"Then who is it?" Mu Anxiao looked at Hun Ling and asked.
"I think... it's them themselves," Hun Ling said, his eyes darting away.
Looking at Hun Ling's expression, Mu Anxiao suddenly remembered the demon barrier and the pills Shi Yi held, and said, "Was it you?"
"Huh?" Hun Ling was startled.
The man in green looked up at Mu Anxiao and said, "Can you not suspect others?"
"Can you stop acting like a pure maiden?" Mu Anxiao raised her fist, "You're really asking for a beating."
The man in green was speechless.
Hong Yan looked at the man in green and said, "You'd better not say anything."
"Mm," the man in green nodded.
Then, Mu Anxiao's gaze shifted back to Hun Ling's face.
Feng Qishi looked at Hun Ling's lowered head and, like Mu Anxiao, thought of the red pills Shi Yi had given them. He said, "Was it you?"
"I..." Hun Ling pursed his lips.
"Just tell me if it was you," Feng Qishi said.
Hun Ling glanced at him and said, "It was me."
"You?" The man in green was surprised. "Why didn't you say so earlier?" he turned to Hun Ling.
Mu Anxiao gave the man in green a helpless glance and said, "Can you stop asking such foolish questions?"
"Oh," the man in green nodded and remained silent.
Hun Ling looked at Mu Anxiao and said, "If I had said it was me, you wouldn't have believed me."
"You don't need to answer," Mu Anxiao smiled.
Hun Ling pursed his lips.
Feng Qishi looked at Mu Anxiao, then at Hun Ling, and asked, "Can you tell me why you taught them such demon arts?"
"I didn't," Hun Ling shook his head.
"You didn't, so how did they become demons?" Feng Qishi asked indifferently.
Mu Anxiao watched Feng Qishi's professional questioning posture and said, "I'm going out for a bit."
"Where are you going?" Feng Qishi asked, turning his head.
"I'm going to take a walk on the street," Mu Anxiao said, turning towards the door.
"You're going to report me, aren't you?" Hun Ling suddenly said.
Hearing this, Mu Anxiao stopped and turned to look at Hun Ling, "I'm not going to report you, I just want to find out, who exactly are you?"
"Are you going to ask Hei Feng?" Feng Qishi asked.
Mu Anxiao looked at Feng Qishi and nodded.
"What's the point of asking him?" Feng Qishi frowned.
"Decades ago, I heard them say that a Hun Ling had gone missing from below, and they also said that the Hun Ling... practiced demon arts, so everyone became wary of that Hun Ling. Gradually, that Hun Ling disappeared. I wanted to ask Hei Feng," Mu Anxiao glanced meaningfully at Hun Ling, "what was the hair color of that Hun Ling?"
"Will he remember?" Feng Qishi asked with a wry smile.
"Whether he remembers or not, we'll only know if we ask," Mu Anxiao said.
"Don't do this," Hun Ling hurried to Mu Anxiao's side.
Mu Anxiao turned to Hun Ling and said, "That Hun Ling, it was you, wasn't it?"
"It was me," Hun Ling nodded.
"You've really been with the cultivators for too long; you've become dishonest in your speech," Mu Anxiao mocked.
"I..." Hun Ling shook his head, "I didn't mean to."
"Then you did it on purpose?" Mu Anxiao retorted.
The man in green stood up, looking at Mu Anxiao's profile with a bewildered expression, "What are you talking about? I don't understand."
However, Mu Anxiao ignored the man in green and continued to stare at Hun Ling, waiting for his reply.
"He's talking to you," Hun Ling pointed towards the man in green.
Mu Anxiao continued to stare at Hun Ling and said, "All I want to know now is your secret."
Hun Ling was speechless.
Feng Qishi walked behind Hun Ling and said to Mu Anxiao, "Everyone has secrets. Isn't it wrong for you to be like this?"
Mu Anxiao glared at Feng Qishi, then turned back to stare at Hun Ling.
Hun Ling felt awkward under Mu Anxiao's gaze, so he compromised, "I'll tell you."
"Mm," Mu Anxiao nodded and pointed to the table, "Would you like to sit down? I'll pour you some tea."
"No need," Hun Ling shook his head and pointed to his current spot, "I'll just stand here."
"Alright," Mu Anxiao nodded, stepped back, and crossed her arms in front of her.
Hun Ling began to speak...
"That year, after I was exposed as the Hun Ling who practiced demon arts, I was looked down upon by all sorts of Hun Ling. I could tolerate it for a day or two, but as time went on, I couldn't bear it anymore. So, I decided to leave. The day before I left, I took all my prizes and waited until nightfall. Then, while they were resting during the day, I sneaked out," Hun Ling said. "Then I passed by the Xiuxian Sect and saw a man putting rabbits into cages. At that time, he didn't catch the sick rabbit, the only sick one."
"Was it her?" Mu Anxiao asked, gesturing towards Hong Yan.
Hun Ling glanced at Hong Yan in the direction of Mu Anxiao's gesture and said, "It seemed to be a white rabbit, but I don't remember very clearly."
"Alright, you continue," Mu Anxiao gestured to Hun Ling.
Hun Ling nodded and continued, "He put the rabbits from the cages onto a cart one by one and pulled them to the market..."
Decades ago, at the market, the Xiuxian Sect's rabbits were displayed on stalls. The man selling rabbits, seeing them struggling, kicked a cage. One black rabbit quickly shielded another black rabbit and was slammed to the ground by the kick.
Inside the cages, the sentient rabbits saw this and stopped struggling. The protected black rabbit looked at the motionless black rabbit that had been protecting her and choked out, "Sister, what's wrong with you?"
"I... I can't make it," the black rabbit lying on the ground shook her head, blood seeping from the corner of her mouth.
Seeing her sister's state, the black rabbit's eyes welled up with tears. Just as she was about to reach out with her paw to touch her sister, a human hand reached in and grabbed her sister's ear. Following that, her sister was grabbed by the man selling rabbits.
"Oh, this one you have is almost gone," the buyer said, pointing to the black rabbit sister in the seller's hand.
The black rabbit looked up at her sister, whose head was drooping, and cried.
The black rabbit sister said, "You must run, run."
"Sister," the black rabbit called out.
Blood dripped from the black rabbit sister's mouth onto the chopping board.
The man selling rabbits completely disregarded the black rabbit sister's life and said, "It won't affect the taste even if I kill it now."
"This..." The buyer looked hesitantly at the cage, then at the black rabbit sister, and said, "Alright then, prepare it cleanly for me."
"No problem," the man selling rabbits said with a sly smile.
The black rabbit's eyes widened.
Thus, the black rabbit watched as her sister was skinned and completely killed by the man selling rabbits.
"Sister..." the black rabbit shrieked, frantically scratching at the cage.