“Don't worry about me; I'm a half-demon,” Xu Lanyan interrupted, waving a hand casually in front of him. His clothes instantly turned a deep blue, and his hair became dishevelled. "Smell this; do I have any immortal aura?" He offered his arm to the black-clothed demon.
The black-clothed demon looked at Xu Lanyan's rapid transformation in astonishment, swallowed, then bent down to sniff him and said, "No, there's no immortal aura anymore."
"Let's go," Xu Lanyan raised an eyebrow.
"Alright," the black-clothed demon readily agreed.
In the Immortal Cultivation Sect, Mu Anxiao and Yan followed behind the red-clothed rabbit spirit. Yan looked around and commented, "It's so quiet here."
"Don't speak," the red-clothed rabbit spirit said sternly without turning her head.
"You don't need to shout when my disciple speaks; there's no one else around now," Mu Anxiao said.
Hearing this, the red-clothed rabbit spirit slanted her eyes and replied, "Of course, you can speak. However, could you keep your voices down? Everyone is resting now."
"Resting during the day?" Mu Anxiao asked.
The red-clothed rabbit spirit glanced at her eyes and turned to face Mu Anxiao, saying, "Everyone is tired from the night, so they rest during the day and wake up in the afternoon."
"When will the Great Demon arrive?" Mu Anxiao asked.
The red-clothed rabbit spirit said, "Also in the afternoon."
"If it's in the afternoon, why did you ask us to come out?" Mu Anxiao said, deliberately glancing at Yan.
"The Rabbit Queen said you should get yourselves ready," the red-clothed rabbit spirit replied.
"Why do we need to get ready?" Mu Anxiao questioned.
"No reason. You just need to follow me," the red-clothed rabbit spirit said.
At the same time, Hun Ling happened to pass by and saw Mu Anxiao. He then pretended to be unconcerned and walked up, asking, "What are you doing? Why did you bring this good-for-nothing out?"
The red-clothed rabbit spirit politely bowed to Hun Ling and said, "The Rabbit Queen told me to bring them out to tidy up and dress up. It's afternoon, so we can greet the Great Demon."
"Great Demon?" Hun Ling repeated, his expression immediately becoming tense. "Are you talking about that faceless Great Demon? The one where even the little demons who served him tea and pastries didn't come out alive?"
"Yes," the red-clothed rabbit spirit's expression became tense.
Mu Anxiao's eyes widened, and she exclaimed, "You're sending us to our deaths!"
The red-clothed rabbit spirit's eyes darted, and she lowered her head.
Despair filled Yan's eyes.
Mu Anxiao glanced at Hun Ling, then recalled the time the rabbit spirit had occupied the Immortal Cultivation Sect. Thinking about what Yan had told her yesterday about the demon barrier, her heart sank. She wondered if Yan was deceiving her, furrowing her brow.
Hun Ling looked at the thoughtful Mu Anxiao and asked, "Do they have to be them?"
"Yes," the red-clothed rabbit spirit looked up at Hun Ling.
Hun Ling sighed, looked at Mu Anxiao and Yan, and said, "Didn't they say the Great Demon likes pretty little demons? With their looks, they might just anger him."
Although Mu Anxiao strongly disliked Hun Ling's words, she had to accept them for the sake of survival.
Upon hearing this, the red-clothed rabbit spirit turned and glanced at both Mu Anxiao and Yan, saying, "There are fewer rabbits now. If we contribute more rabbits, we might suffer losses. So, we should just listen to the Rabbit Queen."
"Alright, you go ahead with your business," Hun Ling said. He glanced at Mu Anxiao, who was staring at him, then turned and walked away.
The red-clothed rabbit spirit breathed a sigh of relief and exclaimed, "You scared me to death."
"Are you afraid of him?" Mu Anxiao asked.
The red-clothed rabbit spirit looked at Mu Anxiao and nodded slightly, saying, "Yes, he's very scary."
"He is quite terrifying, like a ghost. If it weren't for him," Mu Anxiao pouted, "I wouldn't be here."
"Okay, let's go," the red-clothed rabbit spirit said.
Mu Anxiao sighed and took Yan's arm, "Alright, let's go."
"Mm," Yan nodded.
Half an hour later, Mu Anxiao put on a white ruqun, with a small red dot on her forehead, identical to the red-clothed rabbit spirit's. The hem of her shoes was covered in fluffy rabbit fur. She walked to the bronze mirror and bent down to look at her attire and makeup. She swallowed and said, "This is too terrifying."
"You look very good," the red-clothed rabbit spirit said, admiring Mu Anxiao.
Mu Anxiao let out a breath and turned to look at Yan, who was dressed in red, exclaiming, "Wow, now that's beauty!" As she spoke, she lifted her arm and looked at the rabbit fur on her sleeve.
"Red suits you very well," the red-clothed rabbit spirit said.
Yan shyly shook her head, "No, you suit red better than me."
"What's next?" Mu Anxiao withdrew her gaze from Yan's face and asked casually, with a deliberate hunch and nonchalant air.
"You two rest for a while. I'll come back to teach you rabbit etiquette," the red-clothed rabbit spirit said.
Mu Anxiao gasped and said, "That's not right. Didn't your Rabbit Queen fancy my immortal aura? Why would she sacrifice me? Doesn't she think it's a pity..." She paused deliberately and continued, "Doesn't she think it's a pity?"
"I don't know about that," the red-clothed rabbit spirit shook her head slightly.
"Alright, you can go," Mu Anxiao said lazily, not wanting to ask further.
"See you later."
And so, the red-clothed rabbit spirit left the room. Following that, Mu Anxiao bent down to look at her bright red lips in the bronze mirror, shivered, picked up the white cloth beside her, and vigorously rubbed her lips. "Why won't it come off?"
"This is lip gloss made with demon art. You definitely can't wipe it off," Yan said.
Mu Anxiao clicked her tongue in annoyance and straightened up, looking at Yan. "How do you know?"
"Grandma told me," Yan replied.
"Have you ever worn this before?" Mu Anxiao pointed to her lips.
"During sacrifices in the rat tribe, Grandma would put a little on me. It wouldn't come off for a whole day," Yan explained carefully.
The moment Mu Anxiao heard "a whole day," she exclaimed in annoyance, "Ah, no way! A whole day... this is too horrifying!" She pursed her lips.
"The makeup on your face cannot be removed. It's not only waterproof but also resistant to rubbing," Yan added.
"No wonder that rabbit didn't say anything before leaving. All this time, this simply won't wash off," Mu Anxiao said, slumping her upper body.
Yan glanced at the door and gracefully walked to Mu Anxiao's side, saying, "This might be an opportunity."
"What opportunity?" Mu Anxiao asked Yan with a tearful face.
"They haven't met the Great Demon. Perhaps the Great Demon will help us," Yan said with hope in her voice.
Mu Anxiao looked at Yan, who saw everything optimistically, with a helpless expression and forced a smile. "Sister, you are truly too naive. Didn't you hear them say that the Great Demon is faceless? None of the little demons who went in came out. Do you know what it means that they didn't come out?"
"Perhaps he let them go," Yan clasped her hands together, her face filled with hope.