Don't mess with that Miao boy, he's sickly and perverted.

The two were about to leave the mountains.

Wu Li stopped again, and Chai Xiaomi thought he was waiting for her.

As she quickened her pace to reach him, she saw a reddish-brown snake emerge from his sleeve.

Chai Xiaomi remembered the snake; it had silently crawled up her neck.

At that moment, the thick snake slowly coiled around Wu Li's lean waist.

Although the young man was tall and had a broad frame, his waist was just the right width, with beautiful lines.

He muttered ancient and mysterious incantations under his breath, as if giving the snake some kind of command.

In an instant, the snake gradually swelled up and transformed into the shape of a vine, exactly like the tree monster.

Then, it suddenly began to exert its power.

Wu Li bit her lip and endured it.

Chai Xiaomi stared wide-eyed in disbelief.

Brother, what are you doing? Self-harm?

Wu Li let out a muffled groan.

She heard a crisp snap—the sound of a rib breaking!

"Wu Li!" Chai Xiaomi didn't care about anything else. She grabbed the vine that was wrapped around his waist and pulled it away forcefully.

"What are you doing? Stop it! Are you out of your mind?"

"I won't die." Wu Li moved his lips, afraid that she would collapse at him and burst into tears again, and awkwardly squeezed out, "Don't worry."

At this moment, the snake that had transformed into vines also loosened its grip.

It flicked its tongue and then burrowed back into Wu Li's sleeve.

The snake was so big that it made the fabric of the sleeve bulge out. Then the pupa on the sleeve undulated a few times, and the fabric smoothed out as if it had disappeared in an instant.

"Even if you don't die, it'll still hurt! Are you crazy? Your ribs are broken!"

Wu Li forced a pale, sinister smile: "That's exactly what we want—to break it."

Only in this way can we prove that he escaped death.

What a madman! His bones are broken, yet he remains completely unfazed and can even laugh.

Chai Xiaomi panicked completely, frantically pulling at his belt, "Let me see, Wu Li, you can't get hurt, you know? If you die, I won't be able to live either."

How can the main storyline proceed if the villain dies?

He couldn't die at this time, when the male and female leads hadn't even appeared yet.

As soon as Chai Xiaomi unbuckled her belt, she suddenly realized that he had internal injuries, and even if she pulled off his clothes, she wouldn't be able to tell what was wrong.

So she fastened his belt again.

Suddenly, a deep voice asked, "Why aren't you taking them off?"

Chai Xiaomi suddenly stopped moving, looked up in surprise, and met the boy's slightly lowered eyes.

Beneath his long, raven-feather-like eyelashes, those heterochromatic eyes were fixed on her.

Her left eye was a deep purple, like an iris bathed in moonlight, while her right eye was clear amber, reflecting her anxious face at this moment.

His pale face was given an eerie look by his heterochromatic eyes, but his gaze was as innocent as a child's.

"Why aren't you taking them off?" Wu Li asked again, her voice still hoarse from the injury, and the corners of her lips curled up very slightly.

That hint of a smile, like a pebble thrown into a still lake, gently rippled across his eyes.

Chai Xiaomi's heart skipped a beat, and the fingers gripping his belt tightened instinctively.

She then realized that in her haste, she had actually reached out and started to tear off his clothes.

This action was exactly like that of a ravenous wolf, taking advantage of the boy's serious injury and inability to resist, trying to forcibly take advantage of him.

That's it, that's it.

You Tiao gasped in shock: "Hiss, host, the way you were acting just now, it looked like you were going to pounce on him and devour him."

Chai Xiaomi was dumbfounded: "I... I just lost my temper! Am I that kind of person???"

The other person's bones are already broken, and she still thinks about forcing herself on him?

Wu Li is a madman and a pervert.

She isn't!

You Tiao chuckled, his tone smug: "Host, stop washing. I can monitor your body data in real time. From the first moment you saw the villain, your heart rate soared to 200. According to scientific explanation, there's only one answer to this reaction—it's love at first sight."

"Admit it, when you said it was love at first sight, you weren't just lying to the villain, it was the truth, wasn't it?"

Chai Xiaomi: "I want to complain that your system talks too much. I'm requesting to change the system I'm using, to Doujiang (Soy Milk) instead! Please forward this to the backend immediately, thank you."

The fried dough stick jumped up instantly: "Morako?!?!?!"

Chai Xiaomi let go of Wu Li's hand, then clasped it behind her back, looking at him awkwardly: "I'm sorry, I just wanted to check if you were alright, I didn't mean anything by it, please don't misunderstand."

Surprisingly, Wu Li did not get angry.

He asked curiously, "You just said that if I die, you won't be able to live either, why?"

Chai Xiaomi touched her nose. She couldn't very well tell him, "This villain, your lunchbox isn't even ready yet. If you get your lunchbox early, the world will collapse, including hers."

"Because I will," she slowly uttered two words: "die for love."

Wu Li was quiet for a moment, seemingly thinking about something, before saying, "That sounds pretty good."

It's more interesting than feeding her with drugs.

There was someone who was willing to sacrifice his death, just as his mother sacrificed herself for his life.

Wu Li stared intently at her: "Don't worry, when I die, I'll definitely take you with me."

Although his tone was light and casual, it carried a stubborn and resolute determination, as if he had made some kind of vow.

Chai Xiaomi trembled slightly: "Thank you."

Wu Li: "You're welcome."

*

The stilted houses rise up along the mountainside, standing side by side.

As the first rays of sunlight pierce through the clouds, the entire village is bathed in golden light, and wisps of smoke rise from the chimneys.

Suddenly, a heart-wrenching cry echoed throughout the village.

"Ah Lie—!"

People hurriedly moved among the staggered, dark brown stilted houses.

The news that Chi Lie had been eaten by the tree monster spread throughout the entire village.

Several hot-blooded young men immediately grabbed their weapons and shouted that they would rush into the mountains and forests to bring back Chi Lie's remains.

"Stop right there!"

The clan leader arrived surrounded by several people, striking the ground heavily with his scepter.

"You think you can eliminate the tree monster with these methods?"

His white eyebrows were furrowed, and his aged yet sharp gaze slowly swept over the bows, crossbows, machetes, axes, and hammers in the hands of the crowd.

Although the Wugu tribe is famous for its Gu magic, most of its members nowadays only know some tricks to prank people, and those who are truly proficient in the art of controlling Gu and exorcising evil are extremely rare.

Currently, only the High Priest among the entire clan has the strength to contend with the evil spirits in the mountains.

However, the high priest was in seclusion refining Gu poison for fifteen days. If he were to interrupt the process prematurely, all his efforts would be in vain.

The clan chief swept his gaze across the crowd, his eyes landing on the gaunt figure slumped on the ground in the corner, barely alive.

His face was ashen, and cold sweat from the pain trickled down from his eyes and eyebrows to his chin.

"You should thank the high priest for the five poisonous creatures that he raised on you. Ordinary demons and evil spirits dare not invade them, which is why you were spared from death."

The clan chief walked up to Wu Li, lifted his chin with his scepter, and looked down at him.

There was no hint of relief in his eyes that the survivor had narrowly escaped; instead, there was a stern rebuke.

"Don't forget, you're the village's dog. A dog has to protect its master. Every life in the village is more precious than yours. Even if you can't save Chi Lie, you have to bring his remains back to me!"

What kind of utter nonsense is this?!

Chai Xiaomi, who was originally squatting behind Wu Li and carefully supporting him, couldn't help but look up and glare at the old man.

The clan chief's cloudy gaze happened to sweep over and noticed the girl huddled behind Wu Li.

In his eyes, the medicine man was no different from a Gu worm.

They're not even as good as dogs.

"She came back with you unharmed?" The clan chief's face was grim.

Having said that, he suddenly raised the wooden scepter in his hand, which was engraved with totems, and smashed it down on Chai Xiaomi with a whoosh of wind.

She instinctively shrank her neck, but the expected pain did not come.

The scepter suddenly stopped half a foot away from her.

The end was firmly grasped in the palm of the boy's pale hand.

Wu Li raised his eyes, a gentle smile curving his lips:

"Chief, she didn't go."