“I’ll share my spiritual energy with you.”
“You’ll share with me?” Mu Anxiao looked astonished, glancing at the old man’s side before whispering, “How about this, I’ll stay, and you go, alright?” She lowered her arms.
“Don’t you like adventure?”
“Who said I like adventure? You go, I still need to watch Grandpa,” Mu Anxiao deliberately pointed at the old man who had turned his face away.
Feng Qishi glanced at the old man following Mu Anxiao’s finger and said, “That’s the ninety-year-old man you’re looking for.”
“Yes.”
“He doesn’t look like it,” Feng Qishi stared openly at the old man.
“I guarantee, he is.”
“You…”
“No ‘you.’ Hurry and go find him. I’ll give you fifteen minutes. If you don’t come back, I’ll leave first,” Mu Anxiao said, remembering her mission.
“You’re going to abandon me.”
“Yes. Compared to you, the mission is more important.”
“Silly Mu, I value you more than any mission.”
“…” Mu Anxiao looked at Feng Qishi’s serious expression, took a deep breath, and said, “If your disciple were in danger, would you choose to waste time with me or seize the opportunity to complete the mission?”
“You don’t have a disciple.”
“I do.”
“You’re lying.” Feng Qishi didn’t believe her.
Mu Anxiao sneered, “I’m not lying. My disciple is called Mu Miyan. If you don’t believe me, once this is done, I can take you down to see her.”
“Why don’t you let your disciple come up?”
“She made a mistake and has to bear the consequences. The chance of her returning is slim.”
“Where did you even recognize her from…”
“Don’t ask. I only have two hours left. Hurry up.”
“You…” Feng Qishi saw Mu Anxiao’s urgency and didn’t think she was lying. He pondered for a moment and said, “I think he might be related to your mission.”
“What nonsense are you talking about?”
“That old man doesn’t know he’s dead. Most importantly, he’s an old man. Maybe,” Feng Qishi glanced at the old man and spoke randomly, “he’s related to your mission.”
“Why don’t you go?”
“I… I’m afraid.”
“Scaredy-cat.” Mu Anxiao looked at Feng Qishi, who was deliberately avoiding her gaze, with mockery and chuckled.
“Yes, I’m a scaredy-cat.”
Mu Anxiao felt incredibly pleased, as this was exactly what she wanted to see from Feng Qishi. “Fine, then you wait for me here.”
“Go ahead.”
“If that old man is related to your mission, remember to thank me when you return.”
“That would be my own choice, what does it have to do with you?” Mu Anxiao said, returning to the old man’s side. “Grandpa, I’m going to do something important. You and that young man stay here for a while.”
“How long will you be gone?”
“Very soon.”
The old man nodded slightly.
Mu Anxiao smiled, then turned to look at Feng Qishi, who was approaching her, and said, “Stay put. If I can’t manage, I still have to…”
“No sorcery allowed,” Feng Qishi said, reaching out and taking Mu Anxiao’s arm.
Seeing this, Mu Anxiao was startled. “What are you doing?”
“I’ll give you some of my magic. If you encounter danger, I can help you.”
“You’ll help me?”
“Yes. You’ll know soon. It won’t cost you any magic.”
“That generous?”
“I’ve always been good,” Feng Qishi said, releasing her arm.
Mu Anxiao looked down at her arm, then handed the magic lantern in her hand to Feng Qishi. “Here, take this.”
“You don’t need it?”
“No, that old man is definitely holding a lantern too.”
“That’s true.” Feng Qishi conceded, taking the magic lantern. “Go ahead.”
“Mm.” Mu Anxiao nodded, closed her eyes to sense the surrounding demonic energy, and said, “I’m leaving.” She then opened her eyes and walked in the direction she had identified.
After Mu Anxiao left, Feng Qishi looked down at his single hand, then looked up at the old man watching him. “Hello.”
“Hello.” The old man nodded, looking in the direction Mu Anxiao had gone. “Young man, letting a little girl do this, isn’t that a bit much?”
The old man knew everything. He had simply chosen not to say anything when Mu Anxiao was present.
Feng Qishi: “Do you know that old man?”
“…” The old man smiled and pointed at the magic lantern. “Give it to me, and I’ll tell you.”
Then, Feng Qishi looked down at the magic lantern, a smile curving his lips. “As you said,” he said, handing the lantern to the old man.
The old man took the lantern, lifted it, and examined the patterns on it. “This lantern is quite beautiful.”
Feng Qishi smiled faintly. “You can speak now.”
“That’s the night watchman from the city. He’s seventy years old. He was already muddled in life, and because of that, he often forgets that he’s dead. Every time he comes here, I tell him he’s too noisy.”
“You weren’t shouting at us?”
“No.”
Feng Qishi laughed. “I thought you were shouting at us…”
“And at you, too,” the old man said, looking up at Feng Qishi. “He likes to feign innocence, but his sorcery is extremely powerful, though he doesn’t know it himself.”
“What do you mean?”
“Do you see the lantern in his hand?”
“Yes.”
“That lantern is called a cage. The flame within is a monster. That monster will help the old fellow when he encounters difficulties, thereby eliminating the opponent. You,” the old man looked at the lantern again, his expression becoming serious, “sending that young girl alone might be dangerous.”
“…” Feng Qishi frowned.
The old man calmly looked at Feng Qishi’s surprised expression and smiled. “What’s with that look?”
“You know, why didn’t you stop me?”
“I didn’t want to. Because… I want to test her abilities. Only if she returns can I fully trust her. If she doesn’t return,” the old man shook his head slightly, “then it simply means she lacks ability and isn’t worthy of my trust.”
“You’re using her?”
“Not using, testing.”
“These two words are probably interchangeable in your vocabulary.” Feng Qishi said, looking down at his palm.
“Of course, they’re different.” The old man said, glancing at Feng Qishi’s hand. “Speaking of which, you too, young man. Knowing the danger, yet letting her go. In that case, are you using her or testing her?”
“I…”
From the moment Mu Anxiao started using sorcery, Feng Qishi had been worried she would become overly reliant on it, so he prepared two plans.
The first was to deliberately tell her to find the old man and see if she would resort to sorcery.
The second was that if she said she would use sorcery, he would use his spiritual energy to help her capture the old man, making her realize she could only use magic for missions.
As expected, he had implemented the second plan.
The old man: “Is it using, or testing?”
“…. ” Feng Qishi thought for a moment and said, “Neither. It’s proving.”