"Yes," Mu An Xiao nodded.
Ouyang Ye hesitated.
Mu An Xiao looked at Ouyang Ye's indecisive expression and a hint of impatience appeared on her face, "No, I just want to be a bit freer in this place, must you be so... hesitant?" As she asked, her gaze became unfriendly.
"I truly am doing this for your own good," Ouyang Ye said earnestly.
Mu An Xiao snorted.
Ouyang Ye: "Many people here have unstable demonic energy. If you wander around carelessly, you'll be affected. If it causes..."
"You're afraid my unstable demonic arts will harm those disciples, aren't you?" Mu An Xiao interrupted. After a brief moment of thought, she understood Ouyang Ye's intentions, "Because you know I despise people from the demonic cultivation sect, and everyone here used to be from the demonic cultivation sect. So, that's why you don't want me wandering around here, right?" She looked serious.
Ouyang Ye fell silent.
Mu An Xiao continued, "Also, you know I have the ability to escape from here, so you want to confine me to this courtyard. To summarize," she smiled, "you just don't trust me."
"..." Ouyang Ye smiled.
Mu An Xiao narrowed her eyes, "It looks like I hit the nail on the head."
"That's right, your guess is indeed correct. Since you want freedom so badly, extend your hand." Ouyang Ye said calmly, having accepted being exposed.
"What do you want to do?" Mu An Xiao began to question Ouyang Ye's actions.
"Give me your hand, and you'll find out what I want to do," Ouyang Ye smiled faintly.
Mu An Xiao put on a serious face, "Ouyang Ye, if you dare to play any tricks on me, I'll tear down this demonic cultivation sect." As she spoke, she still extended her hand towards Ouyang Ye.
Ouyang Ye looked down at Mu An Xiao's cooperative demeanor and smiled, "Obedience is what you should be doing." As he spoke, he conjured a red string.
Seeing this, Mu An Xiao exclaimed in surprise, "This is a love-binding cord!" she said. Just as she was about to retract her hand, Ouyang Ye grabbed her wrist first, "You are truly despicable," she said, trying to struggle.
Ouyang Ye looked unconcerned, "Don't worry, the enchantments on this love-binding cord have long since dissipated. This is just an ordinary string now." As he spoke, he wrapped the string around Mu An Xiao's wrist.
Mu An Xiao stopped struggling and frowned, "Why are you tying this to me?"
"As soon as you leave this place, I will immediately sense it," Ouyang Ye said, wrapping the other end of the red string around his own wrist.
Mu An Xiao looked at it and thought, 'It's over. How can I use my consciousness to send a message to Feng Qi Shi?'
"What are you thinking about?" Ouyang Ye looked down, focusing on Mu An Xiao's pensive face, and asked.
Upon hearing this, Mu An Xiao snapped back to reality and said, "I wasn't thinking about anything. I just feel..." She pursed her lips, "Only you could come up with such a treacherous method."
"Your way of complimenting people is truly unique," Ouyang Ye said, snapping his fingers... The room brightened.
As it turned out, Mu An Xiao hadn't slept enough. At this moment, she just wanted to finish her words and get rid of him quickly to catch up on sleep. Now, it was good... he had taken such a proactive action. Looking around, she gave Ouyang Ye a look of disdain, "Ouyang Ye, what's the point?" she met Ouyang Ye's gaze.
Ouyang Ye smiled, "You can't sleep here."
"I spent decades in the mortal world, living a mortal's life. You won't let me sleep," Mu An Xiao said, placing her hand on her hip in anger, "Isn't that going too far?"
"When you come here, you must abide by the rules. Besides, cultivating demonic arts isn't something that happens in a day or two," Ouyang Ye said, giving the red string a gentle tug... the red string turned transparent.
At this moment, Mu An Xiao paid no attention to the change in the red string, saying, "You know cultivating demonic arts isn't a day or two thing, yet you still won't let me sleep. That's too much!" she was furious.
Ouyang Ye smirked, his eyes fixed on Mu An Xiao's face.
Mu An Xiao felt suddenly uneasy at his gaze, "What's with that expression? My body isn't well. I can't stay up often. If I do for too long, I'll..." she said, recalling a phrase Feng Qi Shi often used, and quickly added, "I'll die suddenly, yes, die suddenly."
"What does that mean?" Ouyang Ye hadn't heard the term and was somewhat taken aback.
Mu An Xiao loved Ouyang Ye's bewildered expression, and her demeanor became proud, "It means to suddenly kick the bucket."
"You are a celestial..."
"After arriving here, my spiritual energy disappeared. The only thing in my body now is the little remaining demonic energy. If I rely on this demonic energy to stay up," Mu An Xiao interrupted, becoming serious, "I'm afraid I won't be able to last."
"You've certainly found a good excuse to sleep," Ouyang Ye said helplessly.
"It's morning in the mortal world now, so that means... I've essentially stayed up all night," Mu An Xiao suddenly said.
Unexpectedly, the moment Mu An Xiao said this, Ouyang Ye's expression turned cold, "How do you know it's morning in the mortal world?" he asked, his eyes filled with suspicion.
"You suspect me?" Mu An Xiao countered, though inwardly she felt a pang of nervousness. However, based on past experiences, she quickly calmed down.
"How do you know it's morning in the mortal world?" Ouyang Ye continued to ask.
Seeing Ouyang Ye's stubbornness, Mu An Xiao couldn't help but regret speaking so carelessly. But... it was already done, and feeling fear now was useless. Thus, she had a flash of inspiration and counted on her fingers, "I calculated it." She raised her fingers in front of Ouyang Ye.
Ouyang Ye looked at Mu An Xiao's fingers and immediately relaxed his guard, "You can do that too."
"Of course. I'm half mortal, after all. Naturally, I'm well aware of the time in the mortal world," Mu An Xiao said, clenching her counting hand into a fist, "So, let me rest." After speaking, she walked around Ouyang Ye to the bed and sat down.
"No," Ouyang Ye said, quickly flashing in front of Mu An Xiao. Then... just as he was about to bend down to pull Mu An Xiao up, Mu An Xiao swiftly lay down and rolled to the innermost side... and then turned her back to Ouyang Ye, covering her ears. Seeing Mu An Xiao's 'lightning-fast' reaction, Ouyang Ye said helplessly, "Mu An Xiao, get up."
"Isn't this bed for sleeping? I don't care," Mu An Xiao said, tightly covering her ears which she hadn't covered completely, "I am going to sleep."
Seeing this, Ouyang Ye was speechless.
Mu An Xiao closed her eyes.
Outside the courtyard.
The wolf demon, the vine spirit, and Xiao Yi stood side by side, looking at Ju'er, who stood with her back to the door not far away, constantly 'peering' into the courtyard. They all yawned in unison.