Inside the water vat, the demonic sword lurking at the bottom muttered, "Fool."
Outside.
The wolf demon stood by the stone table, looking at the vine spirit who had shattered his bronze mirror with disdain. "No, are you sick?" He couldn't stand the vine spirit's wronged expression.
"My face..." the vine spirit said, his lips trembling. "Why am I so ugly?" As he spoke, he looked up and stared at the wolf demon.
Hearing this, the wolf demon also stared at the vine spirit. "I don't care about your appearance, just pay for my mirror."
At this moment, Xiao Yi had followed Mu Anxiao towards them. However, looking at the vine spirit's back, Xiao Yi couldn't help but recall what she had said to the vine spirit in the kitchen earlier. Her heart sank, and she said, "Vine spirit, are you alright?" She cared about the vine spirit's emotions.
Mu Anxiao stopped and glanced at Xiao Yi, who had also paused. Then she looked at the wolf demon. "What's going on?" she asked, curious.
The wolf demon cast a helpless glance at the inexplicably sad vine spirit and said, "I was just looking in the mirror here, and then he suddenly ran over, snatched my mirror, and held it to his face..." He glanced at the dejected vine spirit, expressing his helplessness. "And then... he smashed my mirror."
"You didn't do anything, did you?" Mu Anxiao asked intentionally.
"If I did anything... why would I? He was just scared by his own face," the wolf demon said, averting his gaze.
Xiao Yi felt a pang of guilt. "It's because I said you were ugly that you wanted to look in the mirror, right?"
At these words, both the wolf demon and Mu Anxiao turned to Xiao Yi in unison.
At the same time, the vine spirit also turned around and looked at Xiao Yi. "Am I really that ugly?" He had taken Xiao Yi's words to heart.
Xiao Yi hadn't expected that her casual 'explanation' would turn him into this. She gasped, having gained a completely new understanding of him. "You're not that ugly."
"I also think I'm ugly," the vine spirit said in a low voice.
Xiao Yi frowned slightly. "Just because I said you were ugly, you think you're ugly? You..." She trailed off for a few seconds before continuing, "Are other people's insincere evaluations so... important to you?"
"What do you mean?" the vine spirit was bewildered for a moment.
The wolf demon and Mu Anxiao crossed their arms and became spectators.
"I mean, what I said wasn't true. The reason I said that," Xiao Yi knew that all demons here had moments of self-doubt, so to prevent that from happening to the vine spirit, she had to speak properly, "was just that you were always pestering me, and it was annoying."
"I pestered you..."
"Tell me, if you were me, and I kept asking you if you liked me, if you liked me, by your side," Xiao Yi said, "wouldn't you be annoyed?"
"Yes." The vine spirit was completely led by Xiao Yi.
Xiao Yi said, "If I continued to say such things after you rejected me, would you be at your wit's end?"
"Yes." The vine spirit nodded.
Xiao Yi looked at the vine spirit's obedient expression and couldn't help but smile. "Then that's it. So, saying you were ugly wasn't my true feeling, but," she said sternly, "if you continue to ask me those kinds of questions, I really won't be polite."
Seeing Xiao Yi's serious expression... the vine spirit smiled.
Mu Anxiao and the wolf demon exchanged glances, speechless.
"She's very serious, and I hope you take my words to heart." After speaking, she turned and walked towards the kitchen.
"She's very serious!" the wolf demon said intentionally, staring at the vine spirit's face without any concern for the trouble it might cause.
At the same time, the vine spirit thought through Xiao Yi's words from beginning to end and suddenly realized, "I understand." He then looked at the wolf demon.
The wolf demon didn't understand why the vine spirit was looking at him as he said this and showed a confused expression. "Understand what? Why are you looking at me?" he asked repeatedly, a sense of foreboding creeping into his heart. xxs壹贰
The vine spirit smiled without speaking.
Seeing this, the wolf demon's heart skipped a beat...
Conversely, Mu Anxiao looked at the vine spirit's mysterious expression and then at the tense wolf demon, casually saying, "Boring." She turned and left.
Following her, the wolf demon and the vine spirit simultaneously turned to look at Mu Anxiao's receding back as she headed towards the back door... They said nothing.
A moment later.
Mu Anxiao slowly walked to the golden door, which was still emitting a golden light. She thought for a moment, then looked down at her wrist, which was tied with a red string by Ouyang Ye. She thought, No, I can't find Shen Fengzi. What if... this is a trap? It seems...
"What are you doing?" Xi'er suddenly appeared in front of Mu Anxiao.
Seeing this, Mu Anxiao immediately put away her stray thoughts, lowered her hand, and looked at Xi'er, who had suddenly appeared before her with a calm expression. "Why are you here?"
"You really have your eye on my Golden Gate," Xi'er said with a serious expression.
Mu Anxiao also put on a serious expression. "You say I have my eye on your Golden Gate. Fine," she spread her hands. "Where's the evidence?"
"You standing here is the evidence," Xi'er said firmly.
"Oh," Mu Anxiao said expressionlessly.
Xi'er didn't understand the meaning behind Mu Anxiao's "Oh" and said dismissively, "What 'oh'? Speak."
"Oh, me standing here is the evidence," Mu Anxiao repeated, taking a step forward and intentionally meeting Xi'er's eyes. "So, does that mean you're here to supervise me?"
"I..."
"Waiting by the stump for a rabbit," Mu Anxiao pointed at Xi'er.
Xi'er was embarrassed. "Don't talk nonsense. I just... wanted to come and see my Golden Gate. Who knew," she narrowed her eyes, "I'd run into you here."
"This courtyard now belongs to me. It's not very appropriate for you to enter and exit so casually," Mu Anxiao said, completely treating this place as her own home.
"You..."
"See, you can look from the outside too. Why do you need to come in and look?" Mu Anxiao asked again.
Immediately, Xi'er's eyes flickered. Then she noticed Mu Anxiao's dress and hairstyle and exclaimed, "So it was you who was with the Master."
"The way you're changing the subject is quite... clumsy," Mu Anxiao said without giving Xi'er any face.
"Why is your appearance in women's clothing no different from your appearance in men's clothing?" Xi'er added.
Hearing Xi'er's words, Mu Anxiao couldn't help but chuckle.
Seeing this, Xi'er looked confused. "What are you laughing at?"
"I'm laughing," Mu Anxiao said, looking down at her dress. "If I told Ouyang Ye what you just said, would he punish you?"
"What... do you want to do?" Xi'er became nervous.
Mu Anxiao smiled. "I don't want to do anything, I'm just curious... about his reaction."
"Don't," Xi'er pleaded, afraid.