Upon hearing this, Mu Anxiao raised her eyes and saw several well-featured men in white standing before her. She shook her head and said, "It's nothing."
At the same time, Mo Chu ran behind Mu Anxiao, grabbed her arm tightly, and kept muttering, "Bad people, bad people."
Mu Anxiao turned her head to look at Mo Chu, who resembled a child, and asked, "Do you know them?"
"They are bad people," Mo Chu whispered.
In these past few hours, Mu Anxiao had not seen Mo Chu fear anyone. Now, seeing him so frightened, she felt a surge of satisfaction.
"Miss, what's wrong?"
"I..."
Before Mu Anxiao could finish speaking, Mo Bi rushed forward and said, "You're here."
Immediately, they clasped their hands in greeting one by one, speaking in unison, "Greetings, Brother Mo."
After their address to Mo Bi, Mu Anxiao's nascent hope sank once more. She lowered her head, anticipating another scolding from Mo Bi.
"Why did you run off? Go and take your husband back."
Husband? Mu Anxiao didn't even know when she and Mo Chu had gotten married. Now, hearing Mo Bi say this, she was entirely resistant. However, thinking of her dinner, she could only compromise. "Understood." She turned to look at Mo Chu, who was still clinging to her, and said, "Alright, let's go home."
Mo Chu remained silent, trembling, as Mu Anxiao turned and walked towards home.
The first white-clothed man who had spoken then peered at Mu Anxiao's retreating figure and asked, "Is that woman Mo Chu's wife?"
"Yes, they married not long ago," Mo Bi replied naturally.
"Is that so?" the first white-clothed man responded, his gaze still fixed on Mu Anxiao's back.
Mo Bi followed the first man's gaze to Mu Anxiao's back and said, "Do you find her familiar?"
The first white-clothed man hummed in affirmation.
Mo Bi smiled, "I also find her familiar, but my brother likes women like her, as you know."
"I know," the first white-clothed man replied with an awkward smile.
Meanwhile, Mu Anxiao brought Mo Chu back to the courtyard. Mo Chu still held her arm tightly and said, "They are all bad people, stay away from them."
"What did they do to you?" Mu Anxiao tried to inquire.
Mo Chu shook his head.
Just then, their father emerged from a room and glanced at his foolish son, asking, "What's wrong with him?"
"Some men in white arrived, and then he became like this," Mu Anxiao replied truthfully.
"Men in white..." their father repeated, then strode towards Mu Anxiao and said, "Quickly, take him to the woodshed behind the house."
"Why?"
"Don't ask, just go."
"Oh." Mu Anxiao, fearing her curiosity might harm her, led Mo Chu around the house and towards a woodshed in the corner, saying, "I didn't even know this was here."
However, as Mu Anxiao finished speaking, Mo Chu quickly let go of her hand and darted into the woodshed.
Mu Anxiao watched Mo Chu's behavior with confusion, took a deep breath, and followed him inside.
To her surprise, the moment Mu Anxiao entered the woodshed, she was stunned.
This was no woodshed; it was clearly a living room, with a desk, a bed, and everything else. Except for its small size, the environment felt pleasant, even better than the main house.
"Come in and close the door."
Hearing this, Mu Anxiao closed her slightly agape mouth, walked into the room, and turned to close the door. At that moment, Mo Chu suddenly appeared behind her and asked, "Who are you?"
Hearing the normal voice from behind her, Mu Anxiao was startled.
"Who are you?" Mo Chu asked again.
"I..." Mu Anxiao drew out the sound and slowly turned to face Mo Chu, who had suddenly become normal, saying, "Who else could I be?"
"You have an ethereal aura."
"No."
"Yes."
"I..."
"You clearly have an ethereal aura, why didn't you escape?" Mo Chu interrupted.
Mu Anxiao lowered her head to look at the chains binding her.
Mo Chu followed Mu Anxiao's gaze down to the chains, took a deep breath, turned to the desk, bent down, and picked up a sword from the ground. "I'll help you, you go." Saying this, he returned to Mu Anxiao's front.
Mu Anxiao looked up at the suddenly normal Mo Chu and asked, "Were you faking it?"
"I know, don't say it," Mo Chu said as he drew his sword. Then, he bent down, about to cut the chains, when a knock sounded on the door.
"Mo Chu, it's alright now."
Hearing Mo Bi's voice, both of them felt a jolt of anxiety.
"What do we do?" Mu Anxiao asked softly.
Mo Chu's eyes darted, and he quickly handed the sword to Mu Anxiao. Confused, Mu Anxiao took the sword and blinked. Before she could speak, Mo Chu pushed her aside and shouted, "Ah, ah, ah, don't kill me, don't kill me!" While shouting, he opened the door.
Now, Mu Anxiao understood. Mo Chu not only knew how to feign ignorance but was also quite adept at framing others. Gripping the sword hilt, she decided not to discard it, believing the outcome would be the same.
In the blink of an eye, as Mu Anxiao expected, she was back in the cellar. However, this time, her hands were not bound, nor was her mouth gagged.
Of course, it wasn't because Mo Bi had a change of heart, but rather he had completely sealed the exit with water vats. In plain terms, he was waiting for her to die.
Setting everything else aside, what surprised her most was that after undergoing such an ordeal, Ma Yuan still hadn't woken up.
"Is he dead?" she muttered, crawling to Ma Yuan's side. She reached out to feel his breath and breathed a sigh of relief, "He's still alive."
"How do you feel?"
Hearing this, Mu Anxiao sat cross-legged, looked up at the woman who had reappeared, and said, "Not good. I feel... like I'm about to die. As you said, I was a bad person before, and now I'm a failure. Without me, you and your husband would never have been separated, and your daughter would not disown you. I was wrong, and this is perhaps the retribution you've given me."
The woman did not expect Mu Anxiao to say such things upon her return, but recalling her past grievances with Mu Anxiao, she did not believe Mu Anxiao was sincere.
On the contrary, Mu Anxiao genuinely regretted her actions.
"Do you think I would believe you?" the woman suddenly asked.
"You wouldn't."
"Then you are lying to me."
"I'm not lying. In any case, I won't live past tomorrow," Mu Anxiao said, pointing upwards.
The woman had seen everything Mo Bi had done just now and what had happened above. She was well aware of what Mu Anxiao was about to face, so she merely sneered, "You won't die."
"Die..."
"Accept your punishment, Mu Anxiao." After saying this, the woman vanished.