The sudden turn of events happened in an instant. Shen Qinghe moved quickly, and the crowd, entranced by the so-called beautiful scenery, could not react in time.

But fast as he was, Lang Jiuchuan was faster. He lowered his body, and his hand had already yanked the Dizhong from his waist. With a single thought, he drove the Dizhong into motion.

Dong.

A strike resonant as rolling thunder crashed down upon Shen Qinghe with the crushing weight of a mountain, its force immense as a thousand catties. The invisible Dao intent transformed into a tempest of righteous energy, wringing away the corrupting influence that had overtaken him one strand at a time.

The dagger halted just before Lang Jiuchuan’s forehead. Jolted awake by the bell’s resonance, Shen Qinghe’s mind cleared. Struck by the backlash of the righteous energy, he vomited a mouthful of blood, his chest heavy with dull pain.

Yet before he could even begin to process what he had done — the moment he saw himself holding a dagger, apparently poised to stab Lang Jiuchuan — he stumbled backward in fright. His grip loosened, and the dagger fell to the ground.

Some of the swifter guards had already lunged forward to seize the dagger, but were left shaken by this sudden turn of events. By instinct, they caught Shen Qinghe as he stumbled into them.

The air fell utterly silent.

Everyone had been jolted back to their senses by that single, weighty strike of the bell, yet not a soul dared make a sound.

What in the world was this sudden internal strife about? And not just any internal strife — Official Shen had apparently tried to kill Miss Lang.

“My lord!” The serving woman pulled Lang Jiuchuan behind her in one swift motion and stared at Shen Qinghe in disbelief, her entire body trembling.

Shen Qinghe’s face had gone ashen. He looked down at his own hands, his voice coming out somewhat hoarse: “It was not me. Just now, I don’t know why I…”

He looked urgently toward Lang Jiuchuan, desperate to explain.

Far beyond the shock of everyone else, he himself was more deeply terrified, flustered, and shaken by what had just happened.

He had nearly driven a dagger into a frail young girl — a girl who was, moreover, the very person who had saved his son’s life.

Slap.

Shen Qinghe struck himself hard across the face. What had he been doing?

Lang Jiuchuan stepped out from behind the serving woman. That small face, nestled in fox fur, had gone a ghostly pallor — she looked as though she had been badly frightened and might faint at any moment, a sight that moved anyone to pity.

Especially since all the men who had come along were of an age to be her father. Seeing her appear so delicate and pitiable, many of them could not help cursing inwardly — Official Shen had truly behaved like no decent human being.

As for Lang Jiuchuan herself, aside from her terrible complexion, her eyes held no sign of blame toward Shen Qinghe.

She stepped forward and said, “My lord need not reproach himself. What you did just now was nothing more than the influence of the malevolent thing in this place taking hold of you. I will not hold it against you.”

Seeing how magnanimous she was, and how her expression bore no resentment toward him, Shen Qinghe felt a measure of relief ease through his chest. He replied, “But you said I had the shield of righteous energy protecting my body — how could I have been controlled? And yet these others, they did not act improperly or impulsively either.”

“It likely knew that I had come to ruin its plans, and since this is its own territory, staking everything on a single throw through you was not out of the question.” Lang Jiuchuan looked toward the malevolent aura in the distance and said, “As for the others — they were affected as well. Everything within your field of vision made you feel that this place was a paradise apart from the world, peaceful and untouched. You all felt that to spend your days here in tranquility would leave no regrets even in death, did you not?”

At those words, the color drained from every face present.

This… when they had looked upon the valley’s serene and breathtaking beauty just now, such thoughts had indeed arisen in them. Some had even imagined taking a lovely bride here, raising fine children — what a blessed life that would be.

“Miss Lang,” someone asked carefully, “is there something wrong with this valley?”

Lang Jiuchuan replied, “It is all illusion. What I see is nothing but resentment and sin. These maple trees are all steeped in the energy of blood. I would venture that beneath many of them, bones lie buried.”

What?

Someone recoiled two steps in alarm, tripped over something unseen, and tumbled to the ground. His hand struck something with a sharp pain, and he let out a cry.

He turned his head. Something white and jagged was jutting up from the earth at an angle — and directly behind him stood a maple tree of considerable age.

His heart lurched. He unsheathed the blade at his waist and scraped the dirt aside. With a yelp, he leapt to his feet.

A skull’s hollow eye sockets stared straight at him.

Everyone saw the skull that had been partially unearthed. Their expressions darkened, and without hesitation, they set to digging in earnest.

Good heavens — just beneath this single tree, three skulls were uncovered. Three sets of remains. No wonder this maple tree still bore red leaves deep into winter; it had been fed rather generously.

The expression on Shen Qinghe’s face had gone so dark that water might have dripped from it.

If what Lang Jiuchuan said was true, then over all these years, how many people had gone missing in this Female Village? How many had died here, unable to find rest?

“Speak — you were our guide. Have you been colluding with Female Village all along, luring travelers here to be killed and buried?” A guard drew his sword in a flash and held it across the guide’s throat.

The guide shook with terror, his legs giving out beneath him as he knelt to the ground. “Mercy, my lords, I truly knew nothing! I used to make my living in Wu Jing. I offended someone and had to come back to Tongcheng. I’ve only been a guide for a year. I’ve even relieved myself against this very tree — would I dare do that if I knew there were bodies buried underneath?”

He was truly frightened out of his wits. The gleaming blade inched a fraction closer to his throat, and his bladder clenched, then gave. The sharp smell of urine quickly spread.

The guard’s face twisted in disgust. He snorted and sheathed his sword.

“Someone is coming.” Lang Jiuchuan looked ahead, idly turning the Dizhong over in her hands.

The ones approaching were residents of Female Village — an elder of around sixty, accompanied by several women. When the old man set eyes on Shen Qinghe, his brow furrowed.

This man — truly like an ill-fated spirit that would not leave.

The elder lowered his gaze, concealing the contempt and viciousness in his eyes.

When he raised his head again, he had arranged his expression into a smile. “I was unaware that my lord had traveled such a distance to come. Forgive our failure to receive you properly.”

Shen Qinghe walked beside Lang Jiuchuan and said quietly, “This is Female Village’s ceremonial elder. They call him Elder Ke. Everyone in Female Village bears the surname Ke, as a matter of fact. I’ve heard that every year’s ritual marriage to the Mountain God is presided over by him. Is he the person you’ve been looking for?”

Elder Ke noticed Shen Qinghe whispering to the young woman at his side and glanced over — and met Lang Jiuchuan’s gaze directly. His pupils contracted slightly. He stepped back one pace, then looked again more intently: that girl’s pair of eyes were like twin voids, bottomless, as if they would draw a person in and tear them apart without mercy.

The hand hidden within Elder Ke’s sleeve curled into a tight fist. His gaze fixed on Lang Jiuchuan, his lips pressed together beneath his wrinkled face until they became a hard, cold line.

This woman was no good. She was a serious threat. She would bring Female Village to ruin.

The certainty deepened after he saw the bones unearthed from beneath the guardian maple tree. Those who had come before had found nothing — yet now that they had brought this woman, the very first thing she uncovered was what lay hidden beneath the guardian maples.

For an instant, Elder Ke’s expression twisted into something grotesque — whether from the scars on his face or from something within, it took on a sinister, chilling quality.

Lang Jiuchuan walked toward him at a measured pace. Shen Qinghe quickly fell into step beside her, moving half a step ahead so that his body partially shielded hers against any sudden danger.

Elder Ke watched her approach, and an inexplicable flicker of dread stirred within him.

“You should have died long ago,” Lang Jiuchuan said, studying Elder Ke as she spoke. Her gaze was one of undisguised contempt. “What is it that has been sustaining your life?”