Zhao Meier did not hear the exchange between Feng Qishi and Mu Anxiao. However, from their actions alone, she could no longer stand it. Yet, considering Feng Qishi’s own abilities, she dared not act rashly. She took a cautious glance at Jiong Ye, who had bypassed them and walked to her side, without speaking.
Jiong Ye calmly watched Feng Qishi, who had escaped unharmed, and shook his head slightly, “It seems you’re still no match for Mu Anxiao.”
Zhao Meier’s eyes darkened, “Master, please stop teasing me.”
“I’m not teasing you,” Jiong Ye said, narrowing his eyes. “I’m just stating a fact.”
Zhao Meier lowered her gaze slightly.
At the same time, Yue Ci dodged Xi Er’s spear, leaped over the others, Zhao Meier, and Jiong Ye, landing in front of Mu Anxiao and Feng Qishi. He then fixed his gaze on Mu Anxiao, “Yo, cross-dressing.”
Mu Anxiao continued to feign composure, “I am a woman, what’s wrong with wearing women’s clothes? Did it scare you?” she retorted, deliberately trying to prevent him from noticing Feng Qishi healing her.
Yue Ci: “Not really, I’m just used to seeing you in men’s clothes. Seeing you in women’s clothes all of a sudden,” Yue Ci laughed, “At first glance, I truly didn’t recognize you.”
“You…”
“Mu the Fool, protect us,” Feng Qishi suddenly interrupted, glancing at Xi Er who had taken flight behind the others. He lowered his hand and took a step back.
Hearing this, Mu Anxiao froze, turned to look at Feng Qishi, who had healed her and was now asking her to protect them, and gave a bitter smile, “Shen the Mad, you’re not here to help me.”
She knew her abilities were insufficient to contend with Xi Er, let alone the monster. She knew she couldn’t win.
However, before this, she had only wanted to probe the situation and test her tacit understanding with her dagger.
But after seeing Yue Ci and the others, she had given up.
How unfortunate. Feng Qishi had become the first person to push her into the fire. At this moment, she felt both surprised and disappointed.
“Your master said you should practice on your own.”
Before coming, Zhang Yan had told him not to reveal the purpose, otherwise, it would be ineffective.
Therefore, he could only offer such perfunctory responses.
“But I remember you said you would help me,” Mu Anxiao said softly.
Feng Qishi took another half step back, “I believe in you.”
“I don’t need you to believe in me, you…”
“Mu Anxiao, if my master sees you dressed like this, he will be very surprised. But before we meet him, how about a spar with me?” Xi Er challenged.
Hearing this, Mu Anxiao’s body stiffened. She kept her gaze fixed on Feng Qishi opposite her, frowning and saying, “Shen the Mad, I’m breaking off with you.” After speaking, she shot Feng Qishi a fierce glare and turned back to Xi Er, who was floating above the heads of the others, “What do you mean by that? I don’t understand.” She played dumb.
Yue Ci could see that Mu Anxiao’s spiritual energy was almost depleted, so he said, “I’ll protect you,” looking down at Mu Anxiao.
Following that, Feng Qishi’s eyes flashed, and he quickly stepped forward, saying, “You’re injured and can’t go.” He deliberately avoided looking at Mu Anxiao.
Mu Anxiao’s heart sank. She didn’t look at Feng Qishi either, but she had heard his words. Then, she looked at Yue Ci’s bleeding hands and said, “I can.”
“But, you…”
“Since some people don’t care if I live or die, I’ll have to forge my own path from now on. This is just a trial,” Mu Anxiao said, sidestepping Yue Ci with her dagger and walking forward.
Jiong Ye and the others dared not move.
Seeing Mu Anxiao approach, Xi Er immediately descended in front of Jiong Ye and the others, “You’ll fight me with this dagger.” Ouyang Ye had not provided Xi Er with detailed information about Mu Anxiao, so naturally, she knew nothing.
Mu Anxiao: “Yes, so what?”
“I remember…” Xi Er narrowed her eyes, “Didn’t you use a demonic sword before? Wasn’t that sword very powerful? You should use that now.” She held her spear.
Yue Ci frowned and whispered, “Why don’t you go?” he stared at Feng Qishi.
From afar, Yue Ci had sensed that Mu Anxiao was no longer the same Mu Anxiao. That’s why he had thought of letting Feng Qishi help him. Who knew that Feng Qishi would push everything onto Mu Anxiao at this critical juncture?
Therefore, he couldn’t understand the issue.
“I have my reasons,” Feng Qishi said concisely.
Yue Ci was taken aback, “You did it on purpose.”
“Shh,” Feng Qishi glanced at Yue Ci.
Yue Ci’s lips curved, “I really can’t understand you.” Saying this, he turned back to Xi Er, who was sizing up Mu Anxiao, and whispered, “She’s about to discover it.”
Feng Qishi’s eyes darkened.
On the other side, just as Yue Ci had said, Xi Er looked at Mu Anxiao and smiled, “Your immortal energy is weak, it seems your abilities are also not up to par.”
Zhao Meier’s eyes lit up upon hearing this.
Mu Anxiao: “Even with weak immortal energy, I can still fight you on equal footing,” she raised her dagger.
Immediately, the dagger trembled in Mu Anxiao’s hand.
Mu Anxiao gripped the dagger, her eyes still sharply fixed on Xi Er opposite her, without speaking.
Unexpectedly, Xi Er saw the dagger’s fear at a glance and laughed, “This weapon of yours is the prototype of a demon.”
“…” Mu Anxiao felt extremely embarrassed. She truly wished she could find a crack in the ground to hide in, but reality didn’t allow it. Helpless, she could only continue to brace herself and say, “Therefore, I’m not afraid of you.”
“You want to defeat me with this weapon,” Xi Er said, smiling, “How ridiculous.”
“Whether it’s ridiculous or not, we’ll know after we try,” Mu Anxiao said coldly.
The dagger steadied itself the moment Mu Anxiao spoke these words.
Xi Er’s face fell, “Alright, but don’t worry, I won’t be too harsh on you, because my master instructed that you must not die.” After speaking, she made her spear disappear.
Seeing this, Mu Anxiao was confused, “You’re not using a weapon.”
“No, fighting you doesn’t require any effort at all, because,” Xi Er said, turning to meet Jiong Ye’s eyes directly, “I suddenly don’t want to fight you anymore.”
Then, Mu Anxiao followed Xi Er’s gaze to Jiong Ye’s face and frowned.
Jiong Ye chuckled awkwardly the moment Xi Er looked at him, “You want me to fight her.”
“Retreat,” Xi Er said coldly.
Jiong Ye was stunned, “Retreat? What does that mean?”
“It means get away,” Xi Er said with a cold gaze, “If you dare to escape, my master said he will have you killed.”
Jiong Ye was aware of Ouyang Ye’s abilities, so he dared not act rashly. He turned to look at the others and said, “Quick, retreat.”
Upon hearing this, the others hurriedly turned and ran further away.
In contrast, Zhao Meier remained in place, her eyes fixed on Feng Qishi’s face.
Seeing this, Jiong Ye unceremoniously grabbed Zhao Meier’s arm and said, “Let’s go.”
Hearing this, Zhao Meier snapped back to reality, cast two reluctant glances at Feng Qishi, and then left.
After they hid, Xi Er turned back to Mu Anxiao, smiling without speaking.
Mu Anxiao, seeing Xi Er’s ill-intentioned expression, said coldly, “What do you want?”
“My master said to unleash a monster against you, it’s a pity,” Xi Er said, glancing at Yue Ci, who was standing behind Mu Anxiao, “He ruined it.”
“…” Mu Anxiao felt a premonition of something ominous.
Seeing Mu Anxiao’s silence, Xi Er smiled, “Don’t be so nervous, you won’t die anyway. Of course,” she said, looking at Feng Qishi behind Mu Anxiao, “If you don’t want to, you can let him help you.”
The moment Xi Er said this, Feng Qishi recalled Zhang Yan’s instructions and thought, Is she doing this on purpose?
At the same time, Mu Anxiao, prompted by Xi Er’s words, suddenly remembered Zhang Yan’s suspicious demeanor when he left with Feng Qishi earlier, as well as Feng Qishi’s usual actions of protecting her no matter what. Her heart sank, and she fell into thought.
“…”
Seeing Mu Anxiao still silent, Xi Er continued, “Alright, I’ll give you time to think. However, I don’t know if he can wait for you.” Saying this, she raised her hand above her head and muttered, “Come.”
Yue Ci’s eyes widened as he watched this scene.
Feng Qishi, respecting Zhang Yan, withdrew his intention to help Mu Anxiao and casually pulled Yue Ci behind a tree.
The next moment, the wind blew through the leaves, the sky changed drastically, and amidst the rising and dissipating mist, the “roar” of a monster reached their ears.
The onlookers were terrified and huddled together.
Yue Ci, standing behind the tree, peeked out at the giant black bear monster that was gradually appearing in their line of sight and said, “This is bad.”
Feng Qishi was also looking at the giant black bear monster, his eyes wide, “It seems she’s going to use her ultimate move.” He began to feel nervous.
At the same time, Zhang Yan appeared behind Feng Qishi and Yue Ci, “Don’t go over.” He reached out and placed his hand on Feng Qishi’s shoulder.
Following that, Feng Qishi and Yue Ci both turned to look at Zhang Yan, “…”
Zhang Yan calmly looked at Feng Qishi and Yue Ci, who were slightly taller than him, and smiled, “Why are you looking at me?”
“You are Mu Anxiao’s master, aren’t you?” Yue Ci guessed.
Zhang Yan smiled, “I know you, your name is Yue Ci, and you specialize in collecting monsters.”
Yue Ci: “It seems I was right.”
“Indeed, you are clever,” Zhang Yan said, looking at Feng Qishi, “Stay calm.”
Feng Qishi frowned, “Do you have to do this?”
“Absolutely.”
“For…”
“If you die, my disciple will be heartbroken. Then, she will definitely not cultivate properly, so,” Zhang Yan interrupted, still pressing on Feng Qishi’s shoulder, “You are not allowed to go.”
Feng Qishi’s eyes darkened, “…”
Yue Ci exclaimed, “Mu Anxiao only has one layer of spiritual energy now. If she fights that monster, she’ll die.”
“No.”
“No?” Yue Ci repeated, then turned to look at the giant black bear monster, which was about to attack Mu Anxiao, and said, “How could she not? It’s the cream of the crop among monsters.”
“Is it valuable?” Zhang Yan asked.
Yue Ci frowned, “No, your disciple’s life is more important than money, isn’t it?”
“Of course, my disciple is more important.”
“Then why aren’t you saving her?”
“No need.”
“For…”
“You’re doing this on purpose,” Feng Qishi interrupted Yue Ci and stared at Zhang Yan’s face.
Zhang Yan smiled.
Feng Qishi looked at the smile on Zhang Yan’s face, was startled, and quickly turned to glance at Mu Anxiao, saying, “No, I have to help her.” He then reached out and grabbed Zhang Yan’s wrist.
Zhang Yan: “My disciple is much smarter than you,” he pushed Feng Qishi’s hand away.
“You…”
“You are not allowed to go,” Zhang Yan interrupted, slowly withdrawing the hand he had placed on Feng Qishi’s shoulder, “If you go, you will fall into his trap, and then you will only harm my disciple. Don’t you understand this?”
Feng Qishi understood this logic, but even so, he didn’t want to see Mu Anxiao rush to her death.
“No, I have to help her.”
“Let’s see what she says first. If she tells you to go, I’ll let you go, because it’s her choice. If she doesn’t let you go,” Zhang Yan said, “You can think about it then.”
Feng Qishi frowned slightly.
Yue Ci understood Zhang Yan’s words and said softly, “You should wait. If you go, you’ll definitely die. This looks like a trap set by that Ouyang Ye for you.”
Feng Qishi glanced at Yue Ci, said nothing, and waited for Mu Anxiao’s reply.
Meanwhile, Mu Anxiao, recalling Ouyang Ye’s actions using the vine spirit to cripple her, suddenly realized: ‘I know, Ouyang Ye wants to kill Shen the Mad by exploiting my cowardly side. My master must have forbidden Shen the Mad from helping me, because my master knows that if Shen the Mad takes action, he will die.’ She imagined Feng Qishi’s death in detail and became anxious, ‘No… I can’t let Shen the Mad fall into Ouyang Ye’s trap. Absolutely not.’
After thinking, she looked up at the giant black bear monster roaring opposite her and said, “I can do it myself.” Saying this, she gripped her dagger.
Hearing this, Xi Er’s eyes widened.
Upon hearing this, Feng Qishi quickly turned to look at Mu Anxiao’s retreating back and muttered, “Mu the Fool.”
Yue Ci: “It seems she’s thought of it too.”
“Alright, stay here. You know my disciple’s temper. If you dare to go over, she will definitely get angry.”
“Perhaps she’s angry with me,” Feng Qishi suddenly remembered Mu Anxiao’s earlier words about breaking off with him.
Zhang Yan said helplessly, “If you don’t believe me, go. If she doesn’t chase you away, I’ll take your surname.”
“That’s what you said,” Feng Qishi glanced at Zhang Yan and then walked towards that direction.
Immediately, Xi Er’s eyes fell on Feng Qishi, she breathed a sigh of relief and smiled, “He’s coming.”
Hearing this, Mu Anxiao quickly turned to look at Feng Qishi, who was slowly approaching, and shouted anxiously, “Shen the Mad, go back quickly!” She was afraid Xi Er would resort to trickery.
“Mu the Fool, I…”
“Shen the Mad, I was just angry just now. Go back. If you take another step forward, I will truly break off with you,” Mu Anxiao shouted with all her might.
Feng Qishi looked at the anxious expression on Mu Anxiao’s face, hesitated for a moment, and finally compromised, “I’ll listen to you.”
“Listen to me and go back,” Mu Anxiao shouted.
Feng Qishi clenched his fist, turned, and walked towards Zhang Yan.
Seeing Feng Qishi leave, Mu Anxiao breathed a sigh of relief, turned, and looked at Xi Er, “Come on.”
Xi Er: “…” She frowned slightly.