Transforming into a stunningly beautiful fox spirit, leaving a scar on the heart of a prodigy.

Sword energy crisscrossed, its cold light illuminating half of Ghost Cry Valley.

Gu Xiang did not hold back with this sword strike; his righteous aura, imbued with the killing power of a prime minister, aimed directly at the faceless man's head.

At the same time, the Soul-Gathering Flower on Su Qing's soul body shone brightly red.

Although she is a spirit, even a single wisp of the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox's primordial fire is enough to incinerate everything.

A gigantic fox shadow materialized in mid-air, its nine tails blotting out the sky, carrying the oppressive aura of an ancient demon, and slammed down on the black-clad followers surrounding the altar.

"Get out of here!"

Su Qing shouted sharply, her voice echoing through the valley.

She didn't care what kind of evil magic these people were practicing; daring to touch Li Qingge was to provoke her.

Faced with Gu Xiang's deadly sword strike, the faceless man neither dodged nor evaded, his bone knife still hovering above Li Qingge's head. However, his face, devoid of features, seemed to exude an eerie calm.

The sword's edge has arrived.

Just as the sharp sword energy was about to sever the faceless man's neck, a sudden change occurred.

Li Qingge, who had been hanging her head and seemingly unsure of her fate, suddenly raised her head.

Her tightly closed eyes suddenly snapped open, revealing no trace of the fear or weakness of being imprisoned, but rather a clarity and...surprise?

"stop!"

Li Qingge's clear voice rang out.

With a swift movement, she broke free of the seemingly indestructible black chains.

The sound of the chains snapping was particularly jarring in the silent valley.

The next moment, Li Qingge sprang up from the stone pillar, not to run away, but to stand in front of the faceless man.

She stretched out her hands, and a layer of gentle imperial dragon energy emanated from her palms, forcefully trapping Gu Xiang's thunderous sword strike.

"Zheng—"

The sound of metal clashing against metal rang out.

Gu Xiang's pupils contracted, and with a flick of his wrist, the longsword drew an arc in the air, dissipating the force. His figure drifted back several feet and landed on the edge of the altar.

He couldn't hurt Li Qingge.

Su Qing's fox tail phantom also stopped abruptly in mid-air, the strong wind it generated causing the banners on the altar to flutter loudly.

"Qingge?"

Su Qing landed beside Gu Xiang, her brows furrowed, looking the familiar yet unfamiliar woman up and down.

Although Li Qingge's pale yellow palace dress was tattered and stained with blood, her complexion was surprisingly good.

His complexion was rosy and his breathing was steady; he hardly looked like a dying person who had been subjected to a bloodletting ritual.

When Li Qingge saw Su Qing, a bright smile appeared on her face.

She lifted her skirt and leaped down from the high altar, her movements as light as a butterfly flitting among flowers, landing steadily in front of Su Qing.

"Sister Su! It really is you!"

Li Qingge cheered and reached out to take Su Qing's hand.

Su Qing subconsciously took half a step back to avoid her touch.

Not right.

Something's really wrong.

The blood in that pool was still boiling, and the faceless man's bone knife was about to strike, so how come this girl is acting like nothing happened?

Seeing Su Qing avoid her, Li Qingge wasn't annoyed, but just pouted a little aggrievedly.

"Sister Su, why are you hiding? It's me, Qingge."

Li Qingge turned to look at Gu Xiang, then at the black-clad men who were too intimidated to move by Su Qing's pressure, and quickly waved her hand.

"Lord Gu, Sister Su, you've misunderstood."

Li Qingge pointed to the faceless man behind her and said sincerely, "They are not bad people, they are helping me."

"Is it to help you?"

Su Qing raised an eyebrow, pointed to the churning pool of blood, and then to the eerie altar.

"Tying you to a pillar, with boiling water simmering human blood below, and a monster with a knife standing next to you—is that what you call helping you?"

Su Qing sneered, "Then if I throw you into a pot of oil and fry you, would that be considered helping you with beauty and skincare?"

Li Qingge stamped her foot in frustration.

"Oh dear, Sister Su, let me explain."

Li Qingge took two steps closer and lowered her voice, saying, "On my way back to the capital, I passed by this rocky slope and suddenly felt my internal energy was disordered, as if I had been under some kind of evil spell. I happened to meet this master, who said that I had been possessed by a demon and needed to use this special formation to borrow the earth's evil energy to force the evil energy out of my body."

She pointed to the faceless man.

"Although the master looks... a bit unusual, he has a good heart. That bone knife wasn't meant to kill me, but to sever the evil energy gathering above my head."

After Li Qingge finished speaking, she even turned around to show her current state.

"Look, don't I feel much more energetic now? That heaviness in my body has completely disappeared."

Gu Xiang remained silent.

His knuckles were white as he gripped the sword, his gaze fixed on Li Qingge's face, then sweeping over the faceless man standing silently in the shadows.

The black-clad cult members around them had also put away their weapons and stood with their hands at their sides, looking extremely respectful, completely devoid of the sinister and terrifying aura they had just exuded.

The atmosphere in the entire valley instantly shifted from a tense standoff to an eerie harmony.

Looking at Li Qingge's sincere face, Su Qing felt a sense of absurdity.

Is this girl stupid from reading too much, or has she been brainwashed?

A princess of the Great Zhou Dynasty was tied to an altar by a group of cultists and almost boiled alive, but then she jumped down and said it was for healing.

"Qingge".

Su Qing took a deep breath, forcefully suppressing the strange feeling in her heart.

"You mean, these guys who use human bones as decorations and human blood as bathwater are practicing medicine and saving lives?"

Su Qing pointed to the stark white bones surrounding the altar.

"What about these bones? Did they also result in death during treatment?"

Li Qingge glanced at the skeletons, a hint of reluctance flashing in her eyes, but it quickly turned into a resolute expression.

"The master said that some patients in the past were terminally ill and could not be saved. Life and death are predestined, and there's nothing that can be done about it."

Li Qingge stepped forward, wanting to tug at Gu Xiang's sleeve.

"Lord Gu, please put your sword away. The master is a reclusive sage who doesn't concern himself with such worldly formalities, but we cannot be impolite."

Gu Xiang slightly shifted his body to the side, avoiding her hand.

His eyes were cold, as cold as the chilling wind in Ghost Cry Valley.

"etiquette?"

Gu Xiang repeated the two words.

He looked at Li Qingge as if she were a complete stranger.

"Your Highness, do you remember who you are?"

Gu Xiang's voice was not loud, but it carried a power that penetrated people's hearts.

Li Qingge was taken aback for a moment, then smiled and said, "Lord Gu is joking. I am naturally the fifth princess of the Great Zhou Dynasty, Li Qingge."

"Yeah?"

Gu Xiang's lips curled into a mocking smile.

"Since you are Li Qingge, you should know the laws of the Great Zhou Dynasty: what is the punishment for those who privately set up altars and use sorcery to deceive the public?"

Li Qingge's smile froze for a moment.

"Lord Gu, extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures; why be bound by the law..."

"The law is the law."

Gu Xiang interrupted her.

He took a step forward, and his righteous aura suddenly erupted, forcing the surrounding black mist back three feet.

"I don't care what they're doing, or whether you're doing it voluntarily or not."

Gu Xiang pointed the tip of his sword at the faceless man.

"To engage in such wicked practices on the land of Great Zhou is a capital offense."

The faceless man remained motionless, but his featureless face seemed to turn slightly, as if he were sizing up Gu Xiang.

Li Qingge panicked and stood in front of Gu Xiang.

"Gu Xiang! How dare you!"

She adopted the majesty of a princess, her eyebrows raised in anger.

"I said they are good people! Are you going to disobey my decree?"

As Su Qing watched this scene, her sense of unease grew stronger.

Although Li Qingge is somewhat naive and willful, she is by no means someone who cannot distinguish right from wrong.

Moreover, she had always respected Gu Xiang, even feared him, and never dared to call him by his name, let alone speak to him in this tone.

Apart from her appearance and demeanor, where was there any trace of the little girl who used to follow her around calling her "sister"?

Su Qing narrowed her eyes and moved around to Li Qingge's side.

Her nose twitched slightly as she carefully discerned the scents in the air.

The scent of ambergris was still very strong, masking everything else.

But beneath this rich aroma, something still felt off.

Su Qing looked at Gu Xiang.

Their eyes met in mid-air.

No words were needed; years of companionship had allowed them to instantly understand each other's thoughts.

There's something wrong with this Li Qingge.