Chapter 62: You Hate Mu Xueyao, Don’t You?

"Girl, why don't you use your brain first and think about what you said earlier," Mu Qingyun frowned. "Besides, whether I reply to you or not is my choice. I don't need to explain that to you."

"Haha, you're right," Die Wu laughed awkwardly, then immediately tugged on Yue Hu's sleeve. "Yue Hu, let's go. If you don't leave, I'll leave first."

She was feeling awkward—awkward enough to curl her toes—and the wings on her back seemed to share the feeling, fluttering lightly a few times.

At first, she hadn't planned on greeting Mu Qingyun, but Yue Hu had shouted first, so she had no choice but to exchange a few words. Yet they didn't want to engage with them at all.

"Hmph." Yue Hu snorted in displeasure and turned to walk in another direction.

Although she wanted to argue a little more with Mu Qingyun, since Die Wu had said that, if Yue Hu didn't leave now, she might have to go on alone.

Mu Qingyun watched them come and then leave so inexplicably, feeling speechless.

"Let's go back and rest." She glanced at the sky, which was now completely dark, and headed toward the cave.

"Okay, Mu Ge!" Xiong Ruoyou happily responded and glanced at Mu Qingyun's profile with a light laugh.

Previously, seeing Mu Ge's attitude toward Yue Hu, she thought Mu Ge might like that fox girl because the fox's fur was so fluffy and she looked nice.

Unexpectedly, she had overthought it.

Right—someone like Mu Ge would never be that shallow, liking someone just based on appearances.

Back in the cave, Mu Qingyun closed her eyes to rest for a while. Around midnight, she slowly opened them.

She reached out and switched off the live-stream device, then stood up and walked outside.

Her left hand glowed green, searching for any trace of plants nearby.

Feeling something, she pressed her hand on the ground, activating her plant ability. A small branch sprouted from the barren soil, and with continuous use of her power, an orange tree grew up.

Taking out the storage bag Xiong Ruoyou had given her, she separated the orange and the trunk for storage. She even broke open one orange, squeezed out the juice to save, and ate all the pulp.

The fresh sweet aroma of orange lingered in her mouth. She neatly saved the peel and headed toward the house.

Orange peel can remove odors. Judging by this pace, the house should be finished tomorrow. Tonight, the peel would freshen the air.

She just put the peel down and was about to leave when she suddenly heard soft footsteps.

Someone's coming?

Frowning, she scanned the surroundings, then jumped out of the window and hid beneath it, peeking at the house interior through a side gap.

The footsteps came closer and finally stopped at the door.

"Not having anyone guard it at night, really—what if someone sneaks in?"

Tsk, Mu Qingyun frowned. That voice—was that Kazel?

She turned toward the door. Those purple eyes glowed faintly in the night, hard to miss.

Seeing it was someone familiar, Mu Qingyun stopped hiding, propped herself against the window, and jumped inside.

Her agile movement startled Kazel, who was bent over fiddling with something.

"Mu Qingyun?" Kazel looked at the person glaring at him coldly and twitched his mouth. "You're not the type to stay here all night guarding the house, are you?"

"What are you doing here?" Mu Qingyun ignored his words and instead asked, glancing at the things Kazel was moving.

It was a bunch of steel rods, just arranged. There were at least a dozen, each as thick as an arm.

"Is your livestream off?" Kazel instinctively wanted to cover the rods on the ground, but they were too big to block.

"It's off," she replied coolly and repeated, "What are you doing here?"

Relieved to hear the livestream was off, Kazel patted the steel rods beside him, arrogantly raising his chin.

"This is so you don't get crushed sleeping in here. It's for reinforcing the roof."

"Where'd you get it?" Mu Qingyun raised an eyebrow, surprised he was helping her.

"Picked it up from the sea," Kazel answered truthfully. "There's always random trash in the sea. These rods were accidentally thrown in."

He paused, then sneered, "Throwing all your garbage into the ocean, you guys are really something. If it weren't for water ability users, you'd be parched by now."

Mu Qingyun raised an eyebrow, surprised at Kazel's bitterness.

"Aren't mermaids supposed to live on the shore? You…"

"Want to know why I'm so angry?" Kazel tilted his head and stared coldly at her. Without waiting for her response, he continued:

"Mermaids weren't always on the shore. We were forced here."

"So you hate those who pollute the ocean. You saved Xiong Ruoyou and the others because those people wanted to throw them into the sea?" She looked at Kazel intently, sensing something surfacing.

"Exactly," Kazel nodded, a mocking smile flickering in his eyes. "Otherwise, why would I bother with this? I'm not a saint."

"What about me?" Mu Qingyun fixed her gaze on his eyes, trying to read him.

"What?" Kazel was confused by the question and frowned.

Seeing Kazel's confused face, Mu Qingyun bluntly said, "Then why help me? What use do I have to you?"

So direct?

Kazel smirked, "You hate Mu Xueyao, right?"

"Yes," she nodded, confirming.

"Her water ability isn't great for offense, but her purification is top-notch. Aside from Su Qiluo, she's probably the strongest purifier on this planet."

Kazel spoke slowly, not letting her interrupt.

"If we take her ability and combine it with mermaid secret techniques, we can protect a pure water source."

"Take her ability?" Mu Qingyun raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Abilities are innate at birth and vanish only when the person dies. Can you really steal someone's innate power?

"We mainly need you," Kazel said, turning to look at her, a bloodthirsty gleam in his eyes.

"I've seen your fire ability—it can roast through the insect clan."

"To take Mu Xueyao's power, it's simple. I give her a drug to suppress her protection, then you use your fire ability to roast her, forcing the water ability out of her body."