"Marry me, and I'll give you happiness," the proprietress smiled.
"I don't think so," the young man chuckled bitterly.
Seeing the extreme reluctance on his face, the proprietress put on a stern expression. "Alright, you can go up and get busy." With that, she turned and walked towards the counter.
The young man watched the proprietress's retreating figure, muttering, "Did she hear what I said?"
Hearing him, the proprietress no longer hid. "I did. You'd better get to work quickly, or I won't be polite to you."
The second she spoke, the young man swallowed, his voice trembling as he replied, "I'll go right away." He then grabbed a broom and ran off.
Back at the counter, the proprietress's eyes darkened. She held out her hand, looking at the green light emanating from her palm. "It seems your words have come true for me," she said, lowering her gaze.
In the deep woods of the underworld, the Vine Spirit flew to a tavern in the underworld. While the wine vendor wasn't paying attention, it jumped into a wine jar, soaked for a moment, then flew out and left the tavern.
Inside the tavern, the wine vendor approached the wine jar. He looked down at the few drops of wine on the ground, pouting with distress. "Oh dear, what a waste."
"What's wrong?" asked a drinking ghost, floating behind the wine vendor.
The wine vendor looked at the slowly evaporating wine on the ground. "I accidentally spilled a drop when I was pouring wine. What a waste."
"It's okay. If you have time, I can go to the mortal realm on a mission and bring some back for you," the drinking ghost offered.
"Okay," the wine vendor readily agreed.
The drinking ghost gave an awkward smile. "You're too kind. I really didn't expect you to agree."
"I'm not human, so I don't have such things as face. If you say it, I'll agree," the wine vendor replied.
The drinking ghost smiled. "Good, good, good. I'll keep my promise too."
"I'll pour you some wine," the wine vendor said.
The drinking ghost nodded and floated away.
Meanwhile, the Vine Spirit returned to the deep woods. It glanced around through its chains and, confirming the absence of any underworld officials, began to cast a spell. The next moment, dazzling light emanated from the chains, and with that light, it transformed into an underworld official.
"This was too easy," it said, looking at its arm.
"Hey, did you go for drinks?"
Hearing the voice, the Vine Spirit flicked its eyes sideways, turned to look at the underworld official who had spoken, and smiled. "Yes, the wine there is excellent."
"It's good, but drinking leads to trouble, don't you know?" the underworld official said, pointing at the Vine Spirit.
The Vine Spirit feigned a simple-minded demeanor, scratching the back of its head. "I'm new here and don't understand. Please take care of me in the future."
"That's why I thought you looked so unfamiliar," the underworld official remarked.
The Vine Spirit's heart skipped a beat. "By talking like this, aren't we getting acquainted?"
"You have a point," the underworld official smiled.
The Vine Spirit scratched the back of its head again. "Um, can I ask you a question?"
"Go ahead," the underworld official said, tilting his chin.
"It's just... where is the place where the demon souls are imprisoned?" the Vine Spirit inquired, leaning forward.
"This..."
The underworld official had just uttered two words when a young man and a boy suddenly appeared, interrupting their conversation.
"Hey, brother, it's us!" the boy shouted.
Hearing this, the underworld official rolled his eyes impatiently and turned to the young man and the boy. "Don't be so loud." As he spoke, his gaze inadvertently fell upon the monsters behind them, and his eyes widened. "Did you catch these?"
"Um..." The boy couldn't finish his sentence and nudged the young man's waist.
The young man looked down at the boy. "No, these were given to us by Mu Anxiao."
"Mu Anxiao? Are you talking about that meddling immortal?" the underworld official asked.
The young man and the boy had never heard of Mu Anxiao being called a meddling immortal. So, the young man thought for a moment and said, "Yes, that's her."
"That guy is indeed quite good at doing things like this," the underworld official nodded.
"Can you lead the way then?" the boy asked, looking up.
The underworld official looked down at the boy's mature demeanor. "You little thing, you're so capable. From now on, don't talk to me. I don't like talking to children."
"What's wrong with being a child?" the boy scoffed.
The underworld official glared at the boy, then turned back to the Vine Spirit. "You come along too. Get some experience."
"Thank you," the Vine Spirit said excitedly.
"You're welcome. I'll show you the way from now on," the underworld official said, pointing at the Vine Spirit.
The Vine Spirit responded excitedly, "Okay."
The boy looked helplessly at the Vine Spirit trying to please the underworld official. "I'm much more impressive than him."
Hearing this, the young man glanced down at the boy. "Little boss, it's 'we'."
"'We'," the boy corrected casually.
However, the underworld official ignored them and walked ahead with the Vine Spirit.
The boy and the young man exchanged glances. "He looks down on us," the boy said.
"Whatever. Little boss, you're much more capable than him," the young man replied, gesturing to the monsters behind them.
The monsters nodded in unison.
The boy smiled. "With your response, I'm content." With that, he, the young man, and the monsters followed the underworld official.
At the inn, Mu Anxiao sat at the table, recalling the Vine Spirit's life over the past few decades. She mused, "That Vine Spirit has been with Hei Feng for so long; he must understand underworld matters very well."
Hearing this, the green-clad man's heart sank. "Right, I forgot to tell you something."
"What could you possibly have to tell me?" Mu Anxiao asked without looking at the green-clad man.
The green-clad man stared at Mu Anxiao. "You're the one who reminded me."
"Me?" Mu Anxiao looked up, pointing at herself.
The green-clad man nodded. "Yes, I saw the Vine Spirit."
"You saw him?" Mu Anxiao's eyes widened.
"Why didn't you say so earlier?" Feng Qishi asked.
The green-clad man pursed his lips, unable to speak for the moment.
Hong Yan's reaction was entirely different from Mu Anxiao and Feng Qishi's. Instead, she looked nervously at the green-clad man. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine," the green-clad man shook his head.
Hong Yan breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm glad you're alright."
"How did you see him?" Mu Anxiao glanced at Hong Yan and asked.
The green-clad man thought for a moment. "I found a chain at a wonton stall and put it on myself. After going down, the young man reminded me. Then I took out the chain, and it suddenly spoke. And then... the boy told me to throw it away. I didn't think anything of it at the time and threw it, but who knew it would actually release it."