Feng Qishi looked at the young man’s genuine fear and smiled, “If Mu Anxiao helps you deal with those rabbit spirits, how will you explain things back home?”
“Say it was her… right!” the young man replied unnaturally.
Seeing the young man’s reluctance, Feng Qishi said, “You could also say it was yourself, but,” he lowered his gaze and smiled, “your future path will be much harder, as they will constantly make you do such things. Of course, if you say it was Mu Anxiao, they will be even angrier, and your consequences won’t be any better.”
“Both of those outcomes are disadvantageous to us,” the young man said, understanding his precarious future position from Feng Qishi’s words.
“Don’t go back,” Feng Qishi arranged matter-of-factly.
Shi Yi looked helplessly at Feng Qishi, who was inexplicably arranging the young man’s life, and said, “I say, just have your say. What relationship does he have with you in the future?”
“Actually, I’ve thought about that too,” the young man suddenly said.
Shi Yi flared his nostrils, speechless.
Feng Qishi asked, “How long have you been there?”
“Not long, and I haven’t learned much,” the young man said aggrievedly.
“I can see that,” Feng Qishi nodded.
Shi Yi recalled the young man’s scheme and asked, “By the way, have you forgotten about the demonic barrier on the path to the Immortal Cultivation Sect?”
“Demonic barrier…” the young man repeated, and said, “I forgot.”
“Alright,” Shi Yi nodded helplessly, and said, “If you want to go and complain, then go ahead. You won’t be able to see the rabbit spirits anyway.”
“I won’t go,” the young man said excitedly.
“Think carefully about your future,” Feng Qishi said.
The young man nodded.
“Let’s go,” Feng Qishi waved his hand.
The young man pursed his lips and said, “Thank you for telling me this.” With that, he turned and walked out of the room.
After Feng Qishi and Shi Yi watched the young man leave completely, Shi Yi turned and said, “Aren’t you grossed out by holding me, a big rat spirit, like this?”
“A little bit,” Feng Qishi nodded and withdrew his arm.
“Now I’m relieved,” Shi Yi said.
Feng Qishi smiled, “Go on.”
“Go where?” Shi Yi frowned.
“Where else? Didn’t you say you were going to find Mu Anxiao? Go ahead, I guarantee… she’ll hate you even more,” Feng Qishi said, deliberately teasing Shi Yi.
Shi Yi wasn’t angry. Instead, he smiled, “If you don’t mind, why don’t you come with me? That way, I can ask her in front of you if she actually likes you.”
Feng Qishi’s expression stiffened for a moment, then he chuckled, “You’ve learned, kid.”
Shi Yi smiled along with Feng Qishi.
In the deep forest, Xu Lanyan looked intently at the demonic barrier hanging on the tree, then glanced at the ball of fire in his hand and said, “If I really did this, I’m afraid it would… cause a forest fire.”
“Then what should we do?” the black-clothed demon asked nervously, looking at the fire in Xu Lanyan’s hand.
“This,” Xu Lanyan said, looking at the black-clothed demon with a bit of awkwardness, “I need to think about it.”
“Still need to think?” the black-clothed demon said helplessly.
“Of course, I have to think about it. If it causes a forest fire, that would be terrifying,” Xu Lanyan said seriously.
“If it does, we’ll just use our demonic arts to bring water from over there and extinguish it,” the black-clothed demon said casually.
Xu Lanyan looked at the simple-minded black-clothed demon helplessly and said, “Are you stupid? This is immortal fire. Ordinary water can’t extinguish it at all.”
“Then what should we do?” the black-clothed demon asked, confused.
“I don’t know.” Xu Lanyan spoke halfway, then thought about the surrounding demonic barrier and asked, “Wait a minute, didn’t they say the demonic barrier is to prevent all sorts of creatures, including demons, from entering? May I ask how you got in?”
“Why are you suddenly asking about this?” the black-clothed demon asked, looking at Xu Lanyan confusedly.
Xu Lanyan pointed at the black-clothed demon’s face, “Tell me, why could you get in?”
“The rat demons gave all the demons in our demon realm a pill that allows entry, so naturally, we could come in,” the black-clothed demon explained.
“All of them?” Xu Lanyan was surprised.
“Yes,” the black-clothed demon nodded.
Xu Lanyan frowned, lowered his gaze, and thought, “I’m a half-demon. Why didn’t I get one?”
“Half-demons also took it,” the black-clothed demon said innocently.
“What about half-demons who have ascended to immortality?” Xu Lanyan asked.
“This…” the black-clothed demon shook his head, “I don’t know.”
“Why do you know nothing?” Xu Lanyan glared at the black-clothed demon and said, “Strange, the demonic barrier is supposed to be from the underworld, so why can’t we get in?”
“There are many theories about who set up the demonic barrier here. Some demons say it was the rat demons, some say it was a soul spirit skilled in demonic arts, but most demons believe it was the rat demons,” the black-clothed demon explained in detail.
“Then who is it?” Xu Lanyan asked, bewildered.
“Let me put it this way: if you ask the rat demons, they’ll say they set it up. But if you ask the rabbit spirits, they won’t say either, because they protect that soul spirit skilled in demonic arts too well.”
“This is truly a perplexing question,” Xu Lanyan sighed, then his expression stiffened, “It seems you’ve isolated me.”
“Who isolated you? You demons who have become immortals never pay attention to us. Perhaps they gave it to you, and you forgot,” the black-clothed demon retorted.
Xu Lanyan heard this, lowered his gaze, and suddenly realized, “Oh, I remember now. Fifty years ago, a rat demon did come to me and said they would give me a pill so I could travel back and forth to their demon realm. I thought I didn’t need it at the time, so I just threw it away. So that’s it.”
“You’re making it up!” the black-clothed demon exposed him.
Xu Lanyan was lost for words.
“No demon can go to heaven,” the black-clothed demon struck again.
Xu Lanyan glared at the black-clothed demon, who kept exposing him, and said, “Can you say one less thing?”
“Alright,” the black-clothed demon nodded, then added, “No, this demonic barrier seems… to have been here for nearly fifty years. The rat realm’s barrier is only twenty years old. So, this demonic barrier must have been set up by a soul spirit.”
“That makes sense,” Xu Lanyan pointed at the black-clothed demon.
“Yes, that must be it,” the black-clothed demon affirmed, then looked around and said, “Immortal, what do we do now?”
Hearing this, Xu Lanyan put on a grim face and shook his head, “I don’t know.”
The black-clothed demon thought for a moment and said, “How about this, I’ll go find Mu Anxiao?” He pointed to the path leading to the Immortal Cultivation Sect.
“I’ll go with you,” Xu Lanyan said.
“You…”