"I won't die," Mu Anxiao smiled.
Hei Feng frowned slightly, pointing at Mu Anxiao's face. "Can you stop grinning at me? This isn't a joke."
"I know this isn't a joke," Mu Anxiao said faintly.
"You..."
"Enough, I need to rest. You should go," Mu Anxiao interrupted.
Hei Feng's brow furrowed. "I'll come again tomorrow, unless you promise me you won't get involved with that village."
"Goodbye," Mu Anxiao uttered two words softly.
Hei Feng snorted lightly, bent down to tidy the food box, and said, "Take this chicken leg with you." With that, he picked up the food box, transformed back into Tian Jiang, and left.
Mu Anxiao let out a breath.
At this moment, the wolf demon arrived at the woods not far from the village. He glanced at the house lit by candlelight, his eyes narrowing. "This is it." As he was about to step forward, the voices of Villager Number One and Villager Number Two reached him.
"How do we find them?" asked Villager Number Two.
Villager Number One replied, "There's a ruined temple not far from here. There's a female beggar in the temple, we'll catch her there."
"Okay," Villager Number Two nodded, quickening his pace with Villager Number One.
The wolf demon calmly watched the two pass him. "It's them." Saying this, he glanced towards the village, turned, and followed them.
In the blink of an eye, the wolf demon followed the two into the dilapidated temple, lit by a dim candlelight.
"It stinks," Villager Number Two fanned his face with his hand.
"This is where beggars live, of course it stinks," Villager Number One said, walking inside.
The wolf demon stood at the entrance, arms crossed, watching their furtive figures. He then looked at the dark courtyard, a smile tugging at his lips. He glanced back inside the temple, snapped his fingers, and called out, "Who are you?"
However, the moment the wolf demon called out, Villager Number One and Villager Number Two stopped in their tracks. They turned to look at the wolf demon at the entrance, whose face was obscured. "Who?" asked Villager Number One.
"Someone you offended," the wolf demon said, turning to leave.
"You..."
"Don't talk anymore," Villager Number Two interrupted, looking down at the beggars who had all turned their attention to them. He gave a dry laugh.
Villager Number One followed Villager Number Two's gaze, looking at the beggars who had all sat up and were staring at them. "We're here to find someone."
"Are you from that village?" one of the young men pointed at Villager Number Two.
"We're here to find someone," Villager Number One said again.
The young man stood up. "Who are you looking for?"
"A woman, my sister," Villager Number One lied with a dry smile.
Villager Number Two glanced at the myopic Villager Number One, then smiled at them. "Yes, we're looking for a sister."
"We're all men here, there's no sister of yours," an old man shouted.
"Oh, I see," Villager Number One chuckled.
Immediately, the young man stood up and walked up to Villager Number One, then leaned in to sniff his clothes. "So clean."
"What are you doing?" Villager Number One stumbled back half a step.
"Seeing how clean you are, you must be a rich person," the young man met Villager Number One's eyes.
"I'm not rich," Villager Number One deliberately shielded his money pouch at his waist.
Villager Number Two watched them, swallowing, not daring to utter a word.
"You are rich," the young man looked down at Villager Number One's hand, which was intentionally covering the money pouch.
"This money is all from selling vegetables and rice, you..."
"You are from that village," the young man suddenly said.
"I... am not."
"If you're not from the village, you would sell vegetables and rice," the young man pressed.
"You..."
"If we give you the money, will you let us go?" Villager Number Two asked.
The young man turned to Villager Number Two and smiled. "You're still smart."
Villager Number Two gave a dry laugh and turned to Villager Number One. "Brother, since that's the case, let's give it to them. At least it will save our lives."
"They wouldn't dare kill us," Villager Number One insisted.
"We might not dare to kill you, but we can beat you to death," the young man said, turning sideways to face the beggars who were all standing up. "Let's go."
Seeing the young man's forceful demeanor, Villager Number One became weak. "I was just kidding, here you go." He pulled off his money pouch and threw it to them.
The young man's lips curved into a smile, and he looked down at the money pouch that had fallen at his feet. "You're sensible." He bent down, picked up the money pouch, and glanced at Villager Number Two.
Villager Number Two looked at Villager Number One kindly, then took out a money pouch from his sleeve and threw it to them.
The young man caught the money pouch with one hand. "Scram."
Villager Number One and Villager Number Two exchanged a glance, then turned and left.
Following that, the beggars began dividing the silver.
After leaving the ruined temple, Villager Number One did not speak a word to Villager Number Two.
Villager Number Two followed behind him, not daring to say a thing.
"You're truly a coward," Villager Number One suddenly said.
Upon hearing this, Villager Number Two mumbled, "If I didn't do that, we would all die."
"They wouldn't dare kill anyone," Villager Number One stopped, turned, and looked at Villager Number Two.
"I was scared," Villager Number Two uttered two words.
Villager Number One stepped forward, meeting Villager Number Two's eyes. "Normally, you're quite arrogant in the village, why are you like this when we're out?"
"I am the village boss."
"You used to be. Now, you're not even a fart in the village," Villager Number One said coldly.
Villager Number Two was speechless and lowered his head.
The wolf demon stood on the rooftop, looking down at Villager Number One and Villager Number Two below. He muttered, "It seems that in the eyes of outsiders, the villagers of this village are nothing." With that, he jumped off the rooftop.
At the same time, Villager Number One inadvertently saw the wolf demon's shadow and exclaimed, "What is that?"
Hearing this, Villager Number Two slowly turned his head. He saw a black figure rapidly approaching him.
"I don't know," he said, his voice trembling, retreating rapidly behind Villager Number One.
Villager Number One glanced at Villager Number Two, then mustered his courage. "Who are you?"
"Don't you recognize me?" the wolf demon said, stopping in front of Villager Number One.
The moment Villager Number One saw the wolf demon's face, his eyes widened. "It's you."
"It's me," the wolf demon revealed a sinister smile.
"He's a monster," Villager Number Two clutched Villager Number One's arm, his voice trembling.
The wolf demon calmly leaned forward to look at Villager Number Two's face. "I apologize for scaring you today."
"What did you say?" Villager Number Two blinked his eyes and asked.