From the day he arrived, Jia harbored a prejudice against the spirits here. He had always refused to deal with them, and even when he did, he never looked them in the eye. He even enjoyed criticizing their appearances behind their backs. In his eyes, these spirits were superfluous beings, and he believed they would be utterly useless in times of danger.
Who would have thought that at this very moment, he would be saved by the very spirits he despised? He suddenly found himself speechless.
"..."
Seeing Jia's speechless expression, the spirit did not get angry. Instead, he smiled faintly. "Saved by a despised monster, do you feel particularly displeased?"
Jia was surprised that the spirit knew everything. Not only that, but the spirit had also voiced it so directly. Looking at him, Jia's face flushed red, and his existing embarrassment grew even more intense. "...." Under this feeling, he was even more at a loss for words.
"To be honest," the spirit was not reserved, looking at Jia, who was determined not to speak, he smiled, "we spirits all know you dislike us."
"You all know." Jia was astonished. He thought his bad words would never reach the spirits' ears, but unexpectedly... he had been too naive.
The spirit looked at Jia's surprised expression without surprise and smiled again. "Our duty is to eavesdrop, so of course, we know what you say." He said, and seeing Jia's stiff expression, he felt a surge of satisfaction. "You dislike us."
"You don't hate me." Jia said calmly.
The spirit smiled. "We have too much on our plate to hate anyone. Besides, you were a spirit in the past. Even though your appearance was normal, you were like us. If you scold us again in the future," he said, deliberately trying to scare Jia, "then don't blame us for not being polite."
"You're going to kill..."
"When you were a spirit, you also engaged in killing." The spirit knew what Jia was about to say.
Jia felt extremely embarrassed at the spirit's words. "I won't."
"Then that's right. We don't do such foolish things either. If you speak ill of us again," the spirit smiled, "I promise to use my methods to make you the same as us."
"You..."
"I always keep my word," the spirit said with a firm expression.
Jia was scared by the spirit's words. "I understand."
"It's good that you understand," the spirit said, glancing at Yang Pan'er, and continued, "By the way, don't worry, your silver rope was taken by Mu An Xiao."
"What does she want my silver rope for?" Jia became panicked.
Seeing Jia's agitated look, the spirit smiled helplessly. "It seems you have no idea how you were poisoned."
"I..." Jia, prompted by the spirit's words, tried to recall and shook his head. "I really don't remember."
"..." The spirit shook his head at Jia's bewildered expression and looked at Yang Pan'er. "Now, you can explain it to him."
Upon hearing this, Jia, reminded by the spirit, looked at Yang Pan'er and said with hatred, "It was you, as expected." As he spoke, he suddenly remembered Yang Pan'er's arrogant attitude when she broke free from the silver rope, and immediately frowned. "Strange, you are a demon spirit, how..."
"She is not a demon spirit," Lou Yi interrupted in a low voice.
Jia heard this, glanced at Lou Yi's face, then looked at Yang Pan'er, and said, "Wasn't she already..."
"That was just a trick of illusion. She is in league with Ouyang Ye, and this was all Ouyang Ye's conspiracy." Lou Yi interrupted Jia again, explaining seriously.
Then, at Lou Yi's prompting, Jia's gaze locked onto Yang Pan'er's face. "..." He was once again at a loss for words.
The spirit watched Jia's silent expression and then looked at Lou Yi, who was staring down at Jia, and smiled faintly. "Don't you feel like you've lost face?"
Jia nodded. He knew that denying it at this point was impossible.
Seeing Jia's honesty, the spirit stopped trying to scare him. He cleared his throat and continued, "Let me tell you some good news."
"What good news?" Jia felt a sense of comfort from the spirit's words.
"I have a task for you, but," the spirit said, still somewhat bothered by Jia's previous words, "before that, you must accept me."
"What do you mean?" Jia did not react immediately.
The spirit lowered his gaze and said, "It means, I am your partner."
"Partner." Jia appeared surprised.
Similarly, Lou Yi also showed a surprised expression. "That's not right."
Hearing this, the spirit looked at Lou Yi, whose reaction was even bigger than Jia's, and said, "This has nothing to do with you. Why are you so agitated?" He couldn't understand Lou Yi.
Lou Yi was agitated. "How does it have nothing to do with me? I am his partner now, and you just showed up." He thought of the help the spirit had given him earlier, and his emotions calmed down. "What am I?"
"You were nothing to begin with," Jia suddenly said.
Lou Yi was unhappy upon hearing this. "I am your partner."
"I didn't say you weren't his partner either." The spirit expressed helplessness at Lou Yi's jealous behavior.
Then, Lou Yi frowned. Just as he was about to ask Jia whom he would choose, Jia spoke, "Stop causing trouble." He then looked at the spirit. "Tell me, what is the task?"
Lou Yi instantly felt wronged.
This time, the spirit ignored Lou Yi and tilted his head, fixing his gaze on Yang Pan'er's face.
Immediately, Jia followed the spirit's gaze to Yang Pan'er's face and sneered, "That would be great."
Hearing Jia's words, Yang Pan'er was startled and took a step back. "You still want to capture me," she said, looking at the spirit.
The spirit said coldly, "Yang Pan'er, I am giving you a chance to redeem yourself. You should cherish it." Saying this, he glanced at Jia, who was glaring at Yang Pan'er. "Don't look at her like that. We'll split the reward for this task."
"Do you want to kill her, or shall I?" Jia said coldly, a desire for revenge stirring within him.
The spirit smiled at Jia's words.
Jia looked at him, utterly bewildered. "What are you smiling about?"
"You really are impatient."
"She almost cost me my life, which means she has harmed many others. Therefore," Jia continued to glare at Yang Pan'er, narrowing his eyes, "I must eliminate this scourge for the people."
"You are seeking personal vengeance," Lou Yi interjected.
Then, Yang Pan'er chimed in, "You cannot seek personal vengeance, or you will be punished." She was clearly intimidated by Jia.
Jia let out a cold snort. "Monster, you are the least qualified to speak," he said, then looked at the spirit. "Make your move, I'll guard the door for you." Saying this, he fixed his angry gaze on Yang Pan'er.