Just then, Lou Yi and Jia looked at each other. Lou Yi was startled by their sudden understanding. "You first," he said politely.
Jia didn't truly stand on ceremony with Lou Yi, but he was suddenly curious about Lou Yi's reaction. So, he raised an eyebrow and said, "You first."
Seeing Jia being so courteous, Lou Yi felt a bit embarrassed. "If I go first, you really won't be angry." He grinned.
Jia looked at Lou Yi's beaming smile, and then deliberately put on a look of disdain. In that instant, he abandoned his virtue of 'politeness' and stated directly, "You're dawdling. Forget it, I'll go first." He said, scanning Lou Yi up and down, and continued, "That woman is a demon."
Upon hearing this, Lou Yi immediately shed his useless delicate feelings and exclaimed excitedly, "You sensed it too."
Jia shushed him, afraid of waking the others behind them, and whispered, "There's demonic energy."
"Yes, right when she touched the door lock, a wave of demonic energy clearly drifted in through the gap," Lou Yi whispered.
Jia nodded, staring at the door lock. "Then the man outside is probably in danger."
"How do you know?" Lou Yi was surprised. He hadn't expected Jia to worry about the safety of mortals, as Jia had always seemed like a cold-blooded child to him.
Jia didn't notice Lou Yi's implied meaning. He said, "The woman's words were filled with threatening undertones."
"You can pick up on that? You're quite perceptive," Lou Yi blurted out his true thoughts.
Immediately after, Jia glared furiously at Lou Yi's face.
Seeing this, Lou Yi gave a couple of silly laughs and said, "I was complimenting you, you..."
"If you call that a compliment, you think I'm still a little kid who can't tell good words from bad?" Jia interrupted, his eyes filled with a coldness and cruelty that didn't match his appearance.
"I..." Lou Yi, knowing he couldn't win an argument with this 'child', remained stunned for a few seconds before saying, "I was wrong."
"You should have admitted it directly, but you hesitated. Tell me," Jia temporarily put the girl and the dirty-faced man outside aside and became obstinate. "Are you resentful of me? Let me tell you, if you are, just say it. I hate it when people keep things from me."
"I..." Lou Yi was actually intimidated by Jia's persistent attitude. He took a deep breath and masked everything with a silly smile.
Jia's face fell.
Seeing Jia's unhappy expression, Lou Yi said, "Jia, I want to ask you a question."
"Go ahead, I want to see what... infuriating things you can say." Jia glared at Lou Yi.
Lou Yi gave a dry laugh. "Are you a little girl?" As he said this, he gathered his courage and reached out to cup Jia's head.
Immediately, Jia yanked Lou Yi's hand away, angered. "I'm a man, what nonsense are you spouting? Let me tell you, if you dare to spout such nonsense again," he glanced towards the driver, then back at Lou Yi, "I'll cut out your tongue."
"You probably don't have the right to do that," Lou Yi laughed. He suddenly found Jia rather interesting.
Jia frowned. "I do."
"You must be joking, you..."
"Watch," Jia interrupted, extending his hand and conjuring a dagger.
Lou Yi pointed at the small dagger in Jia's hand, which was half the size of a normal dagger, and laughed. "That's your weapon? How comical..." He stopped mid-sentence as Jia forcefully swung the dagger into a piece of wood nearby, splitting it in two. Lou Yi's expression froze.
Then, Jia raised an eyebrow. "This dagger is specifically for killing demons. Similarly," he pursed his lips into a smile, "it's already stained with the blood of many demon tongues. Would you like to try it?"
"If you do this, Head will punish you."
"We are on a mission. During a mission, any injury you sustain is considered a work-related injury. As for this dagger," Jia began to playfully threaten Lou Yi, "I can say that during my fight with a demon, you transformed into a demon, and I accidentally chopped off your tongue." He finished with a chilling smile.
Lou Yi was stunned.
Jia continued, "So, don't challenge my limits. The rules down here and up there," he smiled faintly, "I understand them better than you."
Before this, Lou Yi had thought Jia was just a wilful brat, so he had indulged Jia in some matters. Who knew... Just when he thought he might gain the upper hand, he finally understood that he and Jia were not on the same level at all. In other words, Lou Yi had truly seen Jia's cruel side. At that moment, he was truly afraid.
"Is that so?" he replied feebly, pressing his lips together, afraid Jia would see his tongue.
"What 'is that so'? Answer 'understood'," Jia said coldly.
Lou Yi, worried Jia might get angry, quickly said, "Understood," the moment Jia uttered those words.
"That's more like it," Jia said, suddenly shifting his gaze to the window. "This female demon is quite arrogant."
"How do you know?"
"There's killing intent." Jia said, glancing at Lou Yi, then turning towards the window.
Seeing this, Lou Yi quickly stood up, dragging his almost 'numb' legs, and moved towards Jia with a grim expression.
Outside.
The dirty-faced man still stood beside the girl. He looked down at her thoughtful expression, cleared his throat, and was about to speak when the girl turned to look at him.
The dirty-faced man was startled by her gaze. "Why are you looking at me?"
"I know," the girl said in a low voice.
The dirty-faced man was confused. "Know what?" he asked cautiously, still afraid of angering the girl.
At the same time, Jia crouched beneath the window, rising slightly. Peering through the gap, he saw the girl talking to the dirty-faced man and thought, 'As expected, a demon.'
"You saw it," Lou Yi said, leaning against the wall and looking down at Jia.
Jia didn't even look at Lou Yi and gave a perfunctory 'shush.'
"Alright, I won't speak," Lou Yi said, glancing at the wooden board on the window and muttering, "Really, can't see anything."
Outside.
The girl looked coldly at the dirty-faced man. "I'm very curious about something right now," she said, crossing her arms in front of her.
The dirty-faced man stiffened. Suddenly... he became nervous. "What are you curious about?" he asked perfunctorily, not daring to remain silent.
Unexpectedly, after the dirty-faced man spoke, the girl smiled faintly at him.
The dirty-faced man, seeing this smile, was so startled that he took a step back.
The girl maintained her smile.