Chapter 869: with translation of chapter title

He instinctively looked toward Han Xing, only to see Han Xing with a look of disgust, averting his eyes, unable to bear looking directly.

I go, so careless!

Fu San lamented inwardly; he was unlike Fu Er—he was no longer a single dog, a married man should mind his image in public!

Not long after, wave after wave of people from Wuji Hall came one after another.

Among them were two Holy Son–level figures; seeing Holy Son Lan Long bound tight, they instantly flew into a rage.

"Are you tired of living? How dare you bind our Wuji Hall's Holy Son? Quickly untie them!"

One of them, a Holy Son wearing a lip ring, shouted loudly.

Everyone looked at each other, yet no one heeded his words.

The faces of those two Holy Sons darkened; "Good, very good, the ruler of Donglin Country indeed has courage. I hope you have enough courage to face Wuji Hall's wrath!"

Since the people of Donglin Country wouldn't listen, they let Wuji Hall's own people go untie Holy Son Lan Long and the others.

"Who gave you permission to do this?"

Before those people could approach, a figure blocked their path.

"Who are you?"

Ye Qingran smiled. "How come? Isn't Wuji Hall always putting a bounty on my head? You don't recognize me?"

The few exchanged glances; soon another Holy Son with a nose ring said in a low voice, "You're Ye Qingran?!"

"Congratulations, you got it right!"

Having received Ye Qingran's affirmative reply, the people of Wuji Hall were stunned, especially those two Holy Sons, for they knew the Holy Lord had left Wuji Hall for the Demon God Relic in Mo Yuan.

"You're still alive?"

"Sorry, I'm living better than your Holy Lord."

"How dare you insult our Holy Lord—seize her, kill her!"

Ye Qingran waved her hand. "What's the rush? Are you sure you don't want to first ask what the Wuji Hall Holy Maiden thinks?"

The nose-ring Holy Son furrowed his brows. "Ye Qingran, what do you mean?"

Ye Qingran didn't beat around the bush; she produced the Soul-Attracting Pearl, releasing Luo Qingcheng's soul, and because of the pearl's control, Luo Qingcheng could only be manipulated by Ye Qingran.

"Ye Qingran, let me go quickly!"

Luo Qingcheng's translucent body looked somewhat ethereal, like a crystal doll that could shatter at any moment.

Luo Qingcheng wore an angry expression.

"What are you dreaming about?"

"If you don't release me, my father won't let you off!"

"You don't know, do you? Your father was the one who fled in disgrace from the Demon God Relic—what ability does he have to save you?"

At the instant they saw Luo Qingcheng's soul, the Wuji Hall people were stunned.

"Holy Maiden?!"

Luo Qingcheng looked at the surrounding Wuji Hall people and immediately shouted, "What are you standing there for? Hurry up and save me! You good-for-nothings!"

"Yes!" Upon receiving the order, the Wuji Hall people immediately launched an attack on Ye Qingran.

"Ah!!!"

However, what they never expected was that Luo Qingcheng suddenly let out a cry of pain, her face twisted in anguish as she knelt on the ground, her whole body convulsing.

"Luo Qingcheng, you seem to have forgotten—you are now my captive; your life and death lie entirely in my single thought." Ye Qingran crossed her arms and said lightly.

"You this lowly—" Luo Qingcheng's words were cut off before she could finish.

"Get your people out of the way; otherwise, if you want to die, I don't mind granting you that wish!"

Luo Qingcheng was now frightened; just moments ago she thought she would be annihilated.

"What are you still standing there for? Step back!"

She didn't want to die!

She hadn't yet married Fu Hanxiu, nor borne him a child!

"Make them hand over the plague cure."

Luo Qingcheng hurriedly said, "Did you all hear that? Hand over the cure!"

The lip-ring Holy Son hesitated. "Holy Maiden, we don't have the plague cure at all—it's all in the Holy Lord's hands! Moreover, the supply is limited, enough to save only ten percent of Donglin Country's people."

Luo Qingcheng felt a surge of schadenfreude.

Ye Qingran, you'd better die in this plague, so Fu Hanxiu will be mine! Even if he likes someone else now, it doesn't matter—someday I will make him belong to me wholly, inside and out!

"You heard it—there's basically no cure, and even if there were, you couldn't save everyone!"

Luo Qingcheng had thought Ye Qingran would panic, but she remained calm. "Since there's no cure, the plague's poison must exist, right?"

The nose-ring Holy Son narrowed his eyes. "The plague's poison does exist—are you sure you want it? Once even a trace leaks out, everyone here will be infected within fifteen minutes."

Upon hearing this, the people of Xiliang City panicked.

Gu Huanghou was the first to rise. "Ye Qingran, do you want to kill us? What exactly is your purpose? Elders of Wuji Hall, I beg you—don't give her the poison!"

At this point, the Donglin Emperor had grown weary of Gu Huanghou; he waved his hand. "Someone, bestow her the red crane-top!"

Upon hearing that, Gu Huanghou completely broke down.

The red crane-top—it's a deadly poison; contact means certain death!

"Your Majesty, no! I don't want to die! I know I was wrong; I will reform!"

The Donglin Emperor averted his gaze, not even looking at her.

"Dongliu! Quickly help your aunt plead with the Emperor!"

Gu Huanghou clung tightly to Gu Dongliu's sleeve; Gu Dongliu looked down at her from above, his eyes only cold: "Auntie, if you had known this would happen, why bother in the first place? We gave you one chance, and you failed to cherish it."

Having said that, he pulled his sleeve back.

"Big brother, big sister, you guys, my uncle!"

Gu Fu and Gu Mu shook their heads, looking helpless.

Gu Huanghou's gaze gradually dimmed; she never imagined she would one day end up betrayed and isolated.

Soon, the palace maids brought the Crane's Crown Red; Gu Huanghou naturally refused to drink, so the Donglin Emperor had someone force it down her throat.

"Ah!!!"

Gu Huanghou's miserable scream was hysterical, shocking to hear.

Soon, blood trickled from the corner of her mouth; she collapsed, twitching, and died shortly after.

Everyone looked at the already corpse of Gu Huanghou, feeling little sympathy.

As the saying goes, the pitiful always have something hateful about them; Gu Huanghou originally schemed to kill Ye Qingran, was then cast into the Cold Palace, showed no remorse, instead grew more vicious, allied with traitors, and ultimately met her end in ruin and disgrace, dying young—she brought it upon herself.

Ye Qingran obtained from the Wuji Hall personnel a poison already containing the plague; everyone stared at the green bottle, hearts pounding.

Know that what's inside is an extremely virulent plague—touch it and you die, with no antidote!

"Miss Ye, you must be careful!"

Everyone urged Ye Qingran to be careful, under no circumstances should she break the bottle and let the plague leak out.

Ye Qingran set up a small barrier, opened the bottle inside it, and instantly a tiny green mouse the size of a fingernail scurried out, each emitting green smoke; even more terrifying, these mice had wings on their backs and gills beneath their eyes.

"Interesting." A flicker of interest crossed Ye Qingran's eyes. An all-terrain mouse—she had never seen such a thing. With this advantage, the plague's spread became virtually unstoppable.

The mouse seemed to have spotted Ye Qingran, instantly revealing a ferocious glare as it lunged at her, baring its fangs and emitting a low growl, looking especially frightening.

Ye Qingran calmly poured flames into the barrier, and soon the mice were burned to ashes.

Although the Red Lotus Business Fire's purifying power is inferior to the Vermilion Bird Holy Fire, it is more than enough to deal with these few small mice.

"Mother, you burned them—how are we supposed to research an antidote now?"