Mu Anxiao, watching the woman's fearful expression, recalled her previous arrogance and her threats to kill her. She couldn't help but smile, deliberately stalling for time.
The woman, seeing Mu Anxiao suddenly cease all action, remembered her own threats to kill Mu Anxiao.
With a trace of fear, she asked, "What do you mean? Are you really going to let me go, or is this a trick?"
"Get up, and I'll tell you," Mu Anxiao said, tilting her head to the back of her neck. "It's too uncomfortable talking to you like this."
"You..."
"You'd better not play games with me. Get up when I tell you to, or else..."
"If I could get up, I wouldn't be waiting for you like this. Are you crazy?" The woman found Mu Anxiao's behavior utterly baffling.
Mu Anxiao had initially thought that now that she had spiritual energy, she could be a bit arrogant with the demon souls. To her surprise, as soon as she started, the woman saw through her. Feeling a bit embarrassed, she glanced behind her at Feng Qishi and Bing'er, who were waiting for her to release the demon soul. She then turned back to the woman still lying on the ground, looking up at her and said, "Don't think that just because you say that, I'll let you go immediately. You... you wish."
Bing'er, hearing Mu Anxiao's words and seeing the woman lying there obediently, letting Mu Anxiao bully her, became angry. "You ugly monster, you're a big liar! You said you'd let my sister go, but now you're going back on your word, you big bad guy."
Big bad guy, ugly monster.
Ever since Mu Anxiao began capturing demon souls, she had been called every name imaginable by them.
It was strange, really, how their insults varied each time.
At first, Mu Anxiao would get extremely angry whenever she heard them curse her. Her anger led her to argue and bicker with the demon souls, which ultimately resulted in her being so infuriated that the demon souls managed to escape.
Because of this, they all believed that being insulted was Mu Anxiao's weakness. From then on, whenever they saw Mu Anxiao, they would say unpleasant things, and even the lowliest of them dared to curse her.
As the saying goes, "Once is an accident, twice is a coincidence, but three times is a pattern." After months of their persistent torment, Mu Anxiao finally learned to tolerate their tactics with Hei Feng's guidance.
She also grew accustomed to their various foul insults.
It was precisely this experience that allowed Mu Anxiao to see at a glance that Bing'er was deliberately trying to provoke her into releasing the woman.
However, Mu Anxiao was genuinely surprised that such a young child could possess such cunning.
This also solidified her belief that Bing'er was no ordinary person.
Therefore, she decided to deliberately provoke Bing'er.
"If I don't let her go, what can you do to me?" she retorted, glancing sideways at Bing'er and smirking smugly.
Seeing this, Bing'er's lips quivered, and she was about to cry.
Mu Anxiao, long accustomed to Bing'er's tricks, deliberately said, "Cry, just cry, and I'll leave."
Mu Anxiao hadn't been insulted like this in a long time. She now saw it as an opportunity to use Bing'er to reminisce about the past.
After all, no matter how she acted, she wouldn't lose anything.
"You..."
"What 'you'? I keep my word," Mu Anxiao interrupted, deciding she would teach Bing'er a lesson.
Jia, knowing that Mu Anxiao wouldn't let the woman go easily, chuckled secretly as he watched them.
Meanwhile, Feng Qishi also understood Mu Anxiao's intentions. But unlike Mu Anxiao's playfulness, he didn't want to see Bing'er cry again.
So, he said, "Mu Xiao, that's enough. This isn't the time to be scaring people."
Mu Anxiao never expected Feng Qishi to intervene at this moment. Looking at him, she put on a disdainful expression. "I'm not scaring her," she said, too lazy to argue with Feng Qishi. She turned back to the woman still lying there obediently and said, "Consider yourself lucky." With that, she walked over to the woman and crouched down.
Seeing this, Feng Qishi looked confused. "What are you doing?"
"Shut up!" Mu Anxiao shot Feng Qishi a glance, then turned back to the woman and whispered, "I know you're doing all this for that Bing'er."
"What exactly do you want to say?" the woman's voice was very quiet.
Mu Anxiao: "I want to say..." A plan formed in her mind, and the corners of her mouth curved upwards slightly. "I can help you save Bing'er's life."
"You..."
"Don't speak. Let me tell you," Mu Anxiao said, deliberately pressing down on the woman's arm to prevent her from speaking loudly. "You are already a guilty demon soul. No matter where you escape to, I can find you. If you don't believe me, just try." She decided to use the woman as a practice subject to test her own capabilities.
"..." The woman hadn't expected Mu Anxiao to see through her intentions. Looking at Mu Anxiao's confident expression, she felt a pang of fear. "You can really save Bing'er."
"Didn't you say you needed medicine from the Yin realm? If you cooperate with me, I'll give it to you."
"Then... will you let me go?"
"Let you go?" Mu Anxiao chuckled. "You really are a dreamer. I only promised to help save Bing'er. As for you..."
"I'm going to die, aren't I?" the woman interrupted, her tone low.
Mu Anxiao stared at the woman's face for a few seconds. "You are already dead. Where do you think you're going when you die?" As she spoke, she tightened her grip on the woman's arm.
The woman dared not move rashly and closed her eyes slightly.
Mu Anxiao smiled faintly at her, "Before people do things, they should consider them carefully. But you, you easily harmed three fairies. Now," she said, "it's time for you to pay for your wicked deeds."
"Will I be imprisoned?" the woman opened her eyes.
"Definitely. However," Mu Anxiao said, removing her hand from the woman's arm and patting her shoulder twice to prevent past mistakes from happening, "if the timing is right and I'm in a good mood, I... might help you."
"I'm already very grateful that you can help me save Bing'er," the woman said softly.
"Let's not talk about that," Mu Anxiao said, glancing sideways at Feng Qishi and Bing'er, who couldn't hear their conversation, and then turning back to the woman. "If you cooperate with me, I'll consider it a voluntary surrender."
"Voluntary surrender?" The woman was startled, her eyes clearly becoming more lively. "Do you mean you'll help me?"
"I can help you with two things, but you have to lead the way yourself."
"What do you mean?" The woman didn't quite understand.
Mu Anxiao: "What I mean is, if I'm not mistaken, those three fairies you poisoned haven't returned, have they?" She was certain the woman had hidden them.
The woman: "..." She lowered her gaze.
Mu Anxiao clearly saw the movement of the woman's eyes and said calmly, "If you don't tell me, I can't help you, nor Bing'er. And finally," she said, patting the woman's shoulder again, "you'll just have to cry."
"You..."
"Don't speak yet," Mu Anxiao interrupted. "Let me remind you, I can offer you good benefits, but that child... not necessarily."
"What?"
"Don't underestimate that little Yin official. Although he's small, he knows much more than you demon souls. Naturally, his methods are also much more ruthless than mine. If you don't want to listen to me, that's fine," Mu Anxiao said with a smile. "I'll just hand you over to him."
"No," the woman said softly. She understood the implication in Mu Anxiao's words, and through that implication, she realized that Mu Anxiao was a trustworthy person.
"So, have you decided to cooperate with me?" Mu Anxiao smiled faintly.
The woman nodded slightly.