"Curious about it all, but what does it mean?" Feng Qishi said, staring intently at the closed door. He lowered his gaze, pondered for a moment, then added, "Hey, doesn't that voice sound familiar?" He turned to look at Mu Anxiao.
"What sounds familiar?" Mu Anxiao hadn't quite registered, looking up to meet Feng Qishi's eyes.
"..." Feng Qishi cast another thoughtful glance towards the room, stepped forward, and whispered, "I'm asking if you think the voice of that woman who wants to have a drinking contest sounds familiar."
"A woman..." Mu Anxiao said, thinking for a moment, then she smiled.
Feng Qishi was bewildered. "No, what are you smiling about?"
Mu Anxiao continued to look at Feng Qishi with a smile. Her eyes brightened as she said, "Tell me, in less than a year, how many... women have you met?" She raised an eyebrow.
Feng Qishi was stunned. "What do you mean by that?" He saw the word 'gossip' in Mu Anxiao's eyes.
Mu Anxiao crossed her arms. "What I mean is, I don't believe you don't know what I'm talking about." She took a deep breath. "Tell me, did you encounter a fated woman, and moreover, do you have quite a good impression of this fated woman?"
"You..."
"No, wait," Mu Anxiao said, stepping forward and sniffing the air. "This woman has a fated connection, and this woman is also someone you know." As she spoke, she turned back to look at Feng Qishi.
Feng Qishi's expression froze.
Mu Anxiao narrowed her eyes. "What's with that expression?"
"What's with my expression? Can you stop talking nonsense?" Feng Qishi said coldly.
"I'm talking nonsense, you..."
"Don't you really think that voice sounds familiar?" Feng Qishi, tired of bickering with Mu Anxiao on this matter, asked directly.
This time, Mu Anxiao suddenly fell silent.
Feng Qishi looked at Mu Anxiao's sudden stunned expression, also confused. "Why aren't you talking anymore?"
"You said the voice sounded familiar," Mu Anxiao said, looking up and staring intently at Feng Qishi's face. "You used magic." She glanced at Feng Qishi's ear.
Feng Qishi's eyes darted away. "No."
"No," Mu Anxiao said, stepping forward and grabbing Feng Qishi's collar. "Didn't you say you wouldn't use magic?" She stared at Feng Qishi's face.
"..." Feng Qishi, feeling uncomfortable, lowered his gaze to meet Mu Anxiao's eyes. Just as he was about to say 'I didn't,' Mu Anxiao spoke again, "If you don't tell the truth, once I enter the palace, I'll cozy up to King Jin and help him find your other half."
"You..."
"I mean what I say," Mu Anxiao interrupted, feeling there was no need to be polite to Feng Qishi anymore.
Feng Qishi blinked. "You dare."
Mu Anxiao's lips curled. "You can give me the cold shoulder, and naturally, I can use my words to make you a... good husband." She deliberately emphasized the last three words.
Feng Qishi knew Mu Anxiao kept her word, so seeing her determined expression now, he couldn't help but feel a sense of crisis. "Mu Anxiao, didn't you also hear it?"
"I heard it, but I could only faintly hear their words. As for the voice," Mu Anxiao shook her head slightly, "I couldn't make it out."
Originally, Mu Anxiao wasn't particularly interested in the familiar voice Feng Qishi mentioned. But after Feng Qishi's repeated inquiries, she became curious about the woman's voice.
Conversely, Feng Qishi had only asked casually, but as he kept asking, he drew himself in. Looking at Mu Anxiao's actions now, he could only lend her a spell.
"Fine, I'll cast the spell for you," he said, gently tapping Mu Anxiao's ear with his index finger. "You can step aside."
"Okay." Mu Anxiao agreed, releasing her grip on Feng Qishi's collar, stepping back half a step, and glancing towards the door.
Feng Qishi breathed a sigh of relief.
Inside the room.
Youxian leisurely walked over to the table with the woman and sat down.
The second black-clothed man and the first black-clothed man remained standing, looking at the extremely arrogant Youxian before them, deliberately remaining silent.
Youxian picked up a cup with one hand and gently placed her other hand on the woman's shoulder. She looked up at the two black-clothed men who were staring at her intently and asked, "Why are you looking at me?" As she spoke, she removed her hand from the woman's shoulder and picked up the teapot.
The first black-clothed man said, "You're quite self-aware, little girl."
"So-so. In a moment," Youxian said while pouring tea into the cup, "you'll have something to see."
"Talking big will only make you lose face," the first black-clothed man said, sitting down.
Seeing the first black-clothed man sit down, the second black-clothed man stepped forward and also sat down.
Youxian's lips curled. She put down the teapot, pushed the refilled cup towards the woman's hand, and said, "To get to the point, after we leave, you are not allowed to look for us. Otherwise, don't blame me for being rude."
"Stop bragging and drink your water first," the first black-clothed man said, pointing at the teacup in front of Youxian.
Youxian snorted coldly. "Just you wait and see." As she spoke, she took out a silver needle from her sleeve and deliberately gestured with it before her eyes.
The second black-clothed man chuckled. "Are you going to test for poison?"
"I didn't say that, I was just thinking," Youxian said, putting down the hand holding the silver needle and looking up with a smile at the two black-clothed men staring at the silver needle. "Will the poison in this silver needle really cause someone to bleed from all seven orifices?"
The first black-clothed man's expression stiffened. "What did you say?"
"Huh?" Youxian feigned surprise and then laughed. "I said, will the poison in this silver needle really kill someone."
"This needle has poison," the second black-clothed man said, looking at the first black-clothed man with a hint of fear.
The first black-clothed man frowned slightly. "..."
Immediately after, Youxian threw the silver needle onto the table. The next second, the silver needle was embedded shallowly into the tabletop. Seeing this, she laughed, "It went in."
"..." The second black-clothed man and the first black-clothed man exchanged glances and dared not speak.
Youxian continued, "A bet is a bet. I'm saying this upfront. If we leave and you chase after us," she gently pinched one side of the silver needle and snorted, "I'll have to use lethal force."
"There are rules in this city. If you do this..."
"As long as you guarantee it, I won't 'snap' you," Youxian interrupted, raising an eyebrow at the first black-clothed man who was speaking. "But if you don't guarantee it, then I can't help it. Of course, if you mess up my business, that's another matter."
"You have business?" the first black-clothed man asked weakly.
Youxian nodded. "I do have business. Otherwise, I wouldn't have let you catch me so easily." She then suddenly remembered her dagger. "Oh, right, give me back my dagger."