Wang Hu, however, had not expected Mu Anxiao to be so audacious. Staring at her, his expression froze. "You want me to be your subordinate? Are you sure you mean that from the bottom of your heart?" he asked, poking Mu Anxiao's shoulder with his finger.
Mu Anxiao smiled. "If you want me to be your subordinate," she said, forcefully pushing Wang Hu's finger away, "it's not impossible."
"You..." Wang Hu uttered, glancing at Mu Anxiao's face before smiling. "You're quite cunning, little one. But strangely, what kind of demon are you?"
Hearing Wang Hu's question about Mu Anxiao, and then thinking of Mu Anxiao's seemingly poor lying ability, the wolf demon's mind raced. In unison with Mu Anxiao, they declared, "A fox demon." "A wolf demon."
Upon hearing this, Wang Hu narrowed his eyes, looking at both Mu Anxiao and the wolf demon. He smiled, "You're a wolf demon... or a fox demon?"
"I don't have body odor, so naturally, I'm a wolf demon," Mu Anxiao adopted the identity the wolf demon had given her.
Wang Hu chuckled. "A wolf demon, huh? I'm a tiger demon, so that means," he reached out and patted Mu Anxiao's shoulder, "we're both carnivores."
"Talk if you must, but can you stop getting so handsy?" Mu Anxiao said, stepping back.
Immediately, Xiao Yi also joined the fray. "My name is Xiao Yi, and I'm an ant."
"An ant?" Mu Anxiao repeated, shoving Wang Hu aside and shifting her gaze to Xiao Yi's face. "Just a tiny ant on the ground?"
"Yes, the demon energy is quite strong in this place, so I naturally cultivated into a demon." Xiao Yi became embarrassed under Mu Anxiao's stare.
Conversely, Mu Anxiao felt nothing at all and continued to stare at Xiao Yi. "Is that so? You're really lucky. We who cultivate outside have to practice for a long time before we can achieve this." Halfway through her sentence, she truly sensed Juan'er's demonic aura on Xiao Yi. "You're a little fairy from the palace, aren't you?" she said with a dry laugh, retreating to the wolf demon's side.
The wolf demon glanced at Mu Anxiao but said nothing.
Xiao Yi asked, "How did you know..."
"Intuition."
"He told you, didn't he?" Wang Hu suddenly shifted his attention to the vine spirit behind the wolf demon.
At this moment, protected by Mu Anxiao and the wolf demon, the vine spirit was no longer as fearful of Wang Hu. "I told him," he said, worried they might see through their cover, and thus shielded Mu Anxiao.
Wang Hu snorted. "I knew it was you."
The vine spirit grunted and moved to the wolf demon's side.
Hearing the vine spirit's modulated "grunt," Wang Hu became annoyed. "If Master finds out you're still alive, you..."
"Don't kill me!" the vine spirit immediately cowered.
Seeing this, Wang Hu was speechless for a few seconds. "Master always said how powerful you were in the past, and now it seems you were indeed powerful back then. But now..." he huffed lightly, "you've truly become a coward."
"Don't kill me," the vine spirit emphasized.
It was then that Wang Hu suddenly remembered the fact that the vine spirit knew Mu Anxiao. His eyes lit up, and he said, "Are you very familiar with Mu Anxiao?"
Mu Anxiao's nerves tensed.
The wolf demon looked at the vine spirit's face, becoming nervous for Mu Anxiao.
"I..." the vine spirit uttered, then smiled. "Don't say it, I really do know Mu Anxiao."
Mu Anxiao glanced at the vine spirit.
Xiao Yi became excited. "Then have you seen her?"
The next second, the vine spirit feigned a thoughtful expression and said, "Isn't she dead?"
"Dead?" Xiao Yi didn't quite grasp it and furrowed his brow deeply. "How could this be?"
Compared to Xiao Yi, Wang Hu was quite rational. "Master just went down to look, and there was no sign of Mu Anxiao's body underwater, so we assumed she had escaped," he thought the vine spirit knew about the recent events. "She didn't die."
"No," the vine spirit said with a grave expression. "We seem to be talking about different things."
"What do you mean?" Wang Hu asked, confused.
The vine spirit patiently explained, "I mean, wasn't Mu Anxiao already dead a year ago when I was captured? If I recall correctly," he said with a serious expression, "Ou Yang... no, Master went on a killing spree because of her departure."
"..." Wang Hu's face went dark.
"Am I wrong?" the vine spirit asked, a slight smile on his face.
Wang Hu gave a dry laugh. "You're right, and yet not entirely right," he said, his mind still on the fact that the vine spirit knew Mu Anxiao, and he was still tempted. "Do you remember what Mu Anxiao looked like?"
"I don't quite understand what you're saying," the vine spirit continued with a smile.
Wang Hu paused, then decided to tell the vine spirit the truth. Perhaps... he could really help him.
"The situation is like this..."
"According to you, Mu Anxiao isn't dead?" The vine spirit, bored of Wang Hu's rambling, intentionally interrupted him.
Wang Hu laughed. "Yes, she isn't dead. Not only is she not dead, but she has also become Master's fiancée. However, some unpleasant things just happened, and she's missing."
"Oh, the spiritual energy you mentioned... it's her spiritual energy then." The vine spirit feigned a sudden realization.
Wang Hu nodded. "Yes, it's hers."
The vine spirit grunted.
Wang Hu also grunted, "Huh?"
"Why the 'huh'?" the vine spirit asked, intending to probe.
Wang Hu smiled. "If it's possible, could you help me look for her?"
"Is there a reward?" the vine spirit's eyes lit up.
Mu Anxiao's nerves tensed, her free hand behind her back clenched into a fist...
At the same time, the wolf demon noticed... Wang Hu and Xiao Yi didn't seem to be the same kind of demon. But without concrete evidence, he could only surmise.
Wang Hu smiled. "As long as you help me find her..."
"Wait, did Master ask you to look for her?" the vine spirit suddenly asked, as if he had just remembered something.
Wang Hu nodded.
"Really?" The vine spirit harbored thoughts of claiming credit.
Seeing that something was amiss, the wolf demon grabbed the vine spirit's arm and said, "I also know Mu Anxiao." He pulled the vine spirit behind him.
The vine spirit was taken aback.
Wang Hu, seeing this, looked confused. "Why are you pulling him? Let him finish."
"To be honest," the wolf demon said with a serious expression, "this fellow was seriously injured a year ago and is always looking for ways to gain credit, so... his words are not trustworthy. You should tell me."
"You? I don't know you," Wang Hu stated directly.
The wolf demon smiled. "I don't know you either."
"You..."
"But I know Mu Anxiao. In other words," the wolf demon said with a boastful tone, "my relationship with Mu Anxiao is much better than his is with her."
"Really?" Wang Hu continued to regard the wolf demon with a skeptical gaze.