes, swallowed and said, “I’ve always believed you. It’s just that I don’t trust myself.” He then let out a dry laugh.
The First Evil Spirit’s face turned cold. As he loosened his grip, he said, “Since you don’t trust yourself, then you have no right… to live…”
“You’re hurting your own comrades. You’re not their boss,” Mu Anxiao suddenly interrupted.
At the sound, the First Evil Spirit paused, quickly turning his head towards the silver light and shouting, “Mu Anxiao, this has nothing to do with you.” He placed his hand on the Fourth Evil Spirit’s shoulder.
Outside, Mu Anxiao held the woman’s wrist in one hand and pressed her fingers against the silver light with the other, thickening the barrier while saying, “It’s true that this has nothing to do with me, but speaking of which, you’re quite amusing. The moment you opened your eyes, you started an internal conflict. Truly something else.” As she spoke, she pulled the woman a few steps back.
Mu Anxiao’s movements were too swift. The woman dared not act rashly and could only cooperate with her for the time being.
The First Evil Spirit walked to the front of the silver light and looked at the gradually thickening barrier, a smile playing on his lips. “Even if this silver light is thickened, it won’t have a blinding effect. I really don’t know what use these actions are.” He was already prepared to break through the silver light.
Mu Anxiao, clearly seeing the First Evil Spirit standing before the silver light and slowly raising his fist, narrowed her eyes. “At the very least, it can trap you.” She then looked at the woman.
The woman frowned. “I’m not leaving.”
“You heard their conversation, didn’t you?” Mu Anxiao said softly.
The woman had heard everything the First Evil Spirit had said to the Fourth Evil Spirit. Yet, even so, her desire to defeat them had not wavered. And her current stance here was merely due to Mu Anxiao’s ‘coercion,’ not because she feared the evil spirits.
Therefore, she still wanted to go against Mu Anxiao.
“I heard,” she said.
“Good, let’s go,” Mu Anxiao released her hand.
The woman then rubbed her wrist, which had been reddened by Mu Anxiao’s grip. “Actually, using you as bait to protect me wouldn’t be bad,” she said, and in turn, grabbed Mu Anxiao’s arm.
Mu Anxiao was taken aback. “I save you, and you bite back at me.”
The woman sneered, “You’re a monster, and you know them. Taking you as a ‘hostage’ should be the most suitable choice.” With that, she glanced down at her short knife again.
Mu Anxiao scoffed, “Do you think your short knife will be useful?” she asked, glancing at the short knife in the woman’s hand.
The woman replied, “Why wouldn’t it be useful? Let me tell you, my father used this to kill many monsters. This knife,” she smiled, “is a treasure. As long as I have it, I’m not afraid.”
Mu Anxiao sneered, “It seems you haven’t listened to a single word he said. No,” she eyed the woman, “you haven’t understood a single word.”
“I understood everything.”
“Everything restrains something else. Do you know what that means?” Mu Anxiao countered.