The SSSSSSSS-level Mad Dragon is released from prison!

That subtle medicinal fragrance became Xiao Ruoye's only guide.

Jiang Chen lay on her back, like a scorching volcano, ready to erupt at any moment.

His body temperature was alarmingly high; even through several layers of clothing, it still caused Xiao Ruoye's skin to sting.

What's even more dangerous is his weight.

This man looked well-proportioned, but when carried on his back, he felt as heavy as a mountain.

Xiao Ruoye gritted her teeth, leaving a deep pit in the muddy ground with each step.

The sharp, metallic energy within her body also began to wreak havoc, like countless tiny needles darting about in her meridians.

pain.

Pain from the inside out.

"Damn it... wake up..."

Xiao Ruoye was panting heavily, her voice hoarse.

She didn't know who she was talking to; perhaps it was just to give herself some strength to keep going.

Jiang Chen let out a low growl that was hard to understand, his bloodshot eyes devoid of any consciousness, filled only with the instinct for destruction.

The deep, bone-revealing wounds on his back had stopped bleeding; instead, a charred energy was writhing within them, preventing them from healing.

Xiao Ruoye knew that she was about to reach her limit.

Just as her vision began to darken and her legs went weak, she was about to kneel down.

A figure slowly came into view through the thick fog ahead.

That's a woman.

She was dressed in coarse linen clothes, her long hair tied up with a simple wooden hairpin, and she was squatting on the edge of the cliff, carefully picking something.

Her movements were light and focused, as if this canyon, filled with death and danger, were merely her backyard.

Xiao Ruoye seemed to have seen a lifeline, and with her last bit of strength, she staggered a few steps in that direction.

"Help...help me..."

Before she could finish speaking, her legs gave way, and she could no longer support herself, causing Jiang Chen, who was on her back, to fall heavily to the ground.

The splashed muddy water soaked the woman's trouser legs.

Xiao Ruoye thought the other person would scream and run away in fright.

But the woman simply stood up, dusted off her hands, and calmly walked over.

She didn't look at the disheveled Xiao Ruoye, but instead focused her gaze on the unconscious Jiang Chen.

"He's dying."

The woman's voice was clear and pleasant, but her words made Xiao Ruoye's heart sink.

"The things inside him are fighting."

The woman squatted down and placed two slender white fingers on Jiang Chen's wrist.

Her brows furrowed slightly.

"One is very domineering, like the sun. The other... is very troublesome, like rotten mud clinging to the bone."

The woman was talking to herself, seemingly treating Xiao Ruo-ye as an outsider at all.

"You can't get your hands in using ordinary methods."

Xiao Ruoye struggled to get up, but the movement aggravated her injuries, causing her to cough violently as she couldn't catch her breath.

"Don't move, your body is a mess too."

The woman glanced back at her and gave the order in a calm tone.

Then, she did something that left Xiao Ruoye speechless.

Without hesitation, she rolled up the sleeves of her coarse linen clothes, revealing a dazzlingly white wrist.

Then, she brought her wrist to Jiang Chen's mouth.

Jiang Chen, like a wild beast that has smelled blood, instinctively opened his mouth and took a bite.

"What are you doing!"

Xiao Ruoye cried out in disbelief.

This crazy woman! Doesn't she know that Jiang Chen is now completely ruthless and doesn't care about his own family?!

However, the expected bloody scene did not occur.

Jiang Chen's teeth broke through the woman's skin.

The liquid that flowed out was not red.

Instead, it was a pale green liquid with a faint fluorescent glow.

The liquid dripped down Jiang Chen's lips and onto a clump of withered weeds beside him.

A miracle happened.

The withered grass turned green again at a speed visible to the naked eye, and even bloomed a small, unidentified yellow flower.

Xiao Ruoye's mind completely went blank.

She stared blankly at the scene, then looked at the woman's calm face.

"Your...your blood...why is it green?"

She feels that her worldview has been repeatedly overturned and reshaped today.

"My name is Shen Suxin, and I live in these mountains."

The woman, Shen Suxin, seemed to have done something insignificant.

She looked at Jiang Chen's expression.

The violent aura in those crimson eyes was slowly fading.

The writhing black runes beneath the skin seemed to have been paused, ceasing their spread.

Jiang Chen's breathing was still heavy, but much more steady.

He has fallen silent for now.

Shen Suxin withdrew her wrist, and the bite wound had healed automatically without leaving a scar.

"It's too damp here, we need to take him back."

As she spoke, she looked at Xiao Ruoye.

"Are you still able to walk?"

Xiao Ruoye nodded mechanically, then shook her head.

Shen Suxin didn't ask any more questions. She walked to the other side of Jiang Chen, stretched out her seemingly slender arm, and easily put one of Jiang Chen's arms on her shoulder.

"Give me a hand and get him to my place."

Xiao Ruoye suddenly realized what was happening and quickly got up. Enduring the excruciating pain, she and Shen Suxin half-dragged and half-carried Jiang Chen into the depths of the dense forest.

At the end of the valley, there was a very simple medicine shop.

The house was built of wood, with a thatched roof, and various herbs whose names I didn't know were drying in the yard, filling the air with a rich medicinal aroma.

The two of them worked together to place Jiang Chen on the only wooden bed.

Shen Suxin turned around, poured a bowl of water from a ceramic jar, and handed it to Xiao Ruoye.

The water was also emerald green, emitting a slightly bitter fragrance.

"Drinking it will be good for your health."

Xiao Ruoye took the bowl and looked at her hesitantly.

"Who exactly are you?"

"A herb gatherer."

Shen Suxin answered as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

She walked to the bedside and checked Jiang Chen's condition again, saying without turning her head, "His life is temporarily saved. But my blood alone won't be enough to wake him up."

"What should we do then?" Xiao Ruoye asked anxiously.

She now sees this mysterious medicine woman as her only hope.

"It depends on him."

Shen Suxin pointed to Jiang Chen's chest.

"The sun-like power within him is absorbing my blood to suppress that black sludge. Once it's suppressed, he'll wake up."

She paused, then added.

"It's also possible that they'll never wake up, and will be swallowed up by that black thing, becoming an empty shell that only knows how to kill."

Xiao Ruoye's heart leaped into her throat once again.

Just then.

Jiang Chen, lying on the bed, twitched his fingers slightly.

His consciousness was floating in an endless darkness.

A violent, bloodthirsty, and destructive urge, like countless venomous snakes, frantically tore at his soul.

The Immortal-Slaying Curse and the Poison of Destiny joined forces to launch a deadly counterattack when he was at his weakest.

He felt himself being assimilated by this darkness, about to completely lose himself.

Sudden.

A clear, bittersweet stream flowed in from the outside.

This stream was not powerful, but it carried a tenacious vitality, and wherever it passed, the venomous snakes that were trying to bite it all retreated.

The darkness was briefly pushed open a crack.

Jiang Chen's soul was given a brief respite.

And at that very moment.

Deep within his consciousness, the totem carved by his third master, Feng Yiran, to sense the special constitutions of people all over the world, suddenly trembled.

Of the nine ancient runes, the two representing "Ice Phoenix Body" and "Phantom Body" have already lit up.

At this moment, the third rune was emitting a soft yet bright emerald green light.