"We can't just keep wandering around here, can we?" Jia tugged at Mu Anxiao's sleeve and whispered.
"If he doesn't leave, we'll keep wandering," Mu Anxiao replied in a low voice, shaking off Jia's hand and walking towards the bamboo basket with rotten vegetables in front of them.
Jia frowned slightly and looked down at his hand, which Mu Anxiao had 'ruthlessly' pushed away. He murmured, "Has this guy been driven mad by Ouyang Ye?" With that, he, along with Soul Spirit and Gu Tie, walked towards Mu Anxiao.
Just then, Ouyang Ye, who had been following them for a while, stopped. He watched Mu Anxiao bend down to rummage through the rotten vegetables in the bamboo basket, then walked to where the three of them stood. "Mu Anxiao, what exactly are you doing now?"
"What am I doing has nothing to do with you," Mu Anxiao said. She picked up a rotten vegetable leaf, straightened up, and turned to face Ouyang Ye. "If you think it's dirty, then leave."
"I don't think you're dirty, I just..."
"It's not about thinking I'm dirty," Mu Anxiao interrupted, directly throwing the rotten vegetable leaf onto Ouyang Ye's face.
Gu Tie and the others, witnessing this scene, flinched and took a step back.
Then, Ouyang Ye's expression froze. He slowly looked down at the rotten vegetable leaf on the ground and smiled. "Mu Anxiao, I understand now." He wiped the dirty water from his forehead with his hand and then stared at Mu Anxiao.
Mu Anxiao shrugged her shoulders.
Ouyang Ye smiled down. "Alright, I know you hate me, and you want to vent. Vent as much as you want. I..."
"I don't hate you at all. I just feel," Mu Anxiao cut him off, giving him a faint smile, "you're making me unhappy."
"What do you mean?" Ouyang Ye countered.
"As the saying goes, if you make me unhappy, I won't let you be happy either," Mu Anxiao said, glancing behind Ouyang Ye. She continued, "Oh, your capable assistant Gu Yan is gone."
"..." Ouyang Ye's gaze fixed on Mu Anxiao's face.
Conversely, Mu Anxiao withdrew her gaze and calmly looked at Ouyang Ye, who was staring intently at her. She said coldly, "If I'm not mistaken, Gu Yan should have gone to find reinforcements."
"...What makes you say that?" Ouyang Ye suddenly felt a flicker of curiosity about Mu Anxiao's thoughts.
Mu Anxiao smiled faintly. "I'm just saying what I want to say, when I want to say it." After speaking, she turned around and continued to search for rotten vegetable leaves in the bamboo basket.
Ouyang Ye, however, was unbothered. Instead, he became thoroughly curious about Mu Anxiao's behavior. "Since you can say whatever you want, then say everything you want to say now, alright?"
"Scram," Mu Anxiao uttered a single word.
Ouyang Ye's face stiffened upon hearing this. "Aren't you afraid that because of those words, I'll go find Feng Qi Shi..."
"You can go find whomever you want, kill whomever you want. What does it have to do with me?" Mu Anxiao said, directly stuffing the rotten vegetable leaves she held into a sack.
Soul Spirit and Jia felt a strange sensation upon hearing Mu Anxiao's words.
Subsequently, at the moment Mu Anxiao spoke, Ouyang Ye shifted his gaze to the three of them. "You said that."
Gu Tie froze.
"I said it," Mu Anxiao replied, tossing two more rotten leaves into the sack before turning to face Ouyang Ye, who was staring at the three of them. "So now you're threatening me."
Upon hearing this, Ouyang Ye turned back to Mu Anxiao. "If they..."
"Gu Yan was your capable assistant, yet you killed her. If I'm not mistaken, after you ruthlessly dealt with the subordinates involved in that incident last year, you must have felt very lonely for a long time. And that kind of loneliness," Mu Anxiao said, patting the sack, "must have been completely different from ordinary loneliness, right?"
"..." Ouyang Ye narrowed his eyes.
Previously, Mu Anxiao had constantly been threatened by Ouyang Ye. These threats allowed her to understand his nature but prevented her from truly seeing through all his schemes. Therefore, she decided to overcome this fear of being threatened. First and foremost, she needed to trust the abilities of Soul Spirit and the others.
Although her heart was already pounding with anxiety, she forced herself to remain calm.
"It seems I've hit a nerve," she said coldly.
Ouyang Ye, upon hearing Mu Anxiao's words, did not get angry. Instead, he smiled.
Seeing this, Mu Anxiao remained expressionless, maintaining her composure.
"Your words make it sound like you know me very well," Ouyang Ye said, chuckling.
Mu Anxiao shook her head slightly. "No, I don't know you at all."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Of course, I used to think I knew you very well, so well... that I could expose all your schemes. But," Mu Anxiao said, "after the Gu Yan incident, I realized I was wrong. I truly don't understand you."
"You..."
"You claim to love me, yet you don't trust me," Mu Anxiao sneered. "Based on this alone, I can see a part of you clearly."
"What do you mean?"
"You simply don't understand what love is," Mu Anxiao stated calmly, glancing at Soul Spirit and the others. "You're not going to kill them now, are you?"
Soul Spirit and the others flinched and took two steps back upon hearing Mu Anxiao's words.
"If I make a move now, you really... won't feel anything."
"Feelings," Mu Anxiao said, smiling down. "There will be feelings, but they'll only be fleeting."
"Mu Anxiao, are you crazy?" Jia was thoroughly startled by Mu Anxiao.
"Let's see how long you can keep this up," Ouyang Ye said, pointing at Gu Tie.
Gu Tie's eyes widened in fear upon seeing this.
Then, Mu Anxiao continued to look at Ouyang Ye expressionlessly. "If you dare, I will shatter all the vengeful spirits inside here. At that time," she chuckled, "what do you think the monsters outside the city, in the ruined temple, will think."
"..." Ouyang Ye was taken aback by Mu Anxiao's tactic, his face filled with surprise.
Mu Anxiao's lips curled. "Oh, I forgot. You're used to loneliness, so you don't fear it. In that case, I'll just..." She paused, lifting the sack.
Ouyang Ye frowned. "Mu Anxiao, what exactly do you want?" He suddenly couldn't understand Mu Anxiao anymore.
Mu Anxiao's smile widened, deliberately avoiding Ouyang Ye's question.
Ouyang Ye said coldly, "Mu Anxiao, you're playing mind games with me."
"It's not me playing mind games with you, it's you playing them with me, if anything," Mu Anxiao replied, glancing at the hand Ouyang Ye had pointed at Gu Tie. "I am Gu Tie's master. Whatever means you use to harm her, I will use the same means to harm your subordinates. Try me if you don't believe me."