Firewood, rage

When everyone adds wood, the flames rise high.

After the Village Chief handed Lin Zhaodi over to the villagers to deal with, he returned to his residence to Cultivate.

A piece of wood from each family, a dry branch from me—a pile of firewood was quickly built up.

And in the center of the firewood pile was Lin Zhaodi, whose tongue and mobility had been sealed.

She watched all of this with numb eyes.

She didn't understand; clearly, it was the Village Chief who had broken the promise first, so why was she the one suffering in the end?

Under his rhetoric, she had even become the person who stole the sword qi grass.

She really wanted to tell everyone that she hadn't stolen the sword qi grass; those two stalks of sword qi grass were gathered by her from the mountain forest at the risk of her life.

The Village Chief was the liar who had deceived everyone.

She just wanted to take Su Ming and leave this heartbreaking Lin Family Village together; why did it turn out like this?

Thinking of Su Ming, Lin Zhaodi became even more desperate.

If she died, wouldn't there be no one to take care of him? Wouldn't he starve to death in bed?

The flame of a desire to live appeared in her previously numb eyes.

She twisted her body with all her might, wanting to break free from the woodpile.

But how could a Spiritual Power restriction imposed by the Longevity Realm be something an ordinary little girl could break free from?

"Look, this Calamity Star regrets it now and wants to run."

"The Village Chief is such a good person, yet she was so ungrateful as to steal his sword qi grass. Bah! We should have burned her to death long ago!"

"It's fine, burning her now is the same. Once we send this Calamity Star away, maybe our village will have some good luck this year."

"I heard from the people in the neighboring village that it's the season for that Sect on the mountain to come down and search for Disciples. I wonder if they'll come to our village..."

"Ever since this Calamity Star was born, those Immortal Masters haven't visited our village. Maybe if we burn her, they will favor our village again."

The villagers grew more and more excited as they spoke, as if as long as the girl on the woodpile was burned to death, Lin Family Village would enjoy favorable weather and lasting blessings.

Hearing these people's words, Lin Zhaodi's heart grew even more desperate.

But she still tried her best to break free from her bonds.

Su Ming, whom she had only spent a dozen days with, was the only person in this cold world who had shown her kindness.

So no matter what, she couldn't just stand by and watch him die.

As the woodpile was lit, the flames reflected on her face.

Under the light of the fire, one side of her face turned an intense crimson, and a strange sensation surged from within her body.

Then, in full view of everyone, she actually broke free from the Village Chief's Spiritual Power restriction.

Having regained her freedom, Lin Zhaodi immediately ignored the flames and rushed out of the fire.

"Oh no! The Calamity Star is escaping!"

"Quick! Go get the Village Chief! Let's go up and pin her down!"

The villagers immediately split into two groups: one went to find the Village Chief, while the other rushed forward to pin Lin Zhaodi down.

However, for some reason, Lin Zhaodi's strength was extraordinarily great at this moment.

A dozen or so burly men were barely able to suppress her movements.

Lin Zhaodi twisted her body, trying to escape the crowd's encirclement, but it was in vain.

She opened her mouth to shout, trying to make Su Ming hear her voice, but she was powerless.

Although she had broken through the Spiritual Power blocking her movement, the Spiritual Power sealing her tongue still remained.

"Quick! Hold her! We absolutely can't let her run!"

Under the villagers' obstruction, Lin Zhaodi could no longer take a step forward.

And the Village Chief, who was in the middle of Cultivating, rushed to the scene after hearing about this.

"Could it be that because I'm about to transform my Sword Qi, my Spiritual Power became unstable and allowed her to escape?"

Thinking of this, the Village Chief excitedly locked Lin Zhaodi's movements again and intended to throw her back into the fire.

However, just then, a hand rested on the Village Chief's hand.

"If you dare move one more time, I'll throw you into this fire," Su Ming's furious voice came through.

Before the Village Chief could react, Lin Zhaodi, who had been in his grasp, was already in Su Ming's arms.

Hearing Su Ming's voice, Lin Zhaodi slowly raised her head.

Upon seeing it was indeed Su Ming, she was somewhat at a loss, not understanding why he was here.

"Come, Zhaodi, tell me what happened." Su Ming reached out and dispelled the Spiritual Power sealing her tongue.

"Brother Su, they want to burn me to death..." The girl gripped Su Ming's lapel tightly, and her tears quickly soaked it.

"Don't cry, don't cry, I'm here..." Su Ming patted Lin Zhaodi's back, looking at the crowd with cold eyes.

"Come, tell Brother Su, what exactly did they do to you?"

"I found two stalks of sword qi grass and wanted to exchange them for Spirit Stones from the Village Chief as travel expenses to take you away from the village and live somewhere else."

"But the Village Chief lied to me; he wanted to exchange the sword qi grass for food. When I refused, he forcibly took my sword qi grass and told everyone else that I stole it..."

Lin Zhaodi lay in Su Ming's arms, tearfully accusing them of everything.

"My Lord, I didn't lie to you; those two stalks of sword qi grass are indeed mine. She's the one who stole my sword qi grass!"

At this moment, the Village Chief still chose to be stubborn.

"As long as this Calamity Star stays in our village for a day, our village won't have a single good day. You must believe us!"

"Oh? Is that so?" A trace of a smile appeared at the corner of Su Ming's mouth, but anyone could clearly see the fury contained within it.

The burning wood crackled; at this moment, they were the manifestation of the fury in Su Ming's heart.

Sensing its master's angry emotions, Shen Ming detached from Su Ming's wrist, and the massive Reincarnation Dragon Centipede stood before everyone.

After witnessing this scene, many people on the spot fainted or lost control of their bladders out of fear.

"A... a monster!"

The collapsing villagers tried to scatter and flee, but Shen Ming had already used Spiritual Power to lock all of their mobility.

Su Ming patted the still-sobbing Lin Zhaodi, then used the little Spiritual Power he could mobilize to soothe her, letting her fall into a deep sleep.

He didn't want this little girl to see or hear everything that was about to happen next.

"Do it, Shen Ming. Whoever's aura is on the woodpile, deal with them."

"Yes, Master..."