"Yeah, but it's still terrifying," the female rat demon said, walking up to Xu Lanyan.
"It's alright," Xu Lanyan shrugged.
"You're so unconvincing," the female rat demon said, tilting her head up to look at Xu Lanyan's face.
Xu Lanyan glanced at the female rat demon, then pointed at the rats who were slowly getting up. "You can go find them now."
The female rat demon glanced sideways at the rising rat demons, then thought for a moment before asking, "By the way, where's Shi Yi?"
"Shi Yi." Xu Lanyan repeated the name, looking around. "He suddenly disappeared just now."
"He left," the female rat demon said.
Xu Lanyan nodded. "He was probably taken away by his master."
"His master?" the female rat demon asked.
Xu Lanyan wasn't sure of Shi Yi's relationship with the old man, so he thought for a moment and casually said, "Uh-huh, the master of Feng Qi Shi. He had an immortal rope tied to his hand. It's likely that when Mu An Xiao broke the bottle, his master took him away."
"Is Feng Qi Shi's master an immortal?" the female rat demon asked again.
Xu Lanyan nodded. "Of course."
"Oh." The female rat demon nodded and turned to walk towards the other rat demons.
Xu Lanyan watched the female rat demon's retreating back with a puzzled expression, then looked at the standing rat demons. "In that case, it seems like the matter here is resolved." With that, he turned and walked towards the direction of the Cultivation Sect.
At this moment, Mu An Xiao returned to the back door of the Cultivation Sect with the demons. She paused and asked, "He won't wake up now, will he?"
"He shouldn't. That pill has a time limit," the first black-robed demon said from behind Mu An Xiao.
"Alright, I understand." Mu An Xiao nodded slightly and stepped over the threshold.
The first black-robed demon turned to look at the other demons. "You wait for me here. I'll go in with her."
"Why can't we all go?" the second black-robed demon asked, looking confused.
The first black-robed demon explained, "We've all hidden our demonic energy. If we go together, our energies will gather, making us too easy to detect."
"So what?" the third black-robed demon asked.
The first black-robed demon said helplessly, "There are immortals here. We shouldn't provoke them."
"You're right," the third black-robed demon nodded.
The first black-robed demon didn't say anything further. He stepped over the threshold and stood beside Mu An Xiao, who was crouching beside Piao. "What are you doing?"
"I'm checking if he's still breathing," Mu An Xiao said, placing her hand under Piao's nose.
"He definitely is," the first black-robed demon said helplessly.
"Mhm, yes." Mu An Xiao nodded. As she withdrew her hand, Piao suddenly opened his eyes and grabbed Mu An Xiao's finger, asking, "Who are you?"
Seeing this, the first black-robed demon quickly turned and ran away.
Mu An Xiao was startled. She looked down at Piao with a terrified expression and said, "I am..." She didn't know how to explain. She pursed her lips and slowly looked up, then froze. "Uh, he ran away."
"I'm asking you a question?" Piao asked coldly.
Mu An Xiao swallowed and looked down at Piao, forcing a foolish smile. "I'm... just a passerby. Please don't kill me."
"Human." Red light flickered in Piao's eyes.
Mu An Xiao's finger, which was still held by Piao, couldn't move. She pretended to be dumb and asked, "Who are you?"
"You don't know who I am?" Piao's red eyes gradually faded.
Mu An Xiao shook her head.
"You'd better not mention seeing me, or else," Piao sat up and met Mu An Xiao's eyes. "I'll kill you."
Mu An Xiao nodded. "I understand. Don't worry, I won't say a word."
"Remember your promise," Piao said. He then released Mu An Xiao's finger and stood up, looking around. "Where is this?"
Mu An Xiao pursed her lips and stood up. "This is a residence. You... fainted here." As she spoke, her hand accidentally brushed against Piao's sleeve.
The next second, Piao's eyes widened. He suddenly turned and struck Mu An Xiao with a palm, sending her flying.
Outside the back door, the first black-robed demon watched in astonishment as Mu An Xiao flew backward and crashed into the stables. He couldn't help but shrink his neck and say, "Piao is still as terrifying as ever."
"Yeah, we're leaving now," the second black-robed demon said, turning and disappearing.
Then, the other demons also left.
The first black-robed demon bared his teeth, looking at Mu An Xiao who had fallen into the stables. He took a sharp breath. "I never expected Piao's decades of feelings for Mu An Xiao to be gone just like that. Terrible, truly terrible." Shaking his head, he turned and left.
Inside, Piao lowered his hand and coldly looked at Mu An Xiao, who was lying in the stable, unable to recover. "Filthy human, this is what you get for touching me." With that, he turned halfway and disappeared into black mist.
Mu An Xiao lay on the hay, squinting at the flimsy shed. She coughed a few times, and blood flowed from the corner of her mouth. "Ugh, he's too ruthless." She then propped herself up with her elbow, sitting up with difficulty.
At the same time, Xu Lanyan had just returned.
"Mu An Xiao, is that you?" he called out, looking towards the stable.
Mu An Xiao lowered her head, spat out the blood in her mouth, then casually picked up a piece of paper from the ground. Her vision blurry, she mumbled, "What is this?" She unfolded the paper and brought her face closer to read it. It said: Mu An Xiao, Xu Lanyan will help you. If there's anything, have him pass a message. Feng Qi Shi and Shi Yi, I've taken them. Master Shen Yan.
"It's good that they were taken away," Mu An Xiao mumbled. She wiped the blood from her mouth with her hand and looked up at Xu Lanyan, who was walking towards her. "It's me."
"Are you alright?" Xu Lanyan stopped at the stable entrance and looked at the blood-stained Mu An Xiao.
Mu An Xiao struggled to stand up. "I'm fine, I just angered a demon."
"Your hand," Xu Lanyan pointed at Mu An Xiao's blood-stained hand. "It's bleeding."
"It's nothing," Mu An Xiao casually wiped her hand on her clothes and said, "Feng Qi Shi was taken by his master."
"Shi Yi was also taken," Xu Lanyan added.
"Yes, so the matter here is considered resolved. You can go back and report," Mu An Xiao said, pointing at Xu Lanyan.
"Thank you," Xu Lanyan smiled.
Mu An Xiao grinned. "What are you thanking me for?" She then coughed a few times.
Xu Lanyan looked at Mu An Xiao's blood-stained lips. "Why don't I take a look?"
"Even though I'm useless... I'm practically immortal. I won't die," Mu An Xiao said, rubbing her mouth with her hand. "The bleeding will stop soon."
"Are you a woman?" Xu Lanyan asked helplessly.
Mu An Xiao smiled. "No."
"Speechless." Xu Lanyan looked away in exasperation.