Listening to the ghastly laughter of the demon beast, Mu Anxiao almost choked. Shaking her shoulders slightly, she put down the terrain map and turned to look at the demon beast again. "What are you laughing at? Don't you trust me?"
"I want to leave, but... I think you're oversimplifying things," the demon beast said plainly.
Mu Anxiao frowned. "No, why are you rambling to me? I'm just asking you, do you trust me or not? Just answer yes or no. Why are you talking nonsense?" She was getting impatient.
Hearing Mu Anxiao's words, the demon beast immediately retracted its wide grin. "You don't intend to save me..."
"If you trust me, I'll save you. If you don't trust me, I won't," Mu Anxiao interrupted intentionally.
"Then I trust you." The demon beast longed to leave every moment. Hearing Mu Anxiao say this, it truly found hope.
This time, it was Mu Anxiao's turn to smile.
Seeing this, the demon beast looked puzzled. "What are you smiling at?"
"Nothing much, I just suddenly realized," Mu Anxiao said, taking a deep breath. "You, this demon beast, are actually quite naive."
"How am I naive?" the demon beast asked dully.
"You believe anything I say, even when I'm just making small talk. If you say you're not naive, then who is?" Mu Anxiao said, smiling faintly, and stood up.
The demon beast didn't get angry about this. Instead, it chuckled twice more. "I knew you were joking with me. Actually, I was joking with you too. I don't believe at all that you can get me out of here." As it spoke, it flicked its tail, deliberately splashing water onto Mu Anxiao.
In a few seconds...
Mu Anxiao turned into a drenched mess. What Mu Anxiao couldn't believe was that the terrain map was not wet at all. Instead, it suddenly emitted a yellow beam of light. Mu Anxiao looked at it in shock. "What's going on..." she started, then quickly knelt on the ground and spread the terrain map out. A red dot was located precisely above the character '塔' (Tower). "Ta," she murmured softly.
The demon beast, realizing its mistake, looked at Mu Anxiao's suddenly serious posture with apprehension and asked, "Is it okay?" It thought the terrain map was broken.
Hearing this, Mu Anxiao, after a moment of thought, hurried to look back at the demon beast and asked, "How much do you know about this place?"
The demon beast blinked. "Why are you asking this?"
"I'm asking because there's something important. Tell me quickly," Mu Anxiao's eyes were sharp. "How much do you know about this place?"
"There are a total of eight large prisons here. The largest prison is said to be a tower, but as for what is imprisoned inside..." The demon beast dared not be negligent and maintained a very serious attitude. "I don't know."
"Tower..." Mu Anxiao uttered the word, then glanced at the terrain map again and mumbled, "Yes, let's start by finding the biggest tower." With that, she grabbed the terrain map and stood up.
Seeing Mu Anxiao's swift movements, the demon beast thought she was angry. It quickly said, "I was just joking with you. The terrain map..." It stared intently at the back of Mu Anxiao's head. "Is it alright?"
"It's fine," Mu Anxiao replied casually, retracting the terrain map. Drenched, she looked at the demon beast. "I have one more question for you."
"Ask away." The demon beast relaxed, seeing that Mu Anxiao was not angry.
Mu Anxiao frowned slightly. "Besides me, have you seen any other immortals here?" She wondered if the demon beast had seen any, which would mean her search would not be in vain. If not, things would be different.
"Other immortals..." the demon beast repeated, falling into thought.
Mu Anxiao respected the demon beast and remained silent.
After a few minutes.
The demon beast, after some shallow contemplation, became excited. "I haven't seen any, but," its protruding eyes lit up, "one night, a group of demons escorted a group of criminals with black cloths wrapped around their heads past here. At that time, I distinctly felt spiritual energy."
"Spiritual energy?" Mu Anxiao's heart filled with hope.
The demon beast nodded. "Yes, spiritual energy. I was wondering then, since this is the demon realm, who else besides me would have spiritual energy? But then I thought, maybe that spiritual energy was my own. But," as if a dam had burst, it became agitated, "your question has unlocked my memory. I now strongly suspect that the spiritual energy was not mine, but belonged to those criminals with black cloths wrapped around their heads. But it's strange, they are demons, how could they have spiritual energy? It doesn't make sense. Do you think it was my illusion, or..."
"It wasn't an illusion," Mu Anxiao interrupted softly.
The demon beast snapped back to attention and frowned. "Not an illusion, then what was it?"
"I can't explain it clearly," Mu Anxiao said, worried about eavesdroppers, and did not elaborate for the demon beast.
Conversely, the demon beast became curious. "Is something wrong? Can you tell me about it? Maybe I can help you."
"Anyone who knows about this will die," Mu Anxiao said, trying to scare the demon beast. "Are you sure you want to know?"
"...I," the demon beast hesitated. "I'd rather not know." It chickened out.
"Don't tell anyone I was here," Mu Anxiao instructed intentionally.
The demon beast heard this and laughed.
Mu Anxiao looked puzzled. "What are you laughing at?"
"Those demons can't wait to get away from me, who would I tell? Besides," the demon beast said, "we are both immortals, so we are in the same boat. If anything happens, come find me, and I will definitely help you."
"You can't even leave the water, and you're going to help me?" Mu Anxiao said, couldn't help but smile. "You'd better just stay here honestly."
"I'm about to regain my freedom soon," the demon beast suddenly said.
Mu Anxiao's expression turned surprised. "You're regaining your freedom? No, don't do anything rash, you..."
"No, I met another immortal with a similar identity to ours. He said that after the mission is completed, he will take me away." The demon beast lowered its voice and turned its head. "This is a secret, don't tell anyone."
"If it's a secret, why tell me?" Mu Anxiao guessed that the immortal the demon beast was referring to was probably a man.
The demon beast smiled. "We get along well, so I'm telling you. I would never tell anyone else."
"You'd better remember your words. If someone gives you a little benefit, you sell them out." Mu Anxiao said, then turned and walked away.
The demon beast responded, "I won't," and then submerged itself into the water.
After a while.
Guided by the terrain map, Mu Anxiao arrived at the tower where the major criminals were held. "This is it," she mumbled, looking up at the red-glowing high tower. A strange trepidation welled up in her heart. She tightened her grip on the terrain map and walked to the tower gate. Just then, a torrent of the most unpleasant curses came from inside.