At this moment, Mu Anxiao's thoughts were completely in disarray.
It had only been less than a year, and Feng Qishi's personality had become like this. This made Mu Anxiao feel bewildered, and even made her doubt whether the person in front of her was actually Feng Qishi.
Or perhaps, Shen Moyun was impersonating Feng Qishi.
In short, she didn't know how to face him.
"..." Her eyes darted away.
Jia, looking at Feng Qishi, who had undergone a tremendous change, and then at Mu Anxiao, who couldn't believe it was real, said, "I don't believe you are Feng Qishi. Tell me, are you a monster? Don't you dare..."
"Jia, very few people know that you came here from the mortal world," Feng Qishi interrupted Jia.
In less than a year, Feng Qishi had experienced a lot. From accepting Mu Anxiao's 'death' to waiting for Mu Anxiao's rebirth, he had prepared himself to meet Mu Anxiao again. He had even decided to marry her once she woke up.
However, fate is unpredictable. The moment Mu Anxiao closed her eyes, his name in the mortal realm was changed to Shen Moyun.
This name was given to him by the old gentleman, who hoped he could start anew and embrace a new life, just like Mu Anxiao.
From then on, he stumbled into Jincheng, became a descendant of 'Shen Yan' in a daze, and became a small soldier.
In less than a year, too many things had happened to him. Since he entered the battlefield and began to experience life and death, he was no longer the person he used to be. Those pains were deeply buried in his heart.
From then on, he was afraid of losing.
And all this had only happened for three months.
Three months ago, he was still the Feng Qishi of the past. Three months later, he had become like this, but he didn't feel anything was wrong. He even believed that this was his true self.
Jia paused.
Conversely, Mu Anxiao, looking at the Feng Qishi who now had a story, and thinking about what he had said to Jia, let out a inexplicable laugh, "Shen Moyun, alright, I'll call you that from now on."
"..." Feng Qishi's heart skipped a beat.
Mu Anxiao didn't want to pry into Feng Qishi's privacy. She got straight to the point: "Since you could carry me out, you must know that I have something to do."
"I advise you not to provoke the one in the palace," Feng Qishi said suddenly.
Mu Anxiao frowned, "You know what I'm talking about."
"I do. You can ask me for help with anything, but not this," Feng Qishi said with a determined gaze. "Mu fool, you..."
"Since we've started over, don't call me Mu fool anymore, because," Mu Anxiao said, "we're not familiar with each other."
Feng Qishi's eyes darkened, and he nodded, "Alright, Mu Anxiao, I know you sensed the demonic energy in the carriage, but that demonic soul is not something you can handle."
"You look down on me."
"I don't look down on you," Feng Qishi said with a serious expression, "it's that you're simply incapable."
"Don't I have you? I think your magic should be quite powerful," Mu Anxiao smiled.
Feng Qishi averted his gaze and continued in a deep voice, "I'm not powerful."
"I don't care. You said that if I needed anything, you would help me."
"I thought you would refuse."
"Why would I refuse? I'm currently worried about not having anyone to help me," Mu Anxiao continued to smile, "and you've come. Naturally, I have to seize this opportunity."
"Mu Anxiao, didn't you used to hate it when I helped you? Now..."
"You've changed, and naturally, I've changed too," Mu Anxiao interrupted, taking a deep breath. "Forget it. Since you won't help me, I'll let Jia help me. Anyway, whether you're here or not doesn't matter." She glanced at Jia.
Upon hearing this, Jia straightened his back, looked up at Feng Qishi, and said, "I can help her."
"..." Feng Qishi looked down at Jia and sneered, "The mortal world has its rules. Not everything can be solved with magic."
"If it's not solved with magic, then tell me, what should I use?" Jia retorted.
"Use your brain," Feng Qishi said, then looked up at Mu Anxiao again. "In any case, I won't let you enter the palace."
"Why?"
"The people in the palace are much more terrifying than the people in the Mu manor. If you go in, I can say," Feng Qishi met Mu Anxiao's eyes tightly, "you'll never be able to get out."
"I am an immortal..."
"They have people who can deal with immortals," Feng Qishi interrupted.
Mu Anxiao's eyes darkened. "What do you mean by that?"
"Some things are better for you to know less about. As long as you don't go into the palace, I'll help you with anything."
"You'll help me with everything, really?"
"You won't go into the palace then."
"Mm, temporarily..."
"Then I won't help you."
"You..."
"Put on your veil, and stop harming those soldiers. The soldiers who were hung up a few days ago have all fallen ill," Feng Qishi's eyes were cold. "This is all your fault."
"What?"
"I don't believe you didn't hear me."
Mu Anxiao was stunned. "How is it all my fault? They provoked me first. Besides, I didn't set those rules. Those rules were set by Mu Gui. Why are you blaming me?" she said, feeling wronged.
Feng Qishi: "Those people are all my people. If I find them hung on the city wall again, you'll be in trouble." He pointed at Mu Anxiao.
Mu Anxiao's expression froze. Just as she was about to explain, Feng Qishi turned and walked away. Then, her gaze followed Feng Qishi's figure, and she shouted, "They insisted on me taking off my veil. Why is it all my fault?" With that, she took a breath, looked down at Jia, who was looking up at her, and remained silent.
Jia: "I think Feng Qishi is too much."
"Who knows what's gotten into him," Mu Anxiao said, glaring in the direction Feng Qishi had gone, and casually spread out her veil, putting it on.
Jia was shocked. "You're actually listening to him."
"He is the general of Jincheng now, and I am just an unknown young lady from the Mu manor. If I offend him, it will do me no good." Saying this, Mu Anxiao walked away.
The next moment, Mu Anxiao stopped again in front of the dilapidated temple where she had been, confused. "What's going on?" She looked down at Jia.
Jia looked around the surroundings and said, "This is not right."
"What's not right?"
"This place is..." Jia, based on his experience, looked up and scanned the surroundings, saying, "Everything around here is an illusion."
"An illusion?"
"Yes," Jia said, and after thinking about the journey with Feng Qishi, he exclaimed, "I remember."
Mu Anxiao was startled. "Stop being so jumpy. What do you remember?"
Jia: "On the way just now, there wasn't a single person. Not only that, but a gust of wind suddenly blew. I was wondering what was happening. It turns out..." He gave a dry laugh. "I fell into his trap."
"Trap..." Mu Anxiao repeated, turning around and looking at the gradually illusory scenery around them, shouting, "Feng Qishi, where are you? Come out and show yourself."
Hearing this, Jia gently tugged Mu Anxiao's sleeve and said, "This is not right."
"..." Mu Anxiao frowned and looked down at Jia. "What's not right?"
"His name is Shen Moyun now. If you call him that, he definitely won't respond."
"Then what should I call him?" Mu Anxiao retorted, and after a moment's thought, said, "Shen Moyun?"
"Yes," Jia nodded.
Mu Anxiao put on an expression of disdain. "Shen Moyun, it sounds really unpleasant. I'm more true to my origins. I still call myself Mu Anxiao after coming here, but he, upon arriving in a new place, changes his name. It's really..."
"It wasn't his choice, was it?" Jia interrupted, looking at the displeased Mu Anxiao cautiously.
Hearing this, Mu Anxiao looked down at Jia, who was speaking for Feng Qishi, and said with annoyance, "He's talking about me, which means he's talking about you. Don't you understand that?"
"I..."
"You are mine. You are not allowed to speak up for him," Mu Anxiao said, then directly pulled off her veil. "It's so stuffy."
"Why did you take it off?" Jia asked, confused.
Mu Anxiao looked down. "Are you stupid? We're already in his trap. Wearing this thing is meaningless."
"Oh, that makes sense." Jia nodded foolishly.
Mu Anxiao curled her lips, turned, and looked at the dilapidated temple with its closed door. "Hey, let's go in and take a look." As she said this, she glanced down at Jia.
Jia: "What could be inside? Those things are definitely illusions."
"Not necessarily," Mu Anxiao shook her head slightly and walked towards the dilapidated temple.
Jia became apprehensive. "You go by yourself, I'm not going."
"You're an Yin Messenger, and you're scared? Look at your nerve."
"I'm still a child."
"You're an adult with a child's body."
"I'm not, I'm just a child," Jia retorted, then ran to Mu Anxiao's back and casually grabbed her sleeve.
Mu Anxiao: "You're still scared." She looked down at Jia's small hand.
Jia braced himself. "I'm not scared, I'm just protecting you."
"Protecting me? Alright then," Mu Anxiao said, then pulled away the hand Jia was using to hold her sleeve. "You go first."
"You..." Uttering a syllable, Jia peeked towards the dilapidated temple and his eyes widened.
Seeing this, Mu Anxiao looked back. The door of the dilapidated temple creaked open with a bang, and then gusts of wind came from inside. Listening to the sound, Mu Anxiao swallowed, and with a brave face, said, "What's there to be afraid of? It's just wind..."
Mid-sentence, a man's voice suddenly came out: "Give me back my life! Give me back my life!"
Hearing the voice, Mu Anxiao's eyes gradually widened. However, even so, she still walked closer to the dilapidated temple.
At the same time, the man's voice suddenly disappeared.
Mu Anxiao was about to relax when a man dressed in white, with his hair disheveled, suddenly rushed out of the dilapidated temple.
Jia screamed and ran away.
Conversely, Mu Anxiao stopped, ignoring Jia's escape, and closed her eyes.
Immediately, the man stopped in front of Mu Anxiao and remained silent.
Mu Anxiao deeply felt the chilling aura emanating from the man, swallowed, and continued to brace herself, slowly opening her eyes to look at the man whose face was hidden by his hair. "Who are you?" she said. Looking again, she saw that the man's white clothes were covered in bloodstains.
The man remained silent.
Mu Anxiao took half a step back. "You..."
"Go to hell." The man said in a layered voice and suddenly struck out with his palm, hitting Mu Anxiao squarely on the shoulder.
The next second, Mu Anxiao, completely caught off guard, stumbled back a few steps and fell onto the ground.
Jia, hiding behind a tree, watched Mu Anxiao, who had been knocked down, and muttered, "She doesn't even have basic reaction skills anymore, no way."
In the past, no matter the circumstances, if Mu Anxiao was attacked, she could easily dodge it. But now, she was so easily defeated.
Seeing this, Jia was shocked.
Similarly, Mu Anxiao was also frightened by her own sluggish reaction, and then, she looked at the man with a horrified expression, unable to utter a word. "..."
The man paused in place, shook his head a couple of times, and then disappeared in a blue light.
Seeing this, Mu Anxiao's eyes widened. "It's you." Saying this, she looked up and saw Feng Qishi standing steadily on the rooftop.
"As long as you sincerely promise me not to go into the palace, I will let you leave here immediately."
"I won't," Mu Anxiao said firmly.
"You won't," Feng Qishi said, clasped his hands behind his back, flew down, and landed in front of Mu Anxiao. "Look at yourself, you don't even have basic reaction skills now, and you still want to go to the palace to catch that demonic soul. If you ask me, you should just be a well-behaved young lady of the Mu manor."
"Be well-behaved... Feng Qishi, what do you mean by that?" Mu Anxiao stood up.
"Figure it out yourself."
"You're clearly saying I'm not behaving properly. I understand," Mu Anxiao sneered. "Did Mu Gui say something to you? Did he say I was meeting men in secret, that I was not reserved? Hmph, I knew it. Those people just talk nonsense and like to bully me."
"..."
"Now even you are like this. Fine. In the future, don't let me see you, Feng Qi... no, Shen Moyun." Mu Anxiao glared at Feng Qishi, her eyes filled with dislike for him.
Feng Qishi looked at Mu Anxiao's agitated expression and said calmly, "Your father said that about you, but I don't believe it. I just don't want you to go now for your own good. Do you really want to experience death again?" As he spoke, he met Mu Anxiao's eyes.
Mu Anxiao: "I won't die."
"You will."
"I won't!" Mu Anxiao shouted, gritting her teeth. "Shen Moyun, I don't need your help. Now, let me out, or don't blame me for being rude to you."
"Just you, without even recovering your magic, you still want to..."
"My magic has already recovered," Mu Anxiao interrupted, extending her hand and conjuring a ball of blue light. "If you don't let me go, I'll deal with you first."
"Are you going to kill me?"
Mu Anxiao snorted. "Kill you? Of course, I won't kill you. I just want you to get out of my world." Saying this, she suddenly attacked.
Feng Qishi quickly dodged it.
Seeing this, Jia quickly shouted, "Mu Anxiao, you can use your magic to break the illusion. Don't waste it!"
Hearing this, Mu Anxiao stopped her actions, replied, "That makes sense," and then tilted her head, beginning to look for a breakthrough.
Feng Qishi said coldly, "You won't find it."