"It's breaking free," Jiong Ye whispered, turning his head to look at Mu An Xiao.
Mu An Xiao hummed and said, "If I'm not mistaken, that barrier was set up specifically for that monster."
"That's why," Jiong Ye said, swallowing and continuing, "I can walk over there."
"Yes, but you're lucky you didn't encounter it just now. If you had, you would have met the same fate as these monsters," Mu An Xiao finished, glancing towards the barrier. The monster's hands were covered in bloodstains. It was this sight that made her realize that the demon eating beast was not the only one causing trouble here.
"Are you saying it's responsible for half of these monsters' deaths?" Jiong Ye, under the influence of fear, had become considerably more lucid.
Mu An Xiao nodded.
"It's very likely it will eat you too," Jiong Ye concluded from Mu An Xiao's actions.
"I remember you being quite formidable in the mortal realm," Mu An Xiao said, temporarily ignoring the monster and fixing her gaze on Jiong Ye's face.
Jiong Ye's nerves immediately tensed at this. "What do you mean by that? I... I don't understand."
"You help me, I help you, and we can defeat that thing. Don't tell me," Mu An Xiao's gaze swept over Jiong Ye's face, and she smiled, "you're scared."
"Scared, not exactly, it's just that my demonic power was impacted within that barrier. It hasn't recovered yet, so..."
"So you can't help me," Mu An Xiao said softly.
Jiong Ye chuckled foolishly upon hearing this.
Mu An Xiao looked at Jiong Ye's 'spine' which was completely different from his demeanor in the mortal realm, sighed, and said, "Speaking of which, this monster is nowhere near as terrifying as Ouyang Ye."
"I..."
"I don't recall you being this timid when you targeted Ouyang Ye. How come now..." Halfway through her sentence, Mu An Xiao feigned a sudden realization. "Ah, I see."
"See what?" Jiong Ye's heart sank, and he became attentive to what Mu An Xiao was about to say.
Mu An Xiao looked calmly at Jiong Ye's expression and smiled again. "You think Ouyang Ye won't do anything to you, so you deliberately bully him. Simply put, you're a bully who picks on the weak and fears the strong." As she spoke, she conjured a dagger in her hand.
"I didn't..."
"Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence," Mu An Xiao interrupted, lightly tracing the blade of the dagger with her finger.
"Say whatever you want," Jiong Ye, believing he couldn't out-argue Mu An Xiao, lowered his head and glanced at the dagger in her hand, exclaiming in surprise, "This is a demonic artifact."
"Say that one more time, and I'll cut out your tongue with it," Mu An Xiao said, momentarily forgetting what happened a year ago.
Jiong Ye then stared at the dagger for a few more seconds, surprised, "This is a dagger." xxs
"Can you stop showing off your presence here and move aside?" Mu An Xiao found Jiong Ye unbearable.
Conversely, Jiong Ye did not shift his gaze, continuing to stare at the dagger in Mu An Xiao's hand, and inexplicably said, "Too terrifying."
"..." Mu An Xiao was bewildered and decided to remain silent.
Following that, Jiong Ye raised his head and stared at Mu An Xiao. "So, not only are you resilient, but all your weapons are also incredibly resilient. Terrifying." With that, he moved aside of his own accord.
Mu An Xiao's gaze followed Jiong Ye's movement, landing on his face. "What do you mean by that?"
"I lost," Jiong Ye suddenly said.
Mu An Xiao frowned. "I wasn't competing with you for a win or loss. What did you lose?"
"I've been secretly competing with you all along. I kept convincing myself that I could find a way out of here, but the result..." Jiong Ye gave a bitter smile. "is this. Naturally, in this contest, I lost."
"You're truly quite boring," Mu An Xiao said with deep helplessness.
Jiong Ye lowered his head.
Mu An Xiao looked at Jiong Ye's suddenly self-pitying demeanor, then glanced at the monster desperately pounding on the barrier again. Her eyes darkened, and she said, "You really want to leave here."
"Not anymore," Jiong Ye shook his head, cautiously glancing at Mu An Xiao.
Sensing Jiong Ye's movement, Mu An Xiao curved her lips and said, "You've finally come to your senses."
"It's impossible not to come to my senses," Jiong Ye said, tilting his body slightly to look at the monster, which was brandishing its claws and wanting to approach. "There's only one way left."
"Yes, so we..."
"My demonic power is damaged, I'm afraid I can't help you," Jiong Ye said, worried Mu An Xiao would ask him to charge forward, and quickly refused.
Similarly, Mu An Xiao knew Jiong Ye would try to evade. Seeing his submissive expression now, Mu An Xiao found it laughable. "You've let Ouyang Ye destroy your confidence like this. Truly pathetic."
"You've already prepared your dagger, so you must have... the ability to deal with it," Jiong Ye shifted the burden to Mu An Xiao, fearing the monster himself.
Mu An Xiao truly hadn't expected Jiong Ye to be so afraid of death. Seeing his expression, as if he were about to be scared witless by the monster, she said, "That barrier has already been cracked by the monster. I don't know from which direction it will attack us in a moment." She raised her hand and then lowered it. "You'd better not place all your hope on me, because that will only hasten your death."
"You're unwilling to..."
"This has nothing to do with whether I'm willing to protect you or not. It's just that I'm afraid I won't be able to manage. Of course," Mu An Xiao interrupted, meeting Jiong Ye's eyes, "if this was all your doing, then you won't get to live alone either."
"Why would you say that about me? I haven't provoked you," Jiong Ye was surprised by Mu An Xiao's reaction.
"You haven't provoked me, but your attitude makes me feel like you're hiding something from me," Mu An Xiao said, walking towards the monster.
Jiong Ye's eyes darkened, and he quickly turned around. "I'll go with you." With that, he followed Mu An Xiao.
In the next moment, Mu An Xiao and Jiong Ye stopped together before the monster that resembled a human.
At the same time, as Mu An Xiao and Jiong Ye stopped, the monster also ceased its assault on the barrier. They each glanced at the two of them and said, "Food." Its voice was hoarse.
Mu An Xiao heard this and smiled. "So it's a female." As she spoke, she met the monster's green glowing eyes.
"You're the chattiest food I've ever seen," the monster said, then slammed its hand against the cracked barrier twice. "Come, let me eat you."
"What's your name?" Mu An Xiao intentionally asked.
Jiong Ye, watching Mu An Xiao's calm and self-assured demeanor, felt his heart pound with unease.
The monster laughed. "You're already a demon about to die, and you still have so much to say. Are you truly not afraid of death?" As it spoke, it used its fingers to claw at the barrier.