The Northern Barbarians had always been a united imperial court. Most of the tribal chiefs acted independently, and the imperial court had resorted to various means to control them.
The Northern Barbarian Shrine was the most powerful of these means. Only by making the chiefs believe that the imperial court's authority was bestowed by the true Shaman god would they refrain from rebellion.
Yi Qing was unaware of these intricacies, and even if she had been, she would have acted the same way.
As time ticked by, the purple glazed radiance faded, looking much dimmer than before.
"How could this happen?" A Zha stared at the purple glaze in shock.
"Don't worry. The purple glaze will be fine," Yi Qing assured with certainty.
After a quarter of an hour, Xiao Jinghan was able to channel his inner energy without any hindrance. Bai Chengyi let out a long breath and then fainted.
Yi Qing emerged from the divine spring. Xiao Jinghan took the cloak from Tie Ying and draped it over her shoulders. "When we break out later, stay behind me."
"Actually, we can negotiate," Yi Qing said, looking at the people blocking their path.
"There's no room for negotiation. Breaking into the shrine privately is a capital offense. The imperial army of the Northern Barbarians should be on their way," Princess A Zha said with a smile.
Yi Qing looked at Princess A Zha, wondering about her stance. "In that case, Bai Chengyi will also die here."
"I can't live with him, but I can die with him," Princess A Zha said indifferently.
Princess A Zha had once again exceeded Yi Qing's expectations with her eccentricity. Perhaps even she herself was unsure of what she truly wanted to do. She simply made a decision based on the whim of the moment.
"If that were true, you would have been buried with him long ago," Yi Qing said as she moved closer to Xiao Jinghan. "Let's go and talk to the high priest."
Xiao Jinghan nodded. Now that the restriction of the purple glaze had been lifted, he was no longer afraid of the shrine's people. However, they had already wasted too much time here. If the Northern Barbarian army arrived, they would be in even greater trouble.
Yi Qing walked up to the high priest. The people behind the high priest were on high alert. "I'd like to have a word with the high priest."
"Breaking into the shrine and entering the divine spring. There's nothing to talk about. I'll kill you all today, even if it means perishing with you," the high priest glared at Yi Qing.
"Your loyalty is commendable, high priest. But is this really in the best interests of the Northern Barbarian royal family?" Yi Qing said with a smile. "You saw the strange phenomenon just now. Do you really have the ability to stop all of us from escaping? If just one of us gets away, this incident will spread throughout the world. How will the Northern Barbarian Shrine then justify itself?"
The high priest's expression turned solemn. He had also considered this problem.
"Moreover, the purple glaze is so close to us. If we were to destroy it, the spiritual pillar of the Northern Barbarians would be gone. It's not impossible that the Northern Barbarians would then fall apart," Yi Qing threatened.
The high priest could, of course, think of what Yi Qing had said. But just letting them go like this, he felt he would be failing the gods.
"So, let's find a compromise. You let us leave, and you handle the situation here. As for the Northern Barbarian army, we'll deal with them ourselves. This way, the shrine can stay out of it and maintain its lofty status," Yi Qing proposed.
The high priest hesitated. He looked up at the purple glaze, and to his horror, it withered and faded rapidly under his gaze.
"Kill them!" The high priest knew there was no turning back.
"I'll go!" Yi Qing turned around and saw that the purple glaze was withering at this critical moment.
They were trapped in a small area around the divine spring. Fortunately, all of them were highly skilled. The shrine's people showed no fear of death and rushed forward one after another. Soon, the area around the divine spring was littered with corpses.
Yi Qing thought that if the Northern Barbarian army arrived, things would be even worse. It would be almost impossible for them to escape.
Suddenly, the light around the divine spring brightened again.
"Look!" Yi Qing suddenly noticed that the vines in the middle of the divine spring were growing rapidly.
Everyone stopped fighting and watched as the vines spread quickly, crossing the divine spring and reaching the place where they were standing. They grew along the ground, sucking up the bloodstains and wrapping around the corpses.
"Get out of here quickly!" Xiao Jinghan had never seen such a strange sight.
The people from the shrine were also stunned.
Everyone left the platform where the divine spring was located and watched as the vines wrapped around the corpses. The corpses visibly dried up and finally turned into dust.
At this moment, the firefly-like lights that had drifted away earlier returned and landed on the vines. They quickly unfurled seven leaves and blossomed into purple glaze.
This time, the purple glaze was not just in the middle of the divine spring but covered the entire platform. It was extremely spectacular under the night sky.
Yi Qing took a deep breath. The flower looked dreamily beautiful, but she never expected its growth to be so cruel.
"This is a miracle," Princess A Zha was the first to react.
This was a trap the shrine had set for itself. Naturally, the high priest was reluctant to admit that this miracle had been created by outsiders. To keep this a secret, he agreed to let Yi Qing and the others go.
Moreover, he believed that Yi Qing and the others were the true chosen ones. If he offended them, he might incur the wrath of the heavens.
When the Northern Barbarian army arrived, the high priest explained the sounding of the horn as a sign of good fortune from the heavens.
Xiao Jinghan and the others traveled all night. By dawn, they were already far away from the shrine. They stopped to rest and eat in a valley.
Yi Qing had been thinking about the purple glaze. The sudden change last night made her think that the purple glaze was definitely not a good thing. If it could grow so big by sucking human blood, wasn't it a man-eating flower?
"Chengyi, you're awake?" Duke Di was overjoyed to see Bai Chengyi open his eyes.
"Father," Bai Chengyi was still very weak. Tears welled up in his eyes as he called out.
Princess A Zha watched from the side. Finally, she turned her back on Bai Chengyi and didn't go over.
Love was like drinking water. One knew whether it was warm or cold. But sometimes, it was like drinking poison to quench thirst. Either way, someone would get hurt.
"Are you... Xiaohan?" Bai Chengyi saw Xiao Jinghan. "You've grown so much."
Bai Chengyi's awakening not only excited Duke Di and Xiao Jinghan but also the people of Tie Ying.
"Aren't you going over?" Yi Qing didn't have much of a relationship with Bai Chengyi, but she was curious as to why Princess A Zha didn't go over.
"I see him every day. There's nothing new to see," Princess A Zha said indifferently.
"Really?" Yi Qing rolled her eyes. "You're just stubborn. You never admit you regret anything."
"I can be stubborn."
Yi Qing immediately took it the wrong way and burst out laughing.
"What are you laughing at?" Princess A Zha was angry.
"I just feel like laughing," Yi Qing laughed even harder.
"Not good. The Northern Barbarian troops are chasing after us," Ghost Master lay on the ground with his ear against the ground.
The people of Tie Ying also lay on the ground to listen.
"There are more than a hundred of them," Xiao Jinghan also heard. "Quickly find a hidden place to prepare for battle."