Jia did not notice Feng Qishi's gaze. Instead, his eyes were shining as he looked at the bag of silver, muttering, "Silver." Then, he reached out to pick it up.
Mu Anxiao knew that Jia had become greedy after being demoted and following her. When he was idle, he would always complain about his meager salary. Thus, seeing his slow movement as he reached for the silver bag, she grew anxious. She quickly got up, reached out, and pressed down on his head, saying, "Shen Moyun, hurry and pick it up."
Jia's head was pressed down by Mu Anxiao, making him almost unable to move.
Feng Qishi, witnessing Mu Anxiao's anxious expression and her disregard for the "child," sighed and picked up the money bag.
When Jia heard Mu Anxiao's voice, he remained silent.
Minutes later.
Jia sat cross-legged between them, rotating his neck and gently rubbing it with his hand. He said, "Mu Anxiao, you are simply mad." He glared at Mu Anxiao.
Upon hearing this, Mu Anxiao glanced at Feng Qishi opposite her, then looked back at Jia and said, "You're quite something too. Instead of entering through the door, you had to crawl out from underground. If you put yourself in my shoes, wouldn't you be startled if I did the same?"
"You..." Jia took a sharp breath. "You weren't startled by my sudden appearance; you attacked me because I was going to grab that money bag. Don't deny it."
"..." Mu Anxiao felt a moment of awkwardness. "You're from the present, you know. Don't you know you shouldn't pick up things from outside, especially money?"
"This isn't outside," Jia retorted.
Mu Anxiao's expression turned cold.
Seeing this, Jia relented, "Alright, alright, I was wrong."
"Wrong about what?" Mu Anxiao asked coldly.
Jia was, after all, still a "child." In terms of age, he was indeed several years younger than Mu Anxiao. Thus, when Mu Anxiao changed her attitude, he completely backed down. "I was wrong," he said sincerely.
Seeing Jia's sincere expression, Mu Anxiao got straight to the point. "Is something wrong?"
"..." Jia was slow to catch up with Mu Anxiao's pace. After a slight pause, he said, "Yes."
"Speak," Mu Anxiao said, lifting her chin. Her face was serious, all previous smiles gone.
Feng Qishi looked at Mu Anxiao's serious expression and remained silent.
Jia: "I feel... Mu Xiao's mother can see me."
"..." Mu Anxiao frowned, thinking she had misheard. She asked again, "What did you say?"
"I said... I feel Mu Xiao's mother can see me."
"See you?" Mu Anxiao frowned, recalling Mai Xia's actions over the past year. She shook her head. "Impossible. You must have seen wrong."
"Really, she was really looking at me," Jia insisted.
Mu Anxiao: "..." She fell into thought.
Feng Qishi turned his gaze to Jia's face. "Are you sure you didn't see wrong?"
"I didn't. A normal person wouldn't look in my direction, but she did."
"Where were you standing?"
"Next to the tree," Jia replied honestly.
Upon hearing this, Feng Qishi sighed lightly and shifted his gaze to Mu Anxiao. "Mu Anxiao, what do you think?"
"..." Mu Anxiao did not respond. She suddenly remembered the blue light she had seen behind Mai Xia. Her eyes darkened. "No, I think I saw something too." As she spoke, she looked up at Feng Qishi.
Feng Qishi: "What did you see?" He stared intently at Mu Anxiao.
Mu Anxiao: "I saw... a flash of blue light from behind her."
"Blue light..." Feng Qishi took a sharp breath. "This Mu residence has no trace of demonic or immortal aura."
"Precisely because there isn't," Mu Anxiao suddenly became cautious. "That's what's terrifying."
"..." Feng Qishi and Jia were speechless.
Mu Anxiao fell into thought once more.
Another few minutes passed.
Mu Anxiao looked up at Feng Qishi and extended her hand, saying, "Give me the money bag."
"Oh." Feng Qishi nodded and tugged at the money bag at his waist.
Mu Anxiao glanced at it and clicked her tongue. "I meant Mai Xia's."
"Mai Xia... Who is Mai Xia?" Feng Qishi didn't react immediately.
Mu Anxiao pursed her lips. "She's Mu Xiao's mother. Do you expect me to call her mother? That would be out of line."
"The fact is, you usually call her mother," Jia said.
"...There’s an extra donkey’s mouth in the manger," Mu Anxiao said, turning to Jia. "Do you understand acting?"
"Then you're quite invested in your role," Jia said softly.
Mu Anxiao smacked her lips and glared fiercely at Jia. "This is called professional ethics."
"What does that have to do with anything?" Jia asked, lowering his head.
Seeing Jia's submission, Mu Anxiao said no more and shifted her gaze to Feng Qishi, who was staring at her. "What are you looking at me for?"
"What do you think I'm looking at you for?" Feng Qishi retorted.
Upon hearing this, Mu Anxiao reacted. "Give it to me." She continued to extend her hand.
Feng Qishi: "Are you going to sniff it?" he asked, pulling out the money bag from his chest.
Immediately after, there was a knock on the door.
Feng Qishi stood up abruptly. "Who is it?"
"It's me, Mu Hua."
"Mu Hua... Why is she here?" Mu Anxiao muttered, glancing up at the money bag in Feng Qishi's hand. Then, she stood up, looked left and right, and finally shifted her gaze to under the wooden bed.
"You're going to hide under there?" Jia stood up and asked.
Hearing Mu Hua's persistent knocking, Mu Anxiao closed her mouth and, without thinking, turned towards the bed.
Outside, Mu Hua stood by the door. Hearing no response, she grew anxious. "Brother Shen, why aren't you talking to me?"
Inside, Feng Qishi casually replied, "Wait." He turned and walked to the bed, bending down to pull the bedsheet down further, deliberately blocking the view from below, and whispered, "Are you ready?"
"Ready."
"I'm going to open the door," Feng Qishi whispered.
"Go ahead," Mu Anxiao also whispered.
Feng Qishi straightened up, put the money bag back into his chest, and, forgetting the bundle on the table, walked to the door and opened it directly. He looked at Mu Hua, who was standing before him smiling, and asked, "Something wrong?"
Mu Hua pursed her lips. "Brother Shen, you're sending me to the palace tonight, aren't you?"
Feng Qishi nodded. "Yes." His demeanor was extremely cold.
Mu Hua: "If that's the case, can you speak a few good words for me in front of King Jin?"
"Good words..." Feng Qishi narrowed his eyes. "That's against the rules."
"Brother Shen, I know," Mu Hua said, reaching out and grabbing Feng Qishi's sleeve. "You can do anything. I believe in your abilities."
Feng Qishi looked down at Mu Hua's hand and said, "Didn't your mother teach you about the separation between men and women?" With that, he unceremoniously shook off her hand.
Mu Hua leaned forward with Feng Qishi's force and smiled. "Brother Shen, you're so strong."
Feng Qishi disliked being praised unnecessarily. He looked down at the wrinkled sleeve, saying, "Once you enter the palace, everyone belongs to King Jin. If King Jin learns of your actions and words, it could cost you your head." He was deliberately trying to scare her.
Mu Hua: "If you don't say anything, no one will know," she said, raising an eyebrow.
Feng Qishi glanced at Mu Hua's raised eyebrow. "Raising an eyebrow is a serious offense. If you do it again, I'll report your behavior to the empress, and your punishment will be a beating." He had no intention of wasting his breath on Mu Hua.
Mu Hua's expression changed upon hearing Feng Qishi's words. "Shen Moyun, you're scaring me."
"Your attitude changes so quickly," Feng Qishi said coldly.
"My attitude changes quickly because you're scaring me. And," Mu Hua took Feng Qishi's words to heart, "you said that anyone who enters the palace is King Jin's person. Is that true?"
"Yes."
"Yes..." Mu Hua repeated, a smile curling her lips. "Then I have an opportunity."
Hearing this, Feng Qishi frowned slightly and, fearing she might misunderstand, added, "Men are also considered King Jin's people. You don't need to have any wild ideas."
"..." Mu Hua froze.
Inside.
Mu Anxiao lay steadily beneath the bed, peeking through the gap in the bedsheet at Feng Qishi's feet. She listened to what Mu Hua was saying and sighed. She turned her head, looking at Jia, who was lying beside her in the dim light, and remained silent.
Jia also met Mu Anxiao's eyes in the faint light. "What are you looking at me for?"
Mu Anxiao softly asked, "She can't see you, can she?"
"..." Jia smiled.
Mu Anxiao continued, "You go out." She leaned forward slightly, but her toe bumped against the wood under the bed. The wood made a "ceng" sound on the floor.
Coincidentally, this sound reached Mu Hua's ears.
Mu Anxiao held her breath.
Jia secretly chuckled and said, "It has nothing to do with me. You were the one getting excited."
"..." Mu Anxiao watched Feng Qishi step back through the gap, her heart filled with unease.
Jia continued to smile.
Outside.
Mu Hua pried at the doorframe with one hand, ignoring Feng Qishi's reaction, and peeked into the room.
Feng Qishi, startled by Mu Hua's sudden movement, took two steps back. Seeing her expression as if she were searching for something, he asked knowingly, "What are you doing?"
Hearing this, Mu Hua continued to pry at the doorframe, then looked up at Feng Qishi and said earnestly, "Is someone hiding in your room?"
"This is your Mu residence. How could I hide anyone?"
"But there was a sound inside," Mu Hua stated matter-of-factly.
Feng Qishi looked at Mu Hua without changing his expression or his heartbeat. "Can you stop being neurotic?"
"I'm not. There's someone inside," Mu Hua said, reaching out and pushing Feng Qishi's chest.
Feng Qishi looked at her and said coldly, "Take your hand away."
"You move aside," Mu Hua insisted, wanting to find leverage over Feng Qishi so he would obey her.
Feng Qishi looked down at Mu Hua's arrogant expression and said coldly, "You don't understand human speech."
"How..." Mu Hua stared intently into Feng Qishi's eyes. "If I don't move, are you going to hit me?"
"You..."
"If you haven't done anything wrong, you won't fear ghosts knocking at your door. You're definitely hiding someone," Mu Hua interrupted, removing her hand and pointing at Feng Qishi's face.
Feng Qishi frowned at this.
Mu Hua: "See, you are hiding someone." Knowing she couldn't push Feng Qishi away, she seized the opportunity and squeezed into the room along the doorframe.
Feng Qishi knew that Mu Anxiao must have heard Mu Hua's voice, and he assumed Mu Hua wouldn't be smart enough to look under the bed. Therefore, he relaxed his guard, turned to look at Mu Hua, who was wandering around the room, and deliberately remained silent.
Under the bed.
Mu Anxiao looked at Feng Qishi's feet with a helpless expression, thinking, "He's truly useless, only good at causing trouble. Why did he let her in? Isn't this inviting a tiger into a den?"
At the same time, Jia said, "What do we do?"
"..." Mu Anxiao looked at Jia, not daring to speak.
Jia: "She'll definitely come over. When she sees you, you're finished. Maybe... you'll also lose your chance to enter the palace."
Lose the chance?
However, Mu Anxiao's only motivation now was to enter the palace to capture demon souls. If Mu Hua delayed her now, she would miss this opportunity. And if this opportunity was missed, she wouldn't know how long it would take to find another mission.
Thinking about it, she suddenly felt a sense of crisis. "No, I can't let her see me," she muttered silently, closing her eyes.
Outside.
Mu Hua searched every corner, even the wardrobe.
Conversely, Feng Qishi stood in place, calmly watching Mu Hua, who was frantically searching and making a mess of the room. He crossed his arms and said, "Mu Hua, if you enter the palace like this, you won't last three days."
Hearing this, Mu Hua stopped and turned to look at Feng Qishi. "Shen Moyun, you're cursing me."
"This is a sign of your lack of discipline. If your mother finds out, you..." Feng Qishi said, narrowing his eyes. "What will be your fate?"
"..." Mu Hua looked at Feng Qishi's serious expression and smiled. "You're definitely trying to cover something up." She pointed at Feng Qishi.
Feng Qishi: "I don't need to cover anything up."
"You're just being stubborn. You're definitely hiding someone."
"You're really looking for trouble."
"..." Mu Hua smiled.
Feng Qishi: "What are you smiling at?"
"I'm laughing at you. You're usually so quiet, but now you're suddenly talking so much. As the saying goes, if you haven't done anything wrong, you won't fear ghosts knocking at your door," Mu Hua said confidently. "You must have a problem."
Feng Qishi said nothing more.
Mu Hua chuckled. "There's a problem, there's a problem." As she spoke, she turned her gaze to the bed.
Feng Qishi followed Mu Hua's gaze, placed one hand behind his back, and secretly cast a spell towards the bed.
Mu Hua, completely unaware, turned and walked towards the bed.
Jia, peeking through the gap, watched Mu Hua's approaching footsteps and said softly, "Here she comes." As he spoke, he looked outside the bedsheet at the dissipating spell and frowned.
Mu Anxiao continued to keep her eyes closed, remaining silent.
The footsteps drew closer.
Mu Anxiao opened her eyes, looked at Mu Hua's embroidered shoes through the gap, took a deep breath, and looked down at her own hands, which were glowing blue. Before she could speak, Jia exclaimed, "What is this?"
Mu Anxiao glanced at Jia and said nothing.
Just then, Mu Hua crouched down and suddenly lifted the bedsheet.
Feng Qishi stared anxiously at Mu Hua, who was squatting by the bed and about to bend down. Recalling the spell that had just been blocked by the bedsheet, he thought, "It's over."