"But... if I go back, Mu Anxiao won't let me off."
"I'll help you."
"How will you help me?"
"I'll help you drive her away."
"..."
"What, no?"
"If you help me kill her, I'll go back."
"But..."
"Your cooking is really terrible. Without me, they wouldn't eat your food at all. Listen to me, it's good for you."
"..." The young cook hesitated for a moment and said, "Then I'll try."
Mu Anxiao clearly heard the young cook's hesitant promise to kill her. She thought, she's really quite stupid. The demon soul treated Xiao Er that way, yet she still couldn't tell if the demon soul was good or bad. She was truly speechless.
Feng Qi Shi lowered his head and quietly watched Mu Anxiao's slightly swaying head, then glanced at the young cook who was still communicating with Lü Guang. He nudged Mu Anxiao's shoulder and asked mentally, "What are they saying?"
Mu Anxiao replied mentally without looking back, "The demon soul is brainwashing the young cook, telling her to kill me." She slanted her eyes.
Feng Qi Shi asked, "Can she kill you?"
"Don't ask me such boring questions with that tone of doubt," Mu Anxiao replied mentally. She lightly tapped her ear, then spread her hands and conjured the silver rope.
Seeing this, Feng Qi Shi's eyes widened. He asked, "You're going to make a move now?"
"If I don't make a move, should I wait for her to kill me?" Mu Anxiao retorted, tilting her face. "Wait here. I'll call you when I need your help."
"I'll go with you..."
"You're my secret weapon," Mu Anxiao said, gripping the silver rope and stepping closer.
Hearing Mu Anxiao's words, Feng Qi Shi's lips curved. "Secret weapon? How cheesy." He shook his head slightly and leaned against a tree.
Then, Mu Anxiao approached, saying, "You're all here? You're really hard to find."
Upon hearing this, Lü Guang brightened slightly. "Young cook, you lied to me."
"I didn't," the young cook glanced at Lü Guang, then turned her face to Mu Anxiao. "Why are you here?"
"I followed you."
"Followed me?"
The young cook hadn't seen Mu Anxiao when she ran out of the inn.
"It's a long story. I just had a feeling," Mu Anxiao stopped, crossed her arms, and glanced at Lü Guang. "You came to find her. As expected."
"You..."
"You're the silly one. I said your cooking is good, so why doubt yourself? Besides," Mu Anxiao looked at Lü Guang, "she's just a ball of light. She doesn't even have a mouth or nose, so how can she eat your food?"
The young cook: "..."
Mu Anxiao continued, "To put it bluntly, she's the least qualified to say your cooking is bad. You're so foolish to listen to her. I really don't know what you're thinking."
The young cook said, "You came at the right time."
"I came at the right time?" Mu Anxiao repeated, looking at Lü Guang. "No, are you really going to listen to her and kill me?"
The young cook didn't expect Mu Anxiao to have overheard their conversation, so she was startled. "You heard us?"
"If I didn't hear, I wouldn't have come."
"You..."
"What about you? I'll give you two choices: one, come over, and two," Mu Anxiao held up two fingers, "fight me. But I can't guarantee whether the outcome will be good or bad for you."
Lü Guang said, "Young cook, kill her."
The young cook glanced at the silver rope in Mu Anxiao's hand, then thought about what Xiao Er had told her. Her heart sank. "I dare not," she shook her head slightly.
"You?"
"She has a soul sword, and that rope," the young cook looked at Lü Guang with terror. "I dare not."
"You really dare not!"
The young cook nodded.
Immediately, Lü Guang surrounded the young cook. "Since you dare not, what use do I have for you?"
Seeing this, Mu Anxiao shouted, "What are you doing?"
"Yesterday, you saved that Xiao Er from my clutches. Today," Lü Guang tightened its grip around the young cook, "let's see how you save her."
"You're revealing your true form already? I thought you'd wait a little longer," Mu Anxiao said, stepping closer to Lü Guang.
The young cook's ears were filled with the demon soul's voice. She widened her eyes slightly, staring at the blinding beam of light up close, unable to utter a word.
"Mu Anxiao! I really didn't expect an ordinary yin messenger like you to meddle in everything, people and demons alike. Why don't you just ascend to heaven?" Lü Guang completely blocked the young cook.
Mu Anxiao replied, "I'd love to ascend to heaven, but that's after I catch you."
"Silver-tongued."
"When it comes to being silver-tongued, I'm second, and you're first. Look how you've mesmerized that young cook; she's practically willing to give her life to you. Truly," Mu Anxiao sneered, "I'm impressed by your ability."
Although the young cook was suffocated by the demon soul and could barely speak, she could hear Mu Anxiao's voice perfectly.
It seemed that it was precisely to survive intact in the demon realm that she had so diligently sought the inner core, even trusting the demon soul's words for her life.
Now, if the demon soul wanted her dead, how could she be willing?
Therefore, she closed her eyes, gathered her strength, and shouted, "Save me!"
However, Mu Anxiao could no longer see the young cook at all.
Next, she clenched her fists and shouted, "I'm telling you, you're a demon soul. If you keep devouring demons blindly like this, your soul body won't be able to take it."
"You don't need to worry about it," Lü Guang shouted back.
The young cook, choked to the point of losing consciousness, slowly closed her eyes, her body completely losing the strength to struggle.
"She's almost gone, haha."
Mu Anxiao shouted agitatedly, "Let her go!"
Lü Guang retorted, "She's a demon. Even if you save her, she won't thank you. Mu Anxiao, can't you see that?"
"I admire her cooking. You're not allowed to kill her," Mu Anxiao said in a low voice, slowly raising the silver rope, and then striking it with all her might at the green light that surrounded the young cook.
Lü Guang began, "I am light, you can't strike..."
Mid-sentence, Mu Anxiao interrupted, "Yesterday, I saw you were quite scared too." As she spoke, she continuously whipped the green light that still encircled the young cook.
Feng Qi Shi stood behind a nearby tree, calmly watching Mu Anxiao's back as she grappled with the light. He mused, "If her master knew what she was doing in the demon realm, would they be proud or annoyed? However," he leaned against the tree, "thinking about how eccentric her master is, it's probably pride!"
"You're really bored?"
Hearing this, Feng Qi Shi jumped in surprise, quickly looked around, and then tilted his head towards the sky. "Zhang Yan, you heard that."
"Is that how you address me? Insolent."
Feng Qi Shi asked, "Are you... communicating with me mentally?"