For Lou Yi's silence, the man with the dirty face paid no mind. Then he unfolded a portrait that he had accidentally creased, looked at it for a few seconds, and said, "Actually, someone asked me to find you." As he spoke, he stood up.
Lou Yi was startled and recalled what the girl had said at night. He asked, "Why would anyone want me, a stable hand?" He didn't think of Mu Anxiao. At this moment, he only wanted to understand from the dirty-faced man's words how he had met the girl, that was all.
"I don't know. She told me to find the carriage driver," the dirty-faced man honestly confessed.
"Is that so?" Lou Yi said, turning his head to glance at the carriage driver who was still asleep. Then, thinking of the girl's impatient attempt to break through the door, he grew curious. "Presumably, the person who sent you to find me here is also related to that fairy?" He didn't want to ask too directly, so he intentionally took a circuitous approach.
"That, I'm not at liberty to tell you." The dirty-faced man, fearing the girl might overhear, gave Lou Yi a perfunctory answer.
"Just tell me if you're related!" The more the dirty-faced man acted this way, the more curious Lou Yi became.
"This..." The dirty-faced man hesitated, then looked again at the girl who stood in place, struggling with the door lock. He said, "I can only tell you that you are not related."
"Not..."
"Alright, that's all I can tell you. If you ask any more, I'll get angry." The dirty-faced man grew anxious because his goal was to lure the girl to Mu Anxiao, so that Mu Anxiao could deal with her. If he told Lou Yi everything now, and Lou Yi, being quick-tongued, revealed Mu Anxiao's involvement, then... his plan would be completely ruined.
If the plan failed, his life would be forfeit. For his own sake, he could only do this.
"Alright," Lou Yi said, understanding the implication in the dirty-faced man's anxious words.
"Don't..." the dirty-faced man said, standing up, turning towards the window, and whispering, "Don't tell her." He tilted his face, still unable to see where Lou Yi was.
Lou Yi smiled, "She really doesn't know."
The dirty-faced man heard the smugness in Lou Yi's laughter and became anxious. "If you dare to say anything, my life will be lost, you..."
"I know. The sky hasn't completely brightened yet. You can sleep a bit longer," Lou Yi deliberately interrupted the dirty-faced man, trying to make him believe him.
"Really." The dirty-faced man was unsure whether to trust Lou Yi.
Lou Yi's voice was sincere, "My mouth isn't that long. You rest, and I need to rest a bit too." As he said this, he leaned against the wall again.
Hearing Lou Yi's words, the dirty-faced man breathed a sigh of relief and sat down.
In the guest room, Mu Anxiao, half-asleep, finally waited until dawn. She opened her eyes, sat up groggily, then raised her hand to brush away the strands of hair obscuring her eyes, and lifted the thick quilt that had been placed over her at some point. She was stunned, "Huh, the quilt, wasn't it this thick?" As she yawned, she turned her head and was stunned again.
At the same time, Ouyang Ye, lying on Mu Anxiao's outer side, also opened his eyes. "Morning." He raised his hand and smiled at Mu Anxiao.
Mu Anxiao hadn't expected to be 'sharing a bed' with Ouyang Ye, so faced with this sudden scene, she felt a sense of... unreality. Under the influence of this unreality, she froze.
Ouyang Ye propped himself up on one arm, still looking at Mu Anxiao with a smile, and said, "You slept well, didn't you?"
Slept well?
Ouyang Ye's words made Mu Anxiao's thoughts wander. Blinking her eyes, she quickly looked down at the clothes she was wearing and breathed a sigh of relief, saying, "Get out of the way." She was past the age of panic, and at this moment, she appeared calm.
Conversely, Ouyang Ye was surprised by Mu Anxiao's calmness. "You don't seem to react."
"What reaction do you want to see from me?" Mu Anxiao retorted. Back then, Mu Anxiao was a proper beggar. Her home was in a dilapidated temple, and as a man there, she had slept on the same ground with many people. Such 'grand occasions' had honed her thick skin and her ability to remain calm in the face of adversity.
Of course, the most important factor was that her age... didn't permit it.
"Surprise, panic, jump up, and then..."
"And then what? I'd cry," Mu Anxiao interrupted, her face displaying disdain. "You're truly quite boring."
"You..."
"What about me? I knew you wouldn't be an honest person." Saying this, Mu Anxiao kicked Ouyang Ye.
Ouyang Ye involuntarily shifted outwards and said, "Mu Anxiao, seeing me, you don't feel your heart flutter." As he spoke, he sat up.
Mu Anxiao stared coldly at Ouyang Ye and let out a cold laugh, "My heart doesn't flutter, but..." She clenched her fist, "I do have a slight urge to hit you."
"You hit me? You..."
"Either move aside, or get down. Otherwise, don't blame me for being impolite." Mu Anxiao raised her fist.
Ouyang Ye smiled wryly and still got down.
Following that, Mu Anxiao put on her shoes and stood up, saying, "It's daytime now, can you take me to find Bing'er?"
"Yes, but..." Ouyang Ye smiled, "I forgot how to get out."
"What do you mean?" Mu Anxiao didn't react immediately.
Ouyang Ye pursed his lips and smiled, turning sideways, and pointing at the lock on the door. "Here, I've used too many of those locks. Those locks have all sorts of enchantments on them, and I've forgotten," he turned back to look at Mu Anxiao, "what kind of enchantment I cast on that lock."
"You..."
"If you can, try using your magic."
"You want me to use my spiritual energy," Mu Anxiao said faintly. She strongly suspected... that Ouyang Ye was deliberately stalling for time. However, she currently had no proof to support this, so out of helplessness, she could only try to find the 'answer' from Ouyang Ye's words.
"Your spiritual energy has recovered well."
"You..."
"It's still early, would you like to rest a bit longer?" Ouyang Ye said, reaching out to hold Mu Anxiao's arm.
Mu Anxiao stiffened and, without thinking, directly flung Ouyang Ye's hand away, saying, "Don't touch me with your dirty hands, it's disgusting." As she spoke, her heel tripped on the footrest, and she sat down.
Upon seeing this, Ouyang Ye's lips curved into a smile. "Disgusting things have already happened, and you're still like this. You're quite amusing."
"What nonsense are you talking about, you..."
"Enough of you. You don't like me, and it's enough that I like you," Ouyang Ye said, turning sideways and suddenly waving his arm towards the door.
Mu Anxiao was confused by Ouyang Ye's sudden action and words. "Are you sick, you..." Before she could finish speaking, the door suddenly swung open. Seeing this, she sprang to her feet, about to speak, when Feng Qishi entered.
The next second, Ouyang Ye smiled.
"..." Feng Qishi ignored Ouyang Ye and directly shifted his gaze to Mu Anxiao's face.