"You know that Jia and I know each other, and yet you still ask this question," Mu Anxiao lowered her head, looking at the woman lying on her side, and snorted, "Are you genuinely foolish, or are you pretending to be?" As she spoke, she tapped her shoulder, attempting to stop the bleeding.
"I..."
"Enough, stop talking." Mu Anxiao interrupted, glancing around at the swarming insects that completely enveloped them in a miasma of light, then stepped over to the woman and crouched down.
The blue-skirted woman watched Mu Anxiao's retreating back and stood up.
Sensing the celestial energy emanating from the blue-skirted woman, Mu Anxiao warned, "Don't come closer."
"Understood." The blue-skirted woman responded, retracting her foot and turning her gaze to the insects.
After the blue-skirted woman's reply, Mu Anxiao extended a finger and tapped the woman's forehead, "Tell me, what exactly do you want to capture her for?"
"Aren't you very clever?" The woman, having lost the strength to struggle, glared angrily at Mu Anxiao. "You must know my intentions."
"..." Mu Anxiao narrowed her eyes.
Seeing this, the woman let out a laugh, "There are things you can't guess, truly..."
"You know she has rebirth techniques. If I'm not mistaken," Mu Anxiao said, withdrawing her finger from the woman's forehead, "you want to use her rebirth technique to heal Bing'er."
The woman froze.
Mu Anxiao rested one hand on her knee, trying to steady herself, and continued, "Am I right?" Her voice was chilling.
The woman closed her eyes.
Seeing this, Mu Anxiao curled her lips, then looked up at the sky, stood up, and said, "Fine, if you won't say, then don't. Bing'er's life or death has nothing to do with me anyway."
Upon hearing this, the woman opened her eyes.
Mu Anxiao stared down at the woman without speaking.
Seeing that Mu Anxiao was ignoring her, the woman grew anxious. "If you dare to do anything to..."
"Do you know what 'utter annihilation' means?" Mu Anxiao interrupted.
The woman's body stiffened, "What do you want to do?"
"Attempting to frame four celestial beings, you..."
"It's three."
"Add me, and that makes four," Mu Anxiao corrected, then continued, "You almost killed us, so you have committed the crime of failing to kill a celestial. Of course, based on my understanding of the rules of the underworld, your fate should be utter annihilation."
"You're talking nonsense."
"Nonsense," Mu Anxiao repeated, scoffing, "I really don't know who gave you the confidence to be so arrogant." After speaking, she squatted down again.
The woman frowned, "What do you want to do?"
"What do I want to do?" Mu Anxiao retorted, sitting cross-legged before the woman, then sighing softly, "What else can I do but discuss your future with you?"
"My future doesn't require your consideration."
"That's not up to you," Mu Anxiao said, propping herself up on her hands on either side. "There was once a demon who stole things in the underworld. Do you know what happened to him in the end?" She leaned back slightly.
"..." The woman frowned.
Mu Anxiao continued speaking to herself, "In the end, he was caught. After being caught, his legs and feet were chopped off. Do you know the consequence of having his legs and feet severed?"
"What?" The woman grew tense.
Mu Anxiao: "Do you know what it feels like for one's legs and feet to be utterly annihilated? The underworld's grim reapers are quite cruel. They use special blades to directly sever the demon's soul along with his flesh. Do you know why they do this?"
"Why?" The woman's voice trembled.
"It's to punish him, to let him experience the feeling of utter annihilation. Do you know what happened to him in the end?"
"..." The woman frowned slightly.
Mu Anxiao continued, "In the end, he died from the pain, finally becoming a demonic soul, but unfortunately, only with a body and no arms or legs. He's still imprisoned there."
At this moment, Mu Anxiao looked at the frightened expression on the woman's face, then thought of her own hastily fabricated 'ghost story' and shivered.
The woman completely believed Mu Anxiao's words and looked at her with a dejected expression, remaining silent for the time being.
Mu Anxiao stared down at the woman and deliberately said, "Think carefully about what I've said. I'll await your reply." As she spoke, she endured the pain and turned her head to look at the relentlessly working insects.
The blue-skirted woman was also startled by Mu Anxiao's 'ghost story', swallowed, and dared not make a sound.
Outside.
After half a day of effort, Feng Qingshi was still unsuccessful. So, he put down his long sword and muttered, "Damn it."
Lou Yi: "Let me help you." He looked at Feng Qingshi with a worried expression.
Hearing this, Feng Qingshi turned his head to look at Lou Yi and shook his head, "No, I'll do it myself." As he spoke, he raised his sword, about to continue when a woman's voice came from behind them.
"If you continue like this, you'll only be wasting time."
Upon hearing the voice, Feng Qingshi's eyes darkened, he stopped his persistence, turned sideways to look at the woman dressed in coarse cloth, and tentatively asked, "You are also a celestial."
"You're a great celestial, yet you can't even tell if I'm a celestial," the coarse-clothed woman said, crossing her arms and turning to look disdainfully at the red-skirted and pink-skirted women who were cautiously glancing at her. "You two are dressed quite ostentatiously."
The two lowered their heads.
Jia, witnessing this scene, exclaimed in surprise, "You know them."
"Know them? More than that," the coarse-clothed woman said, turning back, temporarily ignoring Jia, and looking at Lou Yi, "..."
Seeing the coarse-clothed woman looking at him, Lou Yi's gaze flickered.
"Is following me so boring?" the coarse-clothed woman said, stepping forward to stand in front of Lou Yi.
Feng Qingshi looked down at the coarse-clothed woman without speaking.
Subsequently, Lou Yi looked at the coarse-clothed woman cautiously and let out an awkward laugh, "...."
"Do you want to be a useless celestial so badly?" the coarse-clothed woman said again.
Jia blinked and moved beside Feng Qingshi, whispering, "What's going on? What's their relationship?"
Feng Qingshi looked down at Jia and said nothing.
Jia frowned and was about to continue speaking with Feng Qingshi when the coarse-clothed woman shifted her gaze to Jia's face, "You little grim reapers are all so nosy."
"..." Jia clamped his mouth shut.
Coarse-clothed woman: "Do you want to know my relationship with him that badly?" She pointed at Lou Yi.
Lou Yi glanced at Jia, "..."
Jia nodded, then shook his head.
Seeing this, the coarse-clothed woman asked, "Do you want to know, or not?"
"This is your business. If I say I want to, it would seem too much like meddling, but..."
"So you do want to know," the coarse-clothed woman interrupted Jia, who was carefully trying to phrase his words.
Jia smiled, "Yes."
"Yes, alright," the coarse-clothed woman said, "I can satisfy your curiosity, but you have to do me a favor."
"Is it difficult?" Jia asked.
The coarse-clothed woman pursed her lips and said, "It's difficult, but not too difficult. In short, if you promise me, I'll immediately tell you my relationship with him."
"..." Jia hesitated. He was worried the coarse-clothed woman would give him a difficult task, but he was also very curious about Lou Yi's affairs. After a moment of thought, he agreed, "Alright, tell me."