She Ning watched Mu Anxiao’s visibly startled expression at his words and grinned.
Seeing this, Mu Anxiao played along, pretending not to understand She Ning’s meaning, “What exactly do you mean?” she couldn’t help but ask.
She Ning looked at Mu Anxiao’s eager expression, desperate to get the truth from him, and smiled again. “Don’t you think you’re asking too many questions?” he retorted, intending to challenge her.
This time, it was Mu Anxiao’s turn to fall silent.
Seeing this, She Ning glanced back at Zhao Xiang, who was busy with his ‘slaughter,’ and said, “That’s right.” Then he turned back to Mu Anxiao. “This is the result I wanted.” He didn’t want their relationship to become too strained, so he decided to answer her question.
However, this was precisely the answer Mu Anxiao didn’t want to hear. Looking at him, she suddenly didn’t know whether to fear him or… become his enemy. In any case, her heart was in turmoil. She had lost her basic judgment of him.
So, she fell silent.
Everyone has their unspoken burdens, and She Ning was no exception. His hatred for these monsters had surpassed his own imagination, and at times, he himself couldn’t accept his own thoughts.
However, everything happens for a reason. It was the ruthless actions of these monsters that led him to harbor such dark thoughts. Therefore, he didn’t feel he had done anything wrong.
“If you think I’m ruthless, there’s nothing I can do,” She Ning said softly.
Hearing this, Mu Anxiao gasped and looked up at She Ning, saying coldly, “Your actions are no different from their master’s.”
Ouyang Ye loved to use others to kill, always finding a ‘scapegoat’ for his actions and never acting personally. This was precisely why neither the powers above nor those below could control him. Similarly, Ouyang Ye was once an immortal, but due to a certain psychological development, he became what he is today.
She had never witnessed Ouyang Ye’s transformation process. Thus, hearing She Ning’s words now, she couldn’t help but see a shadow of Ouyang Ye in She Ning.
This illusion gave her a sense of crisis that she couldn’t describe in any words.
Because of this, she felt she had to speak her mind.
She Ning hadn’t expected Mu Anxiao’s reaction to be so strong, especially seeing her ‘disgusted’ expression. His heart sank as he said, “You’re saying I’m like their master.” He still couldn’t believe these words were coming from Mu Anxiao.
Mu Anxiao nodded.
She Ning clearly disliked Mu Anxiao’s attitude, so he took a breath and said, “You don’t understand my situation.”
“I don’t understand, but the facts show that your actions are already similar to their master’s,” Mu Anxiao became increasingly assertive.
She Ning had never wanted to share his experiences with anyone.
For some reason, he now felt an urge to express himself, yet he also knew that some things couldn’t be clearly explained all at once.
Helplessly, he suppressed all his true feelings. “If you think I’m like their master, then so be it. I don’t care.” As he spoke, he shifted his gaze back to Zhao Xiang.
Mu Anxiao had expected She Ning to refute her vehemently, perhaps even to use all sorts of flowery words to prove his innocence. To her surprise, he finished speaking so casually. Hearing this, Mu Anxiao couldn’t help but feel like a fool.
At the same time, she also realized from She Ning’s attitude that he was nothing like Ouyang Ye. Because, from beginning to end, She Ning was avenging those mortals, while everything Ouyang Ye did was for himself.
Thinking this, she realized her mistake. “That…” She wanted to apologize but couldn’t bring herself to say it.
Hearing this, She Ning looked down at Mu Anxiao and said indifferently, “What is it now?” After their previous conversation, he assumed Mu Anxiao would have nothing good to say. However, in order to negotiate with Ouyang Ye, he had to patiently engage in conversation with Mu Anxiao.
Mu Anxiao: “Just now…” She looked up at She Ning, forcing a simple smile. “It was my fault.”
“What?” She Ning thought he was hallucinating.
Seeing She Ning’s reaction, Mu Anxiao took a deep breath and said, “I said, just now it was my fault. I shouldn’t have…” Mid-sentence, Ouyang Ye’s face flashed in her mind, causing her eyes to darken. She continued, “I shouldn’t have compared you to that despicable fellow. You are far nobler than him.”
“Are you praising me?” She Ning was startled.
Mu Anxiao cleared her throat and said, “In short, it was my mistake. I won’t compare him to you again, but…” She looked at the monsters emanating fear, “Are you sure they have all committed evil?”
“What do you mean by that?” She Ning glanced at the monsters sitting slumped on the ground.
“People have good people and bad people. I think,” Mu Anxiao said, turning her gaze back to She Ning, “they are the same, aren’t they?”
Hearing Mu Anxiao’s words, She Ning’s mind recalled the monsters holding torches at the back of the group during the village massacre. His heart sank as he said, “They killed in the front and burned the village in the back; they are all guilty.” As he spoke, he met Mu Anxiao’s eyes.
Mu Anxiao was speechless.
She Ning looked at the suddenly tongue-tied Mu Anxiao with a calm expression and smiled down. “Besides, that was just my thought. That fellow,” he said, looking at Zhao Xiang, who had suddenly stopped, “is not my puppet. He has his own mind; whether he wants to kill or not is his decision.”
Want to or not?
The facts proved that the lives of these monsters were indeed in Zhao Xiang’s hands, and as She Ning said… he really only had the power to think about it.
Thinking about it, she felt embarrassed.
“That makes sense,” she said softly.
“If I wanted to deal with them, I would have done it long ago,” She Ning said, sighing faintly. “I wouldn’t have waited until now.”
“You are an immortal…”
“This has nothing to do with my identity. I just couldn’t bring myself to do it,” She Ning interrupted Mu Anxiao, glancing around. He said softly, “We’ve been discovered.” With that, he stepped forward, shielding Mu Anxiao.
Immediately, Mu Anxiao looked in that direction and indeed… Zhao Xiang was looking their way.
“He’s not going to attack us, is he?” she asked, looking up at the back of She Ning’s head.
She Ning didn’t have time to turn around, continuing to stare at Zhao Xiang, whose eyes were glowing red. He said in a low voice, “Hard to say. Be careful.” As he spoke, he started to move towards Zhao Xiang.
Seeing this, Mu Anxiao quickly reached out and grabbed She Ning’s arm. “You’re going to fight?”
“I’m going to knock him unconscious,” She Ning whispered.
When Mu Anxiao heard this, she immediately let go of his arm.
Just then, a scream suddenly came from that direction. Mu Anxiao looked up quickly. Zhao Xiang’s hand… had pierced the chest of the hooded monster. Seeing this scene, she instantly realized Zhao Xiang’s cruelty.
Blood gushed out. Zhao Xiang calmly watched the hooded monster, which was slowly disappearing, and a smile curved his lips. “You’re finally dead.” He then straightened up and looked at She Ning.
She Ning narrowed his eyes, ready to attack at any moment.