As the wind began to stir, Mu Anxiao heard the sound clearly and opened her eyes. She felt the arrival of Feng Qishi.
However, she did not feel happy because she had witnessed Ouyang Ye's malevolence. From the moment she entered this place and learned he was the benefactor of the evil spirits, even after learning this truth, she had not considered Ouyang Ye to be a bad person.
In fact, she had even thought Ouyang Ye was a good person, perhaps one who could change in the future.
People's hearts are not visible from their faces. Just as she decided to trust him, he suddenly turned hostile, and everything happened so unexpectedly.
At this moment, she did not want Feng Qishi to fall into the trap he had set, just like her.
Therefore, she shouted with all her might, "Shen Fengzi, don't mind me, hurry and leave."
Hearing Mu Anxiao's heartbreaking cries, tears began to well up in Feng Qishi's eyes. "Mu Shazi, I'm not leaving," he shouted back.
Ouyang Ye calmly watched Feng Qishi being moved by Mu Anxiao's words and smiled. "Since you're not leaving, then fine, let the vine spirit deal with you." With that, he lowered his face and gave the vine spirit a look.
The vine spirit knew that Feng Qishi, compared to Mu Anxiao, would definitely be much more difficult to deal with. Not to mention their spiritual energy levels, just his identity from his previous life was enough to give the vine spirit a sense of pressure.
Now, Ouyang Ye was asking him to deal with Feng Qishi. Thinking about it, he conceded.
"Let's forget it," he said.
Ouyang Ye replied, "If you don't deal with him, I won't give you the antidote." As he spoke, he held up the red pill in his hand above his head.
Upon seeing this, the vine spirit's eyes widened. He suddenly remembered that his poison was only half-cured, so he agreed. "Alright," he said, spreading his hands and conjuring vines again.
Without looking back, Feng Qishi glared at Ouyang Ye, who was assigning all tasks to the vine spirit, and said, "I want to fight you, not him. Can't you understand what I'm saying?" His tone was cold.
Ouyang Ye retorted, "After you beat him, then you can fight me. That way, you won't die," he looked down at Mu Anxiao, "and 'someone' won't be heartbroken." He deliberately blocked Mu Anxiao from view.
"Run," Mu Anxiao shouted again.
Feng Qishi glanced at Mu Anxiao's bloodied hand placed by Ouyang Ye's feet, his eyes darkened, and he said, "Mu Shazi, you won't get rid of me this time." With that, he suddenly turned to face the vine spirit, whose eyes were glowing green, and raised his long sword.
The vine spirit tilted its head and used the same moves it used against Mu Anxiao to deal with Feng Qishi.
The next second, vines flew towards him. Feng Qishi instantly soared into the air, looking down at the countless swaying vines below, then at the vine spirit trying to 'grab' him. A smile crept onto his lips. "A weakness," he said, then he raised his long sword, plunged down, and directly slashed at the second vine, which was glowing red.
As if caught, the vine instantly wrapped around Feng Qishi.
Mu Anxiao struggled to lift her head, following Ouyang Ye's leg, and looked at Feng Qishi wrapped in vines. She called out, "Shen Fengzi," then exerted force to push herself up from the ground, standing up with difficulty.
Ouyang Ye stared in that direction and sneered, "Mu Anxiao, he's dead." Without showing any surprise, he turned his head to look at Mu Anxiao standing behind him.
"..." Mu Anxiao ignored Ouyang Ye, letting tears stream down her cheeks. "Shen Fengzi, you truly are a madman," she muttered. Passing by Ouyang Ye, enduring the pain in her back, she limped along, slowly walking towards the vines.
Ouyang Ye was startled. He turned back and clearly saw the wound on Mu Anxiao's back, frowning. He quickly took off his outer robe, walked forward, and immediately draped it over Mu Anxiao, saying, "You're not allowed to go." He then embraced Mu Anxiao's shoulders.
Thus, Mu Anxiao was tightly bound in place by Ouyang Ye. "Let go of me," she said, turning her head to look at Ouyang Ye.
Ouyang Ye lowered his head to meet Mu Anxiao's eyes. "I won't."
"If anything happens to Feng Qishi, I will not let you off, even if... I am already a cripple," Mu Anxiao said, glaring fiercely at Ouyang Ye.
Ouyang Ye reached out to wipe away the blood-mixed tears from Mu Anxiao's eyes and said, "Crippled, as long as you follow me, you will soon..."
"I don't need your help," Mu Anxiao turned her face away and pulled Ouyang Ye's hand away. "In other words, I thank you." She looked at Ouyang Ye again.
Ouyang Ye's eyes darkened.
Mu Anxiao continued, "Only by becoming a cripple can I have room for improvement. As long as you don't kill me, you will eventually become my target." Her gaze was resolute.
Ouyang Ye began to laugh.
Mu Anxiao's expression was blank. "Evil spirits are formed by immortals who harbor malice in their hearts. You fool, I've become a cripple, so I naturally don't have that qualification anymore."
Evil spirits are a special kind of existence. As Mu Anxiao said, those who typically cultivate into evil spirits are immortals with malice in their hearts, much like Ouyang Ye.
Now that Mu Anxiao had lost all her spiritual energy, there was no talk of her cultivating into an evil spirit.
Ouyang Ye's eyes darkened upon hearing this. "So, you're saying I've made a mistake."
"..." Mu Anxiao let out a cold laugh, turned slightly, and while pushing Ouyang Ye away with effort, she also removed the robe from her body and threw it on the ground. "I don't need your help," she said, glaring at Ouyang Ye, and walked step by step towards the coiled vines.
Ouyang Ye regretted his actions. Following the swirl, he looked down at the robe on the ground, searching for hope. "You still have immortal destiny. Your spiritual energy has merely dissipated, but... you are still an immortal. So, you see," his eyes lit up, and he said in a deranged manner, "if you kill Feng Qishi, you will become like me, and you will also become my unwanted lover." With that, he looked up at Mu Anxiao, who had suddenly stopped, frowned, and then looked towards the vines, his eyes widening.
Over there.
Feng Qishi, using a method that Mu Anxiao had failed to employ, had cut down the last two most crucial vines. The remaining vines gradually dissipated after those two were 'killed.'
At this moment, Feng Qishi, unharmed, hovered in mid-air, waiting for them to disappear completely.
And the vine spirit, at the moment the vines dissipated, collapsed onto the ground.
Mu Anxiao looked up at Feng Qishi, who was completely fine, and let out a sigh of relief. Her legs gave way, and she knelt on the ground.
Ouyang Ye frowned, glanced at Mu Anxiao, who had completely lost her strength, and after a moment's thought, walked over and squatted beside her. "I didn't expect him to be quite capable," he said, narrowing his eyes.
Immediately after, Mu Anxiao's heart sank, and she quickly grabbed Ouyang Ye's arm.
Ouyang Ye's body stiffened. He turned his head to look at Mu Anxiao. "What... afraid he can't beat me and will die?"
"Not at all, I just feel," Mu Anxiao said, her other hand beginning to circulate her magic, "that you should die."
"You... you can kill me?" Ouyang Ye met Mu Anxiao's eyes tightly.
Mu Anxiao smiled slightly. "It's worth a try," she said, her gaze fixed. She quickly gathered her last remaining spiritual energy, raised her hand, and struck Ouyang Ye's chest with a palm.
The next second, a powerful surge of heat spread through Ouyang Ye's body. Driven by the warmth, Ouyang Ye's eyes widened. He grabbed Mu Anxiao's wrist and exclaimed, "This is your immortal destiny!" He couldn't believe Mu Anxiao would go to such lengths.
"My immortal destiny also contains spiritual energy. As long as I can use this spiritual energy to kill you," Mu Anxiao sneered, "it's worth it." With that, she pressed her hand firmly onto Ouyang Ye's chest.
Subsequently, a blue light spread out, and Feng Qishi was directly shielded from the light.
"Mu Shazi, what are you doing?" he shouted.
Mu Anxiao replied, "Shen Fengzi, don't mind me." With that, she continued to gather the spiritual energy from her immortal destiny to harm Ouyang Ye.
Zhang Yan had once said that Mu Anxiao had become an immortal by drinking Shen Yan's immortal blood, so her immortal destiny would accumulate spiritual energy that did not belong to her. Once that spiritual energy was depleted, her life would also come to an end.
Of course, she had never expected to be in this situation. All along, she had thought the vine spirit and the wolf demon were the worst monsters. Only now did she realize that the worst was not them, but Ouyang Ye.
She thought that if he could go back on his word with her, he would surely do the same to others, even other demons. Therefore, she stubbornly believed that eliminating him was the best course of action.
Thus, she continued to cast her spell.
Pain swept over him. Ouyang Ye's expression contorted. He looked down at Mu Anxiao's single hand pressed tightly against his chest and then smiled again. "Mu Anxiao, you are too naive." With that, he forcefully pulled Mu Anxiao's hand away from his chest.
Seeing this, Mu Anxiao began to resist him.
At the same time, the vine spirit, clutching his chest, stood up in pain. Glancing at Ouyang Ye's condition, his eyes darkened. He then looked at Feng Qishi, who was anxiously watching, and said with determination, "Feng Qishi, I can help you." He wanted to get the antidote.
Upon hearing this, Feng Qishi frowned and quickly turned to look at the severely injured vine spirit. "If you dare to lie to me, I will take your life," he said, his gaze cold.
"I'm serious," the vine spirit said, staggering to Feng Qishi's side.
Feng Qishi, remembering what the vine spirit had done to him and Mu Anxiao earlier, became wary. "I don't care if you're serious or not. If you dare to harm Mu Shazi, I won't let you off either."
"That's her immortal destiny. My vines have insulation..."
"What did you say?" Feng Qishi interrupted.
The vine spirit continued, "Don't you realize it yet? Mu Anxiao is using her own life force to fight Ouyang Ye. The only way now is insulation, so she can preserve her life."
"After insulation... she... she will have no immortal destiny. She will immediately age and die. No," Feng Qishi shook his head. "I can't let you do that."
"Her spiritual energy has already shot up to the sky. Her master will surely help her," the vine spirit was solely focused on obtaining the antidote.
"Sky..." Feng Qishi uttered the word, turned around, and looked up. The blue beam of light emanating from Mu Anxiao's body had indeed shot towards the sky, and the demonic barrier that had enveloped the entire forbidden forest shattered at this moment.
This scene was indeed terrifying.
"This is her life," the vine spirit said, staring at the back of Feng Qishi's head.
"Only with insulation can she live," Feng Qishi chose to believe the vine spirit.
The vine spirit only wished to take revenge on Mu Anxiao, and he had indeed succeeded halfway. However, the main credit for this success did not belong to him; instead, it belonged entirely to Ouyang Ye.
He was a demon soul who advocated freedom. He had always hated being bound, yet Ouyang Ye relished in binding and commanding him.
He had had enough of this feeling.
"Yes, I will help Mu Anxiao deal with that Ouyang Ye," he said.
"You want to kill him?" Feng Qishi turned around and asked.
The vine spirit replied, "This is the only way. If he doesn't die, then I will die, and also..." his eyes darkened, "Mu Anxiao will die."
"You're actually going to help Mu Anxiao," Feng Qishi still felt surprised.
The vine spirit stated with a determined expression, "I'm not helping Mu Anxiao, I'm just helping myself."
Feng Qishi nodded. "Alright, I believe you. Now," he glanced at Mu Anxiao, who was still determined to perish with Ouyang Ye, "what should I do?"
"Use your magic to tear open a gap in this spiritual energy."
"I..." Feng Qishi said, stepping aside, and gently touched the warm beam of light. "I'll try."
The vine spirit nodded.
Immediately after, Feng Qishi began to cooperate with the vine spirit.
The vine spirit took a few steps back, conjured a vine, and prepared to pass it through the gap to kill Ouyang Ye and reclaim the red pill.
On the other side of the forbidden forest.
Xi Er looked up at the forest covered by the blue beam of light, her eyes widening. "What's going on?"
Jiong Ye leaned against a tree and calmly looked at the beam of light above. "It's probably demonic energy," he said casually.
"It's not demonic energy," Wei interrupted, stepping forward. "That's immortal spiritual energy."
Wei, having been captured by Mu Anxiao before, naturally understood the difference between spiritual energy and demonic energy better.
"Spiritual energy..." Xi Er repeated. Just as she was about to ask Wei further, Ouyang Ye's voice reached her ears. "Xi Er, take the evil spirits and leave."
Upon hearing this, Xi Er's eyes deepened. She glanced at Jiong Ye, turned her back, and said in her heart, "Master, what's wrong?"
Ouyang Ye forcefully held Mu Anxiao's wrist and said, "I'm fine. We'll meet at the usual spot later. We can't stay here any longer." With that, he glanced at Mu Anxiao, who was struggling to maintain her spell, and then looked up at the beam of light leading to the sky. "Mu Anxiao, I will find you again."
Mu Anxiao glared at Ouyang Ye, gritting her teeth, and said, "I won't let you off. I want to perish with you, you evil spirit."
Ouyang Ye sneered, "Dream on." With that, he threw Mu Anxiao's hand away, stood up, and looked at the vine that had suddenly stopped in front of him, smiling. "Vine spirit, you are destined to be my subordinate." With that, he waved his arm, and the blue light gradually dissipated.
As the blue light dissipated, Mu Anxiao collapsed onto the ground.
Subsequently, the moment before the vine spirit could retract its vines, Ouyang Ye grabbed the vine. "Come with me," he said, tightening his grip on the vine, turning his head to glance at Mu Anxiao, who had fallen to the ground, then jumped upwards and left first.
Seeing this, Feng Qishi hastily withdrew his casting hand, turned to look at the vine spirit, and asked, "Is it insulated?"
The vine spirit shook his head, despair filling his eyes. He added, "Her master will help her." With that, he transformed into light and disappeared with the vine.