Lou Yi's sudden reaction caught Jia off guard. Seeing him shake his head slightly, Jia frowned tightly, "No, what does that head shake of yours mean?" He truly didn't understand.
Lou Yi smiled, "I mean I'm not going to bet with you."
"You..."
"The man is a pitiable man, and the female demon is a pitiable female demon. Frankly speaking, they are both miserable enough. For us to use them as stakes, isn't it a bit much?" Lou Yi just didn't want to bet with Jia, because he knew... Jia looked young, but his mind was active. Even if he won, Jia probably wouldn't accept defeat gracefully. So, to prevent such a thing from happening, he did this.
Jia narrowed his eyes, "..."
"Don't look at me like that, it's creepy," Lou Yi said, reaching out as if to prop Jia's eyes open.
Seeing this, Jia quickly retreated a couple of steps and said, "Don't touch me, I understand." He narrowed his eyes again, "You're doing this on purpose."
"How am I doing this on purpose?" Lou Yi was flustered by accident.
Seeing Lou Yi's reaction, the corners of Jia's mouth curved upwards slightly, "You're afraid to bet with me, aren't you?"
"You..."
"When you can't do something, you just use nice words to gloss over it. Isn't that just like you?" Jia interrupted, his smile growing wider, "Alright, since you don't want to bet with me, I'll let you off. However, before that, you have to give me a guarantee."
"A guarantee?" Lou Yi knew Jia wouldn't give up easily. As expected, his guess was right.
Jia smiled faintly, "You guarantee that you will cooperate with me and follow my thinking."
"Follow your thinking," Lou Yi repeated, lowering his eyes to ponder, "You mean, I can't have my own thoughts?"
"Exactly that." Jia nodded.
Lou Yi gave a wry smile, "That's... asking too much, isn't it?"
"I'm not asking too much. This is just a choice I'm giving you. If you don't choose to bet, you naturally have to choose to cooperate with me. In any case," Jia became serious, "I just feel that man is problematic."
"He just apologized, and you have to be like this?" Lou Yi thought Jia was a bit extreme.
Jia sighed, "Whether it's necessary or not, let's not talk about it yet. I'm worried that man will anger the female demon again, even if the female demon does bad things."
"Do bad things..." Lou Yi mused, recalling the girl's 'astonishing' experiences, then thinking about the nature of certain men. His eyes darkened, and he said, "Since you know the consequences, what's the use of you telling me?" He sounded anxious.
"I just wanted to make a bet with you. I believe Ouyang Ye should already know... right?"
In fact, all of this was just Jia's momentary speculation. The reason he said so much was actually just to give himself an out. Who knew... after saying it, Lou Yi analyzed it, and the matter suddenly became sensible. Listening and thinking, he couldn't help but admire himself.
When Lou Yi heard Jia say this, he immediately shifted his gaze to the door lock.
Just then, Ouyang Ye's voice came through, "Are you sure he's up to no good?" He wasn't sure if the dirty-faced man's words were true or false.
Hearing this, Lou Yi quickly looked through the crack in the door at Ouyang Ye, who was standing still, trying to communicate with them mentally. He frowned.
Jia was already afraid of Ouyang Ye, and hearing Ouyang Ye speak now made him nervous, "This..." He stared fixedly at the door lock.
Ouyang Ye, hearing Jia's hesitant reply, tensed up, "Speak properly."
Jia's body stiffened. Still staring at the door lock, he said, "I said, you guarantee..." He believed Ouyang Ye wouldn't harm children, so he looked back over his shoulder and continued, "You guarantee not to hurt us."
"I'm not in the mood."
"Not in the mood... what does that mean?" Under the pressure of fear, Jia lost his judgment.
The moment Jia said that, Lou Yi started to worry for him.
Ouyang Ye had a certain understanding of Jia. Hearing Jia's words now, Ouyang Ye wasn't angry. Instead, he glanced at Mu Anxiao and said mentally, "It means I won't harm you. Now," he blinked his eyes and continued, "you can tell me your thoughts."
"That man is playing a sob story, that's my opinion," Jia said, his eyes becoming exceptionally firm.
Lou Yi's heart grew anxious upon hearing this.
"Are you sure?" Ouyang Ye asked again.
"I can't see the situation over there clearly. Can you weaken the sorcery on the door lock? I want to see clearly... I feel something is off about him," Jia said, vaguely seeing the dirty-faced man's restless single hand.
Ouyang Ye believed Jia's words, so he clenched his single hand and withdrew half of the sorcery on the door lock, "Take a look," he said.
Jia liked this feeling of being trusted, so he deliberately pressed one side of his face tightly against the door crack.
Lou Yi looked down at Jia's back as he worked diligently, and began to pray for himself.
Then, Jia opened one eye and closed the other, getting a completely clear view of the dagger in the dirty-faced man's hand. He quickly said, "He's going to attack."
Upon hearing this, Lou Yi and Ouyang Ye froze in unison. Then... at the same moment Lou Yi was staring at the back of Jia's head, Ouyang Ye grabbed Mu Anxiao's arm. Mu Anxiao's body stiffened, her touched expression receding. She turned to look at Ouyang Ye, and just as she was about to speak, Ouyang Ye pulled her away.
The next second, Ouyang Ye focused his attention on the dirty-faced man, "Do you think doing this is useful?" he asked, glancing at the girl still supporting the dirty-faced man's shoulder.
Seeing this, the girl removed her hand and consciously took a step back.
At the same time, the dirty-faced man hastily retracted his dagger, raised his face, and asked with feigned sadness, "What do you mean by that? I don't understand."
"You don't understand," Ouyang Ye knew his question was a bit too direct. After thinking for a moment, he continued, "Alright, do you have a sister?"
"I do."
"Really, or fake?" Ouyang Ye asked in a low voice.
As soon as Ouyang Ye asked this, the girl frowned.
"Of course, it's real," the dirty-faced man said with a calm expression.
"Really, then you..."
"What exactly are you trying to say?" Mu Anxiao couldn't stand it anymore.
Hearing this, Ouyang Ye finally remembered Mu Anxiao's presence. He then gave up his line of questioning, turned to look at Mu Anxiao, smiled faintly, and said, "I don't want to say anything."
"If you don't want to say anything, why are you asking? Can't you see he's very sad?" Mu Anxiao spoke up for the dirty-faced man.
Seeing Mu Anxiao's righteous side, Ouyang Ye couldn't help but smile, "I just want to clarify some things."
"You're just looking for trouble," Mu Anxiao said, crossing her arms in front of her.
Ouyang Ye smiled down, and just as he was about to speak, Jia hurriedly shouted, "He's making a move."