Jia reminded Mu Anxiao cautiously, not wanting Mai Liang to notice the short blade he had hidden after seeing her hand. Little did he know, his perceived seamlessness was completely shattered by a single sentence from Mu Anxiao. Looking up at Mu Anxiao, only helplessness remained on his face.
On the contrary, Mai Liang was not at all frightened by Mu Anxiao's unmasking. She continued to look at Mu Anxiao, who had spoken these words, with a calm face and said, "I'm not hiding anything."
"Not hiding anything," Mu Anxiao said. She had long anticipated that since Mai Liang was prepared, she must have a way to deal with her. So she paused intentionally before saying, "Oh? If I remember correctly, you didn't use to keep your hands behind your back, did you?"
"We're not close," Mai Liang said with a faint smile.
"We're not close, but I've noticed all your habits," Mu Anxiao said, playing along perfectly with Mai Liang.
However, Mai Liang had not expected Mu Anxiao to act this way. In other words, she thought Mu Anxiao, upon discovering the hidden weapon, would forcefully expose her like the Madame of the Mu Mansion. She never imagined that Mu Anxiao, instead of exposing her, would patiently converse with her.
Thinking about it, she suddenly felt that doing this was indeed a bit... too unconscionable.
But, considering Mai Xia's life and death, she quickly dismissed her superfluous thoughts and said coldly, "You sure know how to act."
"..." Mu Anxiao knew Mai Liang wouldn't be so easy to deal with, so she deliberately fell silent.
Thus, the two of them stared at each other, motionless, without saying a word. Jia also stood still. Glancing at both Mu Anxiao and Mai Liang, who had simultaneously fallen silent, he couldn't help but yawn. Then he turned his head and said quickly, "Mu Anxiao, look."
"..." Mu Anxiao frowned, slowly turned her head to look at Jia's face, and said softly, "What are you looking at? You'd better shut up."
Just then, Mai Liang took the opportunity to take out the short blade hidden behind her and slowly approached Mu Anxiao.
"Look," Jia urged forcefully.
"Look... what am I looking at?" Mu Anxiao said, frowning as she followed Jia's gaze towards the alley entrance leading this way. In that instant, a blue light flashed before her eyes. Because the light was too dazzling, Mu Anxiao couldn't help but close her eyes.
At the same time, the sound of the short blade hitting the ground reached the ears of Mu Anxiao and Jia.
"No way," Jia said, quickly poking his head to look behind Mu Anxiao. Mai Liang had already been knocked to the ground by the sudden blue light.
Immediately afterward, Feng Qishi, who had blocked the short blade for Mu Anxiao, spoke, "Mu Anxiao, you're too stupid."
Hearing this, Mu Anxiao slightly shook her head, opened her eyes, and looked again at Feng Qishi, who was walking towards them. She said coldly, "Why are you here?"
"King Jin heard that something had happened here and sent me to check on the safety of these common people. I didn't expect to see you here. What an unfortunate coincidence."
"You say, King Jin?" Mu Anxiao asked, realizing... Feng Qishi seemed off.
At this moment, Jia, without time to greet Feng Qishi, hurried around Mu Anxiao, bent down, and picked up the short blade just as Mai Liang was about to reach for it.
Seeing this, Mai Liang lowered her hand, tilted her head, and stared at Jia. "Give it to me," she said weakly.
"Yes," Feng Qishi replied perfunctorily, turning back to look at the still unyielding Mai Liang and smiling, "You have quite the nerve."
"Shen Moyun, this has nothing to do with you."
"How do you know my name?" Feng Qishi asked in surprise.
Mu Anxiao frowned at Feng Qishi's strange behavior.
Mai Liang also frowned.
Then, Feng Qishi said again, "You recognize me? I..."
"You said you took on Mai Xia's case, but all you did was wander around the prison, neglecting your duties. Now you pretend not to know me, Shen Moyun, you've gone too far." Mai Liang said, pushing herself up with effort.
Feng Qishi frowned slightly, "I really don't rec..." Before he could finish, Mu Anxiao stepped forward and grabbed his arm. He then looked down at Mu Anxiao, who had suddenly grabbed him, and asked, "What are you doing?"
"I have something to tell you." Mu Anxiao sensed something was wrong and pulled Feng Qishi away.
Mai Liang was stunned by this scene.
Conversely, after Mu Anxiao and Feng Qishi walked away, Jia reached out and grabbed Mai Liang's arm, saying coldly, "You won't escape. If you dare to escape, I will make you regret it."
Hearing this, Mai Liang reluctantly withdrew her gaze from their retreating figures, lowered her head, and looked at Jia. "You think you can subdue me?"
"What are you talking about? Shall we try?" Jia said, deliberately raising his other hand, which was emitting a blue glow. "Do you know what this spell is?"
Mai Liang's eyes darkened. "What do you want?"
"This is the Spell of Endless Suffering. It only needs to be cast on a demon like you," Jia said, a smirk playing on his lips, "and you'll immediately feel like your soul is scattered. If you're lucky, you'll be fine. If you're unlucky, it'll come true." After saying this, he moved that hand towards Mai Liang.
Seeing this, Mai Liang's eyes widened. "No." She tensed, her voice hoarse.
"Still dare to be arrogant?" Jia asked pointedly, stopping his movement.
Mai Liang shook her head.
Jia liked Mai Liang's reaction. He then smirked, withdrew his spell, and said softly, "Mu Anxiao is not as easy to kill as you think." After saying this, he glanced in the direction Mu Anxiao had gone and narrowed his eyes.
After Jia's reminder, Mai Liang felt uncertain.
Over there.
As soon as Mu Anxiao stopped walking, she let go of Feng Qishi's arm and asked, "Who exactly are you?"
"I am..."
"Don't lie to me. The moment you spoke, you exposed yourself. Tell me," Mu Anxiao's gaze was sharp, "who exactly are you?"
"Mu Anxiao, I didn't expect you to know my senior brother so well."
"You are Shen Lü."
"Yes." Shen Lü, still using Feng Qishi's face, nodded in response.
Mu Anxiao looked at Shen Lü, who answered truthfully, and then glanced back at Jia and Mai Liang not far behind. She said softly, "Why did you turn into..." She stared at Shen Lü's face, unaccustomed to it, and said, "Into your senior brother's appearance? And, shouldn't you be at the General's Mansion? How did you end up in the palace?"
"When I returned, my senior brother was just summoned by King Jin. But my senior brother was worried about you, so he had me transform into his likeness and go to the palace in his stead. Understand?"
"Didn't King Jin suspect anything?" Mu Anxiao asked, surprised.