Mu Anxiao watched Shi Yi’s impulsive actions with anger, but upon hearing him mention the path to the cultivation sects and Feng Qishi, she knew she had to compromise to achieve her goal.
“What if you help me, and I help you?” she looked up at Shi Yi.
“I’ll help you enter a cultivation sect, and you’ll marry me.” Shi Yi extended his hand, then recalled the previous over-the-shoulder throw and retracted it.
“Marriage is a later matter, just tell me if you’ll help me or not?” Mu Anxiao deliberately avoided the topic.
“Marriage, in your eyes, is later. In my eyes, marriage is before, and helping you is after,” Shi Yi stated with clarity.
Mu Anxiao hesitated, then said, “I…” She was lost for words.
From his perch in the tree, Feng Qishi, who had been listening to their conversation for quite some time, could bear it no longer. “Mu傻子, if you marry, you’ll be a monster. Think carefully.” With that, he leaped down from the tree and landed beside Mu Anxiao.
Mu Anxiao glanced at Feng Qishi and asked, “Why are you here?”
“You wouldn’t even say that much to me, but you’re talking so much to this strange rat demon,” Feng Qishi said, looking Shi Yi up and down.
Shi Yi said, “My name is Shi Yi.”
“Shi Yi,” Feng Qishi repeated, chuckling softly, “Why aren’t you called Plague?”
“You…”
“I admit, I’m a mortal who has ascended to immortality, but,” Feng Qishi said, suddenly reaching out and taking Mu Anxiao’s hand, “I have another identity you don’t know.” He pulled Mu Anxiao’s hand.
Mu Anxiao looked at her hand, now held by Feng Qishi, with surprise. She then looked at Shi Yi and said, “Why are you here?”
Feng Qishi’s lips curved into a smile. He released her hand and said, “I thought this fellow was a rabbit spirit, but it turns out not. So I came.” As he spoke, he revealed the hand that had just held Mu Anxiao’s and said, “Your magic artifact, lend it to me.” Then, he conjured the silver rope.
“Soul-binding Rope,” Shi Yi said incredulously, staring at the silver rope.
“You know this thing?” Feng Qishi smiled.
“You…” Shi Yi pointed at Feng Qishi, then looked at Mu Anxiao and said, “Are you the human who subdued the vine spirit?”
Mu Anxiao glanced at Shi Yi and averted her gaze.
Feng Qishi smiled, “Do you recognize me?”
“You…” Shi Yi stepped forward, scrutinizing Feng Qishi’s face. Startled, he took half a step back and said, “Are you Shen Yan?”
“No, I am his descendant. Now, your soul can leave this body.” Feng Qishi raised the silver rope.
“The owner of this body gave it to me. You have no right to do this.”
“You are harming someone,” Feng Qishi said coldly.
Mu Anxiao, hearing Feng Qishi speak with the same tone as Shen Yan, was startled.
“I…”
“You are forcing her to marry you; that is also harming someone,” Feng Qishi interrupted.
“I genuinely like her,” Shi Yi said firmly.
Feng Qishi’s eyes darkened. “You are a demon, and she is human. What does your liking her amount to?”
“I… am human now,” Shi Yi said awkwardly.
“You have a human body, but your soul is that of a rat. Rats and humans…” Feng Qishi sneered, “It’s absurd just thinking about it.”
“The cultivation sects are not easy to enter. Without me, you cannot get in,” Shi Yi said smugly.
Feng Qishi’s lips curled as he directly threw the silver rope towards Shi Yi.
In an instant, the silver rope wrapped around Shi Yi’s body, coil by coil. “I hate being threatened the most. Today, you, a rat demon, threaten me,” Feng Qishi pouted, “It really makes me increasingly uncomfortable.” As he spoke, he grabbed one end of the silver rope and pulled hard.
Shi Yi looked down at the silver rope tightening around him and said in panic, “Don’t do this, please.”
“Beg me,” Feng Qishi said with a faint smile, loosening his grip slightly. “Are you sincere?”
“Yes, I’ll take you to the cultivation sects. Please don’t do this. I begged the owner of this body for a long time before he agreed. If you bind me like this, all my previous efforts will be in vain,” Shi Yi said excitedly.
Feng Qishi did not retract the silver rope and asked, “Do you still like her?” He pointed at Mu Anxiao.
Mu Anxiao rolled her eyes at Feng Qishi and casually remarked, “Boring.”
Feng Qishi glanced at Mu Anxiao and smiled.
Shi Yi cautiously looked at Mu Anxiao and said, “I do.”
“Huh?” Feng Qishi exclaimed in surprise.
Mu Anxiao glanced at Feng Qishi, then at Shi Yi, saying, “This rat demon is very persistent. Even when I’ve said so much, it’s no use. Do you think threatening him will work?”
“She…”
“I’m so ill-tempered, and my appearance is ugly. What is it about me that you like, or are you blind?” Mu Anxiao preferred to insult herself rather than hear Feng Qishi say it.
“I am not blind,” Shi Yi said innocently.
Feng Qishi glanced at Mu Anxiao, who was about to speak, and said urgently, “Then your taste is questionable.” After saying that, he winked at Mu Anxiao.
Mu Anxiao gritted her teeth and pointed at Feng Qishi, saying, “You win this round.”
Feng Qishi continued to look smug.
“My taste is not questionable,” Shi Yi said firmly.
Feng Qishi looked at Shi Yi’s determined gaze, and his lips twitched. “You’re not actually serious about liking her, are you? From the bottom of your heart?” He pointed at Mu Anxiao.
Shi Yi nodded even more firmly.
Feng Qishi let out two fake chuckles and said, “Then, if I asked you to die for her, would you?”
Shi Yi’s gaze did not waver. “If there was an opportunity, I would,” he said.
Upon hearing this, Mu Anxiao quickly said, “I won’t create such an opportunity for you.”
“You’re so serious,” Feng Qishi said, looking at Mu Anxiao.
Mu Anxiao looked at Shi Yi and added, “I won’t owe you any favors.”
Hearing Mu Anxiao’s words, Feng Qishi couldn’t help but recall that Mu Anxiao had said the same thing to him in his previous life. Afterward, she inexplicably owed him a great deal of favor, and subsequently, began to live without her own will. Thus, to prevent her from falling into such a state, he deliberately said, “He is not human. Why would you owe him a favor?”
“I am human now,” Shi Yi said.
Mu Anxiao glanced at Feng Qishi and said, “What you say is true, but he is indeed human now.”
Feng Qishi hadn't expected Mu Anxiao to be so foolish as to cooperate with Shi Yi. A hint of awkwardness flickered across his face. “Calling you Mu傻子 was not wrong at all.”
“Shut up,” Mu Anxiao shot Feng Qishi a fierce glare, then looked at Shi Yi and said calmly, “I will not marry you, nor will I like you.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Shi Yi said, looking down at the silver rope still binding him. “I believe your sincerity will move me one day. I’ll wait for you.”
Mu Anxiao’s lips twisted. “Then you just wait.” She then turned her back.