The grimy-faced man’s nerves went taut at the girl’s cold laugh. At the same time, he realized from her smile that he had likely underestimated the situation, even sensing in that instant that the girl before him was definitely not human.
He gave a dry laugh to ease his awkwardness.
Seeing this, the girl fixed her gaze on the grimy-faced man’s face. "Although we've both been rejected, you seem to be pushing your luck a bit too far." As she spoke, her eyes suddenly flashed with red light.
The grimy-faced man, seeing this startled him, further confirming his feeling was correct.
So, without provoking the girl, he said with a smile, "No."
"Still saying no, yet you asked for my help."
"Helping and pushing your luck aren't related, are they?" the grimy-faced man said, steeling himself.
The girl snorted, "Of course they are. You spoke so much nonsense to me, and then seeing I pitied you, you started making demands. If that’s not pushing your luck, what is? If you ask me," she narrowed her eyes, "you're using me, aren't you?"
"You say I'm using you, fine," the grimy-faced man nodded slightly. "Then tell me, why would I use you? Do you have any basis for that?"
"Using my own experience to make me sympathize with you, and then using my experience to make demands, you..."
"I finally know why you always get rejected," the grimy-faced man interrupted, unable to listen any longer.
Upon hearing this, the girl’s expression turned serious.
Immediately, the grimy-faced man, to complete his task, continued to speak with forced resolve, "They were already opening up, and you, all you do is doubt and suspect. To be honest," he frowned and shook his head slightly, "this isn't good."
"You say I'm suspicious?" the girl scoffed. "It seems I was right. You are using me."
"Asking for your help is using you. What kind of mentality is that?" The grimy-faced man was truly exasperated with the girl.
The girl replied, "This is my mentality."
"Alright, then that’s your mentality. Since you don’t want to help me, forget it. I won’t force you. You..."
"What exactly do you want?"
"I'm looking for someone," the grimy-faced man said deliberately.
"Who are you looking for?" the girl asked curiously.
The grimy-faced man had spoken that way to shift from the active party to the passive one. This way, the girl would have no way to suspect him.
Indeed, this method worked very well.
"I'm looking for a man," he said.
"A man? What are you looking for a man for?" the girl asked.
The grimy-faced man paid no mind to the girl's reaction. "It's not that I want to find him, it's that the General asked me to."
"Is that man here?"
The grimy-faced man grunted.
Then, after the grimy-faced man’s reply, the girl fell into a deep silence.
Seeing this, the grimy-faced man showed a confused expression. "No, I'm looking for a man, why are you silent?"
Hearing this, the girl sighed softly, then looked up at the grimy-faced man and asked, "Is this the help you wanted me to provide?"
"Yes, to be honest, I’m not familiar with the General’s mansion, and it’s night now, so I’m even less familiar. I..." Before he could finish, the grimy-faced man suddenly thought of the girl's non-human, non-ghostly identity. His heart trembled, and he said, "You’re not human."
The girl frowned at the grimy-faced man’s sudden remark.
Immediately, the grimy-faced man realized he had said the wrong thing and quickly corrected himself, "I didn't mean anything else, I just wanted to..." He gasped, feeling a strange breeze coming over him, and smiled at the girl. "I just thought, you must be a celestial maiden, right?" He wanted to flatter his way out of this for his own life.
Unexpectedly, after the grimy-faced man’s remark, the girl became even unhappier. "What do you mean?"
"I..."
"Shut up," the girl interrupted sternly, reaching out and grasping the grimy-faced man's neck. She said coldly, "No man is good."
"You... I was just speaking casually," the grimy-faced man, before the girl applied full force, looked down at her single hand tightly gripping his neck and said with a playful smile, "You don't have to be so sensitive, do you?"
"You think calling me a celestial maiden will make me help you."
"I don't want your help," the grimy-faced man, the moment the girl grasped his neck, abandoned his unrealistic thoughts. He thought... as long as he found the man in the portrait and returned to Mu Anxiao, he would surely have a way to survive.
So, all he wanted now was to get away from the girl before him; any other superfluous thoughts had vanished.
"You don't want me to help you."
"Anyway, you've always been in the General's mansion, and I've always been here. As long as I don't go out, then you..."
"You don't want me to follow you," the girl changed her mind again.
At this moment, the grimy-faced man, facing the girl who changed her mind so often, was also mentally exhausted. "That’s not what I meant. I just thought it’s so late, you should go back and rest. I'll find the man the General wants. You rest."
"Then you mean you want to escape," the girl insisted.
This time, the grimy-faced man realized that nothing he said would be useful. Helplessly, he could only offer the girl a strained smile. "Miss, then tell me, what do you want to do?"
"I want to follow you and take your life at any moment."
"No one knows your identity, do they?" the grimy-faced man said, a flash of inspiration striking him.
As if he had hit a sore spot, the girl lowered her gaze slightly. "My affairs don't require you to..."
"I don't intend to meddle in your affairs either. I just thought, I'm a friend of the General. If I die here, you might not be able to escape the consequences."
"I have my ways."
"I know you're a resourceful girl, but your life has just stabilized, and now you're getting involved with my wretched life. It's probably not worth it." The grimy-faced man could no longer understand the girl before him.
Similarly, the girl, after this entanglement with the grimy-faced man, lost her direction. She lowered her gaze slightly, thinking of her peaceful life here, and suddenly felt a reluctance for the present.
"..." She fell silent.
The grimy-faced man looked at the girl before him calmly, not knowing what else to say.
At the back door.
Mu Anxiao leaned against the wall, looking at the closed back door and thinking about the current state of the General’s mansion. He couldn't help but worry about the grimy-faced man’s situation. "Do you think he's met Ouyang Ye?"
Hearing this, Feng Qishi turned to look at Mu Anxiao, who had asked the question, and said, "He shouldn't be that unlucky, should he?"
"I suppose so," Mu Anxiao nodded slightly, still feeling a sense of unease.