"She deceived you?" Hun Ling looked at Xie Shou's aggrieved expression, thinking of Mu An Xiao's usual steadfastness, and shook his head, "No."
"I said she deceived me, so what are you saying no to?" Xie Shou became impatient.
Hun Ling disliked Xie Shou's attitude towards him and clicked his tongue, saying, "Mu An Xiao isn't that kind of person, I know."
"If she isn't that kind of person, fine, then tell me, what kind of person is she?" Xie Shou was unhappy with Hun Ling speaking up for Mu An Xiao, he raised his chin to show his defiance.
"What she promises, she will definitely do," Hun Ling said with conviction.
"You keep your word, alright, then you analyze this for me. She said she'd help find a coachman and told me to wait for her news at the temple, but what was the result? She never came back. That's beside the point, she came here to have fun, truly..."
"Wait." Hun Ling heard something.
Xie Shou frowned, "What do you want me to wait for? Now I'll say it. If I've uttered half a lie, may lightning strike me." He pointed to the sky.
Hun Ling paid no attention to this. Instead, he remembered Gu Yan who had come with him just now, and also the fact that the coachman had been found. Then he seemed to understand something. "It looks like you don't know about that matter." He deliberately piqued Xie Shou's curiosity.
Xie Shou was confused by Hun Ling's words, "What matter are you talking about?"
"The coachman was found, but..." Before he finished speaking, Hun Ling's expression froze, and he quickly moved away from the city wall behind him. "..."
Seeing this, Xie Shou's nerves were instantly on edge, "What are you doing?"
"Demonic energy," Hun Ling said simply.
Xie Shou laughed, "That demonic energy must be emanating from me. Look how nervous you are."
"It's not from you," Hun Ling said faintly, looking up at the changing sky, and uttered a word, "Look."
Immediately, Xie Shou, following Hun Ling's words, slowly tilted his head back and looked up, his eyes widening, "What is that?" He saw the dark clouds gradually gathering into a mass and became nervous.
"There's more than meets the eye," Hun Ling summarized simply.
"More than meets the eye?" Xie Shou repeated, his gaze returning from the mass of dark clouds to Hun Ling, who had suddenly spoken. "What do you mean by that?"
"Can't you see for yourself?" Hun Ling crossed his arms and glanced at Xie Shou.
Xie Shou frowned at Hun Ling's relaxed expression, "Why are you so relaxed?"
"Those monsters aren't here for me, why should I be nervous?" Hun Ling said, tilting his head up and meeting Xie Shou's eyes. "I assume you also know about the situation in the city."
"What situation in the city?" Xie Shou came only to settle scores with Mu An Xiao, nothing else... He hadn't thought of anything. Hearing Hun Ling suddenly say this, he was a bit bewildered.
"Demonic energy is pervading, vengeful spirits are emerging, hmm..." Hun Ling nodded, "That's all."
"Where is Mu An Xiao?" Xie Shou became curious about Mu An Xiao's whereabouts.
Hun Ling smiled, "You're actually concerned about her now."
"I am not."
"Fine, whatever you say," Hun Ling said, raising an eyebrow, "You said just now that Mu An Xiao deceived you, right?"
"Yes," Xie Shou said firmly.
"And it was Ouyang Ye who gave you the task to find the coachman, right?" Hun Ling continued.
Xie Shou replied again, "Yes."
Then, Hun Ling scanned Xie Shou's utterly cowardly stance and said faintly, "Ouyang Ye is merciless."
"You... know your master quite well."
"Of course I do. If I'm not mistaken, his most trusted person is Gu Yan."
"No."
"What do you mean, no?" Hun Ling retorted.
Xie Shou thought for a moment and said, "Master's most trusted person should be Gu Yan."
Hun Ling heard this and laughed.
Xie Shou was completely confused, "No, what are you laughing at?" he asked, then he looked up again... The large mass of dark clouds had already drifted towards the city with the wind.
At the same time, Hun Ling followed Xie Shou's gaze towards the mass of dark clouds and said, "The vengeful spirits have been released."
"How do you know?"
"Those clouds hide soul-devouring monsters, but because of Ouyang Ye's demonic aura, they've restrained themselves a bit." Hun Ling accurately guessed the monsters' psychology.
Xie Shou laughed, "You're just making it up."
"There's no benefit for me to make up such things," Hun Ling said, and then fixed his gaze on Xie Shou's face, "Gu Yan was killed by Ouyang Ye."
"I know," Xie Shou replied in a low voice.
Hun Ling sneered, "Then you're quite amusing. Knowing this, why do you still say Ouyang Ye's most trusted person is her?"
"I wanted to," Xie Shou said, lowering his eyes.
Hun Ling looked at him, puzzled, "Are you sad for Gu Yan?"
"Yes, all of this..."
"All of this is Gu Yan's doing. She framed Gu Yan, and finally... Gu Yan was killed because of her."
"Nonsense," Xie Shou didn't believe him.
Hun Ling disliked Xie Shou's dismissive attitude, so he widened his already prominent eyes and said firmly, "I'm not talking nonsense. I saw it with my own eyes. If you don't believe me, come with me." Saying this, he turned and walked away first.
Xie Shou was startled, but he still followed Hun Ling.
In the city.
Jia, holding the silver rope, looked up at the mass of dark clouds above with Hong'er. "What is this?" Hong'er asked curiously.
"Don't you feel the demonic energy?" Jia shifted his gaze to Hong'er's face.
Hong'er heard this and immediately lowered her head to meet Jia's eyes, "What you're saying..." Before she could finish, she realized something was wrong and quickly looked up at the sky, only to find... dazzling red light emanating from the depths of the dark clouds. "Demonic energy," she muttered.
"Are you scared?" Jia said calmly.
"What's there to be scared of..."
"Survival of the fittest. I suspect they are here for those vengeful spirits. You," Jia interrupted, pointing at Hong'er, "your soul aura is particularly weak."
"What do you want to do?" Hong'er suddenly became afraid.
Jia smiled, "Don't be nervous. They have nothing to do with me. You just..." He glanced at Hong'er's attempt to escape and smiled again, "As long as you stay with me and don't run around, I guarantee you'll be fine."
"Really?" Hong'er gave up the thought of escaping after Jia said this.
Jia nodded.
Hong'er believed him, "Then if they come looking for me and want to kill me, will you protect me?"
"As long as the silver rope is in your hand," Jia pointed to the silver rope tied to Hong'er's wrist, "You'll be fine. Conversely, if you untie it, there will be big trouble."
"..." Hong'er's nerves tensed.
Then, Jia, seeing Hong'er's nervousness, curled his lips and continued, "So, staying by my side is more important than anything."