Inside the military tent.
Mi Ye, lying on the sickbed, was pale, her life force clearly ebbing away.
Her wounds had all healed.
But her life force continued to drain.
“Why is this happening?” Chen Yu, his brow furrowed, looked at the two healers beside him. “Do you have no way at all?”
“City Lord, we have truly done our best.”
The healer with horns on his head shook his head.
“We have healed this general’s wounds and her internal injuries, but we cannot stop the flow of life force. We have tried every method, but nothing can slow this condition.”
“How can this be?” Chen Yu frowned.
The wounds were healed, and even internal injuries were mended, yet her life force kept draining.
This situation was unheard of.
“This general’s organs are continuously decaying. We don’t know the specific reason, but we can only speculate that she has been struck by some secret technique?”
“Secret technique?”
“Boss, I seem to know a bit about this secret technique.” Suddenly, Hei Lu stepped forward a couple of paces and whispered, “This is a memory I obtained after merging with the soul of the Divine General. Among the demon race, there is a tribe known as the Witchcraft tribe. They are most skilled in all sorts of peculiar secret techniques. Sometimes, the afflicted person has no visible wounds but dies mysteriously, with the symptom of life force draining away.”
“What needs to be done to heal her?” Chen Yu pressed.
Hei Lu fell silent for a moment, while Chen Yu’s brows remained tightly knit.
“Speak!”
He could feel that Hei Lu knew something about the situation.
“Speak quickly, Mi Ye is the City Lord of Mi Lu City.”
“She absolutely cannot die!”
Chen Yu’s eyes were filled with seriousness. Hei Lu pondered for a long while before speaking in a low, deep voice.
“This witchcraft is very troublesome to resolve.”
“Ordinary healers cannot remove it. There are only two ways for her to recover. One is for the caster to remove the witchcraft; they must have a solution for the secret technique they cast. The other method is—life exchange.”
Hei Lu lowered his head slightly, his voice very soft.
Upon hearing the words “life exchange,” the two healers in the tent also changed expression, their pupils contracting sharply, clearly fearing they themselves might become the one whose life was exchanged.
Even though they didn’t know exactly how it was done.
Just hearing the words “life exchange” was enough to make their imaginations run wild.
“Life exchange?”
Chen Yu, hearing this for the first time, was also stunned.
How could life be exchanged?
Even with the wonders of the underground, it shouldn't be possible to achieve such a feat.
At this moment, regret filled his heart.
If he hadn’t sent the little demon back to Free Town, he believed she would have found a solution.
No one understood the situation of the demon race better than she did.
But as things stood, even if he contacted the little demon now, she couldn’t return from Free Town. Even if she could, given Mi Ye’s current condition, she might not be able to hold on until then.
Now, only Hei Lu knew how to solve it.
He had no choice but to face it.
“How is life exchanged?”
“Boss, you’re really planning to do that?” Hei Lu showed a look of terror. “Exchanging life is not a joke. It requires someone with exceptionally robust vitality to infuse their life force into her, and this requires a special blood-drawing array. All of this is secret knowledge of the Witchcraft tribe, which even I don’t know.”
“Then you’re talking nonsense, aren’t you?”
Chen Yu frowned deeply, an inexplicable irritability beginning to surface.
“You two go out first.”
As if granted amnesty, the two healers exited the tent. Hei Lu also quietly withdrew, casting a deep glance at the tent before going to command his troops.
To him, Mi Ye was not important.
She was merely the City Lord of Mi Lu City. Even if she died, and Mi Lu City held Chen Yu responsible, he could lead his troops to retaliate.
For Chen Yu, it was not so simple.
He did not fear the wrath of Mi Lu City. With the elite soldiers and strong generals he had trained in Feng Qi City over the past six months, along with Hei Lu’s troops, no one within Feng Qi City would be his match.
Even if the opponent was Mi Lu City!
However, if war were to break out, innocent civilians would be affected. And who could guarantee that the demons hiding in the shadows wouldn’t seize the opportunity of a conflict between the two cities to strike, leaving both cities mutually weakened and the demons to reap the benefits?
He had also made a promise.
As long as he was here, Mi Ye would not die.
Clenching his fist tightly, Chen Yu walked to the tent and pulled the curtains completely shut.
The candlelight within the tent was also extinguished.
The entire tent was so dark that one couldn’t see their hand in front of their face. Chen Yu let out a deep sigh.
“Come out!”
Suddenly—
A faint breeze appeared inexplicably in the tent. In the darkness, a more purely black shadow seemed to move within the room.
“As I expected.”
A low, hoarse voice whispered into Chen Yu’s ear.
This familiar whisper brought a somber look to Chen Yu’s face.
He slowly raised his head, a faint blue flame flickering in his eyes.
“Then you also know what I need you to do?”
“Of course, I know. You wish to save the life of that young girl who is about to lose hers.” The dark figure whispered, “I can tell you the outcome in advance. Your trust in me is not misplaced. I can indeed save this person, and the method I use is even more brilliant, not the life exchange that your Divine General spoke of.”
“You have another way?”
“Naturally.”
A playful laugh echoed through the tent.
“That kind of low-level life exchange method is not worthy of appearing in the knowledge I possess. As you know, given my identity, I would certainly know some secret techniques unknown to others. The decision is now yours. Do you want me to help, and have you also prepared to pay me a certain reward?”
“What do you need?” Chen Yu frowned.
The dark figure remained silent for a long while, and Chen Yu instantly clenched his fist.
“You’re not that greedy, are you?”
“Heh! My partner, you can’t say that. Am I greedy?” The dark figure chuckled nonchalantly. “Do you know what price you would have to pay for life exchange? You would have to give her half of your lifespan. Relatively speaking, I’ve already offered a significant discount, haven’t I? Moreover, I’m not forcing you; the decision is yours.”
The dark figure whispered with a smile, drifting within the tent.
“I’m not in a hurry. From the very beginning, I knew that you would eventually need my help. I have enough patience to wait for you!”
“It’s okay even if you refuse now.”
“Wait until you willingly come to me to make a deal.”