At that moment, a young girl, no older than fourteen, who was behind them, clutched the elder woman’s arm and said, “Mother, I’m scared.”
“Don’t be afraid, Mother will beat her properly in a moment,” the elder woman comforted the girl.
“She stole my daughter’s bodice,” another elder woman pointed a finger forcefully at Mu Anxiao and shouted, “Give it back quickly, that bodice is very expensive.”
“You don’t need to say these things,” the elder woman’s daughter on the side tugged at her arm, looking embarrassed.
Upon hearing this, the elder woman glanced at her daughter, then looked at Mu Anxiao and shouted, “Give it back, give it back.”
Following the elder woman’s lead, the other common folk also shouted the same words.
Mu Anxiao looked at them with a black line on her face, regretting why she had disguised herself as that detested flower thief. Wasn't being a beggar better?
Xi'er looked at Mu Anxiao triumphantly. Hearing the shouts of the common folk behind her, she said, “Everyone, please calm down.” As she spoke, she turned towards the common folk.
Mu Anxiao looked at the back of Xi'er’s head and sighed. She turned her head and unintentionally looked at the girl still standing motionless in place, her brow furrowed.
The girl: “…” She was startled and quickly averted her face.
“……”
Mu Anxiao’s only purpose in doing this was to save someone, but the current situation was not in her favor. Suddenly, she had an idea, turned towards the girl, and decided to let the girl speak for her.
“…” The girl sensed something was wrong and closed her eyes.
Mu Anxiao stopped in front of the girl, calmly looked at her tightly closed eyes, and made small talk: “Your eyelashes are so long.” As she spoke, she fixed her gaze on the girl’s eyes.
Dagger: “…” She was speechless towards Mu Anxiao.
Mu Anxiao looked down at the dagger, then at the girl who had slightly opened her eyes, and said, “I’m truly a good person, don’t scream.” As she said this, her hand was already preparing to be raised.
Conversely, the girl unexpectedly did not resist Mu Anxiao and said, “Why are you praising me?” She lightly moved her eyelashes with her hand.
Everyone likes to be praised, especially this girl. If Mu Anxiao remembered correctly, Mu Xi particularly liked to praise this girl. Whenever the girl got angry, a word of praise from Mu Xi would make her feel better.
Mu Anxiao had observed this habit of the girl from outside the reception hall. She hadn’t expected it to be so effective.
“I…” Mu Anxiao dared not flatter, as it would only make the girl uncomfortable, even scared. So, after thinking for a moment, Mu Anxiao said, “I like to speak the truth.”
“The truth?” The girl stole a glance downwards and chuckled.
Mu Anxiao: “Yes, if it’s beautiful, it’s beautiful; if it’s not, it’s not. If it’s possible,” she said, “can you help clarify things for me?”
“Clarify?”
“Yes, I’m a flower thief, but I’m a good person.”
“…” The girl, who had no fear of Mu Anxiao before, became fearful again upon hearing this. “I don’t want to.”
“You…”
“A bad person is a bad person. If I say you are a good person, then you… I…” The girl became nervous. “Then I would be no different from you.”
“I am helping you all.”
“Helping?” The girl frowned. “I don’t see it.”
“You don’t see it,” Mu Anxiao said, surprised. She glanced sideways at those monsters and sighed. “Forget it, I’ll tell you the truth. Those monsters ripped Mu Xi apart alive. Are you sure you want to believe that Xi'er?” she stared at the girl’s face.
“Why don’t you go find people over there to help you?” the girl’s mind was in chaos.
Hearing the girl’s words, Mu Anxiao said with a forced smile, “You really know how to deflect.”
“Why are you talking about me?” the girl asked with a wronged expression.
Mu Anxiao gasped. “Back in that narrow alley, I protected you. Did you forget?”
“…” The girl’s eyes flickered slightly, and she nodded, “Mm, I know.” She was distracted.
“You know, yet you still don’t believe me?” Mu Anxiao had forgotten the fact that the girl had gone mad. All she knew was… she absolutely had to find someone to help her now, and that person was this girl.
“…” The girl’s eyes were dazed. “Mu Xi can’t be dead. She simply…”
“Can’t you see those monsters?” Mu Anxiao still hadn’t realized she was talking to a madwoman.
The girl: “Monsters…” She mumbled, looked up towards the monsters, her eyes widened, and she started screaming again.
With the girl’s scream, Mu Anxiao’s heart also jumped. Then, she looked sideways and saw that the common folk had shifted their attention to her face.
Although Mu Anxiao was also experienced, she had encountered such situations frequently in the past. When she was a beggar, she was often surrounded and attacked. These had become commonplace.
However, facing monsters and brainwashed common folk simultaneously was a first for her. Therefore, this was quite novel for her.
“…” She could only manage an awkward smile.
Dagger: “Let’s go.”
Hearing this, Mu Anxiao looked down at the dagger, raised her hand to cover her ears, and said, “No, if I leave, they will die.”
“Perhaps in their past lives, they were already dead. If you save them, aren’t you changing…”
“Perhaps it was my appearance that changed their fate,” Mu Anxiao interrupted.
Dagger was speechless.
Mu Anxiao freed one hand, gently took the dagger from her waist, and tucked it into her embrace, saying, “This way, you won’t fall off.”
“What are you going to do?”
“What can I do? Let’s vent some popular anger first,” Mu Anxiao said. She turned to look at the girl, “Stop screaming, it’s really noisy.”
Upon hearing this, the girl closed her mouth and instinctively reached out to pull Mu Anxiao’s arm, asking, “Is Mu Xi really dead?” She had returned to her senses.
Mu Anxiao didn’t expect this tough love stimulus to be quite effective.
Thus, she calmly glanced at the arm the girl was holding and said, “Help me, and I’ll tell you the truth.”
“The truth?” The girl frowned. “Didn’t you say Mu Xi was torn apart by those monsters?”
“…” Mu Anxiao gave a dry laugh. “There was indeed such a thing.”
“Where is he?” The girl’s tears began to flow uncontrollably.
Mu Anxiao could see from the girl’s eyes how much she loved Mu Xi, so Mu Anxiao could not bear to tease her any longer. “I can tell you, but you have to help me.”
“You are a flower thief. How many bodices do you want? I’ll give them to you. Please,” the girl was no longer afraid of Mu Anxiao, and gripped her arm tightly, “Tell me, where is he?” Her voice was choked with emotion.
Bodice?
Mu Anxiao felt a pang in her heart. Just as she was about to refuse, a man dressed in black, with his head wrapped in black cloth and a delicate face, suddenly appeared, stood beside the girl, and said, “Stinking beggar, you call yourself a flower thief? How laughable.”
“Who are you?” Mu Anxiao was taken aback. She looked around, wondering where he had appeared from.