Ye Yu, however, paid no mind to Mu Xiang’s words. Instead, his eyes were filled with the smile on her face. “You look so beautiful when you smile,” he said, smiling himself.
Mu Xiang’s face fell upon hearing this. “Who taught you to say such things?” she asked, glaring at Ye Yu. “It’s disgusting.”
“Disgusting?” Ye Yu inquired.
“Disgusting,” Mu Xiang replied. She then looked down at Feng Qishi and the others, who were nearly done clearing out the monsters, and glanced at Ye Yu sitting beside her. “Later, you’ll pretend again.”
“…” Ye Yu followed Mu Xiang’s gaze, looked at them, and said, “Whatever you say, I’ll listen.”
“I won’t marry you,” Mu Xiang said earnestly.
Ye Yu’s eyes darkened. “I won’t force you, but I will definitely marry you.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t let you find me.”
“…” Ye Yu stared at Mu Xiang’s profile.
Seeing Ye Yu’s silence, Mu Xiang didn’t continue.
Below.
Mu Anxiao, holding the little boy in her arms, looked up at Mu Xiang and Ye Yu, who had suddenly gone silent on the tree. She then looked down at the little girl and asked, “What’s your name?”
The little girl replied, “Mu Xin.”
“And him?” Mu Anxiao glanced at the little boy who was starting to doze off on her shoulder, then looked down at the little girl.
“He’s called Mu Liang.”
“Mu Liang?” Mu Anxiao gently covered the little boy’s head with her sleeve and said, “That’s not a nice name.”
“Father said it sounds good because it’s similar to his name,” the little girl finished Mu Anxiao’s sentence.
Mu Anxiao had little contact with children, and had never truly interacted with children of this age. However, in her impression, children of this age should not speak so fluently, and even if they could speak, they would repeat many words. But Mu Xin did not.
What’s more, Mu Anxiao found Mu Xin to be so sensible it was heartbreaking. She was clearly afraid, yet she put on a brave face as an older sister to protect the little boy. Looking at her, Mu Anxiao saw her own reflection again. “Do your parents treat you well?” she asked without thinking.
“Mm,” Mu Xin nodded, but her heart wasn’t in it.
“Tell me the truth,” Mu Anxiao followed up on her thoughtless question, wanting to know Mu Xin’s true feelings.
“Parents prefer my younger brother more. As for me,” Mu Xin bit her lip lightly, “it’s alright.”
Seeing Mu Xin’s unsuitable state, Mu Anxiao said, “Of course, you are their child no matter what.” She knew clearly that given Mu Long and Sister-in-law Mu Xiang’s personalities, and the Mu family’s general preference for sons over daughters, Mu Xin’s status at home must be very low, very low indeed.
Every family has its own troubles, and she had no right to interfere with Mu Xin’s life. All she could do was let Mu Xin understand that she had parents. That was all.
“What about you?” Mu Xin suddenly asked.
Mu Anxiao gave a dry laugh. “I… I’m similar to you.”
“Similar?”
“Yes, compared to children without parents, we are already very fortunate.” Mu Anxiao did not want to show negative emotions to Mu Xin, so she left it at that.
“There are children without parents?” Mu Xin asked in surprise.
“Yes, in this world, many children don’t have parents. In short, there are still many pitiable people. You,” Mu Anxiao smiled, “are very lucky.”
“Are you?” Mu Xin said softly. “Those children must be very miserable.”
Mu Anxiao: “…” She didn’t know how to respond to Mu Xin’s words and fell silent.
Mu Xin didn’t expect a reply from Mu Anxiao either, and lowered her eyes slightly.
On the street.
Yin Cha and Hei Feng stopped together outside the narrow alley leading to the Mu family’s back door. They looked at each other, then turned to face the ghosts hiding in the shadows. After exchanging glances, Hei Feng said, “Take a look.” He pointed to the Book of Life and Death in Yin Cha’s hand.
Yin Cha heard this, looked down at his Book of Life and Death, and said, “I’ll take them. You go.”
After taking Zhang Mai and the dog soul below, the Yin Cha who were prepared to turn a blind eye to wandering spirits found him displeasing.
So, with Xu Lan’s consent, they sent the names on their Book of Life and Death that were about to disappear to Yin Cha. Thus, ‘collecting ghosts’ became Yin Cha’s new task. Of course, he had intended to do this after going to the Mu family.
Who knew these ghosts would come to him. Feeling the chill behind him now, he felt there was no need to delay any further.
“Alright,” Hei Feng nodded and turned to walk in the direction of the red light.
Yin Cha glanced back at Hei Feng’s disappearing figure, then turned around, opened the Book of Life and Death, and as a gust of wind blew, he let go of his hand, and the book automatically flipped open.
The ghosts hiding in the shadows dared not make a sound.
However, these ghosts were all scared after the incident with the wolf demon during the day. Also… the only one who could help them was Mu Xi, and Mu Xi was in such a state. They had no choice but to give up.
Just a moment ago, as they were about to find another way, they saw Yin Cha and Hei Feng, so they decided to ask Hei Feng and Yin Cha to help them.
Although they didn’t know the outcome, at least it was better than their current situation!
“…” Yin Cha stood in place, staring down at the Book of Life and Death without looking at them.
The ghosts didn’t know what Yin Cha was doing and only dared to peek.
Minutes later.
Yin Cha looked up at the ghosts and called out, “Gu San.”
In the corner, the ghost named Gu San became nervous the moment Yin Cha called his name.
Immediately, one of the ghosts looked at Gu San’s frightened expression and then at Yin Cha, who kept glancing over at them, and anxiously said, “What are you afraid of? Go.”
“What if he kills me?” Gu San was nervous.
Ghost One: “Didn’t I say, that female ghost went with him?”
That’s right, the reason they believed Yin Cha was also because… a few of the ghosts had witnessed Zhang Mai and the dog soul leave with him. Otherwise… they wouldn’t dare to do this. Of course, before seeing Yin Cha and Hei Feng on the street, they hadn’t planned to take this gamble.
It was a matter of desperation now.
“Really?” Gu San was uncertain.
Then, just as Ghost One was about to speak, Yin Cha said again, “Gu San, you have three years of solitary soul life left. If you don’t come out, you’ll have no chance at all.”
Hearing this, Gu San’s soul trembled for a moment, then he stopped speaking, shivered, and walked out from behind the wall towards Yin Cha.
Seeing Gu San approach, Yin Cha said, “You committed suicide.”
Back then, Gu San, repeatedly failing his exams and unable to bear the mockery of others, had hanged himself.
Only after death did he regret it, and realize… only by living could one have oneself. With this regret, he had evaded Yin Cha and turned himself into a lonely wandering soul.
He had never told any ghost about this. Now, hearing Yin Cha mention it, he felt a strange feeling. That feeling… he couldn’t describe it.
“…” He walked up to Yin Cha.
Yin Cha said, “You haven’t done anything wicked. You are allowed to go down.” With that, he drew a checkmark on Gu San’s name with his immortal brush, then conjured a black rope to tie Gu San’s hands.
Gu San remained silent.
Yin Cha had limited time and did not continue conversing with Gu San, calling out the names of other ghosts.
At the same time, Hei Feng arrived outside the Mu family’s door, turned to look at Mu Long, and smiled, “Not bad, you actually found it.” He stared at the wolf demon.
Wolf Demon: “What do you mean by that? Looking down on me?” He put a hand on his hip and looked at Hei Feng.
Hei Feng smiled and looked at A Xia and Gu Xiao. “Demon souls.”
“…” A Xia and Gu Xiao refused Hei Feng and averted their gaze together.
Seeing them like this, Hei Feng smiled again, then looked up at the fading red light and said, “There’s Mu Anxiao’s spiritual energy in here.” He frowned, his smile disappearing.
Wolf Demon: “You can sense it.”
“Yes,” Hei Feng nodded, sniffed the surrounding air, and shook his head. “It’s all evil energy.”
“What is evil energy?” the wolf demon asked.
Hearing this, Hei Feng frowned, looked at the knowledgeable wolf demon, who seemed unaware of evil energy, and sneered, “Are you joking?”
The wolf demon shifted his gaze. “I know a little. Mu Xi has it on her.”
“If you know, don’t play dumb,” Hei Feng said, and then looked upwards. Just as he was about to speak, a shadow flashed past from above.
Immediately, the wolf demon tensed and asked, “Did you sense it? It’s immortal energy.”
Hei Feng: “I sensed it.”
The wolf demon nodded and took a step back.
“Come in with me,” Hei Feng suddenly said.
The wolf demon’s body stiffened. Thinking of his lack of a demon core, he gave a dry laugh. “I’d rather not.”
“You…” Hei Feng stopped speaking, looked at Mu Long, and said, “Come in with me.”
Mu Long chuckled awkwardly. “I’m scared.”
“You…” Hei Feng stopped speaking again. He had initially thought they were standing there because they couldn’t get in, so he intended to give them a ride. It turned out… they were afraid. xxs1
He found them speechless. Then, he stepped forward and passed through the back door, entering.
Immediately, Mu Long and the wolf demon breathed a sigh of relief.
Gu Xiao: “Aren’t you quite capable?”
Hearing this, the wolf demon glanced at Gu Xiao and said, “You go.”
Gu Xiao: “Pretend I didn’t say anything.” He also got cowardly.
Lin Yan looked at the two of them and began to worry about Feng Qishi and their safety.
Outside the reception hall.
The moment the black shadow and Hei Feng broke into the Mu family, the barrier spell set by Mu Anxiao disappeared instantly. Mu Liang was fine, as he was asleep.
However, Mu Xin saw the monsters that had been slaughtered all over the place and let out a cry, bursting into tears.
Over there, Feng Qishi immediately heard Mu Xin’s cry. He quickly slew the last monster in front of him, then turned sideways and saw Mu Xin, who was tightly hugging Mu Anxiao. His eyes darkened, and just as he was about to step forward, a dark shadow descended. Then, a man in black appeared before him, smiling, “Brother, is that you?”
Feng Qishi’s eyes widened upon seeing the man’s face. “Yue Ci.”
Yue Ci was the cultivator whom Mu Anxiao had arranged to pay respects to Mu Xi and Xin’er decades ago. He had now completely cultivated into an immortal.
“You still remember me, how surprising,” Yue Ci said with a smile.
Feng Qishi: “…” He smiled and wiped the black blood from his face.
“Amazing, you actually killed so many,” Yue Ci said, looking around and then at Piao, who had killed monsters with an axe. He exclaimed, “Oh, is that a demon?”
Hearing this, Piao turned to Yue Ci with a cold expression.
Yue Ci nodded.
Piao frowned. “Brother Shen, who is this?” He walked towards Yue Ci.
Wan Sha also looked over.
Yue Ci smiled, then turned his gaze towards Wan Sha, his eyes lighting up. “Oh, there’s a young lady here too.”
“…” Wan Sha ignored Yue Ci, turned to look at Mu Xin, who was crying in fright, her eyes darkening. She called out, “Mu Anxiao, how could you let her see these things? It’s so traumatizing.” Saying this, she walked towards Mu Anxiao.
Mu Anxiao had no time to attend to Wan Sha. She looked down at Mu Xin and said, “Don’t be afraid.”
Mu Xin, hearing Mu Anxiao’s words, kept murmuring, “Blood, blood, blood…” Her small body trembled.
Mu Anxiao freed one hand and gently supported Mu Xin’s head.
Wan Sha took the opportunity to transform into new clothes using her demonic arts, walked to face Mu Anxiao, glared at her, and then crouched down, saying, “Come here.”
Upon hearing this, Mu Xin seemed to have found a relative. She left Mu Anxiao, turned, ran to Wan Sha, and hugged her, crying pitifully.
Wan Sha hugged Mu Xin, continuously murmuring, “Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid…”
Mu Anxiao hugged Mu Liang tightly, looked at Wan Sha’s gentle side, and felt both relieved and wronged.
Yue Ci ignored Mu Anxiao, looked at Wan Sha’s retreating back, smiled, raised one hand, and snapped his fingers. Immediately, the limbs of the monsters turned into silver dots and dispersed, as did the black blood.
Watching this scene, Piao exclaimed, “Who are you?”
Hearing this, Yue Ci put down his hand, looked at Piao, and said, “I don’t talk to demons.” Saying this, he walked towards Wan Sha.
Piao frowned.
Feng Qishi sighed, turned to look at Hei Feng, who was walking over, and said, “You’re late.”
Hei Feng walked to Feng Qishi’s side with a smile, pointed at Yue Ci’s retreating figure, and said, “I know him.”
“Yes,” Feng Qishi nodded. “I met him when I went back in time.”
“Is that so? He seems to specialize in collecting monsters,” Hei Feng said, looking down at the ground.
Feng Qishi: “His immortal profession seems to be this.”
“No wonder, so professional,” Hei Feng said, glancing at Mu Anxiao, who was holding Mu Liang, and a smile touched his lips. “Mu Anxiao can also hold children.”
“…” Feng Qishi hadn’t noticed, but upon hearing Hei Feng say this, he looked at Mu Anxiao and gasped, “I’m really worried that child will fall.”
“…” Hei Feng chuckled.
Piao: “You broke Mu Anxiao’s barrier spell and let that child see these things.” He looked at Hei Feng.
Hei Feng gave a dry laugh, looked at Mu Xin, who was still crying in Wan Sha’s arms, and averted his gaze.
“As you can see, the trauma is quite severe,” Piao said, casting a spell to change into new clothes.
Feng Qishi did the same.
Seeing them like this, Hei Feng smiled with satisfaction. “Good, you all still have compassionate hearts.”
At the same time, those broken demon barriers, driven by Mu Anxiao’s various emotions, began to move and gather little by little with the silver light dots.