"Alright, here you go," Yue Ci chose to compromise, handing the immortal book to Mu Anxiao. He then added, "But, let's get the unpleasant things out of the way first..." He trailed off.
Mu Anxiao watched Yue Ci's deliberate dawdling, growing impatient. "If you have something to say, just say it. Can you stop playing this game of wanting to speak but stopping yourself?" As she spoke, she cast a glance at the immortal book.
Yue Ci paused his actions, also glancing at the immortal book. "Aren't I afraid you'll get angry if you hear what I have to say?" he said, his tone laced with mock concern.
"Oh, what profound statement are you about to make now?" Mu Anxiao retorted, matching his sarcastic tone.
Upon hearing Mu Anxiao's words, Yue Ci's bright smile instantly morphed into... an awkward grin.
"Continue," Mu Anxiao said sternly.
"Continue..." Yue Ci, sensing that Mu Anxiao was not someone to be trifled with, felt a twitch at the corners of his mouth. He said, "We still don't know how many vengeful spirits are left there. If we encounter them again, you'll have to give me the immortal book. Let me borrow it now, so I can help you, won't I?"
"What you say makes sense, but," Mu Anxiao, recalling Yue Ci's earlier hesitant demeanor, remained wary, "after this is done, you absolutely must return the immortal book to me. If you don't, I'll haunt you to death."
"Am I that kind of person?" Yue Ci asked with a roguish grin.
Mu Anxiao let out a cold snort. "Whether you are that kind of person or not, it's not for me to decide."
"You... agree?" Yue Ci nudged the immortal book towards Mu Anxiao.
Mu Anxiao sighed softly. "What else can I do? Since you're so keen on drawing talismans, take your time. But on one condition: you go first."
"No problem," Yue Ci responded excitedly.
Mu Anxiao curled her lips. "If there's no problem, let's go." She gestured ahead.
At the same time, Jia and the spirit passed by Yue Ci swiftly after Mu Anxiao's word and returned behind her.
Immediately, before Yue Ci could take a step, the spirit hurried to say, "Wait."
Hearing this, Yue Ci turned his head to look at the spirit. "What is it?" His attitude was gentle.
The spirit pointed at the three vengeful spirits pinned by the talisman characters. "They can't stay here forever, can they?"
"Indeed not," Yue Ci glanced at the three vengeful spirits, then back at the spirit, and said with a smile, "You must have a way, right?"
"..." Without a word, the spirit turned to look at Jia.
Jia, caught off guard by the spirit's sudden gaze, was somewhat bewildered. "Why are you looking at me?"
Spirit: "I have a solution."
"If you have a solution, then you have one. Why look at me?" Jia was completely clueless.
Mu Anxiao crossed her arms, watching the interaction between the spirit and Jia, acting as an observer.
Seeing Jia's utterly dense expression, the spirit was exasperated. "You don't know this either." Saying this, he furrowed his brow deeply.
Jia was utterly confused. "What do I have to know now?" He was entirely unaware of the situation.
The spirit paused for a few seconds, then said, "After the sealing talisman is used, there's a magical artifact, you..."
"I don't even know about the sealing talisman, how could I know about the artifact? Besides, the leader of your side never told me about this thing. You're asking me," Jia said, his tone righteous, "I definitely don't know."
"You don't know, and you're still being so bold," Yue Ci chuckled. "You little guy, you're quite amusing."
"You're not allowed to call me a little guy," Jia said, angered.
Yue Ci continued to laugh. "You look like a little guy, and you're not allowed to be called one? You little guy, you're truly amusing."
"You..."
"Alright, I won't argue with you anymore," Yue Ci deliberately interrupted Jia and looked back at the spirit. "Since it's come to this, do you have a way?"
The spirit shook his head.
Seeing this, Yue Ci smiled again. "Fine, then I'll have to do it myself." Saying this, he spread his hands and conjured a sack.
Mu Anxiao exclaimed in surprise, "How do you have that?"
"Oh, you know what this is?" Yue Ci held up the sack.
Mu Anxiao frowned. "This is an artifact from the Underworld. If I'm not mistaken, this..." she frowned slightly, "should be the artifact the spirit mentioned."
Yue Ci smiled. "I didn't expect you to be so clever." He then looked at the spirit and asked, "Do you know how to use it?"
"How do you have that?" The spirit's brow furrowed with a question.
"I..." Yue Ci said, glancing at both Jia and Mu Anxiao, who were equally puzzled by his actions, and sighed, "I really don't know what to do with you three."
"Don't beat around the bush. Why do you have that?" Mu Anxiao was impatient.
Immediately, Yue Ci smiled at the spirit and said, "It's all your fault for sparking her curiosity again." He explained in a low voice, "This was given to me by an Underworld messenger I know."
"You know Underworld messengers?" Mu Anxiao was half-doubting.
Similarly, the spirit showed a look of suspicion. "You say you know an Underworld messenger, but I've never seen you before. That's strange."
"I met him while on a mission. Speaking of which," Yue Ci said, fixing his gaze on the spirit's face, "you're just a spirit. Why are you inquiring about Underworld messengers?"
"I didn't," the spirit said quickly, disliking Yue Ci's attitude.
Yue Ci: "If you didn't, you didn't. Why are you so flustered?"
"Because you're talking nonsense," the spirit said, disregarding Yue Ci's feelings.
"Alright, alright, let's just say I'm talking nonsense," Yue Ci said, handing the sack to the spirit. "Since you know what this is, you must know how to use it."
"..." The spirit didn't want to steal the spotlight and turned to look at Jia.
Yue Ci followed the spirit's gaze to Jia's face and said, "I asked you to do something, why are you looking at him? Could it be that you're afraid of him?" He lowered his head to meet the spirit's eyes.
The spirit's large eyes flickered. "He's an Underworld messenger, and I'm a spirit. If I do it, I'll be overshadowing him."
"You little thing, you're quite law-abiding."
"You're not allowed to call me a little thing!" the spirit roared, also detesting Yue Ci's address.
Startled by the spirit, Yue Ci laughed. "You really have a temper." He then shifted his gaze to Jia's face. "Can you do it?"
Jia hesitated.
Seeing this, Yue Ci smiled. "What do you mean by that?"
"I... I... I..." Jia said, then immediately turned to look at the spirit standing beside him and gave a dry laugh. "You do it."
"But..."
"No 'buts'. I can't," Jia said firmly. He knew it was meaningless to put on a brave face now.
Upon hearing this, the spirit, without hesitation, extended his hand.
Yue Ci withdrew his gaze and smilingly handed the sack to the spirit.
The spirit took the sack, hesitated for a moment, and then walked towards the three vengeful spirits.
Yue Ci's lips curved upward, and he deliberately glanced at Jia, who was staring at the spirit, and chuckled, "Little guy, if you don't work harder, they'll soon surpass you."