Ouyang Ye had absolutely no idea that Gu Yan's departure would have such an impact on Mu Anxiao. Facing her like this, an irrepressible sense of crisis suddenly arose in his heart. "Quite bold, aren't you?" he said with a faint smile, lowering the hand that had been pointing at Gu Tie.
"This has nothing to do with boldness, it's just my honest thoughts," Mu Anxiao replied. She glanced at Gu Tie and said, "Alright, you can go now."
"You..."
"I don't want to see you right now, leave," Mu Anxiao interrupted, waving her hand.
Ouyang Ye looked at Mu Anxiao's arrogant demeanor, then glanced at Hun Ling and the others, and said coldly, "Don't forget the promise you made to me, otherwise..." He trailed off.
"Otherwise what? Kill me?" Mu Anxiao deliberately shifted the focus entirely onto herself.
Ouyang Ye chuckled and turned to leave.
"..." After Ouyang Ye had gone a distance, Mu Anxiao let out a soft snort, turned her head, and looked at the 'trio' who had retreated an unknown number of steps. She called out, "You three."
Hun Ling glanced at Jia, then looked back at Mu Anxiao and gave a dry laugh.
Following that, Jia and Gu Tie also began to give dry laughs at Mu Anxiao.
Mu Anxiao looked at the three people in front of her, who were smiling for some unknown reason, and said helplessly, "I say, why are you three so afraid of that guy? What's there to be afraid of about him." The 'guy' she mentioned was Ouyang Ye.
At the same time, they all understood Mu Anxiao's meaning. The three of them exchanged glances, and then Jia spoke for them, "That's because your identity is different from ours."
"How is it different? We are all Immortals, and I'm not afraid, so what are you two afraid of?" Mu Anxiao thought about the relationship between Gu Tie and Ouyang Ye, and decided not to include Gu Tie in the comparison.
"Once bitten by a snake, one fears the well rope for ten years," Jia said with a seemingly reasoned tone.
Then, Mu Anxiao turned to Hun Ling, who had not been harmed in any way, and asked, "What are you afraid of?"
"I'm not," Hun Ling replied calmly.
"If you're not, then why did you retreat with them?" Mu Anxiao asked pointedly.
Hun Ling listened to Mu Anxiao's persistent questioning, then looked at the two beside him, grinned, and said, "I was pulled back by them. It wasn't my intention."
"Just keep pretending to be strong," Mu Anxiao saw through him at a glance, turned around, and once again lowered her head to stare at the rotten vegetable leaves in the bamboo basket.
Seeing this, Hun Ling looked puzzled. "What are you doing?"
"Do you really not know what I'm doing?" Mu Anxiao asked without turning her head.
Hun Ling blinked his eyes, turned his head to look at Jia and Gu Tie again, and said, "No."
"The residual soul energy of vengeful souls can be discovered by nearby demons," Mu Anxiao said, sighing lightly. "And that would be trouble."
"So, you want to use these rotten vegetable leaves to mask their soul energy," Hun Ling realized with a sudden enlightenment.
Conversely, Jia wore a confused expression. "That's not right."
Hearing this, Mu Anxiao paused her movements and turned to look at Jia. "What's wrong?"
"How can rotten vegetable leaves mask soul energy, Mu Anxiao," Jia said, tilting his head to look up at Mu Anxiao, and gave a couple of dry laughs. "You're too naive."
"Naive?" Mu Anxiao retorted.
Jia was taken aback by Mu Anxiao's retort and faltered. "What, is there something wrong with what I said?"
"Jia, I think..." Mu Anxiao stared at Jia's face, hesitated for a moment, and said, "If possible, why don't you... go and relearn this knowledge."
"Am I wrong?" Jia asked excitedly.
Mu Anxiao blinked her eyes, pointed at Hun Ling, and said, "Explain it to him. I don't have time." With that, she sighed and turned back, continuing to stuff the rotten vegetable leaves into the sack.
Gu Tie, knowing she had no right to interfere in the matters between Hun Ling and Jia, quickly stepped forward to help Mu Anxiao.
Behind them.
Jia still heeded Mu Anxiao's words and shifted his gaze to Hun Ling's face. "Was what I said... wrong?"
"Yes," Hun Ling nodded slightly.
Jia's expression froze. He suddenly felt his pride wounded. "Then tell me, what did I say wrong."
"This is the mortal realm, so naturally only things from the mortal realm can mask that soul energy. In other words," Hun Ling said seriously, "if you were a demon of their status, would you... crouch in a pile of garbage to sniff out soul energy?"
"No," Jia replied immediately.
This was the answer Hun Ling wanted, so he shrugged. "Then that's that."
"But can that really possibly mask soul energy?" Jia glanced at the sack in Mu Anxiao's hands and asked again.
This time, Hun Ling was speechless in the face of Jia's question.
On the contrary, Jia suddenly became excited. "Why?"
At this moment, Gu Tie, who had his back to them, smiled the instant he heard Jia ask that question.
Hearing this, Jia's expression stiffened, and he immediately shifted his gaze to Gu Tie's back. "What are you laughing at?"
"I'm not laughing at anything," Gu Tie replied without turning his head.
Jia became anxious. "I clearly heard you laughing, you..."
"Hun Ling has explained it so clearly, and you still don't understand," Mu Anxiao said with a helpless expression, turning sideways to look at Jia. "Jia, how did I not notice you were so stupid before."
"I..."
"He's not stupid, he's become reliant and too lazy to use his brain," Hun Ling spoke up for Jia.
"You're defending me," Jia said, touched.
Hun Ling looked calmly at Jia's expression of gratitude, took a breath, and said, "As the saying goes, if you don't use your brain often, it will rust. So," he said, patting Jia's shoulder with a smile, "think carefully, lest you end up crying when that time comes."
"..." Jia was left speechless.
Then, Mu Anxiao smiled and took the rotten vegetable leaves from Gu Tie's hands. "Alright, it's almost enough."
"Yes, Master," Gu Tie replied politely.
"Are you feeling any discomfort in your body now?" Mu Anxiao asked as she tied the mouth of the sack.
Gu Tie looked down at Mu Anxiao's skilled movements and said in a low voice, "Master, I'm much better."
"That's good," Mu Anxiao said. Holding the sack, she looked around the surroundings and suddenly froze.
From the moment they left the alley until now, Mu Anxiao's actions had become exceptionally strange, and the three of them had noticed this. However, to cooperate with her, they had not mentioned it. Now that she was acting like this again, Hun Ling felt confused.
"What's wrong?" he asked, glancing at Jia and Gu Tie.
At the same time, Gu Tie and Jia were also becoming curious about Mu Anxiao's various behaviors, so they began to eagerly await Mu Anxiao's reply.
"Nothing's wrong," Mu Anxiao said. She withdrew her gaze from scanning the surroundings, looked down at Hun Ling, and said sternly, "I have a plan."