The boy glanced at Jia, then turned to Mu Anxiao and said, "Have you ever heard of a situation."
"A situation," Mu Anxiao said, staring intently at the boy before her, her nerves tightening. "What do you mean? I don't quite understand."
"An immortal, if crippled, do you know what their fate would be?" the boy asked, stopping in front of Mu Anxiao.
Mu Anxiao looked up, close enough to see the young, tender face beneath the boy's disheveled hair, and shook her head slightly.
"As expected, an immortal with two layers of spiritual energy," the boy said, reaching out to steady Mu Anxiao's shoulders. "You're just useless."
Initially, Mu Anxiao had felt a strange sense of pity for the boy, but upon hearing him speak like this, her compassion vanished. "You little demon, you think you..." she started, but suddenly felt the immortal energy emanating from the boy and swallowed the rest of her words.
The boy looked at Mu Anxiao's expression of startled realization and said, "You feel it now."
"You are... an immortal," Mu Anxiao's voice trembled.
The boy smiled. "It seems you are of some use after all." He patted Mu Anxiao's shoulders twice.
Mu Anxiao lowered her head and looked at her shoulder where the boy had touched it. "Any immortal can sense an immortal. Speaking of which," she narrowed her eyes, "since you are an immortal, why did you have to transform into him?" She didn't look at Jia.
Conversely, the boy glanced at Jia, who had slightly lowered his guard, then turned back to Mu Anxiao and said, "His method might be effective."
"..." Mu Anxiao disliked being sidetracked. She curled her lips and rolled her eyes, saying, "What are you talking about when you say you're talking to me?"
"What are you saying?" the boy feigned ignorance.
Mu Anxiao gasped, "What I'm saying is, your focus really isn't very sharp, kid."
Hearing Mu Anxiao's words, the boy smiled as if being praised.
Mu Anxiao looked at the boy's reaction, utterly bewildered. "No, what are you laughing at?"
"I thought you would be difficult to get along with, but you opened up so easily. If I had known this," the boy sighed softly, "I wouldn't have gone to such lengths to transform into him and deceive you."
"Deceive me?" Mu Anxiao repeated, instinctively taking half a step back with caution. "You deliberately approached me."
"Yes."
"Why?" Mu Anxiao asked, her heart beginning to feel uneasy. "Do you like me?"
The boy froze.
Jia had long anticipated that Mu Anxiao wouldn't say anything normal. However, he hadn't expected her to be this abnormal. Looking at her, his face showed only disdain.
Mu Anxiao, not noticing Jia, continued to look at the boy's stunned expression. "It seems I hit the mark. You..."
"I do like you."
Mu Anxiao had intended to use this to startle the boy, but she never imagined he would actually accept her narcissistic suggestion.
At this moment, Mu Anxiao was speechless. "..."
The boy looked at Mu Anxiao's suddenly stiffened expression and laughed unreservedly. "I don't like you at all."
Hearing this, Mu Anxiao finally breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "Then what do you want?"
"It's very simple, I just want to be friends with you, just like..." The boy pointed at Jia. "...him."
"Him?" Mu Anxiao followed the boy's gaze, glanced sideways at Jia, and then turned back to the boy. "You think we are friends?"
"Aren't we?" the boy asked.
Mu Anxiao smiled slightly and was about to speak when Jia stepped forward and said, "She and I have a relationship based on mutual benefit, not friendship."
Mu Anxiao chimed in, "Yes, as he said, we only have a relationship of mutual benefit."
The boy frowned the instant he heard them say this.
Seeing his reaction, Mu Anxiao asked, "What's wrong?"
"In the past year, you two have appeared in this forest the most, and you've talked the most. Now you say you only have a relationship of mutual benefit," the boy furrowed his brow slightly. "Do you think I would believe that?"
"Believe it or not, you have to," Jia added.
The boy looked down at Jia. "If it's a relationship of mutual benefit, why did you save her?"
"It's precisely because of mutual benefit that I saved her. Otherwise, how could I get promoted and get rich?" Jia said plainly.
Mu Anxiao glanced at Jia, who was speaking with such bluntness, and was speechless for a moment. "Could it be... you've been observing us all along?"
In less than a year, Mu Anxiao and Jia had done many unimaginable things together, yet they had been completely unaware of the boy's existence. Now the boy claimed to know them.
This thought sent a shiver down Mu Anxiao's spine.
"Yes, but secretly."
"Secretly," Mu Anxiao echoed, her gaze towards the boy becoming wary. "Then why didn't you show yourself?"
"I thought you were difficult to get along with and never dared. Now it seems," the boy smiled, "I was overthinking."
"..." Mu Anxiao's lips twitched.
"Why do you want to be friends with her?" Jia asked.
Hearing Jia's question, the boy sighed softly and said, "To be honest, I haven't had a friend for a very long time. Ever since I became an immortal, I've been lonely until now."
Mu Anxiao: "Don't you have a master?"
"Master," the boy chuckled. "I am a cultivator. After becoming an immortal, my master stopped looking after me. To be honest, she is my junior sister." He pointed at the woman in the green dress.
Mu Anxiao was shocked. "She's your junior sister?" Saying this, she glanced sideways at the green-dressed woman lying there.
"Yes. I wanted to talk to them at first, but as I approached them, I discovered they had been poisoned. However," the boy said, "I don't know how to cure it."
"..." Mu Anxiao heard the story in the boy's words and fell silent.
Conversely, Jia asked, "Why did you transform into me?"
"I've been observing you all along, from when you became tense and revealed yourself," the boy looked at Jia. "Honestly, what you said before was quite reliable, and I agreed. But then you suddenly said you wanted to kill my junior sister. From that point on, I felt you were unreliable."
"You..."
"Let me finish," the boy interrupted, his gaze firm. "That's how it is. I decided to transform into you to prevent you from harming my junior sister and my friend." He glanced at Mu Anxiao.
Mu Anxiao took half a step back. "I'm not your friend."
"I think you are, so you are," the boy said, looking at Mu Anxiao, then back at Jia. "But now, I believe you."
"Why do you believe me now?" Jia asked, confused.
The boy said lightly, "Because I saw your weakness."
"..." Jia was speechless.
The boy explained, "Only your weakness can show that you are meticulous in your actions. Therefore, I believe you." He stared sincerely at Jia.
Jia gave a dry laugh. "Your logic is truly bizarre." He then looked at Mu Anxiao.