"Big brother, what do we do?" the black-clothed monster asked, fear creeping into his voice.
"It's not Gou Tou," Xu Lanyan said, listening to the sound.
"Not Gou Tou?" the black-clothed monster exclaimed, "Then who is it?"
"I don't know," Xu Lanyan replied. He stepped forward, brushing past the black-clothed monster to the plank below. Suddenly, he raised his hand. "This is all you've got." As he spoke, his palm began to glow with a blue light. As the light intensified, the wooden plank above them was instantly lifted and broken.
Seeing this, the black-clothed monster quickly moved behind Xu Lanyan.
"There's a ladder here, climb up yourself," Xu Lanyan instructed.
"Alright," the black-clothed monster agreed and began to climb.
Xu Lanyan went up first and looked at the astonished expression on the face of the first male rat demon before him. "Did you really think you could keep me locked up?" he said, seizing the first male rat demon by the neck.
The female rat demon said, "I told you not to have wicked intentions, but you didn't listen."
The first male rat demon looked at Xu Lanyan with terror in his eyes. "I was wrong."
"Why did you do this?" Xu Lanyan asked coldly.
"I..." the first male rat demon began, but trailed off.
Xu Lanyan increased the pressure on his grip. "Speak, or I'll end your life right here."
At the same time, the black-clothed monster climbed out and stood steadily, his face filled with surprise as he looked at Xu Lanyan's indifferent gaze and the first male rat demon's terrified expression. "We helped you, and this is how you treat us."
"It wasn't us," the first female rat demon pointed at the first male rat demon, who was being held by Xu Lanyan. "It was him."
The black-clothed monster heard this and followed the first female rat demon's gaze to the first male rat demon, frowning. "You look so familiar."
Upon hearing this, the first male rat demon cautiously glanced at the black-clothed monster, his face reddening from Xu Lanyan's grip.
Xu Lanyan remained indifferent. "Tell me, why did you do this?"
The first male rat demon pointed at Xu Lanyan's hand.
Seeing this, Xu Lanyan loosened his grip. "If you don't speak properly, I'll kill you."
"I was wrong," the first male rat demon said quickly.
The black-clothed monster stared at the first male rat demon's face for a long moment before exclaiming, "You're not a rat!"
Hearing this, the first male rat demon turned his gaze to the black-clothed monster.
The black-clothed monster examined the first male rat demon's face and said, "You look just like the little demon who's always with the Gou Tou monster."
Upon hearing this, the first male rat demon lowered his head.
"Who are you?" Xu Lanyan demanded.
The first male rat demon looked up. "My boss told me to keep an eye on them," he said, glancing at the other rat demons.
"Aren't you an orphan?" the female rat demon stepped forward and asked.
"I'm not," the first male rat demon shook his head slightly.
The black-clothed monster let out a cold laugh and turned to the female rat demon. "You knew all along?"
"Over a year ago, he appeared at our place covered in wounds, so we saved him," the second male rat demon explained.
"Did you know he wasn't a rat?" the black-clothed monster asked.
Xu Lanyan continued to stare at the first fake male rat demon. "Why did you lock us up?"
"You've already ruined the boss's plan," the first fake male rat demon stated.
"Are you saying you and your boss are still in contact?" Xu Lanyan inquired.
"No," the first fake male rat demon shook his head.
"No? Then how do you know I ruined your boss's plan?" Xu Lanyan asked, glancing dismissively at the first fake male rat demon's face.
"I want to go back," the first fake male rat demon suddenly said.
The black-clothed monster looked at the first fake male rat demon, utterly confused. "Wait, are you or are you not Gou Tou's spy planted among them?"
"Yes, but not exactly," the first fake male rat demon replied calmly.
"So, are you or aren't you?" Xu Lanyan asked coldly.
"I used to be," the first fake male rat demon nodded.
The black-clothed monster looked at the first fake male rat demon with a helpless expression. "What you're saying is making my head spin." He yawned.
"A year ago, I received a special mission to infiltrate the rat demons' territory. However, the day before I was supposed to go, I was severely beaten by Boss Gou Tou's dog. I was then sent to the rat demon territory in a daze, and what happened after that..."
"You don't remember," the black-clothed monster said excitedly.
The first fake male rat demon looked at the black-clothed monster. "I remember, it's just that," he glanced at the other rat demons, "they were too good to me, so I forgot to relay messages to the boss. But just a moment ago, as I was coming up, I wanted to complete a mission, which was to lock you all down there."
"You're so naive," the black-clothed monster couldn't help but shake his head in admiration.
The first fake male rat demon was speechless.
"Did you think that by locking us up, you could return to Gou Tou's side?" Xu Lanyan asked.
"Yes," the first fake male rat demon nodded slightly.
"You truly are quite naive," Xu Lanyan said, shaking his head helplessly.
The female rat demon said, "You spoke so ill of Gou Tou in front of us, and now you say this. You're truly strange."
"I just wanted to butter him up so you all could leave," the first fake male rat demon said, believing himself to be quite brilliant.
"Yu..."
However, just as Xu Lanyan uttered a sound, Mu An Xiao and Piao arrived.
"What are you doing?" Piao asked.
Mu An Xiao cautiously glanced at Piao and said, "Chatting, can't you tell?"
"I can tell," Piao nodded, walked forward, and looked at the first fake male rat demon. "Are you one of Gou Tou's subordinates?"
"I used to be, but I'm not anymore," the first fake rat demon shook his head slightly.
"That's good. I despise that guy the most. If you were, I'd kill you right now," Piao said coldly.
The first fake male rat demon trembled all over and shook his head.
Then, Piao turned to Xu Lanyan. "Are you someone who follows Gou Tou?"
"Yes," Xu Lanyan admitted.
"He sent you here," Piao said.
Xu Lanyan showed no fear towards Piao. Instead, he calmly replied, "No, I came to rescue them."
Mu An Xiao was rendered speechless by Xu Lanyan's honest confession.
Piao's voice held a hint of amusement. "So honest."
"Mm," Xu Lanyan nodded.
Piao let out a soft chuckle and turned to look at Mu An Xiao. "These rats, and this fellow, how do you plan to deal with them?"
Hearing this, Mu An Xiao gave Piao a dry laugh. "I think we should lock them in the woodshed for now, because they damaged the cellar." She gestured to the splintered wood beneath their feet.
"Alright," Piao agreed and waved his hand gently towards the door. The door swung open.
Inside the woodshed, the rabbit spirits were startled.
Mu An Xiao let out a sigh of relief.
Feng Qi Shi opened his eyes, thinking, Mu Shazi has arrived.
The next second, the rat demons entered the woodshed one by one. Mu An Xiao followed them in. "You'll stay in here," she said.
"Alright," the black-clothed monster nodded with a smile.
Mu An Xiao was startled by the black-clothed monster's smile and whispered, "Take back that smile." She gave him a sideways glance as a reminder. Search "An Xiao Feng Qi Shi Jie Zhong Wen Xue" on Baidu for the latest chapters, available for free reading.