The village head started crying as he spoke.

Who could have predicted that the Emperor would suddenly issue an imperial edict to conduct a population census and order the county governments to oversee various regions?

This is unprecedented.

In the past, if the people didn't report it, the officials wouldn't investigate. If one or two people died in the village, as long as it was reported as an accident, no one would care.

Things are different now.

In addition, everyone was reluctant to part with their children, so they resorted to this desperate measure, but they did not expect to anger the beings inside the cave.

"If we hadn't come, would you have continued to hide it?" Ye Xianya's eyes were full of anger.

If they had reported it to the authorities earlier and explained the matter clearly, so many people wouldn't have died.

“Princess, we…the people of our White Egret Village, when they turn ten, come to this cave with their families to perform a ritual and swear an oath never to tell anyone about this. If they break this oath, they will not have a good end. To tell you the truth, Princess, someone once told this about it and...died a violent death.” The village head said in a trembling voice.

If Ye Xianya hadn't calculated it first, he wouldn't have confessed honestly.

This cave is taboo for the people of Bailu Village.

Everything about this cave must not be revealed to outsiders.

"That's not right!" Ye Xianya realized that the closer she got to the cave, the more she could deduce.

"After you brought Aunt Shen here, before you left, a roar came from the cave. You were terrified, thinking that the creature inside was unhappy that you had sent a dying person there, so you went back to the village and brought the children who were playing at the village entrance."

The village head and the villagers were terrified when they heard this.

“No…we have never done such a thing,” a villager shouted.

“There aren’t many children born in the village these days. There are only seven or eight children under the age of ten. No family is willing to sacrifice their own child. So you and your friends discussed it and sent the first child you saw after returning to the village to the cave. That child was only eight years old.”

Upon hearing Ye Xianya's words, the village head and the others could no longer contain themselves and collapsed to the ground, utterly terrified.

They had heard before that Ye Xianya was a shrewd strategist.

Ke Lizheng felt that the situation in their Bailu Village was rather special, and even if Ye Xianya came, it would be impossible for her to know everything.

Moreover, their village has indeed been in turmoil recently, with far too many people dying, making it impossible to hide the truth.

Furthermore, since neither the Taoist sects nor the government officials could handle the situation, they had no choice but to ask Ye Xianya for help.

He just hadn't expected that Ye Xianya would have calculated everything.

“The child’s name was Zhao Changsheng. He was the only son in his family. Because he was born late in life, his parents doted on him. After he was sacrificed, his parents could not bear the pain of losing their son and started arguing with you. They threatened to go to the government office to sue you and expose the matter of the cave to the public. You were afraid, so you resorted to private torture and killed the couple.”

“From then on, people really started dying in your Bailu Village. The nine people who died later were all involved in the murder of Zhao Changsheng’s parents. You tied up that couple, each of you added a fire, and burned them to death. All of you have blood on your hands.” Ye Xianya’s voice grew colder and colder.

She saw all of this in the scene she had predicted.

Led by the village head, the villagers of Bailu Village lined up to add firewood to the fire, burning the couple to death.

Of the several hundred people in the village, half of them added firewood.

The other half wasn't afraid to add firewood, but they didn't have the chance; before they could add any more, the couple was burned to death.

The people of Bailu Village are really ruthless.

"You must have killed quite a few people over the past hundred years!" Ye Xianya said coldly.

"No!" The village head hurriedly shook his head: "This is the first time. Apart from Zhao Changsheng's parents, no one has ever said they wanted to go to the yamen to file a complaint before. Princess, we were forced to do this."

"You take lives and claim you were forced to do it, how cruel! Even if you are still alive now, you will go to hell after you die. If you don't atone for your sins in the rest of your lives, don't even think about being reincarnated in the next life." After Ye Xianya finished speaking, she snorted coldly and walked quickly into the cave.

Qi Chengshuo followed suit.

"Princess!" The village head and others were afraid that they would die inside, bringing utter disaster to Bailu Village, but they dared not cross the red paint line.

Lan Chenyin's primordial spirit stood at the entrance of the cave for a moment before following her inside.

Although she was from the upper realm, after descending to the lower realm, in order not to affect the small world controlled by her son, she naturally had to seal most of her power to avoid destroying the small world.

Therefore, although she is stronger than Ye Xianya and Qi Chengshuo now, she is not ridiculously stronger.

Her primordial spirit sensed some danger in the cave.

But for her son's sake, she went anyway.

Her son absolutely cannot get into trouble here, otherwise all her efforts over the past ten thousand years will have been in vain.

She had waited far too long to prove herself.

...

The cave was pitch black.

Ye Xianya used her mystical powers to illuminate the way, and she and Qi Chengshuo slowly walked deeper into the cave.

The two walked very fast, and it took them about 15 minutes to see the light, which showed how deep the cave was.

Moreover... that light was not the sunlight, but the light of fire.

"Xianya, be careful, the evil energy is getting stronger!" Qi Chengshuo said in a low voice, holding Ye Xianya's hand.

"Mm!" Ye Xianya nodded, glancing back subconsciously.

Qi Chengshuo tightened his grip on her hand, but said nothing.

Lan Chenyin, who was following behind them, frowned slightly.

Could it be that that brat Ye Xianya can sense her primordial spirit?

That's impossible!

Ye Xianya was just a mortal, and no matter how powerful she was, it was impossible for her to discover her primordial spirit.

Ye Xianya and Qi Chengshuo continued deeper into the cave. The firelight in the distance grew brighter and brighter. They saw a very ancient stone gate, and the firelight was the torch burning above the stone gate.

The torch burned three feet high, illuminating the surrounding area.

There were some red and black patterns on the stone gate, which looked a bit messy, but after Ye Xianya stared at them for a while, she felt a little dizzy.

"Fairy Sprout," Qi Chengshuo called softly.

"The patterns on this stone door are a bit strange. Looking at them for too long can make you dizzy. Just now, I even had a feeling that my soul was about to leave my body and be dragged inside."

If it weren't for her strong spirit, she probably would have been affected.

"Hmm!" Qi Chengshuo nodded. In fact, he felt no discomfort at all.

"I'll push open the stone door!" Qi Chengshuo said, then took a few steps forward and placed his hand on the stone door.

The stone door was extremely heavy, but Qi Chengshuo's physical body was too strong and his strength was too great. After pushing hard, he actually shook the stone door.

But it only caused a slight tremor; the stone gate was not actually pushed open.

“There must be a mechanism.” After Ye Xianya finished speaking, she looked at the red and black patterns on it again. This time, she was on guard, calmed her mind, and her soul showed no abnormality.

"Be careful, these runes are a bit sinister," Qi Chengshuo whispered, holding Ye Xianya's hand.