When Feng Qishi spoke, "Brat, you stole something," he glared at Mu Anxiao.
Mu Anxiao was genuinely startled by Feng Qishi's gaze and then looked blankly at the second and fourth men on either side, shaking her head.
"No," Feng Qishi deliberately put on a young master's air.
Mu Anxiao had never seen Feng Qishi like this before, and seeing him so suddenly, she really couldn't handle it. "No," her voice began to tremble inexplicably.
Seeing Mu Anxiao's expression of being awed by his authority, Feng Qishi found it amusing. However, to maintain his status, he suppressed his laughter and continued earnestly, "Alright, I understand." As he spoke, he looked at the third man.
The third man said, "The facts prove that she did steal something."
"What facts?" Feng Qishi retorted.
The first man was also startled by Feng Qishi and whispered, "Just now, as we passed by the woods, we saw this kid standing next to our friend. When we went over, she cried 'the pot calling the kettle black,' saying our friend had fainted. It's obvious she knocked him out."
"I didn't, I saw him in the forbidden forest," Mu Anxiao said excitedly.
"Forbidden forest?" Feng Qishi was a little confused.
Mu Anxiao, seeing them present, found it inconvenient to explain and fell silent.
The first man added, "There are evil spirits there. Many brave souls who entered never returned, and even those who did came back insane. My friend here was bold and said he wanted to go. We tried to stop him, but who knew... when we got there, we saw her with our friend." He glanced at Mu Anxiao.
At the same time, passersby began to gather.
"I really saved him," Mu Anxiao said, seeing them approach. She felt she couldn't endure it any longer; if she did, she would truly be labeled a thief.
"..." Feng Qishi looked at Mu Anxiao, then at the fickle crowd, thinking, 'Let's wait a bit longer!'
"You beggar, stop talking nonsense. Do you know what that sickle in your hand is?" the first man sneered, glancing at the sickle Mu Anxiao held.
Hearing the first man's words, Mu Anxiao lowered her head and looked at the sickle. She said, "How would I know? Isn't it just a sickle?"
"This is his heirloom, worth a hundred taels of silver."
"A hundred taels?" Mu Anxiao muttered, looking at the sickle again. "I really didn't know that."
"You definitely knew."
"I really didn't know."
"Say you don't know again, and you're a thief!" The first man was convinced his judgment was correct.
Since arriving from the woods earlier, Mu Anxiao had been unable to defend herself. Initially, she had planned to settle the matter with silver after returning the young man home.
However, the first man was so persistent that she abandoned the idea of resolving it with money.
"You're accusing me of being a thief just because I'm holding his sickle," Mu Anxiao said, looking at the surrounding onlookers. "It's not right to speak like that."
"You are a thief."
"I'm not. I really saved him. He went into the forbidden forest, and then I..."
"Forbidden forest? Why were you in the forbidden forest?" the first man retorted.
Mu Anxiao was stumped. After a pause, she said, "I was just passing by and saw him..."
"Stop making up stories," the first man said, looking at Feng Qishi. "Young master, I advise you not to keep her. She used to be a beggar and cheated me out of two copper coins. Be careful, she'll steal your entire household."
"You're slandering me!" Mu Anxiao was furious.
Immediately, the others shifted their gaze to Mu Anxiao's face, now ready to blindly follow the first man's accusations.
Feng Qishi looked to both sides and said, "I know her character. You don't need to tell me."
"Young master..."
"Hey, you can continue," Feng Qishi intentionally interrupted the first man, as he realized the first man was accustomed to controlling the narrative. If he didn't interrupt, Mu Anxiao would never get a word in.
The first man, fearing Feng Qishi, fell silent.
Mu Anxiao glanced at Feng Qishi and continued, "I was just passing by there and saw him. At that time, there were two women in red. I didn't know who they were at first, so I tried to talk to them. They didn't reply... so I glared at them. Seeing me glare, they ran away. Then I carried him and ran. I ran for two hours before I got out."
"Those were evil spirits," an old woman suddenly said.
As one wave subsided, another rose.
The moment Feng Qishi heard the old woman's words, everything that had happened recently flashed through his mind. His eyes darkened, and he looked at Mu Anxiao.
Mu Anxiao feigned ignorance. "Evil spirits? What are evil spirits?" She thought the people here didn't know. Hearing the old woman, she thought perhaps she could glean some information from her.
Feng Qishi stared intently at Mu Anxiao.
The first man blinked, "How could he possibly go there?" His eyes darted away.
Mu Anxiao didn't even glance at the first man, continuing to stare at the old woman.
The old woman's eyes were filled with sorrow. "I heard it from my son. He said there were evil spirits in the forbidden forest. The evil spirits weren't ugly; they had human faces, but they ate people, and then..." She choked up. "Not long after he told me, my son died. I feared it was a curse, so I never spoke of it."
"A curse?"
"Yes," another woman said. "Anyone who returned from there died shortly after, so we were all afraid to speak of it."
Having lived here for so many years, Mu Anxiao only heard this today. At this moment, she couldn't help but doubt herself... Had she truly lived here for ten years?
In any case, she felt a sense of defeat.
"Evil spirits?" Feng Qishi echoed the woman's words, frowning.
The first man said, "My brother is timid. How could he possibly enter there?"
"Exactly," the second man agreed.
The third man couldn't hold on any longer and directly put the young man down.
As soon as the third man lowered him, the young man's eyes opened. "Where is this?" he mumbled, rubbing his eyes.
Feng Qishi and Mu Anxiao looked at the young man together. Mu Anxiao had a flash of inspiration, quickly stepped forward, looked down at the young man, and said, "Hello."
Seeing Mu Anxiao, the young man shouted and hastily sat up.
Mu Anxiao wanted exactly this reaction from the young man. So, she raised her head and looked at the first man, saying, "I wasn't lying. Apologize to me."
The first man was stunned. He looked down at the young man and asked, "Did you enter the forbidden forest?"
The young man stared blankly at Mu Anxiao, not daring to speak.
Mu Anxiao lowered her head to look at the young man, then looked back at the first man.
Then, the woman who had spoken earlier exclaimed excitedly, "I heard that people who returned from the forbidden forest are all like this."
"..." The first man frowned, crouched down, and stared directly into the young man's face, asking, "Brother, did you really enter the forbidden forest?"
The young man grunted, still staring at Mu Anxiao.