The room was silent, the two sitting opposite each other, neither speaking, as if lost in an infinite silence.
Yes, such an enemy... can we really win...
"Creak—"
At this moment, the door was pushed open from the outside, and a furry little figure poked its head in.
"You vixen! How could you leave me behind and run off!" she pouted and scurried over, plopping down next to Xiao Zi and questioning him.
"Your contract is dissolved?" Xiao Zi was stunned, and unconsciously reached out to rub the little mink's head.
The little creature tilted its head proudly, feeling as if its whole body had lightened considerably. "Yes, that fish's secret technique is truly powerful."
She turned her head and met Lin Ze's heavy gaze. The little creature blinked a few times, feeling a bit confused.
"What... happened to you two?"
Only then did she notice how suffocatingly oppressive the atmosphere in the room was, making it hard to breathe.
"How much do you know about the previous master?" Lin Ze stood up and slowly walked over to the little mink.
The little creature turned its head to look at Xiao Zi, only to find him also looking troubled.
"Did something happen?" the little mink asked cautiously.
Xiao Zi shook his head, his gaze towards the little mink tinged with complexity. "It's nothing, just know your enemy and yourself, and you will win a hundred battles."
The little creature looked at him suspiciously and then slowly said, "I don't know much about him..."
"The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was him."
Hearing this, Lin Ze's expression became more confused. "Weren't you picked up by Mo Ze? Why do you say you opened your eyes?"
The little mink shook its head. "That's just what we told outsiders."
Mo Ze was her master. He had ordered her not to reveal the truth to outsiders. If the little creature disobeyed his command, she would suffer the backlash of the contract.
Therefore, no one knew that she was not picked up by her master, but had been by Mo Ze's side since birth.
"Now that the contract is dissolved, of course I can say whatever I want."
Perhaps even Mo Ze hadn't expected that the little creature would be so lucky as to encounter a Merman clan in the demon realm who could dissolve contracts.
"Since you've been by his side since you were little, do you know why his personality changed so drastically, as if he became a different person?" Lin Ze continued to press the little mink.
"This..." The little creature cupped its chin with its paws, trying to recall the past. "I don't know either..."
Mo Ze had been like this since she was born. She didn't know anything that had happened before.
Hearing this, Lin Ze and Xiao Zi couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. To think that even the contracted beast by Mo Ze's side didn't know...
"But his study seems very strange."
Lin Ze and Xiao Zi exchanged glances and perked up, listening to the little creature. "Why do you say that?"
The little mink extended its small paws and gestured an odd pattern. "I accidentally entered the study once. On the shelf behind the desk, there was a book with a pattern like this."
However, because the little creature was so small, the gesture was not very large. Lin Ze and Xiao Zi, watching the little mink gesture, had no idea what it meant...
Lin Ze rubbed his temples, a dull ache starting in his head. "Here are paper and ink. Can you draw?"
After receiving the paper and ink, the little mink nodded. "Yes."
With that, she bent down and began to wield the brush on the paper, which was larger than her.
After a stick of incense had burned out, the little mink held up the paper and proudly displayed it. "Look! That book has such a pattern carved on it!"
Xiao Zi glanced at the paper and almost couldn't help but want to mock her. Seriously? Even a ghost could draw better than her.
On the white paper, one could barely make out a strange totem. With crooked lines and uneven ink thickness, it could only be recognized as a totem...
Beside him, Lin Ze's mouth twitched uncontrollably. "Yes, it's... quite an interesting drawing..."
"That book seems very important to him. The study is always heavily guarded. I could only sneak in occasionally."
The little mink said this, recalling how she had almost been discovered that time.
Lin Ze nodded. "Do you know any other information?"
The little mink propped its head up, its little face creased with worry. "Other information..."
"Yes, for example, the people closest to him, and the places he frequently visits."
As soon as Lin Ze finished speaking, the little mink shook its head with a pained expression. "He's a loner. He never brings me or guards when he goes out, and he doesn't have any regular places he visits..."
It seemed that all of Mo Ze's actions were meticulously calculated, so as not to leave any traces.
Silence fell again in the room. Suddenly, the little mink seemed to remember something important and excitedly jumped up.
"I remember! There's one more thing!"
The two looked towards the sound, only to hear the little creature's loud voice ring out again. "There's also a scroll painting! He treasures it greatly!"
A painting? Xiao Zi frowned. "Do you know what the painting depicts?"
"Do you remember the memory projection that he showed Qing Feng and the other four? It's exactly that painting!" The little mink was so excited she could barely speak clearly.
The scene in the memory projection? Xiao Zi pondered, his eyes widening. "Could it be!"
"The memory projection from when Huan Yan protector, the little demon, and the Divine Emperor had not yet separated as a family of four???"
At that time, Mo Ze had used the memory projection to gain the trust of Qing Feng and the other four.
In the memory projection, Mo Ze and Bai Ran were still young, Huan Yan and Mo Huai'an had not yet separated, and it was a scene of them living a secluded life as a family of four!
"But why would he treasure this?" Xiao Zi couldn't help but ask.
"I don't know, but he always stares at that painting, for an entire night without moving a single step."
The little mink described the scene at the time. "I crept closer to take a look, and was punished by not eating for three days..."
Lin Ze lowered his gaze, his doubts growing. What exactly had happened to Mo Ze...
He wanted to kill Bai Ran, yet he cherished the painting of the family of four so dearly?
With more and more mysteries, Lin Ze and Xiao Zi felt lost, unsure of where to start.
...
At this moment, in the Demon Realm—
"Then this one can be killed, right?" Dongfang Wuji pointed at the comatose inner demon.
Bai Ran nodded. "To avoid future troubles, it's best to get rid of her."
Hearing this, Dongfang Wuji drew his long sword and placed it at the inner demon's neck. "This face, the more I look at it, the more it makes me sick."
The moment the sword swung down, Zhong Zi immediately set up a protective barrier, preventing anyone from being splashed with blood.
"Thump—" The inner demon fell softly, its head completely separated from its body.
"This alone won't kill her," the Elder's voice sounded. He walked out from the crowd, his sharp eyes fixed on the fallen inner demon.