"This is my decision, though it's not yet mature," Mu Anxiao said with a wry smile.
"You still haven't given up this idea."
"Yes."
"You..." Hei Feng was rendered speechless by Mu Anxiao once more.
"I know my idea is far-fetched, even conceited, but," Mu Anxiao's eyes were solely focused, "this is my decision, and I hope you won't interfere."
"Those demon souls..."
"You taught me that the mission is paramount. They are all sinful demons who made mistakes. So, I captured them. But what was the result? They hated me to the bone, and everything became troublesome."
"Are you blaming me?" Hei Feng pointed to himself.
"I'm not exactly blaming you. I just want to say that your words are not entirely correct. At least, I stumbled because of them."
"...."
"What, am I wrong?"
"In our line of work, we cannot have personal feelings. You think for them, but they may not think for you. Consider it carefully yourself."
"I don't care. You said that as long as the mission can be completed, we must use any means necessary. This is my method."
"I can't help you."
"I know."
"You know?"
"I am aware of your current status. It is impossible for you to speak with the underworld officials. Therefore, I have my own way."
"What way do you have?"
"I won't tell you."
"You better not implicate me."
"Don't worry, I won't implicate you. You have helped me a lot, and although you've also tricked me quite a few times, it's all settled now. Your next task is to simply pick up the demon souls."
"So confident."
"Yes."
Hei Feng lowered his eyes and smiled: "..."
"Why did you come to find me?"
"I saw Wan Sha on the way just now. She seemed to be going to the temple to file a complaint. I suspect she wants to sue you."
"I know."
"I know you know. Yin Ye already told you."
"It's not right to eavesdrop on our conversation."
"I overheard it unintentionally," Hei Feng shrugged.
"..." Mu Anxiao sneered and said, "Right, you know."
Mu Anxiao believed Hei Feng already knew about the imposter and thus spoke directly.
However, Hei Feng did not understand what Mu Anxiao meant.
"Know what?"
"Lin Yan has been revived."
"What?"
"Lin Yan has been revived. He suddenly woke up last night, but I could tell," Mu Anxiao said, crossing her arms, "it's an imposter." She stared straight ahead.
Hei Feng pondered for a moment, then quickly moved to sit opposite Mu Anxiao. "I really don't know about this."
"Do you want to see?" Mu Anxiao leaned on the edge of the table, staring into Hei Feng's eyes.
Hei Feng: "This..."
"Do you have something else?"
"No, I wanted to tell you something," Hei Feng said, then produced a folded piece of paper and handed it to Mu Anxiao. "You look first."
Mu Anxiao: "So mysterious." She took the paper and as she slowly unfolded it, her head suddenly began to ache.
Hei Feng calmly watched Mu Anxiao's pained expression and said, "Hold on."
Upon hearing this, Mu Anxiao dropped the paper, took a deep breath, held her head, and recited a calming mantra taught to her by Zhang Yan. The headache subsided.
"Are you okay?" Hei Feng asked.
Mu Anxiao looked up and said, "I'm fine." As she spoke, she looked down at the characters "Mu Xi" on the paper and her eyes widened.
Hei Feng: "Familiar?"
Mu Anxiao: "This is..." She looked up at Hei Feng. "What is this?"
Hei Feng: "This soul, they searched for decades over there without finding him. He appeared recently, but has already become a demon soul."
"He's human."
"I knew you knew."
"He's my brother." Mu Anxiao's heart sank as she tried to remain calm in front of Hei Feng.
"Yes."
"Who gave you this?"
"The underworld officials over there. They said this is for us."
"They're not taking him?"
"He became a demon soul..."
"But he cultivated from human to demon, so shouldn't this place handle him?"
"I don't know. They're not taking him, saying..." Hei Feng sighed. "...it has something to do with you."
Mu Xi was Mu Anxiao's elder brother. He was the brother who always bullied her, as Mu Anxiao always said. She just never expected to meet him in this way.
This feeling made her feel surprised, but more so... apprehensive.
"...." She clutched the edge of the paper, looking down and muttering, "Why did this happen?"
"...." Hei Feng did not want to tell Mu Anxiao the inside story, because the matters involved were truly... heart-wrenching.
Mu Anxiao: "Why did this happen? Why did he die?" She looked up at Hei Feng.
Hei Feng: "Do you really want to know?"
"I do."
"His fate originally was not this short. He could have even had many wives and concubines. But because of you," Hei Feng's eyes darkened, "he... fell into a bottomless abyss and died."
"...." Mu Anxiao couldn't help but tear up. "He looked for me."
"Yes, I only heard about it. The specifics, you'll only know after you find him."
"Where is he now?"
"I don't know. They sent me to give you this mission, saying it's for two hundred taels."
"Two hundred taels?"
All along, capturing demon souls and completing missions was the most joyous thing for Mu Anxiao. Especially when Hei Feng mentioned silver, she would feel excited.
However, this time, she couldn't be happy. On the contrary, she had no interest in this silver at all, and she didn't want to do this mission.
"I don't want this mission," she shook her head.
Hei Feng: "Only you can complete this mission."
Mu Anxiao: "I won't do it."
"If you don't do it, he will be scattered into oblivion." xxs壹贰
"Why don't you do it?"
"He specifically asked for you to capture him."
"He knows me?" Mu Anxiao's eyes widened.
There were some things Hei Feng didn't want to say, but facing Mu Anxiao's refusal now, he thought it best to explain.
"He became a demon soul and learned demonic arts. He climbed out from the abyss just last year. The first thing he did after climbing out was to go over there. It was there he learned that you were still alive. He was relieved upon hearing this, but... he was driven out by the underworld officials over there." Hei Feng's eyes darkened.
"Why did they drive him out?"
"His soul had too much evil energy. To put it bluntly, they capture souls according to a list, and he wasn't on the list. He was considered a solitary wandering soul, so they didn't want him."
"And then?"
"Then, he left. After that, he encountered the Vine Spirit. The Vine Spirit told you that you abandoned him, said you became an immortal, and also said that he begged you to save him, but you refused... In short, the details might have been even more excessive, I'm not sure."