Ouyang Ye, finding Mu Anxiao's earnestness and incessant prattling irritating, asked with a serious expression, "Do you know what your greatest flaw is?"
Mu Anxiao grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head. "You figured out my flaw after I've only said a few words. My oh my," she gave a thumbs-up, "truly remarkable for someone aiming to do great things. You're amazing." She chuckled.
Ouyang Ye let out a cold snort. "That mouth of yours will be your undoing one day." He pointed two fingers at Mu Anxiao.
Mu Anxiao pursed her lips.
Ouyang Ye declared, "From now on, it's like this: don't let me hear your voice." He glared fiercely at Mu Anxiao, attempting to intimidate her with his gaze.
Mu Anxiao feigned fear and lowered her head.
Ouyang Ye then continued, "Alright, you can hand over the silver needle now."
"..." Mu Anxiao kept her head down, not uttering a word, her body completely still, as if petrified.
Seeing this, Ouyang Ye frowned. "Cao Gen," he called out sternly.
Upon hearing her name, Mu Anxiao slightly raised her eyes to look at Ouyang Ye. "What is it?" she asked, deliberately shortening her words to convey her fear after listening to Ouyang Ye.
"You ask what it is?"
"I don't know." Mu Anxiao shook her head.
Ouyang Ye, noticing this, grew impatient. "I said, hand over the silver needle." He glared angrily at Mu Anxiao.
Mu Anxiao shivered uncontrollably from fear. "Boss, the silver needle is poisoned. Anyone who touches it dies. Of course," she said with extreme seriousness, "it's fine if *I* handle it."
"Why is it fine for you, but deadly for others?" Ouyang Ye did not believe Mu Anxiao's words to be true.
Mu Anxiao also detected Ouyang Ye's distrust. She took a sharp breath, telling herself she absolutely had to make Ouyang Ye trust her. After a moment's thought, she said, "Because I experimented with it."
"A slip of the tongue?" Ouyang Ye genuinely did not understand Mu Anxiao's meaning.
Mu Anxiao said, "Not a slip of the tongue, but..." Mid-sentence, she suddenly remembered that Ouyang Ye had never experienced the real world. She paused, then rephrased, "The needle was already extremely poisonous. I wanted to see what kind of poison it was, so I soaked it in my specially concocted poison. Who knew..." At this point, she suddenly covered her mouth.
Ouyang Ye frowned. "What trick are you playing now?"
"Boss, I'm not playing any tricks. It's just that, considering how you warned me," Mu Anxiao continued to cover her mouth, "I'm afraid of dying."
"You do listen to my words quite seriously." Ouyang Ye eyed Mu Anxiao coldly.
Mu Anxiao looked up at Ouyang Ye's murderous eyes with an expression of extreme caution and then smiled.
"However, you truly only listen to words, not meaning. What I meant was," Ouyang Ye said, "you, don't speak nonsense. I didn't say you couldn't speak. Can you not misinterpret my meaning?"
"I feel like everything I say is nonsense." Mu Anxiao said this with feigned timidity.
Ouyang Ye was speechless.
Ajia watched Mu Anxiao's ability to render Ouyang Ye speechless and sighed.
Ouyang Ye continued to stare at Mu Anxiao's face for a full minute before speaking, "Forget it, you might as well speak."
Mu Anxiao shook her head.
Ouyang Ye frowned. "Cao Gen, what does this headshake mean? Are you refusing my command?" His tone turned extremely chilling.
Mu Anxiao had no desire to exchange any more words with Ouyang Ye. If it weren't for her need to extract useful information from him, she would never have wasted so much breath. At this moment, looking at him, she truly felt nauseous.
However, she had to endure. "I dare not speak. You said my mouth would harm me. If my mouth were to cost me my life, I wouldn't even have time to cry. Moreover, my ambitions are yet to be realized. I don't want to harm myself because of my mouth."
At this moment, Ouyang Ye concluded that this 'Cao Gen' was indeed a cowardly fellow. However, what Ouyang Ye found peculiar was that he saw a woman's "nagging" quality in this 'man'. He then stared at Mu Anxiao for a few seconds before saying, "Cao Gen, why are you so much like a woman?" As he spoke, his gaze towards Mu Anxiao became strange.
Mu Anxiao was visibly startled by Ouyang Ye's remark. However, she had to continue her act. "Like a woman..." she said, quickly suppressing her fear deep within her heart. She smiled, "My parents also say I'm like a woman, nagging and fussy since childhood. But I just can't change it. If you don't let me speak, I won't speak. This way, I won't seem like a woman."
"I also think you're fussy and nagging. Perhaps that's why you look like a woman," Ouyang Ye said lightly.
Upon hearing this, Mu Anxiao couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. "Then in the future, I'll..."
"However, this might also be your strength."
"Boss, what do you mean by that?" Mu Anxiao knew that Ouyang Ye would not praise someone without reason, so she became nervous again as soon as she heard his words.
Ouyang Ye said, "It means, your mouth might be able to extract information from enemies."
"Enemies?" Mu Anxiao repeated, feeling curious about who Ouyang Ye was referring to.
"Alright, now," Ouyang Ye's gaze became sharp, "give me the silver needle."
"Boss..."
"Enough nonsense, if I tell you to give it, just give it." Ouyang Ye interrupted, extending his hand.
Mu Anxiao then stared at Ouyang Ye's palm for a few seconds and said, "This is what you asked for. Don't blame me." As she spoke, she attempted to retrieve the silver needle, wrapped in a handkerchief, from her sleeve.
Ouyang Ye looked confused. "What do you mean by that?"
Mu Anxiao gave Ouyang Ye a dry smile and continued, "You'll know when you see it." With that, she handed the handkerchief to Ouyang Ye. "Be careful, it's highly poisonous."
"Do you think I'm afraid?" Ouyang Ye said, reaching out to take it.
Seeing this, Mu Anxiao added, "Boss, this contains all sorts of deadly poisons. Just now, when I was wrapping the silver needle, it already turned black. And that potent poison can even erode the bones and blood of demons. Be careful." As she spoke, she tilted her head to look at Ouyang Ye.
Upon hearing this, Ouyang Ye paused his hand in front of Mu Anxiao. "You open it, let me see." Saying this, he withdrew his hand.
Mu Anxiao then feigned a moment of surprise before gently unfolding the handkerchief.
Immediately, Ouyang Ye froze the moment he saw the 'silver needle'. "What's going on?"
Hearing this, Ajia stepped forward, peered at the 'silver needle' in Mu Anxiao's hand, and his expression turned stiff.
Mu Anxiao tilted her face up.