Xu Lan smiled, "A bet is a bet. You'd better keep your word."
Yin Cha: "...." He blinked, glanced around, then whispered back, "Can we not do this here? I have a reputation to uphold."
Xu Lan leaned in, "What did you say?" Her voice also lowered.
Yin Cha looked at Xu Lan, who clearly knew what she was asking, with a speechless expression. He pondered his wager with her and decided it was best not to offend her, lest he lose face.
With that thought, he forced a fawning smile, "I said, can we not do this here? I have a reputation to uphold."
"When you were so viciously slandering Mu Anxiao, I didn't see you valuing your reputation," Xu Lan retorted.
Yin Cha swallowed and said, "I was wrong."
"It's good that you admit your mistakes. Just don't forget to kowtow to me," Xu Lan said, straightening up.
Yin Cha breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "What are you doing now?"
"Going to bring the complaining soul."
"You're going to send him to Lord Xu Lan."
"Yes."
"I'll be going there later too."
"And then?" Xu Lan was not curious about Yin Cha's destination.
Yin Cha: "And then," he glanced around again, "I have a reputation to uphold, so don't mention this matter when you're with the Lord."
Xu Lan crossed her arms, "That depends on my mood." With that, she turned and walked away.
Immediately after, Yin Cha hurriedly turned his head and shouted, "Thank you!"
Hearing Yin Cha's anxious shouts behind her, Xu Lan chuckled with immense satisfaction.
The Hall of Interrogation.
Mu Anxiao sat at the low table, looking down at her hands, which Xu Lan had meticulously bandaged. "Hey, I've investigated."
Xu Lan arranged the interrogation records on the table and looked at Mu Anxiao from the side, "Go on."
"That thing isn't human."
"Not human?"
"Yes, what you asked me to investigate..."
Before she could finish, the dog-headed demon swaggered in, "Your business is concluded."
At the sound, Mu Anxiao swallowed the words that had reached her lips and turned with Xu Lan to look at the dog-headed demon.
Xu Lan: "Lord." He cupped his hands in a salute.
Seeing Xu Lan's respectful demeanor towards the dog-headed demon, Mu Anxiao rolled her eyes, stood up from the table, and walked in front of the dog-headed demon. "Why are you here?"
"...." Xu Lan was startled and quickly turned to Mu Anxiao, "How can you be so disrespectful?"
Hearing Xu Lan's words, Mu Anxiao curled her lips and turned her face away.
The dog-headed demon paid no mind to Mu Anxiao's attitude towards him. Instead, he smiled and said, "I've seen many such ill-mannered minor deities before. It's alright, Xu Lan."
Xu Lan: "Lord, your subordinate simply cannot stand by and watch."
"There are many things in this world you cannot stand by and watch. Must you interfere with all of them?"
"...." Xu Lan was left speechless.
Hearing the dog-headed demon's pretentious manner of speaking, Mu Anxiao sighed, thinking, forget it, I'll deal with the sleeping powder issue first. I'll let you be arrogant for a while longer!
The dog-headed demon smiled faintly and looked at Mu Anxiao, "Mu Anxiao, would you like to come work with us?"
"What do you mean?" Mu Anxiao turned to look at the dog-headed demon, who was pretending to be serious, feeling increasingly uncomfortable.
The dog-headed demon: "You have good capabilities. I think if you were to serve here, it would be beneficial for us..."
"I don't want to."
"Why not?" the dog-headed demon asked with a smile.
Mu Anxiao took a deep breath and said, "You were the one protecting those five women, weren't you!"
"I know them."
"I know you know them, and that's why you're protecting them," Mu Anxiao scanned the dog-headed demon's face. "This is not honorable conduct."
"How so?"
"It's just that..." Before Mu Anxiao could finish, she suddenly remembered his true identity and stopped speaking.
The dog-headed demon smiled and watched Mu Anxiao's silence, asking, "Why don't you continue?"
"There's nothing more to continue with. How you choose to protect them is your business. Whether they remember you," Mu Anxiao snorted, "is another matter."
"They remember me."
"If it were me, I'd say I knew you too."
"What do you mean by that?"
"There's nothing to mean by that. I don't want to talk to you." Mu Anxiao turned her back.
The dog-headed demon looked at Mu Anxiao's retreating figure, his lips curved, and then turned to Xu Lan, "You'll be interrogating the woman who killed her master later."
"Yes, Lord." Xu Lan nodded.
The dog-headed demon also nodded and said, "In that case, I shall stay."
"Why are you staying, Lord?"
"I haven't seen you in action before, so I'm curious. That's all."
"Alright." Xu Lan nodded slightly, inwardly worried that the dog-headed demon might cause trouble.
The dog-headed demon no longer looked at Xu Lan, but stared at the back of Mu Anxiao's head, saying, "Mu Anxiao, would you be so kind as to step outside for a moment."
"Inconvenient."
"Very well, then I won't say anything further."
Hearing this, Mu Anxiao frowned and, after a moment's thought, quickly turned to look at the dog-headed demon and asked, "What do you mean by that?"
The dog-headed demon: "Come out with me, and I'll tell you."
"Let's go." Mu Anxiao was indeed curious about what the dog-headed demon had to say.
Xu Lan glanced at Mu Anxiao. "...."
Minutes later.
Mu Anxiao followed the dog-headed demon and stopped beside a tree not far from the hall.
Mu Anxiao: "What do you want to say?"
The dog-headed demon stood in front of Mu Anxiao, without turning his head, and said, "Mu Anxiao, am I handsome now?"
"...."
"Why aren't you speaking?" the dog-headed demon asked, turning his head to look at Mu Anxiao.
Mu Anxiao stared disdainfully at the dog-headed demon's face and said, "In my eyes, you will always be a dog, and your face will always be a dog's face."
The dog-headed demon: "That's a rather hurtful way to speak."
"Are you human?"
The dog-headed demon pursed his lips and smiled, "That's a question that has stumped me."
Mu Anxiao glared at the dog-headed demon and said, "Growing a tail doesn't make you a big bad wolf. Remember, you're still a dog."
"Are you mocking me?"
"Oh, you noticed."
"Yes," the dog-headed demon nodded, then suddenly burst into laughter.
Seeing this, Mu Anxiao was bewildered, "Why are you laughing for no reason?"
The dog-headed demon: "For some reason, I feel like laughing whenever I see you."
"We aren't close, are we?"
"No, we aren't." The dog-headed demon shook his head.
"If we aren't close, then why are you laughing?" Mu Anxiao began to seriously doubt the dog-headed demon's sanity.
Immediately after Mu Anxiao said this, the dog-headed demon stopped and asked, "Aren't you curious why I'm here?"
"It's simple. You're here because you want to kill me, right?"
"Yes." The dog-headed demon nodded.
"You truly are the dog of the vine spirit. The way you speak," Mu Anxiao sneered, "is exactly like him."
The dog-headed demon chuckled and said, "I don't want to be like him. He's a plant, and I'm an animal."
"...." Mu Anxiao didn't find the dog-headed demon's remark amusing. On the contrary, she found his behavior very tedious and fell silent.
Seeing Mu Anxiao's silence, the dog-headed demon asked, "Isn't it funny?"
--Author's Notes--
First update!
Good morning!