"What's wrong with you?" the rattan spirit saw through Xiao Yi's worries at a glance.
"Nothing..." Xiao Yi hesitated, then looked up at the sky and found that the blue light surrounding the entire courtyard had disappeared. "What's going on?" she muttered to herself.
"What's going on? Are you alright?" the wolf demon frowned.
Xiao Yi said, "Just now Mu Anxiao set up a barrier here, but now..." She glanced at the wolf demon and the rattan spirit, and continued, "it's gone."
"Barrier?" the rattan spirit said, sensing the surrounding air, and asked in confusion, "There's no spiritual energy here."
"It's using demonic arts," Xiao Yi said, growing anxious.
The rattan spirit said "Oh," and asked, "It's just setting up a barrier, what are you so nervous about?" He couldn't understand Xiao Yi.
Suddenly, Xiao Yi lowered her eyelids slightly and said, "She said she wanted to stop the Master from entering. The Master has always hated being shut out. If..." she said, looking worriedly at the rattan spirit and the wolf demon, "the Master finds out she did this, he'll surely fly into a rage."
"...I don't think your Master will do anything to her," the rattan spirit said without a hint of emotion.
Xiao Yi said, "I'm just afraid we'll be implicated."
"How..."
"Ouyang Ye treats Mu Anxiao quite well, but he's different with us," the wolf demon said, turning and flying towards the rooftop.
The rattan spirit retracted his words, looked up at the wolf demon testing the barrier above, and became nervous. "Will he be alright?" he said. Just as he turned to look at Xiao Yi, the wolf demon was struck down by the current within the barrier.
Seeing this, Xiao Yi quickly stepped forward and looked at the wolf demon who landed with a thud. "Are you alright?" she asked.
The rattan spirit also ran over. "Is this barrier that fierce?" he said, squatting down to support the wolf demon's arm.
"I really didn't expect Mu Anxiao's demonic arts to be so powerful," the wolf demon said, coughing dryly while holding his chest.
Xiao Yi looked down at the wolf demon, injured by the barrier, her eyes sinking. "What should we do? If the Master comes..."
"Don't worry, this is between Ouyang Ye and me, it has nothing to do with you," Mu Anxiao said, walking towards them with a plate in one hand and date paste cake in the other.
Then, they all looked up at Mu Anxiao.
Mu Anxiao glanced at their innocent expressions and smiled. "What's wrong with you all?"
"Mu Anxiao, why did you set this up?" the wolf demon asked, giving the rattan spirit a look.
Seeing this, the rattan spirit helped the wolf demon to his feet.
"Do I need to explain to you what I want to do?" Mu Anxiao said, continuing to eat.
Xiao Yi dared not speak, casting a glance at the wolf demon.
The wolf demon said, "Our status here is very low. What you're doing now is undoubtedly adding fuel to the fire."
"Adding fuel to the fire? What fire am I adding fuel to, tell me," Mu Anxiao said, taking the date paste cake away from her lips.
"Ouyang Ye is already angry, and you're playing this trick now. Isn't this just giving Xi'er leverage against you? When she goes to Ouyang Ye and makes things up, the one who will suffer in the end," the wolf demon raised his hand and touched his scorched hair, "is us." He glanced at Xiao Yi and the rattan spirit.
Mu Anxiao smiled.
The wolf demon frowned. "You can still laugh. When you do these things, can you also think about us innocent lives? And," he said, "if I remember correctly, Zhao Meier and that Jiongye have already been locked up in that... screen. Do you want to see us go in there too?"
Xiao Yi was stunned. She didn't know what the screen was. She stared intently at Mu Anxiao.
Mu Anxiao gasped. "Your mouth is really long," she said, glancing at Xiao Yi.
Xiao Yi grew anxious. "What's going on? Can you tell me clearly?"
"How could you not know?" Mu Anxiao said faintly.
"What screen are you talking about? I really don't know?" Xiao Yi was terrified.
Mu Anxiao looked at Xiao Yi's flustered expression, then at the equally frightened rattan spirit, and said, "It's a place to lock up demons. Anyone who makes a mistake will be locked in there to reflect. After exceeding seventy-seven days, they will self-immolate and die," she said, frowning slightly. "You really don't know that place?"
"..." Xiao Yi pondered for a few seconds, using Mu Anxiao's words, and suddenly realized. "I know."
"Know what?" Mu Anxiao asked.
"I had a friend who was said to have been taken to a place full of screens at that time. The Master said that anyone who made a mistake would be turned into a screen. At that time," Xiao Yi's voice choked, "I didn't pay attention. Now that you mention it, I do have an impression of this place."
"What about your friend?" Mu Anxiao couldn't help but become curious.
Xiao Yi pouted...
Mu Anxiao was startled at first glance. "What's wrong?"
"It's probably self-immolated, because I've been out for quite a while," Xiao Yi said, lowering her head and starting to cry.
The rattan spirit wasn't that scared at first, but after Xiao Yi's detailed explanation, he was thoroughly terrified. "Mu Anxiao, remove this barrier. I don't want to end up like that."
"I have my reasons," Mu Anxiao said, scanning them. "If you believe me, then live well. If not, I'll remove the barrier now and let you out, but don't blame me if you get caught."
"What do you mean by that?" the wolf demon asked.
Mu Anxiao said, "It means you leave, and I'll stay behind." Saying this, she took a step back and popped the date paste cake in her hand into her mouth.
"You're going to harm us like this," the wolf demon said righteously.
Mu Anxiao was indifferent. "Wolf demon, I'll ask you one last time, do you trust me?" She wiped her hand over herself and raised it above her head.
The wolf demon hesitated upon seeing this.
Mu Anxiao continued, "In this place, if one fails to cultivate demonic arts, they will also be locked up there. In other words, it all depends on Xi'er's mood. You..."
"I trust you." Compared to Xi'er, the wolf demon felt Mu Anxiao was better.
Conversely, Xiao Yi became worried. "If the Master..."
"Leave Ouyang Ye to me. For now, you just pretend you know nothing," Mu Anxiao interrupted, glancing at them who had relaxed, and turned around. "Don't disturb me anymore," she said, and walked towards the golden gate.
After Mu Anxiao walked away, they glanced at each other and dispersed.
At that moment, Mu Anxiao stopped in front of the golden gate. "This gold must be real, right?" she said, wiping her dirty hands clean and gently touching the gold. She shivered. "It's quite cold." Saying this, she couldn't help but smile.