In the courtyard.
Mu Anxiao retracted her dagger and quickly stuffed the resentful souls back into the sack. "Are you done?" she asked, turning to look at Feng Qishi, who had also stopped.
Feng Qishi: "Done." He turned around.
"I'm faster than you against five," Mu Anxiao said, stepping forward to look. She was stunned.
Feng Qishi looked down at Mu Anxiao's surprised expression, then at the souls that had returned to normal. He asked, "What's wrong with you now?"
"They're okay..." Mu Anxiao said, looking at the sack, then at the souls standing straight ahead, their resentment suppressed. She continued, "No, how did you do it?" She then looked up at Feng Qishi.
Feng Qishi: "With a spell, and it's done." He turned and walked to the three souls, commanding, "Go back."
Immediately, the three souls obeyed Feng Qishi, turned, and walked towards the dilapidated house.
Inside the dilapidated house, Hei Qi and Hei Gu stood by the door, calmly watching the souls pass by. They then looked at Mu Anxiao and Feng Qishi, whose strengths were evenly matched, and dared not say anything.
Outside the courtyard, Ouyang Ye had a clear view of Feng Qishi's actions. This sight created a sense of crisis in his heart. "How is this possible?" he muttered.
Hearing this, Gu Yan withdrew her gaze and looked at Ouyang Ye. "Master, what is it?"
"Nothing," Ouyang Ye glanced at Gu Yan. "Go welcome the guests." He then pushed Gu Yan's back, and Gu Yan entered.
Just then, Mu Anxiao and Feng Qishi sensed movement and turned their gazes to Gu Yan.
Immediately, Gu Yan looked up at the two of them... and didn't know what to say.
"You cooperate quite well," Ouyang Ye said, walking in with his hands behind his back.
Gu Yan thought Ouyang Ye would leave after giving her this command, but he showed no intention of leaving. She consequently tensed up.
At the same time, Feng Qishi and Mu Anxiao shifted their gaze to Ouyang Ye's face. Then... Mu Anxiao stepped forward and said indifferently, "Ouyang Ye, don't pretend to be idle here. All of this... is your doing."
"It's come to this, and more words are useless. Hold onto the sack in your hand and don't let the monsters snatch it away," Ouyang Ye said, turning to Gu Yan, who stood motionlessly by his side. "Welcome the guests."
"Master..."
"Up there." Ouyang Ye turned and looked at Feng Qishi, who was gazing at the sky, and smiled. "As expected of a great god, you can sense something is wrong right away."
"You summoned them," Feng Qishi said coldly, looking at the mass of dark clouds gradually enveloped in red light above.
"How could it be me? Don't you think so, Mu Anxiao?" Ouyang Ye said mysteriously, glancing at Mu Anxiao with a smile.
Mu Anxiao tightened her grip on the sack and stared coldly at Ouyang Ye. Just as she was about to speak, suddenly... the red light poured down, and Ouyang Ye disappeared. Then, unable to bear the stimulation of the red light rays, Mu Anxiao hurriedly raised her hand to cover her eyes.
At the same time, Feng Qishi quickly stepped forward, grabbed Mu Anxiao's arm, and said, "Come with me." Then he led Mu Anxiao and turned towards the dilapidated house.
Mu Anxiao could see nothing, so she could only cooperate with Feng Qishi.
Inside the dilapidated house, as the red light poured down, Hei Qi and Hei Gu huddled close to the wall, afraid of being absorbed by the demonic energy, and looked at each other.
At the same time, Feng Qishi led Mu Anxiao into the dilapidated house. Then... Mu Anxiao opened her eyes. "What's going on?" she asked, looking outside at the layers of red mist.
Feng Qishi let go, exhaled, and said, "They've sensed these souls."
"You know that too," Mu Anxiao was surprised.
"I have some knowledge of it." Feng Qishi said humbly, pointing to the sack in Mu Anxiao's hand. "Give it to me."
"Oh." Mu Anxiao, thinking of Feng Qishi's actions outside, handed the sack to him.
"Don't you not believe me?" Feng Qishi said as he took the sack.
Mu Anxiao curled her lips. "Just consider me blind and looking down on you." She then turned to the 'consciousnesses' hiding in the corner, waiting to be rescued. "I'll hold off those monsters here. You go help save them. I believe in you."
"Why don't you do it?" Feng Qishi asked, worried if Mu Anxiao could handle the monsters.
Mu Anxiao frowned. "I use demonic arts, so it's slower, but you're different, you use spells..."
"You go," Feng Qishi interrupted suddenly.
Mu Anxiao tutted. "What are you doing?"
"You can't handle these monsters. Also," Feng Qishi said with a serious expression, "As far as I know, this kind of operation takes the same amount of time with demonic arts and spells."
"You're not angry that I used demonic arts anymore?"
"As long as it's to save people, it's fine. Besides," Feng Qishi smiled faintly, "If you were to protect them, half of them would surely be harmed."
"You..."
"Exactly. He just said not to release the resentful souls directly, but look at you, you didn't listen, and in the end," Hei Gu said, looking at Mu Anxiao, "you released them directly. It's probably then that you attracted these monsters."
"From the moment the resentful souls appeared, they sensed it. It has nothing to do with her," Hei Qi defended Mu Anxiao.
Conversely, Mu Anxiao took Hei Gu's words to heart. She thought about it, and if she hadn't been so headstrong earlier, the monsters wouldn't have found this place so quickly. She looked at Hei Qi and Hei Gu and said in a low voice, "It's all my fault."
Hei Gu smiled. "See, she admits it's her fault."
Hei Qi, hearing Hei Gu's arrogant tone, and seeing Mu Anxiao's contrite expression, said calmly, "The monsters already knew that Master was cultivating them. The fact is, they've been eyeing this for a long time, and within the souls themselves, there was accumulated resentment. All of this... was planned by Master. You just... moved up the timeline."
"You mean Ouyang Ye was prepared all along," Mu Anxiao said, suddenly remembering Ouyang Ye's earlier words to Gu Yan, 'guests.' Then she looked at the quiet situation outside and had an epiphany. "This is also something Ouyang Ye has been looking forward to for a long time."
"..." Hei Qi knew he had said too much, so the moment Mu Anxiao guessed this... he shut his mouth.
Hei Gu glanced at the loose-lipped Hei Qi and said indifferently, "In short, it's all your fault."
Hearing this, Mu Anxiao turned her gaze to Hei Gu's face.