After provoking the holy maiden of Miao territory, she was infected with a love curse.

The stone path was covered with moss.

The road was lined with lush green bamboo.

A deep chill emanated from the end of the road, accompanied by the melodious sound of flowing water.

"This is it."

"Can you let me go now?"

"I...I have elderly parents and young children to care for, and an 80-year-old mother to look after..."

This man's Mandarin wasn't very standard, but it was fluent. Sang Che thought he was probably a skilled Miao.

So he took out half a piece of silver from his sleeve, looked at him, and asked, "In your hearts, is your king more reliable, or your holy maiden more reliable?"

"I only need you to tell the truth, and I'll give you this silver as payment for bringing us here."

Yin Huaixi was thinking about how many people in Miaojiang still supported Sang Che. If most people in Miaojiang stood on the side of the Holy Maiden, then she could use His Highness's military strength to temporarily stabilize Miaojiang.

This prevented Sang Che from being branded a traitor to Miao territory by the remaining subordinates of the Miao King, and from being completely hunted down and killed in Miao territory.

She didn't want to see Sang Che abandon everything to rescue his people, only to have them lose all faith and love for her in the end.

To place all the blame for the tragedy that occurred in Miao territory on Sang Che is wrong. Whoever should bear such responsibility should bear it.

The man looked at the silver and swallowed hard.

"Of course, it's the Holy Maiden!"

"The Holy Maiden is chosen by the gods themselves, but anyone can become Wang Ke."

"The conflict between the King and the Holy Maiden is all because of the Gu King. I don't understand those things, but I do know that throughout the Miao region, the Gu King has always belonged to the Holy Maiden... Only descendants who possess the blood of the great god Chi You can control the Gu King."

This is a deeply ingrained belief among the Miao people.

The king coveted what did not belong to him, so it was only right that the gods brought down calamity.

Hearing him say that, Yin Huaixi felt a little relieved, and she took out another gold leaf.

He threw it to him along with the piece of silver.

"Go back and tell the people in the village what you said."

"Consider this gold leaf your payment, how about it?"

Clutching the fine gold leaf tightly, the man nodded.

"I would go through fire and water for the sake of the saintess... God will forgive me."

He didn't say anything more and stumbled along the path, leaving the cold spring.

Yin Huaixi's identity is known to everyone in Miao territory.

At first, when they heard that the saintess's destined person was actually a Han Chinese woman, they felt it was against human ethics.

But this was the decision of the gods, the divination of the high priest, and no one dared to question it.

God has no nature.

It seems that... when the gods choose a partner for a holy woman, they do not distinguish between men and women.

His fingers continued to caress the gold leaf; he considered such a great benefit a gift from the saintess.

He escaped death, but turned misfortune into blessing.

This made him quicken his pace, wanting to return to the village and tell the hidden villagers what had happened.

...

The cold spring, emitting a chilling aura, is icy cold.

Despite the chill, Yin Huaixi immersed the burning hot Sang Che in the water.

Wuming did not come along, but arranged for several capable guards to stand guard around the Cold Spring, so that no one would disturb it.

I originally thought that Sang Che's body temperature would drop quickly, but unexpectedly, it took about an incense stick's time to cool down after soaking in the water.

Sang Che's forehead was still burning hot.

Even her temples were damp with a light sheen of sweat.

Moreover, Sang Che's originally pale lips gradually turned bluish-black.

Having diligently studied medical books, Yin Huaixi was now practically a doctor herself. She immediately realized that Sang Che hadn't been suffocated by the fire...

This is poisoning!

Yin Huaixi realized what was happening, hurriedly took off her clothes, jumped into the cold spring, and swam to Sang Che's side.

To better soak in the cold spring, Yin Huaixi took off Sang Che's outer garment, leaving only a thin inner lining. The gauze, like a cicada's wing, clung tightly to Sang Che's skin.

Appearing and disappearing intermittently.

It's so captivating that you can't take your eyes off it.

If it were before, Yin Huaixi would definitely be cursing herself in her heart again. Sang Che was on the verge of death, so why was she having such wild thoughts?

But now, Sang Che didn't care about any of that. Her fingers frantically untied the last of Sang Che's clothes, searching for signs of poisoning.

A pale purple mark spread from her neck downwards.

Extending to every part of Sang Che's skin, it was like the roots of a tree buried deep in the soil, making people's hearts pound and their scalps tingle.

The poison spread from the neck!

After finally finding the source, Yin Huaixi looked up more closely. She carefully peeled away the damp hair clinging to Sang Che's skin with her fingers and saw a needle hole congealed with blood.

Poisoning...

Ah Che is truly someone who often walks on the shore; he's bound to get his shoes wet eventually.

But based on this needle hole, Yin Huaixi could conclude that it was not bitten by a Gu worm, but was most likely caused by human intervention.

It was probably a silver needle that had been poisoned.

Thinking of this, Yin Huaixi breathed a sigh of relief.

If it's poisoning, then there's still an antidote.

Extremely high temperatures can cause irreversible damage to internal organs.

If A-Che's brain is really damaged by the fire she set, Yin Huaixi will probably blame herself for the rest of her life.

Just as Yin Huaixi was about to get up from the cold spring to carefully examine what kind of poison Sang Che had been poisoned by, her wrist was suddenly grabbed by Sang Che.

"Huaixi...is that you?"

The voice was extremely weak.

Even though she couldn't see anything, Sang Che was still certain that the person standing before her was the one she had been longing for day and night.

"How...did you find me here?"

"Are you injured...?"

The Miao region's outskirts have been sealed off by the Miao King. The only ones who can get in are probably the imperial army that controls the Great Dao. For Yin Huaixi to sneak in unnoticed would be harder than climbing to heaven.

"You've exhausted yourself like this, and the first thing you're going to ask me when you wake up is how I got here?"

Of course she's cheating.

Otherwise, how could she possibly know about the secret passage that even the local Miao people didn't know about?

Yin Huaixi remembered that there was a secret passage in the later part of the novel, which Sang Che discovered by accident. It was also a secret passage left by the ancestors of the Miao village, so that if any accident happened in the village or a wildfire came, the people could escape unharmed.

Originally, Yin Huaixi's memory was not clear, but fortunately, the author did not gloss over it when describing it, but made a point of mentioning the environment around the secret passage.

Only then did Yin Huaixi make the connection, and she found it easily.

They were all being held by the wrist.

It's impossible to break free now.

Yin Huaixi simply lowered her eyes and looked at Sang Che quietly. Although her words were somewhat impulsive, she didn't dare to say them too harshly, for fear of really hurting Sang Che's feelings.

Sang Che was about to say something, but his throat felt dry and itchy, so he coughed lightly twice.

She didn't want to appear so disheveled in front of Yin Huaixi, so she deliberately turned her head away to prevent Yin Huaixi from seeing her.

"Huaixi...aren't you angry with me?"

Knowing how far she had gone, Sang Che never expected that Yin Huaixi would let her off so easily.

Therefore, she was prepared to let Yin Huaixi do as she pleased.

No matter what kind of punishment it is, Sang Che is willing to accept it all.

She wouldn't resist, nor would she utter a sound.

That's a very insightful question.

Yin Huaixi broke free from Sang Che's restraints. She pressed her hands on Sang Che's shoulders, leaned close to his ear, and whispered something in his ear.

"Of course I'm angry with you."

"I wish I could tear your tendons out and skin you alive... but first, you should take good care of yourself."

"With your frail appearance, if I torment you a bit, it won't be enough to vent my anger. You might even run out of breath."

"Is that right?"