"She was looking at us just now," said the ragged man excitedly.
"Yes, why is she here?" the man in black asked, puzzled.
"I don't know." As the ragged man shook his head, Mu Anxiao coughed twice, waking up.
At the same time, the man in black happened to look at Mu Anxiao and said, "You're awake."
"Wolf demon," Mu Anxiao glanced at the ragged man. "I knew there was a familiar demonic aura, turns out it's really you." She ignored the man who had spoken.
"You're still alive," the wolf demon chuckled.
Mu Anxiao raised her hand to push aside her hair, ignoring the wolf demon, and stood up. "I really didn't expect that guy to be so strong. If it weren't for your dagger, I would have lost my life." She muttered to herself. She put away the dagger and looked at the man in black.
"You don't recognize me," he said plaintively.
Mu Anxiao frowned. "Who are you? You..." Before she could finish, he transformed into a vine. Mu Anxiao exclaimed in surprise, "Vine spirit!"
"It's me," the vine spirit said, turning back into human form.
"You two... what's going on?" Mu Anxiao looked at the vine spirit and the wolf demon in disbelief and asked with a laugh.
The vine spirit, unconvinced, said, "What are you laughing at?"
"A wolf demon, a vine spirit. You two were so mighty back then, but now you've become so pathetic. It's truly... miraculous," Mu Anxiao paused for a moment before continuing.
"We saved you," the wolf demon quickly said.
Mu Anxiao smiled. "Thanks."
"That's it? No further expression?" the wolf demon raised an eyebrow.
Mu Anxiao sighed. "What expression? I still have a mess of things to deal with." She looked at both the vine spirit and the wolf demon. "How did you two end up together?"
"After that incident, I could no longer commit evil. So, when I didn't know what to do, a demon found me and said the demon realm wanted to reuse me. I thought about it and followed him. Who knew that as soon as I arrived here, they made me compete with other demons, and I ended up losing, becoming like this in the end." He finished with several sighs.
"Is that so?" Mu Anxiao nodded and, as she looked at the vine spirit, remembered Ouyang Ye slaughtering those demons. She asked, "Did you escape?"
"Mm, Ouyang Ye... is truly ruthless," the vine spirit said, his eyes losing focus.
"At least you're still alive," Mu Anxiao offered as comfort.
The vine spirit pouted. "Mu Anxiao, I never looked up to you. But this time," he spread his arms, "I suddenly feel like seeing you is like seeing family." He then moved to embrace Mu Anxiao.
Seeing this, Mu Anxiao quickly dodged.
The vine spirit embraced empty air.
The wolf demon crossed his arms. "Why are you with Ouyang Ye?" he suddenly recalled everything he had witnessed.
"Don't you have sharp ears? Couldn't you hear my conversation with him?" Mu Anxiao said, looking down at her wet clothes with a tsks. "This is so uncomfortable."
"This place is under a barrier set by Ouyang Ye, so we couldn't hear your conversation," the vine spirit said, spreading his hands and conjuring a bundle. "I have a change of clothes here, you can change into them."
"You're not playing a trick on me, are you?" Mu Anxiao remained wary of the vine spirit.
The vine spirit looked speechless for a moment. "I'm not the me who wanted to become a demon anymore. Now I just want to be captured by you. You..."
"Anyone can say nice things. Stop pretending," Mu Anxiao said, taking the bundle. "Besides, I believe you wouldn't dare trick me." With that, she turned and walked towards the bushes.
The vine spirit and the wolf demon turned their backs at the same time Mu Anxiao walked towards the bushes.
Not long after, Mu Anxiao emerged from the bushes. She looked down at her tattered clothes and said faintly, "It's been a long time since I wore beggar's clothes. Putting them on again has brought back memories from before I met you two." As she spoke, she tidied her clothes and walked over to them.
The wolf demon gave a dry chuckle. "Let's not bring up the past."
"Exactly. A brave man doesn't boast about his past achievements. You don't need to mention it," the vine spirit said with a playful grin.
Mu Anxiao looked at the two fellows who had always been frustrated and never succeeded, and chuckled ungraciously. "Speaking of which, everything started because of you two, but it also seems like it has nothing to do with you two," she said, shaking her head with a smile. "It's truly wondrous."
"If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have become an immortal," the wolf demon said, bracing himself.
"Yes," Mu Anxiao's face turned serious again. "If it weren't for you, Shen Yan and I wouldn't have developed our relationship that way, and Shen Yan wouldn't have died. If Shen Yan hadn't died, I could have become an immortal with my own abilities. That way, my spiritual energy wouldn't be so unstable. It's all because of you, you've caused me..."
"Stop, I know I was wrong," the wolf demon couldn't stand it anymore.
After hearing Mu Anxiao's summary, the vine spirit dared not say another word.
After a moment, Mu Anxiao stared at the wolf demon for a while and said, "Wolf demon, as long as you promise me not to do evil deeds anymore, I will forgive you." She had actually forgiven him long ago; this was just to give him an out.
The wolf demon laughed upon hearing this. "I swear, I will definitely mend my ways."
"I believe you," Mu Anxiao smiled faintly and turned to look at the forest. "You two, come with me."
"Where are we going?" the wolf demon asked curiously.
"I'm not familiar with the roads here. You two should be familiar, right?" Mu Anxiao said, seeing how foolish the wolf demon was, and revealed her true intentions.
The vine spirit smiled. "So you were afraid of getting lost."
"Don't say that, we're very familiar with this place," the wolf demon said, running up to Mu Anxiao.
"That's good, let's go," Mu Anxiao said, turning around.
Then, the wolf demon and the vine spirit ran forward and began to lead the way.
After walking for an unknown amount of time, Mu Anxiao could no longer walk. "Wait a moment, you two." Saying that, she sat on a vine branch.
Upon hearing this, the vine spirit and the wolf demon turned to look at Mu Anxiao simultaneously, their brows furrowed. "What kind of stamina do you have?" the wolf demon said.
The vine spirit agreed, "Indeed. You weren't like this before."
"I'm tired, I'm just tired," Mu Anxiao said, placing two fingers on her wrist... She finally felt the spiritual energy.
Seeing this, the vine spirit looked puzzled. "What are you doing?"
"Taking my pulse," Mu Anxiao lied, heaving a sigh of relief.
The vine spirit chuckled. "You really love yourself." Saying that, he turned and looked at the distant palace. "Mu Anxiao, that palace is huge."
"Palace? What palace?" Mu Anxiao asked, looking up at the back of the vine spirit's head.
The wolf demon crossed his arms. "Ouyang Ye's palace, of course."
"He has a palace?" Mu Anxiao was surprised, stood up quickly, and followed the vine spirit's gaze... She was stunned.