Feng Qishi glanced at Mu Anxiao before shifting his gaze to Mu Xi, who was still speaking about Mu Anxiao. "..." His eyes darkened. He had never imagined Mu Xi would despise his own sister so much.
"My lady," said the maid, "how does the master intend to punish her?" She stared at the young Mu Anxiao, who was still kneeling and pleading for the second servant.
Mu Xi: "How would I know my father's thoughts? In any case," he curved his lips, "this time, I am also among those who have contributed."
"This way you can marry..."
"Shut up." Mu Xi, worried about being overheard, shot the maid a killing glance, his tone significantly colder than before.
Seeing Mu Xi's face change, the maid dared not speak further.
Mu Xi then turned his attention back to the young Mu Anxiao.
Contributed?
Mu Anxiao didn't understand what Mu Xi meant by that. However, from his eyes, she could sense hatred.
Moreover, this hatred was clearly accumulated. She thought that at her age, she couldn't have accumulated much hatred from Mu Xi. Therefore... was the one he hated his closest kin?
"..." With this thought, she followed Mu Xi's gaze to her parents seated in the armchair and widened her eyes.
"What does he mean?" Feng Qishi also sensed something was wrong.
"I see it," Mu Anxiao glanced at Feng Qishi.
"..." Feng Qishi nodded slightly and said, "He is clearly deliberately avoiding interaction. I want to ask you, what is his relationship with your parents?"
"I don't know."
"You don't know?" Feng Qishi was surprised. But looking at Mu Xi's unfamiliar gaze towards the young Mu Anxiao and recalling his words to the maid, Feng Qishi understood, "It's true, you haven't had any contact with them."
"Yes," Mu Anxiao nodded, staring at Mu Xi's profile. "However, I am quite surprised."
"What are you surprised about?" Feng Qishi asked, puzzled.
Mu Anxiao lowered her eyelids. "That he would have connections with people from the immortal cultivation sects, that's what surprises me."
"Yes, has he told you about his affairs outside?" the wolf demon asked curiously.
Mu Anxiao glanced at the wolf demon and shook her head, "I forgot."
"What kind of memory do you have?" the wolf demon exclaimed angrily.
Mu Anxiao glared at the wolf demon who was making sarcastic remarks, ignored Mu Xi, and walked towards the young Mu Anxiao.
Feng Qishi sighed.
The wolf demon put a hand on his hip and looked at the maid standing beside Mu Xi, saying, "Is it because of this maid that he's like this?"
"..." Feng Qishi pondered the wolf demon's words and said calmly, "Things are not as simple as you think." Saying this, he turned and walked ahead.
The wolf demon furrowed his brow. "So, this fellow is quite difficult to figure out." He curled his lips, called out, "Wait for me," and walked away.
Meanwhile.
The second servant was released after the young Mu Anxiao's desperate plea.
In contrast, they had no intention of letting the young Mu Anxiao off the hook.
"Mu Anxiao," Mu mother, still seated in the armchair, glanced at the food scattered on the ground and then at the young Mu Anxiao who was still kneeling. "Do you like that food?"
The young Mu Anxiao looked up at Mu mother and nodded slightly.
"Alright then," Mu mother said coldly, "since you like it, I shall bestow it upon you."
"Huh?" the young Mu Anxiao looked confused.
Mu mother: "What 'huh,' eat it when I tell you to. Once you're done, you'll be fine."
"Really?" The young Mu Anxiao thought it would be complicated, but hearing Mu mother say this, she blurted out the question.
Although she knew that this extra question might bring disaster upon her, since it had already been asked, she couldn't take it back. So, after a moment of relaxation, she began to get nervous again.
"..." The moment the young Mu Anxiao asked this, Mu mother's expression turned cold for an instant, then she smiled again. "Of course, it's true."
"Thank you, Mother." The young Mu Anxiao breathed a sigh of relief, picked up the trampled food from the ground, and began to eat.
Mu Anxiao stood to the side, looking down at the young Mu Anxiao eating with relish, and then at Mu mother who was looking at the young Mu Anxiao with a cold face. Her eyes darkened.
Feng Qishi: "Is this your stepmother?"
Hearing this, Mu Anxiao sighed, turned to Feng Qishi, and said, "My birth mother."
"Your birth..." Feng Qishi was surprised. He glanced at Mu mother again and continued, "Then, even if she treats you like this, aren't you still flesh and blood from her?"
"So what?" Mu Anxiao looked down at herself with a pained expression and said, "This is just my fate."
"Don't say that," the wolf demon said softly. "Actually, thinking about it, it's precisely because you were unlucky here that you'll have your good fortune later. It's very difficult for others to become immortals, but you just became one."
The wolf demon's words, even if they weren't meant to, stirred up Mu Anxiao's memories again. She slightly lowered her gaze, recalled the process of her growth and her encounter with Shen Yan yet again, and sighed deeply, "It seems I'm truly a bringer of misfortune. Truly... anyone who meets me will be unlucky."
"..." Feng Qishi was stunned and looked at the wolf demon speechlessly. "You look better when you shut up."
The wolf demon, being observant in certain matters, now saw Mu Anxiao's dazed state and zipped his lips shut.
Lin Yan: "After hardship comes happiness, that must be you." He stopped behind them.
Mu Anxiao remained unmoved.
The wolf demon and Feng Qishi turned to look at Lin Yan simultaneously. "..."
Seeing this, Lin Yan dodged their gaze and then looked down at the young Mu Anxiao eating heartily, saying, "Watching her eat makes me hungry."
"Even if you're hungry, you won't get any," the wolf demon said pointedly.
Lin Yan pouted. "Can't I just fantasize a little? But speaking of which," he squinted at the food on the ground and frowned, "there's so much of it, can she finish it all? What will happen if she doesn't finish it?"
"She'll be beaten," Mu Anxiao remembered her own fate.
Hearing this, Feng Qishi turned back to look at Mu Anxiao. "You remember now."
Mu Anxiao sighed softly. "Yes, I remember. I'll be beaten shortly, then locked up, and then... I won't be given food and will be force-fed medicine." She continued, "If I recall correctly, they will gather in the reception hall shortly. I imagine they'll probably be discussing me."
From the moment the second servant appeared, Mu Anxiao knew this was a conspiracy. At first, she didn't want to believe it, because no matter what, those who wanted to harm her were her own family.
But after hearing what Mu Xi and the maid had said, she no longer deceived herself and believed it.