"Ouyang Ye has two faces, so I was curious if his subordinates do too. Now it seems," Mu Anxiao's lips curved into a smile, "they certainly do."
"You just wanted to see if I had two faces, so you followed me?" Wang Hu suddenly understood, he hadn't expected Mu Anxiao to be so bored.
Mu Anxiao lowered her eyes and smiled, "I just wanted to go to the privy. The server inside said to turn right outside..." Mid-sentence, she sensed something was off, turned her head to glance behind her, and smiled, "Alright, I took a wrong turn."
"You just took a wrong turn and happened to overhear my conversation with her?" Wang Hu asked, suddenly feeling quite foolish.
Mu Anxiao responded with an "Mm-hmm," and turned to leave.
Wang Hu's expression stiffened, and he smiled, "So, I was overthinking things." With that, he shook his head and walked back towards the tavern.
A quarter of an hour later.
After Mu Anxiao scraped the last bite of rice from her bowl with her chopsticks, she glanced at Wang Hu, who was staring at her opposite. Eating, she asked, "Why are you looking at me?"
Beside them, the Vine Spirit and the Wolf Demon had also finished eating.
Wang Hu looked at the pile of dishes in front of him, then at Mu Anxiao and the others who had wolfed down the food as if starving. He said, "I didn't expect you to be so hungry. It's quite..." He winked at Mu Anxiao, "surprising."
"Why aren't you eating?" Mu Anxiao asked, grabbing a pig's trotter from the plate and taking a bite.
Just then, a stout, big-eared demon burst into tears the moment Mu Anxiao bit into the pig's trotter.
Hearing this, Mu Anxiao felt the pig's trotter in her hand lose its appeal. "Why are you crying? Are you mourning?" she said, putting down the trotter and fixing her gaze on the fat man sitting at a nearby table.
The fat man, crying, looked at Mu Anxiao and said, "Cruel, so cruel."
"I'm cruel?" Mu Anxiao didn't understand. She stood up, about to go argue with him, but then noticed that his table was laden with only vegetarian dishes. Seeing this, she was momentarily speechless...
Immediately, the fat man also stood up and said, "I am the Pig Demon. Eating pork in front of me, is that really..." He sobbed twice, his hands emitting a black glow, "appropriate?"
Mu Anxiao looked and thought, 'What rotten luck, to run into an enemy while eating. Sigh... this is truly Ouyang Ye's masterpiece.' With that thought, she lowered her face and refused to reply to the Pig Demon.
"Mu Anxiao is in danger," the Wolf Demon said, standing up with the Vine Spirit, both glaring fiercely at the Pig Demon.
Seeing Mu Anxiao's indifferent expression, the Pig Demon raised his fist and slammed it forcefully onto the table, saying, "Speak."
"Are you sure you want to hear her speak?" Wang Hu stood up and said coldly.
Hearing this, the Pig Demon immediately shifted his gaze to Wang Hu's face. "What business is it of yours?"
"Your meat... looks quite delicious," Wang Hu said deliberately, his hand transforming into a wolf's claw.
"You are a wolf..." the Pig Demon said, immediately recoiling.
Mu Anxiao then reached out and grabbed the half-eaten pig's trotter from the plate, taking another bite. "Delicious," she said, not forgetting to provocatively flash the pig's trotter at the Pig Demon's face.
The Pig Demon saw this and was about to step forward.
Seeing this, Wang Hu said again, "I've heard about your situation too."
Pig Demon: "..." His body stiffened, and he stopped.
Wang Hu glanced at Mu Anxiao and continued, "If I recall correctly, you've also eaten your own kind."
The Pig Demon froze.
Wang Hu continued, "This tavern only has five portions of pig's trotters per day. She's eating the last one. If I'm not mistaken," he glanced at the drool at the corner of the Pig Demon's mouth with disdain, "you're causing trouble because you want to eat it, aren't you?"
"I..."
"Because you have too little money, you could only order the cheapest vegetarian dishes here. Seeing others eat meat made you uncomfortable," Wang Hu exposed the Pig Demon's thoughts.
Hearing this... the Pig Demon lowered his head.
Wang Hu smiled, "From the moment you became a demon and took human form, you are no longer who you were. Why are you putting on airs here?" Saying this, he sat back down.
Mu Anxiao also sat down.
Seeing the Pig Demon speechless, the Wolf Demon and the Vine Spirit felt a surge of satisfaction and also sat down.
Following that, the Pig Demon thought for a moment, then walked gracefully to Mu Anxiao's side...
Mu Anxiao sensed the Pig Demon approaching. She put down the pig's trotter in her hand, looked up at his face, filled with longing for meat, and asked, "Are you sure you want to eat? I'm a beggar..."
"Compared to you, I am much poorer," the Pig Demon said flatly.
"Do you really want to eat?" Mu Anxiao confirmed again.
The Pig Demon nodded.
Mu Anxiao looked at the Pig Demon's eager expression and couldn't help but find it amusing. "Alright, you can have it, but you scared me just now."
"You..."
"Apologize to me, otherwise," Mu Anxiao interrupted, glancing at Wang Hu, who was picking up a teacup to drink, "I'll have him lock you up, and then you won't even be able to dream of quenching your thirst."
At this moment, the Pig Demon deeply felt the threat, but he was afraid of Wang Hu, so he had no choice but to apologize. "I'm sorry, I was wrong."
"Very sincere," Mu Anxiao said, handing the pig's trotter to the Pig Demon.
Seeing this, the Pig Demon took the pig's trotter with a smile... and began to eat it heartily without any reservations.
Mu Anxiao tilted her head up, looking at the Pig Demon's demeanor, and asked, "What's your name?"
"My name is Zhu You."
"Pig Oil?" Mu Anxiao was amused by the Pig Demon's name.
Hearing this, the Pig Demon quickly pulled the pig's trotter away from his mouth and said, "The surname is Zhu, and the 'You' is from 'Lai You'."
"You're quite cultured," Mu Anxiao laughed.
Hearing this, Zhu You grinned, his mouth glistening with oil, and said, "I've been to the mortal realm. I only cultivated into a demon after coming here. In my past..." he lowered his voice, "I was very wealthy."
"Is that so?" Mu Anxiao suddenly felt a bit of pity for Zhu You.
"Yes, I thought that after becoming a demon, I could eat anything. Who knew," Zhu You said, sighing, "that after becoming one, I became even poorer."
"Can't you find a job?" Mu Anxiao asked.
Zhu You smiled, "I'm fat. If I were to take on tasks... the meat on my body would expose me immediately. I've tried a few places before, but," he said, consciously sitting next to the Vine Spirit, "I was rejected." He started eating.
The Vine Spirit shifted slightly to the side.
Opposite them, the Wolf Demon chuckled at the stark contrast between the Vine Spirit and Zhu You's physiques.
"So you're not doing anything right now?" Mu Anxiao asked again.
Wang Hu looked at Mu Anxiao's persistent inquisitiveness and said in a low voice, "His affairs have nothing to do with you, have they?"
"Can't I be curious?" Mu Anxiao gave Wang Hu a sidelong glance and then looked back at Zhu You. "Eat slowly, there's another one." She pointed to the other pig's trotter on the plate.