In her conversation with Xi'er, Mu Anxiao realized that Xi'er was only genuinely speaking for a fleeting moment when mentioning the Immortal Cultivation Sect. She was certain that most of Xi'er's other words were lies.
As for how Xi'er and Ouyang Ye met, Mu Anxiao didn't know. However, she knew for sure that there were untold secrets between them.
Her current actions had two purposes: first, to confirm Xi'er was a demon, and second, to see if Ouyang Ye would indeed save Xi'er. If he did, she could then confirm their unusual relationship. This would establish Ouyang Ye's crime of colluding with demons and harming people.
Perhaps, by lodging this complaint, she might even earn some silver taels, or even better, some spiritual energy.
Xi'er said, "You never put your heart into talking to me." She then glanced at the silver rope binding her and looked back at Mu Anxiao.
Mu Anxiao let out a cold laugh.
Ouyang Ye declared, "Mu Anxiao, I truly didn't misjudge you. Your ability to change faces and your schemes are indeed formidable."
"You collude with a sinful demon, you..."
"What about me? I'm just a rogue immortal who specializes in designing troublesome romantic encounters. Her," Ouyang Ye glanced at Xi'er, "I don't know her."
Mu Anxiao had always wished to be a free rogue immortal, but due to too many entanglements, she had become a half-hearted one. Becoming a rogue immortal was a dream that remained out of reach.
For decades, she had wanted to see a true rogue immortal, but because rogue immortals were too free, she had never met one. Now that she saw him, her heart remained unmoved.
Instead, she said, "Keep up the act." She lifted her chin and tightened the silver rope in her hand.
Xi'er didn't struggle, quietly watching Mu Anxiao.
Mu Anxiao didn't look at Xi'er, continuing to stare at Ouyang Ye's smiling face without speaking.
Ouyang Ye said, "You've seen through me. I am indeed not a useless rogue immortal. I am..." He grinned, "Who I am, you'll know when you marry me. Just marry me, and I'll tell you."
"..."
"Marry me" again. Mu Anxiao was tired of Ouyang Ye's words. Swallowing, she curled her lips and was about to curse Ouyang Ye when Piao forcefully kicked open the door and entered. "Marry my head! She's my disciple!" he exclaimed, walking to Feng Qishi's side.
Immediately, Ouyang Ye shifted his gaze to Piao's face. "It's you."
"You know me." Piao had no impression of Ouyang Ye.
Ouyang Ye smiled. "I don't know you, but," he glanced at Xi'er, whose eyes were wide, "she's shown me your portrait." He pointed at Xi'er.
Xi'er looked at Piao, frowning. "..."
Piao didn't look at Xi'er, continuing to stare at Ouyang Ye. "Stop trying to curry favor with me." With that, he turned to Ye Yu and asked, "Why are you looking at me?"
"Master." Ye Yu smiled.
Piao was startled. "Who's your master, you idiot?" Saying this, he glared at Ye Yu and stepped forward. "Disciple, it's good that you're alright."
One wanted to marry Mu Anxiao, and the other wanted to take Mu Anxiao as a disciple.
Facing these two individuals, Mu Anxiao found Feng Qishi to be much more normal.
Therefore, she ignored the two of them and shifted her gaze to Feng Qishi's face. "Shen Crazy, come here. The idiot has let go."
Hearing this, Feng Qishi turned and saw that Ye Yu had already walked behind Piao. He then turned back and replied, "Okay." Just as he was about to step forward, Ouyang Ye swung his arm towards them.
Immediately after, a beam of red light struck down, and a layer of red demon barrier appeared in front of them.
Feng Qishi stopped, looking at the demon barrier with surprise. "Demon術 (Shù)!"
Piao was stunned. "What exactly are you?" he exclaimed, his eyes wide.
At the same time, Ye Yu grabbed Piao's arm, repeatedly calling out, "Master, Master, Master."
Piao was startled, turned to look at Ye Yu, and revealed an expression of disdain.
Feng Qishi didn't look at Ye Yu and Piao. He stepped forward and was about to reach out to touch the demon barrier when Mu Anxiao hurriedly shouted, "Shen Crazy, Piao, step back."
Upon hearing this, Feng Qishi quickly lowered his hand. "Mu Foolish, you..."
"Don't move, that's..." Mu Anxiao sniffed the pervasive evil energy in the reception hall and said, "That's a demon barrier for summoning monsters. If you touch it, monsters will emerge, and then... it will be difficult to deal with."
Feng Qishi had also encountered monsters. Hearing Mu Anxiao's words now, he quickly turned to look at Ye Yu, who was pulling Piao back and forth, and said, "Quick, step back."
Hearing this, Piao glanced at Mu Anxiao within the demon barrier, then turned to look at the smiling and bouncing Ye Yu, and said helplessly, "Alright, alright, disciple." With that, he grabbed Ye Yu's arm and pulled him back a few steps.
Ye Yu smiled upon hearing the appellation Piao used for him.
Within the demon barrier, Mu Anxiao sighed in relief, seeing Feng Qishi and Piao cooperating, and turned to Ouyang Ye, who was smiling at her. "What exactly are you?"
"Using 'what' to describe me is a bit unpleasant, isn't it?"
"You..." Mu Anxiao said, tightening the silver rope. She inadvertently looked at Xi'er, who was lowering her head. Just as she was about to speak, Xi'er turned into red smoke, broke free from the silver rope, and floated to the ceiling beam.
The silver rope was specifically designed to capture demon souls. However, based on Mu Anxiao's experience, this silver rope clearly also had the function of capturing demons and fighting. And now... Xi'er had actually broken free.
Seeing this scene, she was also shocked. "How could this be?"
Ouyang Ye said, "Use demon術 then. Let's make it fair."
Hearing this, Mu Anxiao looked at Ouyang Ye, who had just learned about her demon術, and frowned. "You are an immortal, and I am also..."
"I am half demon, half immortal," Ouyang Ye interrupted. He took half a step back, spread his hands, and conjured a large saber. "Here." He handed the saber to Mu Anxiao.
Mu Anxiao was confused. "What do you really want?"
"Duel me."
"Duel you," Mu Anxiao said, "Are you alright? I don't want to fight with you; it will only waste my time. I just want you to let them go now." As she spoke, she glanced at the fake Mu Long and Sister Mu Xiang, who had collapsed on the ground.
Ouyang Ye stated, "If you win, I'll let them go. If you lose, you'll marry me. Of course," he added with an evil grin, "if you choose neither, then I'll have no choice but to release the monsters." With that, he raised the saber above his head.
Mu Anxiao knew that Ouyang Ye was capable of anything. He wasn't just talking. Furthermore, judging by the speed of his expression changes, she thought that if she didn't agree, he would definitely do something incomprehensible. xxs壹贰
Therefore, to prevent such a situation from occurring, she had no choice but to compromise. "Give it to me." She retracted the silver rope and extended her hand.
Ouyang Ye smiled. "You agreed."
"Yes, if I lose, I'll marry you. But if I win, you let them go and hand her over," Mu Anxiao said, looking up at Xi'er, who was perched on the ceiling beam.
Upon hearing this, Xi'er let out two sinister laughs.
Mu Anxiao glared at Xi'er and turned to Ouyang Ye, who had already handed the saber to her.
Ouyang Ye said, "Fine. Anyway, I've mastered the demon術 on her, so I don't need her anymore." With that, he held nothing in his hands.
Under the effect of the demon barrier, Feng Qishi couldn't hear anything Mu Anxiao was saying. However, judging by Mu Anxiao's serious expression, Feng Qishi began to worry.
"Is there any way?" he asked, turning to Piao, who was still being pestered by Ye Yu.
Piao pushed away Ye Yu's head that was leaning on him and said, "This is evil demon術, and there's spiritual energy within it. I..." He looked towards Ouyang Ye beyond the demon barrier. "haven't seen it before."
"Aren't you a demon? You should be stronger than him."
"I am a demon, but I fight alone. He's different," Piao said. "He's half immortal, half demon. If I'm not mistaken, he must be the legendary... Demon Fiend (Yāo Xié)!"
Feng Qishi had never encountered a Demon Fiend. However, in his previous life, he had heard an old gentleman mention them. If he remembered correctly, Demon Fiends were very rare, with one appearing perhaps only once a century. This was because Demon Fiends were cultivated by being half immortal and half demon.
If he remembered correctly, the old gentleman had said that Demon Fiends usually underwent倍增 (bèi zēng - doubled) painful trials before they could be cultivated. The more painful the trials, the stronger their demonic power would become.
Looking at Ouyang Ye now, his eyes darkened, and he began to worry about Mu Anxiao's safety.
Piao said, "I remember now, Demon Fiends are a form of existence related to emotions. They were originally immortals, so they possess spiritual energy."
"..." Feng Qishi glanced at Piao and remained silent.
Piao looked at Feng Qishi. "It seems you already know."
"He cultivated from a demon to an immortal, was harmed in the Immortal Realm, and returned to re-cultivate demon術. As a result," Feng Qishi combined his own impressions and said, "he suffered qi deviation and mistakenly cultivated evil techniques, thus becoming a Demon Fiend. However, Demon Fiends are rare. Even most deities, if they saw one, wouldn't recognize them. Someone like him hides very deeply. Mu Anxiao initially thought he was an immortal."
"Is it related to emotions?"
"It's related to emotions and his original immortal position. If I'm not mistaken," Feng Qishi looked at Ouyang Ye's red robe and thought about what the fake servants had said. He narrowed his eyes. "He's related to the Fate Immortal (Yuán Xiān)." He looked at Piao.
"Are you sure?" Piao frowned.
"Yes," Feng Qishi nodded, then looked at Mu Anxiao, who was trying to swing the saber. "He said that Mu Foolish has potential."
"Potential?"
Feng Qishi nodded again, then remembered the incident with the five brothel madams. He said, "Back then, any red thread that Mu Anxiao dealt with was definitely a bad one. Therefore, the immortals in the Immortal Realm called her a 'rotten peach blossom' (làn táo huā - meaning unlucky in love). That guy just now said he specializes in troublesome peach blossoms, which means he's taken a liking to Mu Foolish for this very reason."
"..." Piao was stunned.
Feng Qishi continued, "Immortals who cultivate into Demon Fiends," he pondered, "will want to go against the immortals above them. Only by doing so can they prove themselves. I think... he chose Mu Foolish precisely to be able to strongly oppose the Fate Immortal. This way, he can achieve twice the results with half the effort."
"That's your own conjecture."
"Yes, combined with my master's explanations, I came up with it," Feng Qishi nodded.
Piao took a deep breath, freed one hand, pointed at Xi'er perched on the ceiling beam, and asked, "Can you explain to me why she's with that guy?"
Hearing this, Feng Qishi looked up at Xi'er, then thought about Ouyang Ye's words just now, and a smile touched his lips. "It's simple."
"Simple?"
"On this path of revenge..."
"Revenge, isn't that going against them?" Piao interrupted.
Feng Qishi inhaled sharply. "Going against them *is* revenge," he said. "In short, if he wants to retaliate, he must use any means necessary. And there are many, many immortals in the Immortal Realm. If it were just him alone, he definitely wouldn't be able to defeat those immortals. Therefore... he needs the help of more demons, so he cooperated with her." He pointed at Xi'er.
Piao: "...."
Ye Yu said, "You're spouting nonsense." He puffed twice towards Feng Qishi's face, then laughed.
Feng Qishi looked at Ye Yu's foolish expression, then at Piao's stiff expression, and clicked his tongue. "What's with that expression?" Piao replied, "I don't find what you're saying credible."
"...."
These were indeed just Feng Qishi's conjectures at the moment, but even so, he had a certain confidence in his own ideas. He even narcissistically thought that Piao would feel the same way.
To his surprise, after all his explanations, all he received was the fool's mockery and Piao's skepticism.
Regarding this, he no longer wanted to say anything.
Piao said, "He said he's mastered all the demon術 of that demon and doesn't need her anymore. If you can explain that sentence to me clearly, I'll believe you." He tilted his chin up.
Feng Qishi was startled. "When did he say that?" he asked, looking at Piao with confusion.
Piao replied, "Just now, from inside." He pointed towards the inside of the demon barrier and crossed his arms, watching Ouyang Ye familiarize himself with the saber.
Subsequently, Feng Qishi followed Piao's finger towards Ouyang Ye's face and twitched his lips. "You can hear them talking."
"Not exactly. It's just that when he said that sentence just now, I happened to be using demon術, so I heard it. Now," he shook his head, "I can't hear anymore."
"This is a demon barrier, you..." Feng Qishi started to say, then suddenly realized something. If one were to compare a Demon Fiend with a demon, the Demon Fiend would surely win. Conversely... if one were to compare a Demon Fiend with a demon, the Demon Fiend would surely be inferior. Thus, his eyes lit up. "Try to dispel this." He pointed at the demon barrier.
Piao frowned. "I don't have that strong of demon術. Besides, as Mu Anxiao said, if anyone touches that demon barrier, monsters will appear. If monsters kill people then, who is to blame?"
"You..." Feng Qishi thought for a moment. "You can cast demon術 to hear their voices, which shows you're delving deeper..."
"I'm holding back precisely because I'm worried about delving deeper and triggering the mechanisms within the demon barrier. These," Piao said, "I've already considered. Now, just explain to me clearly what that sentence means."
Feng Qishi: "...." He fell into thought.
Piao remained silent.
Ye Yu, seeing Piao quiet, also stopped laughing and moving.
While they couldn't hear Ouyang Ye's voice, it didn't mean Ouyang Ye couldn't hear theirs. As they fell silent, Ouyang Ye shifted his gaze towards them.
Mu Anxiao put down the saber, repeatedly pondering Feng Qishi's words in her mind, then looked up and asked, "He's right, isn't he?"
Hearing this, Ouyang Ye lowered his head to look at Mu Anxiao and smiled faintly. "The immortals in the Heavenly Realm haven't treated you well, have they? Even if you cultivate your immortal position, later on," he said, "if you make a mistake, they will still resent you. You might eventually end up like me, becoming a Demon Fiend who is neither immortal, demon, nor devil. Rather than that, it's better to marry me sooner and adapt to this kind of life. Do you think I'm right?"
"If that's the case, won't I just become a tool for your revenge?" Mu Anxiao said with a cold laugh. "Rather than that, I'd rather cultivate properly and become a useful immortal."
"You will regret it."
"Different people have different lives, and it's the same for deities. You have your ideas, and I have mine. You won't sway me. I..." Mu Anxiao gripped the saber handle with both hands, took a step back, "will definitely be able to defeat you."
Ouyang Ye smiled. "You are indeed confident." With that, he waved his arm towards the demon barrier and then intentionally retreated several steps.
Mu Anxiao didn't pay attention to Ouyang Ye's actions and said, "You don't need a weapon. That's perfect." With that, she charged forward and swung the saber directly at Ouyang Ye.
Sister Mu Xiang cried out upon seeing this.
Xi'er clicked her tongue, looked at Sister Mu Xiang, narrowed her eyes, and lightly swung her arm.
At the same time, Mu Anxiao felt Xi'er's demonic energy. She immediately stopped the saber at Ouyang Ye's forehead and then suddenly remembered the entire process of Xin'er's murder, her heart sinking.
Ouyang Ye looked down at the frowning Mu Anxiao and curled his lips. "You can't bear to kill your husband. It seems I..."
"Wait for me," Mu Anxiao interrupted coldly, turned, and quickly ran towards Mu Xi.
Seeing this, Ouyang Ye snorted and turned to look at Feng Qishi and Piao.
Piao glared at Ouyang Ye, turned his face, and said, "He deliberately blocked out those voices just now. It has nothing to do with the demon barrier."
"I can see that," Feng Qishi said. "Now I understand. That female demon has handed over the monster to him on a silver platter. As for whether he will abandon the female demon, that remains to be seen."
"You're so smart," Ouyang Ye said with a smile.
Ye Yu saw this and hid behind Piao.
Piao glanced at Ye Yu, then at Ouyang Ye, who was staring at them, and said, "I apologize." He glanced at Feng Qishi.
Feng Qishi replied, "I don't need your apology." He snapped his fingers, deliberately shielding their voices outside the demon barrier, and continued, "What's important now is that you find a way to help break through this demon barrier."
"I..."
"I believe in you," Feng Qishi said, turning to Piao. "You're stronger than him. If you succeed, perhaps Mu Anxiao will recognize you as her master."
"Really?" Piao felt a glimmer of hope.
Feng Qishi nodded. "Yes, I think you're stronger than him."
"...." Piao, ignited by hope, smiled. "Okay, I'll try then."
Feng Qishi nodded and extended his hand to Ye Yu.
Watching the scene unfold, Ouyang Ye frowned and muttered, "Damn it, he's blocked out the sound." With that, he narrowed his eyes, looked at Piao, and became nervous.
Outside the demon barrier. Ye Yu was startled when Feng Qishi reached out to him. "Pooh."
"Give me your hand, I'll protect you."
"Protect..." Ye Yu blinked his eyes, looked back at Piao, who happened to be looking at him, and asked, "Master, protect me."
Piao replied, "Your master has important matters to attend to. Go away."
"Go away," Ye Yu pouted, huffed, let go, and directly grabbed Feng Qishi's arm, saying, "Not master anymore." With that, he quickly hid behind Feng Qishi.
Piao glared at Ye Yu, then looked back at the demon barrier, and began to concentrate, thinking of a solution.