A group of soldiers in dark blue uniforms, armed with swords, stood in the open area in the middle of the village. A middle-aged man who was dressed in a black robe stood in the center. He looked like he had bad intentions.

The black-robed Envoy was holding on to an eight-year-old girl. She had a dull expression on her face. It was as if she was under a spell.

A group of villagers were kneeling and begging for mercy in front of the soldiers. One of the villagers in ragged clothing was desperately bowing and begging for mercy. She appeared to be the girl's mother.

Yun Jiuge was not surprised by the drama happening before her. Women and girls were often taken away from their villages.

But she was surprised by their physical appearance. Except for the captive girl, all the people in the village had pale gray skin, reddish eyes, and light purple lips.

Among these people, the villagers had the darkest skin, blackish gray, and their lips were dark too.

The soldiers were brownish-gray in complexion but the black-robed Envoy's skin tone was light gray.

Only the eight-year-old girl looked normal with her pale white skin and dark eyes.

Although their complexion was weird and they looked like they were suffering from some illnesses, she knew that they were healthy after hearing their loud cries and noisy chatter.

Yun Jiuge looked down at her pale palm. Even with her poisoned-corpse like face, she was still much more normal looking than the people here.

“These people don't look normal, we shouldn't interact with them. Let's leave this place quickly. We can discuss later,” said Zi Shang.

Since he had not figured out what was going on here, he would rather have Yun Jiuge stayed away so that her wounds would heal. He did not want her to have any interaction with these people.

“No hurry, let's wait and watch for a little longer,” said Yun Jiuge. They finally found some people here, she was not willing to leave without getting some information.

“Master Envoy, you don't have to care about these unruly villagers. Let's take this seed back first!” said a soldier. He did not care about the unruly villagers.

“Do what you wish,” replied the black-robed Envoy. It was decreed that they captured sixteen little girls. Only half of the task had been completed, he had more to do.

“Cui Cui ah!” cried the skinny village woman. As the little girl was taken away, the woman started to wail loudly.

It was probably their mother-daughter bond that shook up the little girl as she suddenly woke up. She was originally sluggish and unresponsive.

She screamed when she saw her mother being held back by a group of strangers. A gray Qi suddenly rose from her Elixir Field and enveloped her body.

Her pale white skin began to turn gray. The girl, now with red eyes and purple lips, looked just like her mother.

Yun Jiuge's eyes opened wide in surprise. What burst out of the little girl's body was Fiendish Qi! Was Fiendish Qi present in the villagers too?

If they had Fiendish Qi in them, why were they not dead yet?

“d.a.m.n you!” cursed the black-robed Envoy when he saw the little girl's skin turned gray, He raised his hand in fury and slapped the little girl so hard that she flew to the side.

Cui Cui's mother screamed, ran over and picked the girl up. Her heart ached when she saw gray blood oozing out from the corner of her daughter's mouth and nose.

“Master Envoy, we lost another good seed, what do we do now?” the soldier asked anxiously.

This was the best seed that they found so far. They did not expect that it would be polluted at this critical moment.

The black-robed Envoy glared at the villagers in front of him. With intense fury, he spat out a single instruction. “The contaminated seed must be washed with blood,” he said.

“Yes sir,” replied the soldiers. They drew out the long swords at their waists and pointed them at the villagers in front of them.

“Master, spare our lives, spare us please!” cried the frantic villagers.

Seeing that a ma.s.sacre was about to happen, Yun Jiuge's heart started racing.

She wanted to prevent the tragedy from happening. But now, her cultivation level was gone. She was now so weak, she would not be able to fight the aggressors.

At that critical moment, a group of gray clothed masked men came galloping forward. They each held a long sword in their hand. They started fighting with the soldiers as soon as they jumped off the horses.

“It's the Rebel Army! The Rebel Army has come to rescue us!” The villagers' faces lit up with joy when they saw the group of gray clothed people.

Several stronger men in the group picked up their weapons and joined in the battle. The two sides fought ferociously.

“These unruly villagers are seeking death!” shouted the black-robed Envoy. He took out a black dried claw and dashed forward. His weapon shot out a black-red light towards the villagers who were standing in front.

The villager screamed as they submerged in the black-red light.

“Magical weapon!” Yun Jiuge almost shouted out loud.

If there were magical weapons in this part of the world, there should be cultivators too. At least there was something positive about all this.

The black-robed Envoy smiled triumphantly after killing the villagers. It was as if he was taunting the gray clothed masked men.

Suddenly, a light, shaped like a sword, glowed in the leader's gray hand. He cut off the arm of the black-robed Envoy with a swift blow.

The black-robed Envoy gave out a blood-curdling cry then his hand together with the dried claw magical weapon he held, dropped down onto the ground. The weapon was instantly s.n.a.t.c.hed away by another gray-clothed man.

The tides were now reversed. The black-robed Envoy together with the soldiers were all killed.

“We cannot conceal the killing of the black-robed Envoy. You must all leave immediately! It will be too late once the Imperial Court sends their troops to ma.s.sacre the whole village,” the leading gray-clothed man said to the villagers.

“Winter is coming, where else can we go?”

“Yeah, without our farms, without food, how can we survive?”

The villagers started to cry when they heard that they had to leave their homes.

“Everyone, please don't worry. We, the Rebel Army, have built a city inside the Large Green Mountain. You can go and to live there,” said the gray clothed leader.

“Thank you, sir! We will go with you.” The villagers knew that the killing of the black-robed Envoy would not end well for them. They agreed to leave with the Rebel Army.

“Sir, can you pls take a look at Cui Cui? She has not been responsive since she was beaten. I dread that something bad might have happened to her,” said Cui Cui's mother. She had squeezed her way to the front carrying her child.

The gray clothed leader looked over the child before telling the woman, “She is alright. She has just only just woke up, so she has yet to adapt to her physical condition. She will be fine soon.”

“Thank you, thank you,” said Cui Cui's mother. She held on to her child in relief.

Yun Jiuge was still hiding in the corner, wondering how the seed or child, the Envoy, and the Rebel Army were connected. Suddenly Zi Shang said to her, “This is bad, we have been discovered!”

Yun Jiu was surprised that they got found out but it was too late.

The gray clothed leader had already turned around and shouted, “Who is hiding there?”

In the next instant, he stood in front of Yun Jiuge. He looked at her, then exclaimed in shock, “A woman! And she is a seed!”

“What?” Yun Jiuge froze. Why did he call her a seed?

“She's a seed!” said the group of people as they gathered around Yun Jiuge. They started to talk noisily among themselves. They were looking at Yun Jiuge as if she was an alien.

“Young lady, you must have also escaped. How pitiful! They must have broken your legs. Sooner or later, those evil men who hurt you will get the punishment they deserve,” said Cui Cui's mother.

Yun Jiuge looked at how everyone was feeling sorry for her and so, she decided to go with the flow. She chose not to explain what had happened to her.