After Juan'er left, Ouyang Ye turned and walked towards Mu Anxiao's room. Mu Anxiao, inside the room, was still sleeping soundly, sprawled on the bed.
In an instant, Ouyang Ye stopped outside the room door again. This time, however, he did not hesitate. Instead, he used his demonic arts to open the bolt on the inside, pushed the door open, and walked straight in. The moment Ouyang Ye crossed the threshold, his gaze fell upon Mu Anxiao, who was sleeping soundly on the bed. At the same time, he looked around and discovered that Mu Anxiao had actually used demonic arts to darken the room considerably. With a soft sigh, he gently closed the door and strode to the bedside. "..." He lowered his head to look at Mu Anxiao, about to observe when she would notice him, when she woke up.
To Ouyang Ye's surprise, the moment she opened her eyes and saw him, she showed no reaction. Instead, she calmly sat up and asked, "What are you here for?"
Conversely, Ouyang Ye had expected Mu Anxiao to be startled upon seeing him. But to his surprise... that was all. He couldn't help but feel a bit awkward. "You're not even surprised," he said bluntly.
Mu Anxiao looked up at Ouyang Ye. After a few seconds of stillness, she sneered, "If..." She stopped mid-sentence, suddenly remembering that she had set up a barrier around the courtyard. If that were the case, Ouyang Ye shouldn't have been able to enter. Yet here he was, standing before her, perfectly fine. Looking at him, she finally showed a surprised expression.
However, this was exactly the expression Ouyang Ye wanted to see, so he was quite pleased. "Are you very confused about how I got in?"
"Xi'er told you, didn't she." Mu Anxiao gradually became more alert.
Ouyang Ye's lips curved upwards. "If you like that Golden Gate..."
"That's just the wicked slandering the innocent. Who would care about her Golden Gate," Mu Anxiao said, shuffling to the edge of the bed, pausing, then standing up. xxs壹贰
Ouyang Ye remained indifferent, offering a faint smile. "You must have scared Xi'er quite badly."
"Don't listen to her nonsense. About her so-called Golden Gate," Mu Anxiao said, walking past Ouyang Ye to the round table. "I have no interest at all." As she spoke, she reached for a cup and took a sip of water.
Ouyang Ye stood still, looking sideways at Mu Anxiao's back as she drank. He thought about her words of denial and deliberately said, "You say you have no interest in her Golden Gate."
"No," Mu Anxiao replied, casting a sideways glance and reaching for the kettle to pour herself another cup of water.
Ouyang Ye let out a soft "Mhm."
Hearing this, Mu Anxiao's body stiffened. She immediately put down the kettle and cup, turned, and stared at Ouyang Ye. "There's something about that 'mhm' of yours."
"If it's not for the Golden Gate, why did you set up a barrier? And," Ouyang Ye cut straight to the chase, his expression serious, "if I recall correctly, you don't know demonic arts, do you?"
"...What are you trying to say?" Mu Anxiao retorted.
Ouyang Ye's lips curved upwards. "If you don't know demonic arts, how can you use them to set up this barrier?"
"It's precisely because I don't know that I had to use them," Mu Anxiao had already prepared her excuse.
Ouyang Ye listened, utterly bewildered. "What do you mean?"
"For the dignified supreme commander of the Demon Realm to not understand my words," Mu Anxiao deliberately mocked Ouyang Ye, "is utterly ridiculous."
"You..."
"If I recall correctly, you should know that I know demonic arts, right?" Mu Anxiao added.
Ouyang Ye's expression grew serious after Mu Anxiao said this. "What exactly are you trying to say?"
"Fine, I'll tell you," Mu Anxiao took half a step back, leaning lightly against the round table. "This is all thanks to Guyan. If it weren't for Guyan, my demonic arts wouldn't have been awakened. Do you understand what I mean?" She deliberately spoke ambiguously.
Unsurprisingly, Ouyang Ye found it all jumbled. "What are you trying to say." He walked up to Mu Anxiao.
"I'm trying to say that I'm not as weak as you think. Demonic arts are a piece of cake for me. As for that barrier..." Mu Anxiao was tired of keeping Ouyang Ye in suspense. "That's right, I set it up deliberately to prevent you from entering. I didn't expect to fail."
"You... why did you want to prevent me from entering?" Ouyang Ye's eyes darkened.
"Because... you disturb my sleep, just like now," Mu Anxiao said, deliberately distancing herself from the Golden Gate.
Ouyang Ye continued, "Just because of this, you wouldn't let me in."
"And more," Mu Anxiao said calmly.
Ouyang Ye frowned slightly. "What else?" He suddenly felt nervous.
Mu Anxiao looked at Ouyang Ye calmly and said in a low voice, "It's true that I'm here to cultivate demonic arts, but..." She fixed her gaze on Ouyang Ye's face and questioned him sternly, "Why didn't you let me move around here? Why did you strip me of my freedom?"
"I'm doing this for your own good," Ouyang Ye said earnestly.
Mu Anxiao paid no mind to Ouyang Ye's good intentions, letting out a cold snort. "For my own good, you restrict my freedom. Truly... you get to say everything." Her intention in doing this was to regain her freedom to move around here, so that she wouldn't be unable to investigate anything.
At this moment, Ouyang Ye did not see through Mu Anxiao's ulterior motive. Instead, he took her words to heart. "You think I'm restricting your freedom."
"Aren't you?" Mu Anxiao asked again.
"No," Ouyang Ye said firmly.
The moment Ouyang Ye said this, Mu Anxiao smiled.
Seeing this, Ouyang Ye looked confused. "What are you laughing at?"
"You get to say everything. You say it's for my own good, so it is. You say I should die, and I must die. Ouyang Ye," Mu Anxiao let out a cold snort, "stop using care and concern as a guise. If you don't return my freedom, I promise I'll continue to set up barriers the moment you leave."
"You..."
"Believe me, only you can break the barriers I set. As for those little demons, if they dare to break them, the consequences..." Mu Anxiao interrupted Ouyang Ye once again, smiling faintly. "Just look at Xi'er's hairstyle."
"Xi'er?" When Ouyang Ye had seen Xi'er, she had already tidied her frizzy hair. Moreover, Xi'er had not told him that she had been 'blocked' by the barrier. Therefore, hearing Mu Anxiao say this now, he was indeed bewildered.
Seeing this, Mu Anxiao frowned slightly. "Didn't Xi'er report it?"
"Yes."
"Yes, but you didn't see her frizzy hair," Mu Anxiao said, picturing Xi'er's frizzy hair with the image of the wolf demon. She continued, "In short, none of them can break them."
Subsequently, at Mu Anxiao's reminder, Ouyang Ye remembered Song Xi, whom he had just saved. He said in a low voice, "Do you insist on wandering back and forth in this place of demonic cultivation?" He seemed moved.