First annul the engagement, then sever ties with the empress; the empress reigns supreme.

Murong Yuan wondered if the commotion just now was related to Qingyanzi and Su Li. He subtly raised his eyebrows and asked casually.

"Jiaoniang, I wonder if anyone else has come to the island besides me recently. If I want to leave the island later, will it be very troublesome?"

Jiao Niang glanced at Murong Yuan, and was about to answer when there was a knock on the door outside the courtyard.

Jiao Niang's parents passed away early, but she was quite talented in performing rituals to invoke the gods. She was revered as a saint by her clan and was also the next successor of the Li Huo clan.

Hearing the sound, she glanced nervously outside before turning back to Murong Yuan and whispering, "Don't make a sound, I'll be right back."

After saying that, he quickly closed the door and went out. The people outside had already entered the courtyard and were looking inside casually.

"Jiaoniang, what are you doing at home alone? I've been knocking on the door for so long and no one has come out. I thought something had happened to you and I was just about to go in to check on you."

The man had dark skin, but his eyes were exceptionally clear, and he looked to be about the same age as the woman.

The beautiful woman rolled her eyes at the man and warned, "Bai Ze, you can't come into my room without my permission. There's a difference between men and women, don't you know that?"

"Hehe, we grew up together, what's with all this talk about men and women?" Bai Ze didn't care, but he listened to Jiao Niang. Although he didn't agree with Jiao Niang's words, he still promised, "However, if you don't let me in, then I won't go in."

Jiao Niang breathed a sigh of relief at Bai Ze's words. In order not to expose Murong Yuan, who was hiding in the room, she pushed Bai Ze to walk out: "What brings you here to see me?"

Bai Ze didn't suspect anything, mainly because if nothing unexpected happened, no one from Xidao would come to the island for decades.

He said, "The clan chief sent me to call you to discuss the matter of Qingyanzi. Qingyanzi must have caused a great disaster outside to hide back on the island. Now that Wei Ming is dead, it will be Qingyanzi's turn next. The clan chief feels that it is not safe for Qingyanzi to hide in Wolf Mountain now, and he is afraid that Qingyanzi will implicate us. He is hesitating whether to drive Qingyanzi out of Qunxi Island."

Jiao Niang understood, and she glanced almost imperceptibly into the room. She pulled Bai Ze towards the courtyard, saying, "In that case, let's not delay and go find the clan leader."

As soon as Jiao Niang and Bai Ze left and their footsteps faded into the distance, Murong Yuan opened the door and came out of the room.

He overheard every word of Jiao Niang's conversation with Bai Ze while hiding by the door of the room.

The commotion outside was indeed related to Su Li and Qing Yanzi. After all this effort, I'm finally getting closer to Su Li.

A look of joy appeared in Murong Yuan's eyes. He forced himself to walk out of the courtyard gate, and just as he stepped out, he encountered the beautiful woman who had returned.

Murong Yuan's expression hardened.

"Where are you going?" The smile on Jiao Niang's face had vanished, replaced by a serious expression.

Caught red-handed, Murong Yuan no longer concealed his identity and apologized, saying, "I'm sorry, Jiaoniang, I lied to you. I actually came to the island, not because I was swept here by the waves. Qingyanzi captured the person I care about most, and I have to go find Qingyanzi."

Jiao Niang asked, "So you seem to be someone from the imperial court?"

Murong Yuan did not deny it. He promised, "Yes, I am a member of the imperial court. But I can assure you that as long as your clansmen do not help Qingyanzi, we will absolutely not implicate any member of your Lihuo clan."

"Why should I believe you?" Jiao Niang stared intently at Murong Yuan.

Murong Yuan raised his finger: "If you don't believe me, I can swear. If I have lied to Jiao Niang today, may I be struck by lightning and die a horrible death."

“On our Lihuo Island, once an oath is made, it is reported to the gods. Breaking a promise will bring retribution,” Jiao Niang warned, blinking her eyes.

After saying that, she turned around and took a few steps forward. Seeing that Murong Yuan hadn't followed, she turned back and said, "Aren't you looking for Qingyanzi? Why aren't you following me? Without me, you wouldn't even know where Wolf Mountain is."

After being rejected, Qingyanzi did not go anywhere else. He returned to Langshan along the original route. When he reached the middle of the mountain, he seemed to feel increasingly unwell.

He braced himself against a tree trunk, panting heavily to catch his breath. Suddenly, a dark red snake, its tongue flicking, slithered down from the tree and was about to approach Qingyanzi. Qingyanzi sensed something and abruptly looked up at the crucial moment.

He was immune to all poisons and had no fear of being bitten by a snake.

In the past, Qingyanzi would have ignored the snake completely, but today, when he saw the large, reddish-black snake, his eyes lit up, gleaming with a desire for food.

He grabbed the snake with both hands, wrapped it around his arms, and then opened his mouth to greedily bite the snake.

Eating live snakes.

The scene was so bloody that it made one want to vomit.

Qingmiao couldn't help but gag silently, and accidentally stepped on a dry branch as she backed away.

"Who is it?" Qingyanzi turned around quickly.

Qingmiao tried to leave, but Qingyanzi had already appeared in front of her like a ghost, grabbing her neck with one hand: "You've been following me!"

When Qingyanzi spoke, his white teeth were still stained with blood, which made people feel scared.

Qingmiao swallowed hard, unwilling to meet Qingyanzi's gaze: "Master, I don't know what you're talking about. I just want to find some wild game in the forest to give you a treat."

"You think I'll believe you? You've come at the perfect time. I was just worried about not being able to quench my thirst." Qingyanzi forcefully pulled Qingmiao towards their mountain dwelling.

When Qingyanzi abducted Qingmiao back to their residence, Gu Junxi had already received Qingyan's message and ran out of the secret room. Seeing Qingyanzi like this, only a few words flashed through Su Li's mind—

The Gu worms turned on them.

She overheard Qingyanzi say that if one is not careful when refining Gu poison, one can go into a state of demonic possession. In that case, the Gu poison will backfire and cause one to gradually lose their will and undergo a drastic change in temperament.

A shameless person like Qingyanzi, after suffering a backlash from his demonic possession, will only become more unrestrained and even more shameless.

Su Li pretended not to notice Qing Yanzi's abnormality and stood in front of him: "Master, I don't know what Qing Miao did to offend you. Since you want to punish her, why not hand her over to your disciple?"

"No need, you can't help with this kind of punishment." Qingyanzi felt like a hundred insects were biting him all over his body. He couldn't hold on any longer and, not caring that he hadn't even returned to his room yet, he tore half of Qingmiao's robe with a snap.

Qingmiao let out a loud shout.

Su Li and Qing Yan had already realized that Qing Yanzi wanted to assault Qing Miao because he had no women around him.

Judging from his appearance, Qingyanzi must have come down the mountain intending to make a move on the women of the Lihuo tribe, but the Lihuo tribe had been on guard, preventing him from doing so.

"Master, no!" Qingmiao was frightened by Qingyanzi's actions and hugged herself tightly.

Qingyanzi slapped Qingmiao across the face: "You bitch, I raised you myself. I need you, and there's no reason for you to say you don't want me."

"Master, you can't take Qingmiao away," Qingyan said.

"Then why don't you take her place?" Qingyanzi pointed to Qingyan, not picky at all, as long as it could reduce the backlash for him.

Qingyanzi's current deranged state was truly frightening. Qingyan was stunned upon hearing this and did not have the courage to nod in agreement.

In the face of life and death, no one can be selfless and righteous.

Qingyanzi gave a mocking sneer and pulled the despairing Qingmiao into the room.

Just then, Su Li, who had been silent, stood in the doorway, her clear eyes fixed on Qing Yanzi: "Master, I can take Qing Miao's place."