The vine spirit glanced at Feng Qishi, then let out a hearty laugh, saying, "I never expected you all to be so observant."
"It's just that your flaws are glaring," Mu Anxiao replied. She lowered her head to look at the young Mu Anxiao and continued, "If she sees you now, it might not be a good thing for you."
"What do you mean by that?" The vine spirit's curiosity was piqued by Mu Anxiao's words.
"This is the past. If you kill me," Mu Anxiao's mind flashed back to the first time she saw the vine spirit's true form at the bottom of the well, and to her first meeting with Ye Yin. She said, "Then I wouldn't have fallen into that wretched well, Shen Yan wouldn't have thought of going to that place, and you... would have no chance of truly reviving. Are you sure... you still want to harm me?"
All of this was merely fabricated by Mu Anxiao.
However, recalling how the vine spirit cherished its life, she thought he would surely heed her words.
"..." The vine spirit's eyes flickered. Considering Mu Anxiao's words, it let out a cold laugh, "Don't try to scare me with such talk. If I kill you, you..."
"Don't cling to any侥幸心理 (jiǎo xìng xīn lǐ - wishful thinking). The past cannot be changed. Once changed, many things will follow suit," Mu Anxiao stated earnestly, essentially saving herself. "If you don't believe me, then try it. But you must know that I occupy a very important position in your life."
"I don't see how you and I have any connection?"
"We don't have that particularly important relationship, but I am your enemy. All your current motivation stems from me. If you kill me now, I can say that your memories will also be lost, and you will continue to stay in that wretched well. Think about it."
The vine spirit suddenly found Mu Anxiao's words quite reasonable.
Thus, it said, "You're just doing this for yourself, aren't you?"
"Of course, I'm doing it for myself," Mu Anxiao admitted readily.
"As selfish as ever."
"We're both the same," Mu Anxiao said, glancing at the vine spirit's hand, which was transitioning from blue light to green. She asked, "Who did you injure?" She could feel a faint trace of immortal energy on its hand.
"You'll know when you return. For now..." the vine spirit said, glancing at the young Mu Anxiao, "I'm going to find your brother."
"What are you looking for him for?"
"He has something I need."
"You need..." Before she could finish, Mu Anxiao suddenly remembered the only green bottle in the food container. She asked, "Are you looking for a green bottle?"
"How did you know what I was referring to?"
Mu Anxiao had witnessed how Mu Xi had been manipulated. After thinking it over, all she could think of was the green bottle in Mu Xi's possession.
So, she blurted it out. However, after the vine spirit's question, she suddenly felt reluctant to answer. But considering her own life, she eventually said, "You really are looking for that."
"This is a medicine for cultivators, a poison for humans, but for me, it's a potent remedy," the vine spirit said, then furrowed its brow. "Damn it, why am I telling you this?"
"Exactly, why are you telling me this?" Mu Anxiao knew she couldn't appear too astute in front of the vine spirit, so she echoed its sentiment.
Seeing Mu Anxiao's agreeable expression, the vine spirit sneered, "You look better when you're defiant. With that, it glared fiercely at Mu Anxiao and turned to leave."
Mu Anxiao: "..." She let out a sigh of relief.
Feng Qishi looked down at Mu Anxiao's visibly relieved profile, then glanced at the departing figure of the vine spirit. He said, "It seems the medicine you took might not have been from that green bottle."
Mu Anxiao froze at his words and looked up at Feng Qishi, who had suddenly spoken like this. She asked, "How did you know?"
"I guessed."
"Guess..." Mu Anxiao uttered the word and then, recalling the mention of the great immortal by the vine spirit, she asked, "Alright then, guess who injured him so badly?"
"...."
Feng Qishi had been observing the vine spirit's every move with vigilance. He hadn't paid attention to anything the vine spirit had said. Mu Anxiao's sudden question left him at a loss for how to answer.
Mu Anxiao watched Feng Qishi's embarrassed smile as he looked down at her and frowned, "Don't tell me you haven't even considered this."
"No..." Feng Qishi's mouth twitched. "I haven't."
"Then didn't you see the vine spirit's injured leg? Or..." Mu Anxiao hesitated, "Did you notice the immortal energy on its hand?"
"Immortal energy?"
Hearing Feng Qishi's surprised question, Mu Anxiao sighed, "It seems you really didn't notice."
"I didn't. All I noticed was that the young man is him, and also..." Feng Qishi glanced at the young Mu Anxiao. "I think what you said to him was very insightful."
Mu Anxiao enjoyed being praised. Hearing Feng Qishi's words, the corners of her mouth curved upward slightly. "I also think what I said was very insightful." After speaking, she looked down at the young Mu Anxiao, who was staring blankly at the girl, and frowned.
Seeing this, Feng Qishi asked, "What's wrong?" He noticed Mu Anxiao's expression wasn't right.
Mu Anxiao: "..." She didn't reply. She looked around and then thought about the process of the girl and the young man's deaths. She said, "Something's not right."
"What's not right?"
"Logically speaking," Mu Anxiao thought for a moment and continued, "there should be yin officials, and... shouldn't their souls have come out? Why is there nothing?"
"Wang Wu was the same."
Upon hearing this, Mu Anxiao looked at Feng Qishi and thought, "It seems this is indeed a conspiracy of the cultivation sects. But... they..." Before she could finish, she turned her head and her gaze fell unintentionally on the two people lying on the other two beds. Her eyes widened.
The young Mu Anxiao had arrived with the Yin wind and hadn't noticed that there were other... bodies here.
Feng Qishi followed Mu Anxiao's gaze to the other side and said plainly, "There are others." With that, he and Mu Anxiao walked towards them.
The next second.
They stopped between the two beds.
Mu Anxiao first turned her head to look at the person lying on the right bed, covered entirely by a white cloth. She said, "It's a man." Her gaze fixed on the person's boots.
Feng Qishi: "That one is also a man." He pointed to the boots of the person on the left.
"They..." Mu Anxiao said, then looked down at the fingers of the man on the right. "There's soil under his fingernails." She glanced towards the young Mu Anxiao, then quietly reached out, pinched a corner of the white cloth, and gently lifted it. Looking at the man's face, she exclaimed, "It's Wang Wu!" With that, she let the cloth fall back.