Jia listened to Mu Anxiao’s words and thought carefully before saying, “You mean, you know she’s not a consciousness.”
“Yes.”
“You… you’re not just going to let her take Xiao Fei away, are you?” Jia began to understand Mu Anxiao’s meaning a little.
Mu Anxiao nodded.
“Why would you do that?” Jia pouted.
Mu Anxiao hadn’t expected Jia to react this way, so he quickly reached out and patted Jia on the top of his head, saying, “If you want to cry, I want to cry too.”
“Who wants to cry?” Jia stopped pouting.
“Your mouth is all puckered up, and you say you don’t want to cry,” Mu Anxiao said, squatting down.
As Jia watched Mu Anxiao crouch down in front of him, a look of confusion appeared on his face. “Why are you squatting in front of me?”
“You’re so short, it’s inconvenient for me to look down at you,” Mu Anxiao said, blowing a breath at Jia. “In short, you’ve already messed up my first plan. If you keep butting in, we’re not partners anymore.”
“You…”
“What ‘you’? I’m telling you, just listen to me, and you’ll get your share of the mission. You won’t be short-changed.”
“I don’t like money.”
“I know. You just want to be superior to Hei Feng, right? But what I want to say to you now is,” Mu Anxiao reached out and gently patted Jia on the shoulder, “stop daydreaming.”
“You look down on me.”
“It’s not that I look down on you. Think about it, where has Hei Feng reached now? You still want to surpass him, just forget it.”
“I won’t give up.”
“Then keep going like this.”
“Didn’t you support me before?” Jia suddenly couldn’t understand Mu Anxiao’s intentions.
“…” Mu Anxiao averted his gaze.
Imagination always seemed better than reality. Before, Jia would often confide in Mu Anxiao whenever he had something on his mind, and throughout the year, Jia had often told Mu Anxiao that he wanted to surpass Hei Feng.
Because he had little contact with Yao Hun, she also thought Jia could do it.
However, the situation was different now. In a sense, although she didn’t understand Ouyang Ye very well, she had seen his methods.
And Hei Feng was promoted after that incident with Ouyang Ye. Jia knew about this. She was worried that Jia would be influenced by Hei Feng and blindly clash with Ouyang Ye and the others.
Hei Feng was different; Hei Feng had his own methods. But Jia was ultimately a child. If he were to confront Ouyang Ye with his current intellect, it would be asking for trouble.
The worst outcome could even be death.
Therefore, to prevent Jia from getting hurt, she had to nip his ‘fantasy’ in the bud.
Even if he didn’t understand, she didn’t care.
“Why aren’t you talking to me?” Jia was getting anxious.
Mu Anxiao looked up at Jia and then, considering all of Jia’s help to him, asked, “If I asked you to die for the mission, would you be willing?” She wanted to use this to test if Jia was an impulsive Yin Chai.
Jia: “I am willing.” His eyes were firm.
“If you die, you’ll never surpass Hei Feng.”
“Didn’t you just tell me to give up that idea?”
“…” Mu Anxiao realized her contradiction, so she averted her gaze again and said, “What are you thinking now?”
“If I die because of the mission, will I be able to surpass Hei Feng?”
Hearing Jia’s words, Mu Anxiao’s heart sank. She said, “Do you want to surpass Hei Feng that much?”
“I just want to. I won’t give up even if I die.”
“…” Mu Anxiao was speechless to Jia.
Jia looked at Mu Anxiao and said, “Are you worried that Hei Feng won’t return the light rope to you, so you want to solve me for him?”
“You think too much,” Mu Anxiao said coldly.
Jia frowned: “Then why are you asking me to give up? You’ve supported me all year, and now you’re advising me to give up. This,” he shook his head slightly, “I don’t understand.”
“Don’t understand,” Mu Anxiao repeated, then, thinking about her sudden serious attitude and the words she had spoken to him, she wondered if she had been too abrupt.
Thinking this, she fixed her gaze on Jia’s face.
Jia looked confused: “We are partners, and I’m not a Yin Chai who can’t understand people. If you have something to say, just say it, okay?” He was calm.
“Okay.” Mu Anxiao nodded and asked again, “If I say it, and you understand it, will you give up?”
“You speak first.”
“Alright, I’ll speak first.” Mu Anxiao said, looking down and thinking for a moment before starting: “You’re from the mortal world. You don’t understand things here, and you don’t understand many rules. You can’t compare to Hei Feng.”
“You…”
“You listen to me finish first,” Mu Anxiao interrupted, becoming serious. “Let me put it this way, I think you’re a bit too obsessed.”
“How am I obsessed?”
“It’s a metaphor,” Mu Anxiao explained casually and continued: “The reason Hei Feng became your subordinate before wasn’t because he was weak, but because he encountered the vine spirit and the wolf demon. Of course, if it weren’t for that chain incident, he wouldn’t have been demoted at all. You also met a good opportunity and became his superior, so it has nothing to do with your personal ability.”
Jia didn’t remember the events of that time very clearly.
But after hearing Mu Anxiao’s explanation now, he realized… it seemed to be the case.
Thinking about it, he had just taken great advantage of that incident, nothing more.
As a result, he became dejected. “What else do you want to say?”
“You are a Yin Chai who catches Yao Hun and makes Yao Hun realize their mistakes. If you continue to approach your missions with this mindset, I’m afraid,” Mu Anxiao said, “you will fail.”
“You… then what should I do?”
“You lack experience…”
“How do I lack experience? I’m very capable.”
“Before you came here, you were just a soul. After arriving here, you essentially started from scratch. It’s just that fortunately, you met Hei Feng. Of course, I’m not saying you’re weak. What I want to ask you now,” Mu Anxiao said seriously, “when you were Hei Feng’s superior, did Hei Feng do more, or did you?” She raised her chin.
Jia meekly uttered two words: “Hei Feng.”
“Then that’s right. How much have you done?” Mu Anxiao asked again.
“I only received reports from Hei Feng, nothing else,” Jia said in a low voice.
Mu Anxiao smiled slightly. “Hei Feng gained his abilities through practice. In other words, Hei Feng never compared himself to anyone, nor did he ever want to surpass you. He just wanted to do his job well.”
“You’re using Hei Feng to belittle me,” Jia said weakly.
Mu Anxiao: “That’s not what I mean. I just want to tell you that if you do your job well, you will improve. Always talking about surpassing this and that with your mouth, gradually, that will only become an invisible pressure, and that pressure will be of no use at all.”
“You mean, I already have this… pressure.” Jia understood Mu Anxiao’s words.
Mu Anxiao nodded.