Evasion?
Fengqishi never thought he was evading the use of the healing technique. He merely considered it a choice.
However, hearing Mu Anxiao say this now, he found himself contemplating his recent rejections of her, as well as the times he had used the healing technique to treat her injuries. His eyes darkened. He turned, glancing at the coachman who had hurried to the carriage, sighed, and walked towards him.
In front of the carriage, Mu Anxiao stood calmly, watching the coachman lift the curtain. "Can this thing still be hung?" she asked.
The coachman glanced inside the carriage, then down at the curtain. "It's been completely torn off," he said.
"Then if I sit here, won't I be seen?" Mu Anxiao stated calmly.
"Who's going to see you at this hour of the night?" the coachman replied. He then touched the curtain with a pained expression. "This curtain of mine is very expensive."
"Very expensive," Mu Anxiao repeated, glancing sideways at Fengqishi, who was walking over. She commanded, "Give him some silver."
"What do you mean?" Fengqishi asked coldly, stopping beside Mu Anxiao.
The coachman, who had hoped to elicit some silver from Mu Anxiao to fill his own void, was surprised when she immediately turned to Fengqishi. He dared not speak further. "I didn't ask for any silver, General," he said. He then stepped onto a stool and climbed into the carriage to reattach the curtain.
Seeing this, Mu Anxiao let out a soft hum. "Sly one, trying to trick me," she muttered. She glared at the coachman, then turned to Fengqishi. "It seems you truly are a person of status."
"..." Fengqishi deliberately remained silent.
Mu Anxiao looked at Fengqishi's expressionless face and his continued silence. She let out another hum and glanced towards the palace gate. After a moment's thought, she asked, "Hey, coachman, where did you go just now?" She suddenly worried that the coachman might have seen her interacting with the demon soul.
"I went to relieve myself," the coachman replied while fixing the curtain.
"So, that means," Mu Anxiao slanted a look at Fengqishi, "you only arrived when I did."
"Yes," the coachman said. After securing the curtain, he turned and lit the lantern inside the carriage using the moonlight.
The next second, the carriage was illuminated once more.
"Is it done?" Mu Anxiao inquired.
"It's done," the coachman replied. He lifted the curtain, bent down, and hopped off the carriage. "You can get on now."
"Alright," Mu Anxiao nodded, pointedly ignoring Fengqishi. She stepped onto the stool and got on.
Immediately after Mu Anxiao sat down inside the carriage, Fengqishi lifted the curtain and entered.
Seeing this, Mu Anxiao frowned. "Why did you get on?"
"I told everyone else to leave," Fengqishi said, sitting opposite Mu Anxiao. "From now on, ask what you need to ask, and don't ask what you don't."
"I have nothing to ask you," Mu Anxiao replied, turning her face towards the window.
Fengqishi folded his arms and watched Mu Anxiao's deliberate attempt to silence herself. "Depart," he instructed.
Outside, upon hearing Fengqishi's command, the coachman flicked the whip against the horse's hindquarters, and the carriage moved.
Heeding Fengqishi's warning, Mu Anxiao remained silent, staring at the curtain, her head occasionally bumping against the wooden board with a dull thud.
Fengqishi calmly listened to the rumbling of the carriage wheels and Mu Anxiao's bumps against the board. "Directly to the Mu Mansion. You can change your clothes there later," he said.
The Mu Mansion?
Hearing Fengqishi's words, Mu Anxiao turned back to him with trepidation. "I can't go back," she said.
"What's wrong?"
"You've already captured me. If I go back, they..."
"If you are innocent, I will let you go," Fengqishi interrupted.
Mu Anxiao's expression stiffened. "I don't care, I'm just not going back," she said, turning her face away.
"Then where do you want to go? Your clothes are all at the mansion..."
"Let me tell you the truth. My clothes are all hand-me-downs from those young ladies, and those young ladies are all lunatics," Mu Anxiao interrupted, becoming serious. "They wear their clothes a few times and then discard them, which is why they still feel new. In reality, I don't have a single decent outfit."
"What are you trying to do?" Fengqishi sensed a hidden meaning in Mu Anxiao's words.
Mu Anxiao replied, "What I want to do is, don't you have a mansion? I'll just go there."
"No," Fengqishi shook his head.
"You let that woman go, but not me. Shen Moyun," Mu Anxiao pointed at Fengqishi, "you're really something."
"You..."
"What about me? You stingy person, helping others but not me. If that's the case," Mu Anxiao said, suddenly standing up, "I'll just go to the palace wearing these clothes myself."
"They won't let you in dressed like that."
"If they don't let me in, I'll leave. Anyway," Mu Anxiao let out a soft hum, "if I leave, it's you who will suffer. What does it have to do with me?"
"You're threatening me," Fengqishi said coldly.
Mu Anxiao nodded. "Yes, consider it a threat. Anyway," she deliberately took two steps closer to Fengqishi, "I'm not going back to the Mu Mansion. I'm going to your mansion."
"You..." Fengqishi tilted his head back, looking at Mu Anxiao. His body swayed slightly with the carriage's jolts. "Sit down."
"I'll sit down if you agree." Mu Anxiao hadn't intended to threaten Fengqishi, but he had used the word 'threat' to describe her first. Since that was the case... she would fulfill his wish.
"..." Fengqishi was speechless. He stared at Mu Anxiao and let out a hum.
"..." Mu Anxiao also hummed, then continued to stand there, deliberately crossing her arms and looking at him smugly, waiting to see what he would say.
However, her moment of triumph was short-lived. Just as Mu Anxiao decided to engage in a silent battle of wills with Fengqishi, the carriage wheel tripped over a large rock. Subsequently, Mu Anxiao swayed in place with the carriage's jolting motion and then fell backward.
Seeing this, Fengqishi quickly stood up and exclaimed, "Careful!" The moment he reached out to grab Mu Anxiao's arm, he swayed and fell backward.
Concurrently, the wind blew in through a gap in the window, extinguishing the candle in the lantern.
The inside of the carriage plunged into darkness.
Their vision went black, and Mu Anxiao landed heavily on Fengqishi.
Fengqishi remained seated, bearing Mu Anxiao's weight. Using the dim light from outside the window, he looked at Mu Anxiao's profile at close range and whispered, "Get up." He placed a hand on her shoulder.
"I can't get up. Don't rush me," Mu Anxiao said, her hands searching for something to support herself with.
Fengqishi heard her and was rendered speechless.