In the blink of an eye.
She Ning and Zhao Xiang stopped following Mu Anxiao at a fork in the road. Mu Anxiao, using the beam from She Ning’s body, glanced at the quiet paths on either side before turning to ask for their opinions. "Well, what do you two think?" she asked, looking at She Ning and Zhao Xiang again.
Zhao Xiang was not one to overthink things. He had followed without asking any questions purely because… he trusted Mu Anxiao. Who would have thought that she would now turn and ask him? Facing such a Mu Anxiao, he felt unsure.
He fell silent, allowing Mu Anxiao’s gaze to shift to She Ning’s face.
Seeing Zhao Xiang like this, Mu Anxiao no longer held any expectations of him and slowly shifted her gaze to She Ning’s face.
Zhao Xiang, noticing Mu Anxiao’s gaze had completely moved away from him, breathed a sigh of relief. He then cautiously glanced at Mu Anxiao, not daring to speak.
She Ning noticed their gazes and smiled, "Why are you two looking at me?" he asked, looking at Mu Anxiao and Zhao Xiang respectively.
The moment She Ning asked this, Zhao Xiang lowered his head.
Conversely, Mu Anxiao continued to look calmly at She Ning and said faintly, "Not long ago, you were the one chasing us. To be honest," she began to talk nonsense to save face, "when we were searching for clues over there, I marked every tree." As she spoke, she looked at both sides.
She Ning lowered his eyes and smiled, "What, are you blaming me?"
"Not at all, I just wanted to…" Mu Anxiao paused, leveraging her momentary cleverness, and continued, "Since I can't find my way anymore, don't you think you should help a bit."
"What you're implying, aren't you still blaming me." She Ning understood Mu Anxiao's meaning.
Mu Anxiao pursed her lips and said, "You said that, not me. I never meant to blame you."
She Ning fully understood Mu Anxiao's intentions but couldn't comprehend why Mu Anxiao couldn't be more direct.
Thinking about it, She Ning became curious about Mu Anxiao. "Mu Anxiao, you are truly sly," he said intentionally.
Mu Anxiao frowned, "How am I sly?"
"You're deliberately trying to drag me into a trap. Can't you just say things directly instead of complaining to me in such a roundabout way? I'm afraid," She Ning narrowed his eyes, "it's getting boring."
"It's boring?" Mu Anxiao retorted. She felt there was no need to pretend anymore. Because what she wanted was exactly this sentence from She Ning.
"Yes, it's boring. Aren't you just blaming me for chasing you, getting you lost, and causing you to be…" She Ning looked directly at the fork in the road, "unable to find your way now."
"You know, in this dense forest, forks in the road are the easiest places to waste time. You seem quite familiar with this place. Of course," Mu Anxiao said, "I don't mean to blame you. I just want you to know that I am lost."
"..." She Ning remained silent.
Mu Anxiao looked up at She Ning's thoughtful expression and smiled, "What, am I wrong?"
"If you don't know the way, you shouldn't lead us blindly. Fortunately, you brought me today. If it were someone else, you'd never get out."
"It's precisely because I'm with you that I dare to get lost." Mu Anxiao said sweetly.
She Ning rolled his eyes, a smile playing on his lips, "You really are something. You hit me and then soothe my wounds, pretending nothing happened."
"We are in a mutually beneficial relationship," Mu Anxiao emphasized.
Seeing this, She Ning stepped forward with a helpless expression and said, "I've never seen either of these paths." He looked at the two paths leading to unknown destinations before turning back to Mu Anxiao.
Mu Anxiao frowned, "And then?" She had a bad premonition.
"Then…" She Ning hesitated for a moment and continued, "We can only try."
"Try?" Mu Anxiao had expected She Ning to quickly find the path leading out. She hadn't anticipated this response, and her expression showed disappointment. "Isn't that stating the obvious?" Her attitude changed.
She Ning didn't seem to care about Mu Anxiao's emotions. He said calmly, "I'm usually by the lake. As for what happens here, I…" He paused halfway through his sentence, considering his familiarity with this area, and dared not speak rashly anymore. "In short, I understand the terrain here quite well, but only during the day. It's pitch black now, and with you two, it's really difficult to find the way."
"You mean we're a burden." Zhao Xiang stirred up trouble.
Mu Anxiao felt that She Ning's words were not unreasonable. After a moment’s thought, she said to Zhao Xiang, "Say less." Then she turned back to She Ning, "Let's go then."
"Eh?" She Ning had absolutely not expected Mu Anxiao to react this way, so he was startled.
Mu Anxiao: "No need for 'eh.' I believe you," she said. As she glanced towards the left path, she smelled a demonic aura and asked in a low voice, "Did you smell that?"
Upon hearing this, Zhao Xiang and She Ning both turned their gaze to Mu Anxiao's face. The truth was, their noses were nowhere as sensitive as hers.
In the next second, Mu Anxiao, met with their stares, understood their meaning. She then bothered to explain, pointing to the right path, "Go this way."
"Why?" She Ning asked, confused.
"Because there are monsters over there," Mu Anxiao replied casually. Just as she was about to step towards the right path, She Ning suddenly reached out and blocked her. She looked at him, confused. "Why are you stopping me?" she asked, tilting her head to meet She Ning's eyes.
She Ning remained silent. "..."
Zhao Xiang said in a low voice, "For what other reason? He doesn't trust you."
Hearing this, Mu Anxiao turned to look at Zhao Xiang.
Seeing Mu Anxiao looking at him, Zhao Xiang dodged her gaze.
Immediately, Mu Anxiao glared fiercely at Zhao Xiang, who was speaking sarcastically, and then turned back to She Ning, saying, "You don't trust me."
Hearing this, Zhao Xiang stiffened and quickly looked up at Mu Anxiao, saying, "That's what you think, and you're glaring at me."
"..." Mu Anxiao had no time to pay attention to Zhao Xiang and continued to stare at She Ning.
She Ning: "How do you know there are monsters over there?" His expression turned serious.
Mu Anxiao: "Instinct." She didn't want She Ning to think of her as having a dog's nose, so she used this to dismiss him.
Unexpectedly, upon hearing Mu Anxiao's words, Zhao Xiang quickly said, "Then I don't believe you." He didn't believe Mu Anxiao's intuition and stepped to stand beside She Ning.
She Ning completely ignored Zhao Xiang, looking down at Mu Anxiao and asking, "Is there any basis for that?"
"Instinct is instinct," Mu Anxiao emphasized.
She Ning lowered his eyes and smiled, saying, "Since there's no basis, then follow me."
"Why?" Mu Anxiao disliked She Ning's attitude and became unhappy.
She Ning: "No reason. Based on my understanding of monsters, and… they like to leave their demonic aura in safe areas, so where there is demonic aura, it's not safe." He then turned around, "So, follow me, and you won't go wrong." With that, he stepped towards the left.
Zhao Xiang glanced at Mu Anxiao, turned, and followed She Ning.