Song Xi’s lips curled, "You little demon, you’ve got quite the nerve," he said, turning his gaze to the servants who had specifically stopped to bow to him. He continued, "Look at them, then look at you." He then looked back at Mu Anxiao.
Hearing Song Xi’s words, the servants snickered and left.
Conversely, Mu Anxiao failed to grasp Song Xi’s subtle warning. She spoke just as brazenly, "You mean, I should kneel and bow to you?"
"That's not necessary, I just..." Song Xi spoke, thinking of the nickname Mu Anxiao had just bestowed upon him, and felt a slight discomfort, "You should change how you address me."
"If your wife is an elder, then you are also an elder?" Mu Anxiao muttered to herself, then a realization dawned and she smiled, "I know what to call you now."
"What?" Song Xi looked forward to Mu Anxiao’s next statement.
Mu Anxiao’s lips curved, "Male Elder."
"..." Song Xi felt a vein throb on his forehead.
Mu Anxiao, oblivious to Song Xi’s displeasure, continued, "This way, it’ll be easy to distinguish. Oh my," she propped her chin with her hand, "I am truly clever and smart."
"I’ve heard of old Wang praising his own melons, but I never expected to actually meet one," Song Xi said, shaking his head. "This is truly eye-opening."
"Hey, my surname is Wang," Mu Anxiao seized the opportunity and adopted a new surname.
Song Xi listened, speechless for a moment, then said, "You should go wash up quickly." With that, he walked past Mu Anxiao and left.
Immediately after, Mu Anxiao turned sideways, watching Song Xi’s receding figure, and said, "This Song Xi and Xi’er are truly a perfect match, one is foolish, the other is shrewd." She then shook her head in contemplation and walked away.
At the foot of Youhui Mountain, Ouyang Ye burst into laughter after a heart-to-heart talk with those people.
Those demons had never seen Ouyang Ye like this before. Now that they did, they were truly enlightened. But at the same time… they also realized how extremely important Mu Anxiao was to him. Because of this, they began to fear Mo Juan, who had intentionally brought Ouyang Ye there.
Another fifteen minutes passed… Mu Anxiao arrived at the entrance of the forbidden forest again. This time, however, she was more cautious. Before entering, she thoroughly scanned her surroundings. Only when she was sure there were no demons did she breathe a sigh of relief, "This is a forbidden forest. Even if those demons had the courage, they wouldn't dare to bring their honey badgers here, would they?" With that, she walked in the direction of the demon-eating beast from memory.
Soon.
Mu Anxiao stopped at the body of water where the demon-eating beast resided and said with satisfaction, "Well, it’s definitely safe here." Saying this, she turned and walked to a stone stool and sat down.
At the same time, the demon-eating beast poked its head out and looked at Mu Anxiao, "What are you doing?"
If it were the first time, Mu Anxiao would have been startled by the elusive demon-eating beast. However, after their previous encounter, she no longer felt anything towards it, and its appearance posed no threat to her. "Nothing much, just bored, came to sit," she said, turning her dirty face towards the demon-eating beast and looking at it, she asked, "Even like this, you can still recognize me."
"We immortal beasts recognize people by smell. I remembered your latent spiritual energy when you… threatened me. Naturally, when you arrived, I knew it was you," the demon-eating beast explained.
"Dog nose," Mu Anxiao summarized simply. Recalling the demon-eating beast's escape back then, she said coldly, "Speaking of which, it’s quite miraculous that you can still speak to me so calmly."
"What do you mean?" the demon-eating beast asked.
Mu Anxiao’s lips curved, "I tried to capture you, and you ran away. When you saw me again, you must have hated me to the bone. But now," she said, smiling again, "we are 'talking intimately' here. Don't you find it strange?"
"You helped me get rid of a demon that ruined my reputation. I should be thanking you, not hating you. What a joke," the demon-eating beast said, chuckling.
Not far away, the demons who had stealthily infiltrated the forest scattered the moment they heard the demon-eating beast’s baby-cry-like roar.
Meanwhile, Mu Anxiao, unaware, smiled back at the demon-eating beast, "What do you think your voice sounds like to those demons?"
"The cries of babies," the demon-eating beast replied truthfully.
Mu Anxiao shivered, saying, "That's really creepy."
"I think it's fine," the demon-eating beast said, its slightly protruding eyes turning slightly, and continued, "You have a map of the terrain in your sleeve."
"You noticed that too?" Mu Anxiao was surprised.
The demon-eating beast smiled, "I just saw it." xxs1
Upon hearing this, Mu Anxiao’s lips curled, "No wonder you’re so powerful," she said, her gaze unintentionally falling on a handkerchief on the ground, she exclaimed, "Demon-eating beast, you ate a demon again."
"I did not," the demon-eating beast quickly replied.
"You didn't," Mu Anxiao repeated, bending down to pick up the handkerchief, she smiled, "It seems some people haven't given up on you yet." Saying this, she tossed the handkerchief away again.
The demon-eating beast was bewildered, "What do you mean by that?"
"Ouyang Ye is here, do you know?" Mu Anxiao asked.
The demon-eating beast grunted, "But I didn't come out."
"Afraid of him?" Mu Anxiao said.
The demon-eating beast wagged its tail.
Mu Anxiao smiled faintly, "Alright, I know you don't want to mention him, so I won't," she said, taking a deep breath, "This environment is quite nice."
"Aren't you going to wash your face?" the demon-eating beast asked.
Mu Anxiao shook her head, "No, too troublesome." Saying this, she 'successfully' retrieved the map from her sleeve.
Seeing this, the demon-eating beast became curious, "What do you need this map for?"
"Demon-eating beast, why are you here?" Mu Anxiao changed the subject.
Upon hearing this, the demon-eating beast sighed deeply and said, "It's a long story."
"A long story," Mu Anxiao repeated, finding the forbidden forest on the map. "Tell me, what’s the long story."
"I don't want to talk about it," the demon-eating beast said dejectedly.
Mu Anxiao nodded upon hearing this, "Alright, if you don't want to talk about it, then don't. Speaking of which," she said, staring at the eight black dots around the forbidden forest, looking puzzled, "How many prisons are there in this forbidden forest? What do these black dots mean?" She frowned.
Upon hearing this, the demon-eating beast poked its head out and looked at the map… saying, "Those eight black dots are prisons." Saying this, it retracted its head.
Mu Anxiao immediately turned to the demon-eating beast and asked, "How do you know?"
"The demons imprisoned here pass by this place at a certain time every day. After hearing it so many times, I remembered," the demon-eating beast said, staring at the back of Mu Anxiao’s head, "Speaking of which, what are you looking at this map for?"
"Do you believe me if I say I'm here to help you escape?" Mu Anxiao asked intentionally.
The demon-eating beast chuckled.