Don't mess with that Miao boy, he's sickly and perverted.

After reading the account of what happened, everyone's expression turned serious.

Just then, a waiter carrying a pottery urn passed by the door. Song Yueyao reacted quickly and pulled him inside.

The waiter staggered a few steps, hurriedly clutching the earthenware jar in his arms, from which a faint aroma of rice wine wafted.

Wu Li's gaze swept over the brown-glazed pottery urn without making a sound, and a cold smile rose in his heart.

In an instant, he casually shifted his gaze. Last night, he had already figured out that the Soul-Locking Array contained a tiny little ghost that couldn't even speak. Its babbling was giving him a headache, and after teasing it for a while, he lost interest.

He has never been interested in meddling in other people's business.

What do he care about the lives or deaths of others?

But when this subtle glance fell into Chai Xiaomi's eyes, it was instantly magnified.

She could smell the aroma of the wine, and Wu Li's glance reminded her of the "corpse bone soup" he had mentioned earlier.

A strong feeling of nausea suddenly surged up.

"He must be lying to me, right? He definitely is!" Chai Xiaomi kept repeating to herself, trying to hypnotize herself and suppress the discomfort.

She drank the rice wine only after Wu Li had tasted it first.

Could it be that, in order to lure her into drinking it, he was willing to drink it himself and use his body as bait?

What benefit would he gain from doing this? He would inflict a thousand damages on the enemy, but also lose a thousand himself.

Isn't this just plain crazy?

Oh, I almost forgot, the villains in the original work have a bit of a twisted side to them.

Chai Xiaomi sidled up to the bench where Wu Li was sitting, inching closer to him, and whispered, "The corpse bone soup...you lied to me, didn't you? Did you? Did you?"

She looked up, her eyes filled with pitiful pleading, and asked three urgent "Right?" questions in a row.

It was as if she absolutely had to hear him say it himself: Yes, it was a lie.

Then he was willing to give up.

Wu Li glanced at her expectant look and suddenly found it amusing, a cryptic smile playing on his lips.

He didn't answer, but instead tossed the longbow in his hand into her arms: "Clean it up for me, and I'll tell you."

Chai Xiaomi remembered that in the illusion, he personally went deep into the mountains to find rare wood to make the bow. The bowstring was made by soaking and tearing deer tendons. It took a lot of effort and he even injured his hand. Although the injury healed quickly, the pain was real.

He clearly cherished this bow, taking meticulous care of it, and the bow itself was smooth and shiny from being rubbed.

He usually seemed relaxed when drawing his bow and shooting arrows, but I never expected it to be so heavy in his arms. Chai Xiaomi almost couldn't hold it.

She frantically steadied the bow, just as she heard Song Yueyao's angry questioning voice:

"Didn't your manager keep saying that the inn had been warded off evil spirits through rituals? How come it's still haunted? It's one thing for these evil spirits to frighten people, but now they've even dared to take lives!"

"Sir, sir, what you're saying... I really don't understand." The waiter looked flustered and tightened his grip on the earthenware jar. "Those rumors are just hearsay; I've never seen any ghosts or monsters with my own eyes."

As he spoke, his eyes couldn't help but glance at the pottery urn in his arms.

The urn looked quite heavy, and he refused to put it down even for a moment during the questioning, holding it tightly to his chest the whole time.

Song Yueyao noticed his actions and frowned slightly: "It's just a jar of wine, no one's going to steal it from you, why are you acting like you're guarding against a thief?"

"N-no..." The waiter stammered, forcing a smile. "I truly don't know anything about what you asked. No one has ever attempted suicide in the inn before. Perhaps..." He glanced furtively at the woman hanging from the beam and lowered his voice to Song Yueyao, "Perhaps she was just having a nightmare?"

"I still have work to do, sir, please have mercy on me and let me off the hook."

The shopkeeper had specifically instructed him to dispose of the jar of rice wine as soon as possible, and to do so discreetly. However, he was now being held back by these people, and the waiter was extremely anxious, with beads of sweat forming on his forehead.

Seeing his worried expression and unable to get any information from him, Song Yueyao wanted to wave him away.

Jiang Zhiyu, who was standing to the side, suddenly spoke up: "Please trouble you to invite the manager over. We have some things we need to clarify in person."

"But, but I have other things to do..." the waiter tried to decline.

Song Yueyao interrupted him: "Go and call the manager."

"But I still have to..."

Song Yueyao's face darkened slightly, and she interrupted again: "Go and call the manager."

"Can......"

"Go on! What trivial matter could be more important than a matter of life and death!" Song Yueyao grabbed his collar, her voice suddenly rising, "You have a moment to bring your manager to me!"

Jiang Zhiyu instinctively shrank his neck, and only breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the collar wasn't on him.

The waiter was almost scared out of his wits by that shout.

How could such a beautiful girl have such a fierce and intimidating aura when she roars, more so than a tiger in the mountains?

"Sir, please calm down..." He stammered, his teeth chattering, "I...I'll go get the manager right away!"

Jiang Zhiyu watched as the waiter scrambled away, clutching the pottery urn, and shook his head with a sigh.

A pang of guilt rose in his heart: after all, he was the one who had asked someone to fetch the manager. But then he thought again, and realized the waiter was really clueless. Why did he have to provoke her for no reason?

Jiang Zhiyu glanced around casually and saw that Chai Xiaomi was staring intently at Song Yueyao, her eyes full of undisguised admiration and praise.

That look in his eyes was just like a lowly soldier in a military camp looking up at a majestic general.

After spending time together, Jiang Zhiyu had gotten to know Xiaomi's temperament. This girl was gentle and spoke softly. Even if she encountered something unpleasant, she would forget about it in the blink of an eye. No wonder she was always "bullied" by that kid Wu Li.

Seeing Yao Yao's dashing demeanor, it's perfectly reasonable for her to feel envious.

As Jiang Zhiyu was pondering, he suddenly felt a chill run down his spine, as if he were being firmly fixed by two pairs of eyes.

His eyelids twitched, and a strange chill rose from the soles of his feet, as if he were being silently locked onto by a wild beast lurking in the shadows.

Jiang Zhiyu suddenly looked up and his eyes met Wu Li's.

The boy's heterochromatic eyes narrowed slightly, a barely perceptible hint of danger flashing across his gaze, a chill seeping out silently, like a whirlpool surging beneath the ice.

But just as Jiang Zhiyu was about to discern the meaning behind that gaze, he saw Wu Li still lazily reclining on the bench, his body turned to the side, his fingertips idly fiddling with the hair ornament in the girl's hair beside him, while he complained that she wasn't paying enough attention to wiping the bow.

Immediately afterwards, Xiaomi glared at him fiercely.

The boy's lips curled up, his smile tinged with a mischievous triumph, as if his true intention was to deliberately provoke her.

Jiang Zhiyu paused, momentarily dazed.

Was that gaze just my imagination?