Xiao Zeng stood behind the table, cautiously watching the situation, not daring to say a word.
Mu Anxiao sat up as Feng Qishi stirred, her nerves taut. "You... you're awake."
"Mhm," Feng Qishi nodded, throwing off the blanket covering him. He asked the obvious, "What happened to you?"
Mu Anxiao shook her head, finding Feng Qishi's current calmness even more terrifying.
"I'm in a good mood today, no morning grumpiness," Feng Qishi said as he put on his shoes and stood up.
Hearing Feng Qishi's self-aware words, Mu Anxiao couldn't help but recall Shen Yan's morning demeanor. "If I recall correctly, you didn't used to have morning grumpiness, did you?"
He truly hadn't been prone to morning grumpiness before. As for where this habit came from, it all started with his ten days in the heavens.
They say that forming a good habit is an arduous task.
During his ten long days in the celestial realm, Feng Qishi had isolated himself, refusing contact with anyone, all to cultivate the habit of meditating in his dreams. However, ever since he arrived here, whenever he was halfway through his cultivation, he would be interrupted by various people. This feeling made him exceedingly annoyed.
Therefore, to prevent them from disturbing him, he deliberately disguised himself as someone difficult to approach.
Feng Qishi said, "My morning grumpiness comes and goes. If you want me to scold you, I'll oblige."
"No, thank you," Mu Anxiao declined from the bottom of her heart.
"Let's go," Feng Qishi said, turning to walk around the screen and glancing at Xiao Zeng, who was standing by the table, looking at him cautiously. "What's wrong?"
"You're not angry?" Xiao Zeng asked.
"What are you talking about?" Feng Qishi smiled and turned to look at Mu Anxiao following him. "Take him or not," he said, gesturing towards Xiao Zeng.
Xiao Zeng said, "You're going to the tavern."
"Yes." Mu Anxiao, considering Xiao Zeng's age, hesitated and said, "Never mind, you'd better not go."
Xiao Zeng asked, "Then what should I do?"
"Can you read?" Feng Qishi suddenly asked.
Xiao Zeng blinked in surprise and replied, "Yes, I can."
"You can read here," Feng Qishi said, pulling a book from his embrace and handing it to Xiao Zeng.
Xiao Zeng walked around the table to Feng Qishi, took the book, and asked, "So I just read?"
"Yes, when we get back, I'll think about what you can do," Feng Qishi said.
Xiao Zeng nodded.
"Don't go out," Mu Anxiao reminded him.
Normally, when Xiao Zeng went out to steal, he would only pilfer a few copper coins, or at most, three taels of silver.
Now that Feng Qishi had given him so much silver, he naturally lost interest in the people outside.
"I won't go out," Xiao Zeng shook his head.
Mu Anxiao, seeing through Xiao Zeng's subtle intentions, turned and walked ahead without another word.
Feng Qishi patted Xiao Zeng's shoulder and turned to follow Mu Anxiao.
After the two of them left, Xiao Zeng retreated and sat down, immediately starting to flip through the book.
In an instant, Mu Anxiao and Feng Qishi stopped outside the tavern.
Mu Anxiao looked at the bustling storefront before them and stepped back half a pace. "You first."
Feng Qishi glanced back at Mu Anxiao and asked, "Why me first?"
"No reason, you go first."
However, the reason Mu Anxiao didn't want to enter first was that she hadn't yet composed herself.
Feng Qishi also perceived Mu Anxiao's thoughts and said indifferently, "If you haven't adjusted your emotions, I don't think we should go in."
"No."
"Then you go first," Feng Qishi said, pointing inside.
Mu Anxiao hesitated for a moment and said, "You go first, I'll follow you."
Feng Qishi said, "Don't cry."
Mu Anxiao nodded.
"And don't blame yourself," Feng Qishi added.
Mu Anxiao nodded again.
Then, without another word, Feng Qishi crossed the threshold and looked into the hall, which was decorated in a modern style. He swallowed, then stepped back out.
"Uh, what's going on?" he asked, scanning the hall.
Seeing Feng Qishi's reaction, Mu Anxiao frowned slightly. She stepped up beside Feng Qishi, glancing inside, and her expression mirrored his surprise.
"Yeah, what's going on?" Mu Anxiao asked, looking inside.
Feng Qishi swallowed, turned to look at Mu Anxiao, and said, "If you go in like that, you might get kicked out."
Initially, Mu Anxiao hadn't felt anything amiss about wearing her beggar's rags. But after seeing the opulent decor inside, she glanced down at her own clothing and asked, "Then what should we do?"
"Come with me," Feng Qishi said, taking Mu Anxiao's wrist.
Mu Anxiao was already accustomed to Feng Qishi taking her hand, so she didn't refuse this time. Instead, she obediently followed Feng Qishi.
A few minutes later, Feng Qishi led Mu Anxiao into an empty alley. Mu Anxiao looked around and casually pulled her hand away from Feng Qishi's grip. "Why did you bring me here?"
Feng Qishi glanced at his hand and said, "Buying you clothes would be too much trouble, so I'll change them for you."
"You can do that?"
"Of course. Tell me, what style do you like?"
"More noble than yours, but it must be men's clothing."
"More noble than me?" Feng Qishi repeated, looking down at his own clothes and chuckling. "What are you talking about? These are just ordinary clothes. I'm embarrassed to even use the word 'noble' to describe them."
"Regardless, I don't care. It has to be better looking than yours, and I want to be handsomer than you," Mu Anxiao said, tilting her chin and pointing at Feng Qishi.
"Your height is already a disadvantage. How about," Feng Qishi stepped forward and bent down to meet Mu Anxiao's eyes, "I make you taller?"
"Who says short people can't be handsome? What kind of logic is that?"
"I just think tall people are handsome."
"There are also tall, ugly people. Besides, I think many shorter men are much handsomer than you tall ones."
"I won't argue with you," Feng Qishi said, then suddenly pushed Mu Anxiao's forehead.
Mu Anxiao stiffened. "What are you doing now?"
"Speak, and I'll fulfill your request."
Hearing Feng Qishi's words, Mu Anxiao couldn't help but imagine herself being pursued by women after changing into new clothes, and she chuckled dreamily. "Then hurry up."
"Okay," Feng Qishi agreed and began to cast his spell.
To surprise herself, Mu Anxiao deliberately closed her eyes.
After a while, Feng Qishi removed his hand from Mu Anxiao's forehead, stepped back, and put one hand behind his back, saying, "Done."
Upon hearing this, Mu Anxiao grinned and opened her eyes. "Are they clothes for a young master?"
"How do you feel about it yourself?" Feng Qishi indicated Mu Anxiao.
Mu Anxiao frowned. "Strange, why is there a hat?" As she spoke, she reached up to touch the hat on her head and her eyes widened. "Shen Fengzi, what have you done?"