Then, a noisy sound came from above. Mu Anxiao pushed Ma Yuan’s arm, feeling a surge of fear.
After a while, the wooden board above was lifted, and a man in white, designated as Number One, descended the ladder. He walked to Ma Yuan’s side, then looked down at Mu Anxiao, who was crouching on the other side of Ma Yuan, and said, "Alright, you can go up. I already know you're not that fool's wife." As he spoke, he crouched down and patted Ma Yuan’s shoulder.
The next second, Ma Yuan’s eyelids fluttered. He then let out a grunt from his mouth and opened his eyes, saying, "Where is this!"
"This is the cellar," the man in white, Number One, said. He removed his hand from Ma Yuan's shoulder. "Alright, you can go up now."
Ma Yuan squinted his eyes, and it took him a while to get a clear look at the face before him. "How come it's you?"
"What, are you unhappy to see me?"
"I'm telling you, that villager was too unkind. He knew I was from the Cultivation Sect, yet he still hit me. Junior brother, you must get revenge for me."
Mu Anxiao, on the other hand, harbored great suspicion about the appearance of the man in white. She tilted her head upwards, recalling Mo Chu's feigned foolishness and their fear, and then the words the woman had just spoken. She frowned.
Immediately, the man in white, Number One, shifted his gaze to Mu Anxiao’s face. "Mu Anxiao, I've heard of you."
"You know me?" Mu Anxiao pointed to herself.
"More than just knowing you. You are considered the first mortal in our Cultivation Sect to achieve immortality through unconventional means. Since then, we too have found new methods of cultivation."
"What method?"
"Through immortal medicine. Of course... we don't know any immortals. Our master is currently inventing divine medicine, and gradually, we will all be able to perform magic. Recently," the man in white smiled, "master has been saying he wants to see you, to thank you."
Inventing divine medicine, cultivation, and it was related to her.
Considering these three points, Mu Anxiao gave a dry laugh. "Don't misunderstand, I am not a member of the Cultivation Sect."
"But, you are someone who achieved immortality within our Cultivation Sect," the man in white emphasized.
Ma Yuan had never heard of this before, so he asked, "Junior brother, why did master never tell me about this?"
"That's because you're not capable. Master didn't want to tell you."
"I..."
"Alright, let's go up. The Mo family has prepared food for you."
"Given their situation, how could they prepare food for you?" Mu Anxiao stated directly.
"Somehow, that Mo Chu had a bag of silver, and then they... accidentally got rich." The man in white chuckled. "So, we can also enjoy a meal."
Money bag, getting rich. The more Mu Anxiao heard these words, the more it irked her. She quickly felt her clothes, sleeves, and every place a money bag could be, and exclaimed in shock, "Damn it, that's my money."
"If it was yours, but was picked up by someone in this village, then it's no longer yours," Ma Yuan said.
Ma Yuan was right. In this village, especially when facing the Mo family, how could she, a nobody, dare to resist? Therefore, she could only endure the helplessness and despair of losing her money and accept reality.
Soon, they arrived at the Mo family residence. Mu Anxiao followed the man in white and asked, "Can I leave after I finish this meal?"
"No."
"Why?" Mu Anxiao asked, tilting her head up.
The man in white stood straight and said, "You are the progenitor of the Cultivation Sect, so naturally, you must help us."
"What do you mean?"
"Now," the man in white stopped in the center of the courtyard, slowly turning to face Mu Anxiao, "I'll tell you a truth. That fool was made foolish by us. He is our experimental subject."
Experimental subject? So, that meant the fool... had been to the Cultivation Sect?
The moment the man in white said this, Ma Yuan quickly moved to Mu Anxiao’s side and said, "He cast a spell last time, it was particularly terrifying, all because I said he was handsome."
As expected, this Mo family was not ordinary.
Mu Anxiao surveyed her surroundings, thinking of the room behind the house, which was called a woodshed but was actually a bedroom. She let out a cold laugh, then looked up at the man in white and asked, "Did you realize who I was long ago?"
"Yes, your portrait is all over our place."
"What the fool said... is it really me?" Mu Anxiao pointed to herself in disbelief.
The man in white smiled. "Whether it's you or not, I don't know. But we did lose a portrait of you."
"Inside the room where they kept him, there was my portrait?" Mu Anxiao asked again.
The man in white smiled without speaking.
Mo Chu hid behind a tree, listening to the conversation between Mu Anxiao and the man in white, his eyes filling with tears and hatred.
"Mu Anxiao, Cultivation Sect," he said, lowering his head.
Mu Anxiao sensed Mo Chu's presence, so she looked at the man in white and said, "You go in first, I need to use the outhouse."
The man in white said nothing, turned, and walked towards the room with the other disciples.
Ma Yuan followed them without a word.
Afterwards, Mu Anxiao walked gracefully to Mo Chu's front and asked, "Why did you harm me?"
Mo Chu was not startled by Mu Anxiao's sudden appearance. Instead, he calmly replied, "Because I knew they wouldn't do anything to you."
"You recognized me long ago, yet you deliberately took my money, deliberately told me you weren't a fool, framed me, and then told them you and I had no relation and to go find me. You're quite the actor."
"I was foolish, it was brother, he first... recognized you."
"Just based on a portrait, you found me!"
Mu Anxiao had always thought she resembled the woman Mo Chu liked. Who would have thought... he recognized her because of a portrait, and even let Mo Bi find her because of a portrait! The more she thought about it, the more absurd it seemed!
"Yes, I showed that portrait to my brother, and I said I wanted to marry you." Mo Chu stopped pretending.
"Why me?"
"With you, I won't have to suffer anymore."
The words "won't have to suffer anymore" completely stunned Mu Anxiao.
"..."
"Those people, not a single one of them is good. Naturally, my becoming bad is also thanks to them..."
That year, people from the Cultivation Sect came here under the guise of recruiting disciples and found the Mo family. At that time, Mo Chu looked quite robust, and in their eyes, he was good material for becoming an immortal. So, they brought Mo Chu to the Cultivation Sect. Initially, Mo Chu didn't know, and he got along quite well with the disciples of the Cultivation Sect. It wasn't until the third day that their master, under the pretense of taking a liking to Mo Chu, brought him into a small, dark room filled with the pungent smell of medicine. Then, pointing to a portrait hanging on the wall, he said, "From now on, she will accompany you."
At that moment, Mo Chu followed his master's finger to the portrait, which depicted a woman in luxurious clothing with an elegant demeanor, and asked, "Who is this?"