Sorry, master, my junior sister has surrendered to the enemy!

The village chief of Niedi cut his palm and smeared the thick, black blood on Shizhen's face.

Shi Zhen was so angry he wanted to curse, but in this situation, he couldn't decide whether to open his mouth or not.

At the critical moment, Yue Ling spoke up: "Hey, tall guy, do you know how to use that medicine you have?"

The village chief stopped what he was doing and looked up at the girl hanging there with a puzzled expression.

Yue Ling continued, "The medicine is good, but it can't cure your illness."

"Ahem!" A furious aura erupted from the village chief of Niedi Village. He shouted, "How could medicine given by the gods be ineffective? Do you know what a crime it is to slander the gods?"

"Why are you in such a hurry?" Yue Ling said calmly, "I have a way to help you cure your illness, all you need to do is put me down."

"How can I trust you?" The village chief still held up his knife, but he had clearly taken Yue Ling's words to heart.

"The gods bestowed upon you this elixir, yet did not instruct you on how to use it; clearly, they have ulterior motives." Yue Ling felt the tree roots binding her tightening, and quickly finished speaking: "Wash the medicine clean and soak it in pure water, then take a drop of blood from a sacrificial offering as a medicinal guide, drink it, and I guarantee you'll be cured!"

"Since I am a sacrifice offered to the gods, I will show you mercy and give you a few drops of blood."

In order to help Shizhen out of his predicament, Yue Ling made up a story.

Ah Chong's eyes lit up after hearing this.

He didn't know if the village chief of Niedi would believe him, but in desperation, the Ninth Princess was clearly going all out. This move was indeed very risky, but what if it worked?

The Ninth Princess single-handedly defeated all the villagers present, so they might be saved.

The village chief's cloudy eyes showed no light, yet his gaze slowly hardened into a half-smile.

"So you're just like them, you share the same blood..."

"Do you think I'd believe you? I've seen it all. Those who drank your blood recovered from their illnesses, but soon after, they died..."

"Heh..." His laughter came from his heart: "Hahahaha, the gods told me not to believe in you, just to offer you as a sacrifice."

The village chief, carrying a knife and grinning maliciously, walked up, and Shugen cooperated by putting Yue Ling down.

Seeing that the situation was getting out of hand, Yue Ling shouted, "Idiot, look behind you!"

The village chief paused, then turned around.

Every villager from this wretched land dragged their terminally ill bodies, their eyes constantly darting between the Ninth Princess and the Third Prince, filled with an uncontrollable longing and madness.

"We cannot sacrifice them..."

Someone uttered a sentence that struck everyone's heart like a bolt of lightning, and the scene began to descend into chaos.

We want their blood!

"It hurts so much, it hurts so much..."

"Let me be free..."

A group of people, driven to madness by the disease, now seem to have become complete zombies, losing the ability to think.

These people swarmed forward, but were stopped by the village chief and another group of "devout" believers. They showed no mercy and, with swift strokes of their knives, cut several of the villagers who led the charge into pieces.

The severed limbs were still moving; every piece of the body was still alive.

Yue Ling was alarmed; things seemed to be developing in a way that was beyond her expectations.

It turns out that the villagers of the cursed land also have the ability to live forever, but they live in perpetual suffering.

They charged forward even with knives close at hand, not because they were numb, but because the knife wounds were nothing compared to the pain in their bodies.

Seeing their pained expressions, Yue Ling seemed to understand why they preferred to drink blood to die; by drinking blood, at least they could end their suffering before death.

"Damn it!" Seeing that the village chief's men were about to lose control of the rioting villagers, Ah Chong cursed angrily. He struggled desperately but to no avail. He had such a good chance to escape, but he had no way to do anything about it.

The tree roots are tightening around it, and it's almost impossible to breathe.

Looking over, Shi Zhen was silent, struggling to breathe, his face already flushed red.

Yue Ling felt the roots wrapping around her head, as if she was being entangled into a human cocoon like Xiao Wu and A Ling.

He had incited a riot among the villagers of the evil land with just a few words, disrupting the "god's" plans. The "god" had lost his guard and wanted to kill him.

“Ninth Princess…” Shi Zhen was anxious as he saw Yue Ling being submerged by tree roots.

The tree roots blocked her view, and Yue Ling closed her eyes in despair.

Suddenly, she felt a chill down her back, and her breath caught in her throat.

It wasn't just ordinary coldness; it was a chilling coldness that always carried the smell of blood, making people tremble uncontrollably to the bone!

Although the chilling cold was terrifying, it miraculously relieved Yue Ling's suffocation. For a moment, Yue Ling felt like a ghost, not needing to breathe.

Before she could even comprehend all these changes, the tree roots on her body were severed by a powerful external force.

A gleaming, slender sword smoothly severed the stubborn tree roots. Chu Yu moved with incredible speed, single-handedly charging through the crowd and rescuing everyone.

The moment Yue Ling grabbed Chu Yu, she felt as if the chilling aura had completely transferred to Chu Yu. She was startled, but then realized it was all an illusion.

"Are you alright?" Chu Yu asked Yue Ling with concern.

"It's alright, you guys came just in time," Yue Ling said with a sigh of relief.

Chu Yu nodded.

Seeing the current situation, the Third Prince was unconscious, and Shi Zhen's arm was a bloody mess, noticeably thinner, with the white bone showing on his wrist. The injuries were severe and horrifying, and he could only barely protect himself and the Third Prince from death.

Ah Chong's injuries were not optimistic, but they were not as serious as Shi Zhen's. In the instant he broke free, he snatched a villager's knife and ran over to protect Yue An.

Yinming's injuries have healed, and he has become the main force on the battlefield, making him the target of everyone's attacks.

"Looks like everyone's here." Chu Yu counted the number of people, told Yue Ling to step aside, and then drew his sword and charged back into the battlefield.

"Yuyu," Yue Ling called out to her, "Wait a minute."

Yue Ling raised her hand and slashed at the Chekong Sword, leaving a trail of blood.

Without much communication, Chu Yu immediately understood Yue Ling's intention.

She tossed the sword into the air, then channeled her inner energy into her fingertips and pointed it at the blade, instantly creating a cloud of blood mist.

Chu Yu stood up again, creating a gust of wind that instantly spread the blood mist.

The villagers in this wretched land immediately lost their fighting ability. As the epidemic gradually subsided, they fell down one after another, and their expressions were not so painful when they died.

The Seventh Prince and the Fourth Princess followed suit, and the battle, which should not have been evenly matched to begin with, quickly came to an end.

The village chief of the evil land was the last to inhale the blood mist.

He slowly grew back to his former good looks, and his handsome features began to show. His eyes gradually shifted from madness to calm.

"The gods said they would heal us all, so why didn't they save us..." The village chief stared at the small stove with his eyes wide open, and then fell silent.

“The gods are not gods, they are evil spirits.” Chu Yu finished his sentence.

Chu Yu looked at the alchemy furnace on the offering table and the incense sticks made of unknown materials around it, his lake-like eyes gleaming faintly in the darkness.

The hallucinatory fragrance was exactly the same as the incense burning here.

The scene had quieted down, and Chu Yu quietly extinguished the incense burning around the stove.

While everyone was tidying up, Yue Ling secretly pocketed the Azure Dragon Crystal Marrow.

Three blood relatives, each with their own agenda, occupied three corners of the cave, none of them speaking first to break the silence, their relationship both unfamiliar and tacit.

In fact, it wasn't just these princes and princesses; the cultivators also had their own things to worry about.

Chu Yu gently wiped the Chekong Sword, carefully recalling the events that had occurred along the way, and incorporating all the inconsistencies into his own speculation.

Actually, everyone's cultivation level is suppressed right now, so no one can use any of those fancy techniques or seductive arts. It's a good time to be frank and open about things.

However, speaking of seductive arts, this did remind Chu Yu.

She didn't deliberately look at the Seventh Prince, but quietly turned her head and whispered to Yue Ling:

"Whatever you're going to do later, put it aside for now. I need to confirm one thing and get it sorted out first."

Yue Ling was working her brain at the moment, but her expression remained calm. When she was serious, she didn't need anyone to remind her to "keep her emotions in check."

Yue Ling casually asked, "Is it that important?"

Chu Yu: "Yes, it concerns your next plans."

Yue Ling: "Okay, go ahead."

Chu Yu: "The reason I told you this is because I was afraid it would put you in a difficult position."

Yue Ling: "Why?"

Chu Yu: "You three are in a rare state of peace right now. If I were to go to the Seventh Prince's side, wouldn't that break your balance?"

Yue Ling was slightly taken aback, not expecting Chu Yu to be looking for the Seventh Prince, but she quickly responded, "Although Fourth Sister has more people on her side, Third Brother, Shi Zhen, and A Chong are all seriously injured. If you go to Seventh Brother now, it will be difficult for Fourth Sister to trust us again."

“But your seventh brother absolutely has to find him.” Chu Yu’s eyes held a rare, undeniable glint.

Yue Ling chose to trust her:

"It's fine. I was planning to break this balance anyway, so go ahead and do whatever you want."

Chu Yu nodded and set off.

The Fourth Princess gasped when she saw Chu Yu walking toward the Seventh Prince.

She hurriedly treated the three wounded people around her, but then she heard footsteps approaching her as well.

She turned around in surprise and saw Yue Ling walking towards her alone without Chu Yu's protection.

"Fourth Sister, do you need any help? The more people there are, the more help they can have, and they'll recover faster."

Yue An looked at Ninth Sister, unsure of what she was planning to do.

Ah Chong became even more vigilant.

Yue Ling smiled helplessly, then squatted down next to Yue An and whispered, "Fourth Sister, shall we talk?"