“What’s wrong?” Song Xi happened to look at Mu An Xiao’s face and asked.
Mu An Xiao shook her head and said, “Nothing’s wrong. Where is this place ahead?” She withdrew her gaze and looked at Song Xi, who had turned around.
“Sin Forest,” Song Xi stated concisely.
“Sin Forest,” Mu An Xiao repeated, glancing towards the woods again, and gave a dry laugh, “Another prison, huh.”
“Something like that. No monster that has come here has ever left, so stay close to me,” Song Xi said calmly.
Hearing this, the wolf demon couldn’t help but recall Song Xi’s earlier temperamental attitude about leaving, and blurted out, “If this place is so dangerous, why did you want to leave just now?”
“I was just trying to scare you. Why did you take it seriously?” Song Xi explained with a helpless expression.
“Can’t you be quiet?” Mu An Xiao was exasperated with the wolf demon.
“I…” The wolf demon flinched when Mu An Xiao spoke. “I’m just a straightforward little demon. Please be understanding.” He patted Mu An Xiao’s shoulder.
Mu An Xiao cast a sidelong glance at the wolf demon, then looked back at Song Xi and said, “Jiong Ye has already been locked up.”
“This… I can’t explain the specifics to you clearly. Just follow me,” Song Xi said nonchalantly.
Mu An Xiao frowned. “You can’t explain clearly, so why did you bring us here?” She suddenly lost some of her trust in Song Xi.
Song Xi pursed his lips. “I’m just following my wife’s orders and bringing you here. You… just follow me.” With that, he turned around with a dry laugh and walked away.
Seeing this, the wolf demon became suspicious. “He’s not going to harm you, is he?” He supported Mu An Xiao’s arm.
Mu An Xiao shook her head. “Probably not.” She said, glanced at the wolf demon, and then they stepped into the small grove together.
As the mist lifted, the demonic energy in the small grove was noticeably denser than outside. Looking around, Mu An Xiao was certain that the trees here could take human form at any moment. With that in mind, she deliberately slowed her pace. As for Song Xi… she didn’t pay him much attention, because she knew Ouyang Ye would never let her die in this place.
Conversely, the wolf demon paid attention to Mu An Xiao’s pace. “Why aren’t you keeping up with him? If we get separated, we’re finished.” He said, then poked his head out to look at Song Xi, who was obscured by the light fog ahead.
“Didn’t you dislike him looking down on you? Why are you… starting to rely on him now?” Mu An Xiao said deliberately.
The wolf demon tightened his grip on Mu An Xiao’s arm. “No, he told you to stay close, and I… I just remembered his words. After all,” his gaze never left Song Xi’s back, “we both value our lives.”
“I value my life, but I’m not afraid of death,” Mu An Xiao said, still looking to the sides…
Hearing Mu An Xiao say that, the wolf demon laughed. “What you said is like saying nothing.”
“You’d better say less, you’re so noisy,” Mu An Xiao said, pulling the wolf demon to a halt. (She sensed Jiong Ye’s demonic energy.)
The wolf demon startled, quickly withdrew his gaze from the front, and looked down at Mu An Xiao. “Why did you stop?”
“There’s water over there,” Mu An Xiao said calmly.
“Water?” the wolf demon said, slowly turning his head to look in the direction Mu An Xiao was pointing, and frowned. “It’s a waterfall.”
“I heard it,” Mu An Xiao said.
“I heard it too,” the wolf demon echoed Mu An Xiao.
“I said *you* heard it,” Mu An Xiao said helplessly.
Upon hearing this, the wolf demon stiffened, quickly turned back to look at Mu An Xiao’s face, and asked, “You didn’t hear it was a waterfall?”
“I’m human, you’re a wolf. My hearing… is naturally different from yours,” Mu An Xiao said, then gestured with her finger towards that direction. “Let’s go take a look.”
“Now?” The wolf demon met Mu An Xiao’s eyes with surprise.
Mu An Xiao met the wolf demon’s eyes as well. “Otherwise? What else do you want to do?”
“Song Xi told us to follow him. He…”
“Song Xi’s words are unclear. As the saying goes, it’s better to rely on oneself than on others. We should look for ourselves,” Mu An Xiao interrupted the wolf demon.
Hearing Mu An Xiao say this, the wolf demon couldn’t help but twitch his mouth and say, “I think relying on ourselves for this kind of thing is a bit too far-fetched. And Song Xi’s words just now were quite clear: any monster that enters here has a hard time getting out on their own. Besides, Jiong Ye wouldn’t be by the waterfall.” He broke out in a cold sweat.
“It’s not dark here, what are you afraid of?” Mu An Xiao felt the trembling in the wolf demon’s hands keenly.
“It’s not that I’m afraid, it’s… I think we should follow Song Xi. Didn’t you ask him to teach you demonic arts? You’ve reached an agreement. Unless,” the wolf demon narrowed his eyes into a slit, “you don’t trust him.”
“This has nothing to do with trust or distrust. It’s just that he’s always been afraid of Xi’er and will definitely not change his mind because of my words. So, one must be on guard. What if he leads us in circles? So, you’d better relax and follow me.” After saying that, Mu An Xiao led the wolf demon towards the ‘waterfall’.
At the same time, Song Xi, who hadn’t noticed anything, stopped. “My wife told them to wait here, why aren’t they here?” he muttered… He turned around and was stunned. “Huh? Where are Mu An Xiao and the wolf demon?” Saying that, he thought for a moment and was about to return when Xi’er appeared before him. He was taken aback.
Xi’er noticed Song Xi’s reaction. “You look scared when you see me?” she asked, glancing around and frowning.
Seeing this, Song Xi said in a low voice, “They got lost.”
“Lost,” Xi’er said, quickly looking back at Song Xi’s guilty expression. “They… isn’t it just Mu An Xiao?”
Song Xi said “Mm,” then quickly shook his head. “No, there’s also a wolf demon.”
“The wolf demon came too,” Xi’er exclaimed.
Song Xi nodded.
“Don’t you know that other monsters can’t enter this place? If something happens to Mu An Xiao because of him, things will get troublesome,” Xi’er said, looking around.
Song Xi was scared. “Wife, I told them to stay close to me, but…” He felt unable to explain himself, so he looked around and then said, “Right, you said Jiong Ye and Zhao Mei’er were waiting here. Why have they disappeared too?”
“Yes, why have they disappeared too?” Xi’er closed her eyes in annoyance and said, “I know.”
“You know what?” Song Xi’s eyes lit up, thinking Xi’er had thought of a solution.
Xi’er stared at Song Xi’s face. “Mu An Xiao must have sensed Jiong Ye’s presence and went to find him directly.” Saying that, she reached out and grabbed Song Xi’s arm.
Song Xi was startled. “Wife, are you going to…”
“The fog is thickest at this time. You’d better come with me,” Xi’er interrupted, and led Song Xi back the way they came…