"Yes, you were beaten like that a year ago, and you're still alive," the wolf demon said, expressing astonishment. "It's truly unbelievable."
"You two have quite resilient lives too," Mu Anxiao remarked, tilting her head to glance at the unchanged sky. She continued, "To have made it this far and still be alive."
"That's all thanks to the survival skills I learned from you," the rattan spirit replied with a cheeky grin.
Mu Anxiao's expression remained impassive. "Your flattery skills haven't improved one bit," she stated, her gaze fixed on the sky. "Strange, shouldn't it be dark by now? Why is the sky here still so bright?"
"The sky here reflects Ouyang Ye's mood. When he's happy, it's sunny; when he's upset, it rains. When he's sleeping, it's night; when he's awake..." the rattan spirit chuckled, "it's daytime."
Upon hearing the rattan spirit's explanation, the wolf demon shifted its gaze away.
"You're evading my gaze," Mu Anxiao directly called out the wolf demon.
The rattan spirit furrowed his brows.
"I can't listen to this anymore," the wolf demon said in a low voice, speaking the truth.
"What he said..."
"That's all fabricated. The sky does get dark, it just doesn't stay dark for long," the wolf demon unceremoniously debunked the rattan spirit.
The rattan spirit was embarrassed.
After hearing the wolf demon's words, Mu Anxiao immediately shifted her gaze to the rattan spirit's face. "You're still the same, always spouting nonsense."
"That's called having a rich imagination," the rattan spirit said, drawing upon knowledge learned from the mortal world.
Mu Anxiao looked at the rattan spirit's stubborn and unreasonable expression and smiled. "You have a rich imagination, do you?"
"Yes," the rattan spirit replied, even sounding proud.
"Then, are you particularly familiar with the path leading to the palace?" Mu Anxiao thought of how the rattan spirit had escaped from there and decided to make full use of him.
The rattan spirit, not quite grasping Mu Anxiao's intentions, proudly responded, "Yes."
"Very good," Mu Anxiao nodded.
Seeing this, the rattan spirit finally understood. "You don't mean you want me to lead you in, do you?"
Mu Anxiao flashed a mysterious smile.
The rattan spirit shuddered. "No, I don't want to go. I can take you to the city gates, but..."
"Follow me, and I'll help you get revenge," Mu Anxiao interrupted. She mused that many little demons must have bullied the rattan spirit there back then, so she thought this would be a way to win him over.
As expected, the rattan spirit's interest was piqued upon hearing this. "Really?"
"Why would I lie to you? Since you've already guessed, let me state it clearly: I'm here to marry Ouyang Ye." Mu Anxiao admitted openly.
The wolf demon's eyes lit up, and he smiled. "I know, no need to say more."
"Know what?" Mu Anxiao didn't understand why the wolf demon was so excited.
The wolf demon chuckled, "You must have come here for another reason..."
"Wolf demon, you can't speak carelessly in this place. If you say the wrong thing, you'll end up as a filling," Mu Anxiao knew the wolf demon was simple-minded and intentionally adopted a stern tone. "Then you'll never be able to leave here."
"That woman is no ordinary pushover," the rattan spirit suddenly said.
Following the rattan spirit's remark, the wolf demon swallowed the rest of his words.
"What do you mean?" Mu Anxiao suddenly realized that this rattan spirit was actually quite useful.
"The massacre a year ago was her idea," the rattan spirit stated with a serious expression.
However, the information the rattan spirit provided now was unexpected by Mu Anxiao. Hearing this, she suddenly felt a threat to her life from that woman. "So, does that mean all the plans were hers?" After saying this, she realized that Ouyang Ye indeed had a demon strategist behind him.
"Yes," the rattan spirit nodded, paused, and continued, "This is confidential. I overheard it while I was making locks."
"You were making locks..." Mu Anxiao repeated, frowning slightly. "Strange, why weren't they wary of you?"
The rattan spirit sighed.
The wolf demon was also curious about this and shifted his gaze to the rattan spirit's face.
Seeing the rattan spirit's dejected expression, Mu Anxiao became even more curious. "What's wrong? Is there something you can't say?" she asked, staring intently at his face.
"I'm not afraid you'll laugh at me if I tell you. It's probably because my existence is too weak. Just two days after I started making locks, I was forgotten. That's how I overheard this information."
"How did you break free from that demonic spell?" Mu Anxiao inquired in detail.
To this, the rattan spirit did not prevaricate and honestly replied, "I was rescued."
"Rescued?" Mu Anxiao was surprised, then thought for a moment and smiled. "So, you were remembered after all."
"Only that one person. The pity is," the rattan spirit lowered his gaze slightly, indulging in unrequited love, "I never even saw her face."
"A woman?" Mu Anxiao's gossip spirit was instantly ignited.
The wolf demon felt the same, staring directly at the rattan spirit.
The rattan spirit smiled shyly. "Ah, I didn't want to talk about these things," he said, his eyes filled with a smile. "It's all your fault for bringing this up." He looked at Mu Anxiao.
Seeing the rattan spirit like this, Mu Anxiao burst into laughter.
Influenced by Mu Anxiao, the wolf demon also began to laugh.
Thus, the rattan spirit became even more shy.
Inside the palace.
Ouyang Ye, holding Juan'er, rushed into Juan'er's room with great urgency. Without any pretense of formality, he placed Juan'er on the wooden couch and began to tend to her wounds.
Outside the room, the maidservants, who were little demons, watched Ouyang Ye treating Juan'er inside. None of them dared to make a sound, all holding their breath.
A moment later.
Under Ouyang Ye's full efforts to save her, Juan'er coughed up some spit and woke up. "Ye, where am I?" she asked, attempting to sit up.
Seeing this, Ouyang Ye quickly bent down and helped Juan'er up. "Are you alright?" He had completely forgotten about Mu Anxiao.
Immediately after, Juan'er began to cry.
Upon hearing this, Ouyang Ye quickly sat down and gently patted Juan'er's shoulder, asking, "What's wrong?"
"That Mu Anxiao is ungrateful," Juan'er said between sobs.
Outside.
The maidservants, as soon as Juan'er spoke these words, discreetly vanished.
Ouyang Ye looked back towards the direction of the door, only then remembering Mu Anxiao's presence. "Where is she?" he asked.
Juan'er continued to cry.
Ouyang Ye frowned. "Answer me, why are you crying?" he asked, then suddenly stood up.
Seeing this, Juan'er realized Ouyang Ye was about to get angry and quickly said, "She escaped, she flew away." After saying this, she gently touched her forehead.
Ouyang Ye thought for a moment and said, "She pushed you into the water."
"Yes," Juan'er wiped the tears from her eyes. "After she pushed me into the water, she ran away."
"Is that so," Ouyang Ye said, turning his back.
Juan'er immediately asked, "Ye, what are you going to do?"
"Find her," Ouyang Ye replied, took two steps forward, and disappeared.