"You've been here before?" Wang Mu asked in surprise.

"I came here a long time ago…" Mu Hongyuan said. "This place is actually quite special…"

Wang Mu thought for a moment. Anle Village was indeed quite special. It was not just a hidden paradise but also boasted many places suitable for training, nestled among mountains and beside rivers, truly extraordinary. Thinking back now, according to the records of the Sixth Generation Immortal, An Qixiu discovered this place. Its continued existence to this day must also be due to some reasons.

"Like this statue…"

Mu Hongyuan smiled slightly. "I also had a hand in erecting it…"

"What do you mean?" Wang Mu was taken aback.

"Before that Immortal established her presence in the world, she instructed us to forge a statue of you to be placed here," Mu Hongyuan explained. "It had to withstand thousands of years without wearing down. We weren't clear on the reason; she personally sought the materials, while we were responsible for the casting."

"Looking at it now…" Mu Hongyuan said, "this place has great Qi Fortune, which is naturally related to this statue. The materials for the statue are unique…"

"Later, I speculated that if you were to return, you might possibly arrive here first…"

Mu Hongyuan continued thoughtfully, "So, every once in a while, I would have Sect disciples come here to survey the area. Later, the Sect disciples mistakenly thought I intended to oppose the Sword Sect. Coupled with the fact that one of the previous founders of this Sect had some entanglements, they would occasionally lure away disciples from Heavenly Sword Peak for no good reason…"

Wang Mu was speechless.

"Yan Sword Immortal later established the Sword Sect here; she must have thought of this place first," Mu Hongyuan shook her head slightly. "Later, I speculated that she must have met you here very early on; otherwise, she wouldn't have been so perceptive…"

Um… I can only say, she's absolutely right.

"The one who came with you before…" Mu Hongyuan glanced at Wang Mu. "It was her, right? What did you two do when you came here? Reminisce?"

"No, just... wandering around," Wang Mu replied.

Mu Hongyuan smiled coquettishly and, with a graceful sway, walked into the wooden house.

"After all this time, I can still smell that flirtatious scent of hers," Mu Hongyuan stretched lazily, her dress tightening, revealing the rather exaggerated curves of her waist and hips.

"Even a dog doesn't have a nose as keen as yours," Wang Mu said.

It's been at least a year or two, right? There can't be any smell.

Mu Hongyuan was speechless.

"You also have a certain scent about you," Wang Mu said.

"Is it fragrant?"

Wang Mu shook his head and pondered, "It's like the scent of many flower buds eager to bloom during the early spring season. Could it be because of the Emotion Poison?"

"How about this, I help you clear the Emotion Poison right here?"

This place, in any case, is better than going to the Sword Sect. The closer he got to Gu Yun Mountain, the stronger Wang Mu's premonition became. The Moon Palace Fairy must be right. If he didn't handle this well, he would surely be done for this time. Even if Heroine Yan wouldn't really strike him down, there was no guarantee that in a fight between those two, he wouldn't be caught in the aftermath.

"Brother Mu, so eager?" Mu Hongyuan turned around, her gauzy clothes fluttering.

Wang Mu shook his head. He wasn't in that kind of mood right now. After all, life and death were the major concerns.

"Tell me," Mu Hongyuan sat down on the edge of the wooden bed and patted it. "What did you two do on the bed back then?"

Wang Mu was silent.

"We did nothing," Wang Mu said.

Mu Hongyuan was taken aback. "I don't believe it."

Seeing this, Wang Mu told her everything that had happened at that time.

After listening, Mu Hongyuan burst out laughing. "Brother Mu, I didn't realize you were so dense back then! To think it took a heroine like her to say, 'I'm cold,' before you'd even make a move… and then you did nothing for the rest of the night…"

"I can't believe it! Sister Mu truly can't believe you'd be such a pure-hearted, reserved, and rule-abiding person!"

Wang Mu shook his head. "No, I'm not that kind of pure-hearted, reserved, and rule-abiding person."

"Then why were you… indifferent to Heroine Yan back then?" Mu Hongyuan smiled.

"Because she isn't Sister Mu," Wang Mu said.

Mu Hongyuan was stunned.

Silence filled the room for a while.

Wang Mu walked to the side of the bed in the wooden house and looked towards Gu Yun Mountain through the window frame, his voice low. "Sister Mu, do you know… when I first realized you were a woman?"

Mu Hongyuan was silent for a moment. "During the flower appreciation… festival?"

Wang Mu shook his head. After the flower appreciation festival was the drinking session in the Demon Palace. Mu Hongyuan's true identity was completely exposed then.

"The drinking session in the Demon Palace…?" Mu Hongyuan pondered.

Wang Mu still shook his head.

"Could it be… at the Fire King's tomb?" Mu Hongyuan was shocked. "That shouldn't be… You were new to the Jianghu back then, and my Disguise Technique was extremely skillful. You couldn't have possibly seen through it…"

Yet, Wang Mu still shook his head.

Mu Hongyuan raised an eyebrow. "Surely not when I entered your Leisure Cloud Valley and became your junior brother? You couldn't have found out then?"

Wang Mu still shook his head.

Seeing this, Mu Hongyuan was perplexed, even falling silent.

"Actually…" Wang Mu said softly, "I found out the very first time we met. I remember it very clearly. A gang of bandits was blocking the road, robbing people. At that time, I had just joined Leisure Cloud Valley. My martial skills weren't proficient, and when I tried to intervene and uphold justice, I was defeated by those bandits."

"It was you, Sister Mu, who appeared and saved me effortlessly."

"I still remember how you looked when you made your move back then…" Wang Mu closed his eyes, as if reminiscing. "You wore red, descended from the sky, holding a folding fan, flitting through the crowd like a dancing butterfly. Those bandits froze in an instant, then collapsed to the ground."

"At that moment, I knew. You had to be a woman."