Just like that, Mu Anxiao successfully charged in, following the gradually dissipating smoke. At that very instant, she felt her spiritual energy being forced out.
But she knew this wasn't the time for pain. So, she looked towards the green-skirted woman squatting with her hands clasped over her head, took a deep breath, had a flash of inspiration, and quickly cast a spell to gather the spiritual energy that hadn't yet dispersed, transforming it into a protective barrier that blocked the smoke outside.
Outside.
The red-skirted woman and the pink-skirted woman, the moment Mu Anxiao used her spiritual energy to protect the green-skirted woman, quickly cast spells, attempting to break through.
Seeing the continuous stream of spells striking the illusory light, Jia’s eyes sank. He tilted his head back and angrily shouted, "Enough." Then, he spread his hands, conjured a custom-made greatsword, and flew towards them.
Just like that, Jia broke through his mental barriers and began fighting against them.
Within the illusory light.
Mu Anxiao crouched beside the green-skirted woman, then reached out to touch her shoulder, asking, "Are you alright?" As she spoke, she gently patted the green-skirted woman's back twice.
Following this, the green-skirted woman finally let go of her fear, slowly tilted her head up to look at Mu Anxiao, and said, "It's you."
"..." Mu Anxiao stared at the green-skirted woman’s normal eyes for a few seconds before asking, "Are you better?"
"What do you mean by that?" the green-skirted woman retorted, her eyes beginning to emit a faint red glow again.
Mu Anxiao, startled by this, said, "Nothing, I was just asking casually." To avoid provoking the green-skirted woman, she stood up.
The green-skirted woman also stood up, then surveyed her surroundings before looking at Mu Anxiao and exclaiming, "This is your spiritual energy."
"Uh-huh, it is," Mu Anxiao said, scratching the back of her head, afraid she might relapse and take her last remaining layer of spiritual energy.
The green-skirted woman frowned slightly as she looked at Mu Anxiao’s strained expression.
Mu Anxiao chuckled and said, "You actually have spiritual energy too." As she spoke, she began trying to recall a method to cure the green-skirted woman of her poison.
The green-skirted woman remained silent.
Fifteen minutes later.
Jia still couldn't escape the siege of the pink-skirted and red-skirted women, and he fell to the ground.
Immediately, the red-skirted woman and the pink-skirted woman stood side-by-side in front of Jia, let out a simultaneous, hearty laugh, then looked down at Jia, their eyes flashing red.
Jia glanced at each of them and asked, "What do you want?"
The red-skirted woman held a dagger and smiled at Jia.
The pink-skirted woman then brandished the silver needles emitting pink light in front of her eyes and said, "Little Yin-shi, aren't you quite capable? How come..." She continued, "You can't even defeat two mortals like us."
"I can, it's just that your methods are despicable," Jia said, casually grabbing the greatsword beside him.
The pink-skirted woman snorted and immediately flung the silver needles towards Jia.
Jia, terrified, closed his eyes and let go of the greatsword in his hand.
Then, the pink-skirted woman's laughter reached Jia's ears.
Upon hearing this, Jia opened his eyes, his body stiffened, and he slowly turned his head to look at the two silver needles deeply embedded in the soil. He breathed a sigh of relief, "..." He dared not speak to them anymore.
The pink-skirted woman enjoyed Jia's frightened reaction and continued to laugh.
Just then, the red-skirted woman stepped forward, bent down, and grabbed Jia by his collar, saying, "You brat, you have a loud voice." As she spoke, she lifted Jia up, met his gaze, and continued, "You look young, but you're not a child." Saying this, she snorted and playfully traced the dagger along Jia’s cheek twice.
Jia was not intimidated by the red-skirted woman's actions and said, "You're going to scar my face."
"Looking at you, you're quite handsome, you..."
"I'm just a child. Describing me as handsome isn't quite right," Jia interrupted, deliberately adopting a childish tone, his gaze inadvertently flicking towards the illusory light.
The red-skirted woman, hearing Jia correct her, laughed. "Not quite right, then tell me, how should I describe you to make it right?" She didn't notice Jia's glance.
Jia looked at the dagger in the red-skirted woman's hand and said with a trembling voice, "Cute."
"Cute?" the red-skirted woman repeated and burst into laughter.
This time, the pink-skirted woman stopped laughing, looked down at Jia, and said, "It's been a long time since I've given anyone acupuncture. Your head, this kid's head," she bent slightly, staring at Jia's head, "looks quite easy to prick."
"My head is as hard as a rock, it's not easy to prick," Jia said, using this opportunity to stall for time for Mu Anxiao.
Subsequently, after Jia finished speaking, the pink-skirted woman picked up the silver needles and began to frighten Jia in various ways.
Within the illusory light.
Mu Anxiao had not found any flaws in the green-skirted woman, so she temporarily abandoned that idea. She looked at the illusory light being slowly eroded by her spiritual energy, a smirk playing on her lips. "Almost there."
"Can it really work?" the green-skirted woman, having regained normalcy, surveyed the gradually transparent illusory light around them and asked, "Your spiritual energy won't be damaged."
"No," Mu Anxiao replied. Not wanting the green-skirted woman to relapse because of her, she would always say it was fine whenever asked.
In reality, Mu Anxiao was terrified.
Minutes later.
The pink-skirted and red-skirted women, having had their fun, straightened up together.
The red-skirted woman said, "It seems you're not afraid of disfigurement at all."
"I am afraid..."
"You are afraid," the red-skirted woman interrupted sternly, staring at the wound on Jia’s cheek for a few seconds, and said, "Then why aren't you crying?"
"Exactly, why aren't you crying? Doesn't your head hurt?" the pink-skirted woman asked, pointing at the silver needles stuck in Jia's head.
"Cry?" Jia countered, suddenly realizing... they were torturing him like this just to see him cry. Thinking so, he played along with their emotions and pouted.
Unexpectedly... they completely ignored Jia, turned around together to face the now completely transparent illusory light behind them, then quickly exchanged glances before beginning to cast spells.
In the light.
Mu Anxiao clearly saw their reactions. Following this, she quickly turned her head and told the green-skirted woman, "Retreat."
Upon hearing this, the green-skirted woman obediently stepped back a few paces.
Seeing this, Mu Anxiao turned her head, took a deep breath, made a few hand gestures, and directly thrust her palms towards the direction of the red-skirted and pink-skirted women.
Just like that, the two beams of light they emitted collided with Mu Anxiao's.
The illusory light circle cracked at that very moment.
Jia, witnessing this scene, quickly stood up. "Not good," he said, raising his hand and immediately pulling out the silver needles stuck in his head, racking his brain for a solution.
At the same time, a boy appeared beside Jia. "The situation is not optimistic."
Hearing this, Jia frowned, turned his head to look at the boy standing beside him, and asked, "Didn't you leave? Didn't you say your master didn't want them to see you?"
"Do you think," the boy said, pulling out a black handkerchief from his sleeve and handing it to Jia, "they have time to see me?"
Hearing this, Jia glanced back at the two women fighting with Mu Anxiao, replied, "No," and then dropped the silver needles on the ground.
The boy waved the handkerchief in front of Jia's hands a couple of times and said, "Here, press it against the wound on your face."
"Thanks," Jia said, taking the handkerchief and pressing it against the wound, his gaze fixed ahead as he tried to think of a solution for Mu Anxiao.
The boy crossed his arms and watched the spectacle unfold.