Mu Anxiao asked, "What are you nervous about?"
Feng Qishi narrowed his eyes. "Mu Shazi, you'd better not get me into trouble."
Mu Anxiao looked at Feng Qishi's cautious expression up close, pondering the meaning of his words. She asked, "What do you mean by that?"
"You clearly said bad things about me."
"Shen Fengzi, you really are a lunatic. I haven't even finished speaking, and you're already suspecting all sorts of things. Aren't you tired?"
"Speak."
"Why aren't you curious?"
"What's there to be curious about? Go on," Feng Qishi tilted his chin, stood up from the small stool, and pulled Mu Anxiao by the arm.
Mu Anxiao was startled. "What are you doing?"
"I'll squat, you sit."
"That's good." Mu Anxiao smiled, her eyes curving, and sat on the stool.
Following that, they switched positions. Feng Qishi squatted in front of Mu Anxiao, waiting for her reply.
Mu Anxiao looked left and right and said, "I told Shen Xian that you were doing it for his own good."
"What did I do for his own good?"
However, Feng Qishi felt that his conversation with Shen Xian was only to help Mu Anxiao. To say it was for Shen Xian's own good was impossible.
So the moment Mu Anxiao said those words, he felt a surge of irritation inside.
Seeing Feng Qishi's displeased expression, Mu Anxiao quickly asked, "What are you so anxious about?"
"I'm doing this for you, I..."
"Enough nonsense, thank me."
"Why should I thank you?"
"I put in a good word for you, shouldn't you thank me?"
"You're really something else. Talking about me with him, aren't you afraid he'll be jealous?"
"Why would he be jealous?"
"You figure it out yourself," Feng Qishi said. He pushed himself up, his knees supporting him, and looked at the plates and bowls on the table. "Wash the used bowls and chopsticks yourself." With that, he took off his apron, threw it at Mu Anxiao's face, and turned to leave.
Mu Anxiao was stunned for a moment. She took the apron off her face and asked, "You're acting so strange, are you sick?"
A few minutes later...
Mu Anxiao squatted by the well, washing dishes while picturing the terrifying faces of monsters. She swallowed and muttered, "I should be able to deal with them, right?" As she spoke, she scrubbed the bowls vigorously.
Outside the house, Feng Qishi thought about Mu Anxiao's happy expression after returning from Shen Xian's and her words just now. His heart felt inexplicably heavy.
He sighed softly and turned to Gu Xiao, who was standing beside him. "What does it feel like standing here?"
Gu Xiao said, "It's alright."
"'It's alright...' alright," Feng Qishi repeated. He walked to Gu Xiao's side and asked, "When you were alive, did you like any girls?"
"I am a demon."
"A demon... then did you like any female demons?"
"Why are you asking this?"
"Never mind. I'm asking you, if you liked a girl, and she was with another male demon, how would you feel?"
"That... I would definitely feel uncomfortable."
"Would you feel particularly stifled?"
"..." Gu Xiao thought for a moment and said, "Yes, it's quite stifling. In any case, it's not very comfortable."
"So that's the feeling." Feng Qishi lowered his head.
"Are you thinking about Mu Anxiao?"
"No." Feng Qishi shook his head and pointed at Gu Xiao. "Don't you dare repeat what I asked you, or I'll turn hostile."
"I know."
"Good that you know." Feng Qishi said, looked around, turned, and walked through the threshold.
Gu Xiao secretly smiled and continued to guard the door.
Back in the courtyard, Feng Qishi glanced at Mu Anxiao, who had finished washing the dishes, and cleared his throat. "Do you need my help?"
Hearing this, Mu Anxiao looked up at Feng Qishi. "No."
"Are you sure you don't need it?"
Mu Anxiao picked up the wooden basin filled with clean bowls and chopsticks and said, "If you truly wanted to help me, you would have done so earlier. You wouldn't be acting so hypocritically now. Don't pretend to care."
Before washing the dishes, Mu Anxiao had no complaints about Feng Qishi.
But the moment her hands touched the icy water, she suddenly felt that Feng Qishi was indeed sick. When he was happy, he spoke kindly to her; when he was unhappy, his mouth was full of sarcasm.
At that moment, she couldn't be bothered with him anymore.
"......" She glared at Feng Qishi, turned, and walked towards the kitchen.
Feng Qishi: "......" He strode after Mu Anxiao.
In the tree, Xiang Nang looked down at the way Mu Anxiao and Feng Qishi interacted. She couldn't help but recall the way Gu An and Shen Xian were together back then.
Back then, Shen Xian was the same. He would scold Gu An one moment, and the next, even trying to appease her was useless.
In the end, it was she who came up with a plan for Shen Xian, which finally made Gu An happy.
Thinking of those past events, she smiled.
At the same time, Shen Xian walked under the tree, looked up at Xiang Nang sitting in the tree, and asked, "What are you smiling about?"
Hearing this, Xiang Nang looked down and said, "I'm not smiling about anything." As she spoke, she jumped down.
Shen Xian said, "I heard you were the first to find Gu An."
From the moment they met, Shen Xian had never asked Xiang Nang about Gu An. Now, with Shen Xian's sudden question, she was startled. "Why are you suddenly asking about this?"
Shen Xian lowered his head. "I just suddenly wanted to ask. Are you unwilling to answer?"
"There's nothing I'm unwilling to answer. It's true that I found my master that day."
"What did she say?"
"....."
"She didn't say anything?"
That day, Gu An had spoken to Xiang Nang only after her death, as she was about to reincarnate. But those words, she had strictly warned her not to tell Shen Xian.
Therefore, she thought for a moment and said, "She did."
"What did she say?"
"I didn't hear clearly." Xiang Nang shook her head slightly and couldn't help but recall Gu An's pained departure. She pouted and started crying.
Seeing this, Shen Xian asked, "What are you crying about?"
"I miss my master."
Shen Xian understood the deep bond between Xiang Nang and Gu An. So he reached out and patted Xiang Nang's shoulder, asking, "Would you be happy if your master were to be resurrected?"
"What?" Xiang Nang suddenly looked up and asked.
Shen Xian saw Xiang Nang's flustered expression and thought about the uncertain future. He lowered his hand and said, "This is just my hope."
"Master has already reincarnated, so how can there be talk of resurrection?" Xiang Nang glanced towards the kitchen.
Shen Xian sighed. "You're right." Saying that, he turned and walked towards the kitchen.
Xiang Nang asked, "Do you have any ideas?"
Shen Xian said as he walked, "What ideas could I have?" With that, he approached the kitchen.
Hearing Shen Xian's words, Xiang Nang felt a hint of unease.
In the kitchen, Mu Anxiao was tidying up the bowls and chopsticks while instructing Feng Qishi to sweep the floor.
Feng Qishi swept while saying, "I cook and I sweep the floor. Mu Shazi, you're too..."
"I'm too what?" Mu Anxiao threw down the rag in her hand, turned, and glared at Feng Qishi.
Feng Qishi saw the dissatisfied look in Mu Anxiao's eyes and gave a dry laugh. "Never mind." He then continued to sweep the floor.