The voice that came from the cave was that of a girl. Although the voice was very weak, it was full of excitement.

"Nana, Grandpa has come to see you." The village chief's voice rang out at that moment.

"Come on, Nana, eat this."

"good."

Afterwards, the village chief chatted with the girl for a while.

Shu Lan gave Qin An a wink, and Qin An nodded. They then slowly retreated into the bushes beside the cave.

A moment later, footsteps echoed from inside the cave. The footsteps grew closer and closer to the cave entrance, and finally, the village chief emerged from the cave.

After leaving the cave, the village chief headed deeper into the back of the mountain.

Shu Lan and Qin An followed the village chief all the way to a valley.

Shu Lan had a premonition, so she cast a concealment spell on herself and Qin An.

The village chief walked to an altar in the valley, knelt down, and said respectfully, "My lord, I have come."

The altar looked somewhat decayed, with some complex patterns and inscriptions that were difficult to decipher.

After the village chief finished speaking, the altar suddenly lit up with an eerie red light, and all the patterns were stained bright red, as if blood was flowing.

"Is everything ready this time?" A deep male voice rang out.

"My lord, everything is ready." The village chief took out the blood-red bead from his pocket and respectfully placed it on the altar.

At that moment, a gust of cold wind swept by, and a pitch-black figure appeared on the altar. He picked up the bead and began to extract wisps of red energy from it.

The village chief bowed his head respectfully, not daring to look up at the altar.

Shu Lan and Qin An watched helplessly as the red bead gradually faded in color, eventually turning into a white bead.

"Hmm, this blood feast is quite good." The dark figure was very satisfied.

"As long as the adults are happy."

"Here, this is a reward for you." The dark figure tossed a red object to the village chief.

"Thank you, sir. Thank you for your generous gift." The village chief respectfully kowtowed several times to the dark figure.

"Reporting to your Excellency, cultivators from the Star River Sect have arrived. What about those people from last time...?"

"Don't worry, in a few days they will be completely transformed into my food. As for those people you mentioned, rest assured, as long as you don't make any mistakes, they won't find their way here." The dark figure's tone was somewhat disdainful.

Shu Lan and Qin An remained hidden not far away, with Shu Lan constantly sending telepathic messages to Qin An.

"It seems that the person on this altar is the origin of the strange events in the new fishing village."

“Those people who came last time seem to be in a bad situation. Xiao An, go back and inform the Fifth Elder and the others first.”

Qin An nodded, but looked at Shu Lan with a questioning gaze: "What about you, Master Brother?"

"Don't worry, don't you know what level of cultivation I am? Nothing will happen."

Qin An blinked. "So, your disciple left first?"

"Wait, take this bottle of antidote pills with you and give them to the Fifth Elder and the others." Shu Lan gently handed Qin An a bottle of antidote pills.

After accepting the antidote, Qin An quickly left the place.

Shu Lan estimated that it was about time, so she came out from the shadows.

"Who?" The dark figure noticed Shu Lan's movement and looked warily in Shu Lan's direction.

"I, Han Qing, have come to slay the demonic villains." Shu Lan summoned the Yun Yao Sword, pointing it at the dark figure.

"Hahahaha, what a joke! I, Blood Demon, am a Nascent Soul cultivator. Kill me? You must be dreaming!"

"Why don't we try and see?" Shu Lan drew her sword and charged towards the Blood Demon.

A fierce wind howled as the terrifying sword energy collided with the blood-stained demonic energy, creating a violent explosion. The chilling shockwave spread rapidly outwards like ripples, destroying everything in its path. Trees and flowers were all shattered by the powerful shockwave and turned into ice crystals.

In an instant, a massive crater, eighty feet in diameter, appeared on the ground, filled with a thin layer of ice. The power of the collision between sword energy and demonic energy was terrifying. The temperature in the mountains dropped several degrees, and the surrounding plants, corroded by the demonic energy, withered and died.

The dark figure was caught off guard and its disguise was exposed by Shu Lan, revealing its true form.

He was a man wearing a black cloak, with a terrifying face. A huge scar ran from his brow bone down his entire face, and when his face moved, the scar looked like a centipede.

"It seems I underestimated you. You are also a Nascent Soul cultivator." The Blood Demon dodged Shu Lan's attack with a flash. "The Star River Sect is so generous that they actually sent a Nascent Soul cultivator this time."

Shu Lan remained silent, but simply increased the speed of her attack.

After several hundred more moves, the Blood Demon could no longer hold out and prepared to flee.

"Trying to escape? No way!"

Shu Lan saw through the Blood Demon's plan, so she flicked her finger and sent out a wisp of icy flame that landed on the altar.

The altar immediately burst into flames, and the array on the altar was destroyed.

Now, Blood Demon had no choice but to confront Shu Lan once again.

Over here, Shu Lan and the Blood Demon were locked in a fierce and evenly matched battle.

Meanwhile, after obtaining the antidote, Qin An hurried back to the new fishing village.

After he gave the antidote to the Fifth Elder and the others, he woke everyone up.

The Fifth Elder realized something was wrong after he woke up, and Qin An briefly told him and Shu Lan what they had discovered.

After hearing Qin An's words, the Fifth Elder felt a pang of shame. "I never thought I would fail this time. Fortunately, I have my martial uncle."

"We need to hurry back to help our master now," Qin An urged the Fifth Elder anxiously.

The Fifth Elder nodded. "Alright, let's set off now."

"Disciples, listen to my command! We are now preparing to proceed to the back mountain." The Fifth Elder addressed his disciples and issued this order.

"yes!"

"Wait!" Qin An suddenly interrupted the Fifth Elder's speech. "Send a few people to the cave and bring out the village chief's granddaughter." Qin An suddenly remembered the girl in the cave and gave this order.

"Yes, Uncle-Master."

When Qin An and the others arrived at the valley behind the mountain, Shu Lan was fighting the Blood Demon to a fever pitch.

"Master, I'm here to help!" With that, Qin An rushed forward, ready to help Shu Lan fight the Blood Demon.

"Don't come any closer!" Shu Lan shouted, stopping Qin An.

"A good opportunity!" Blood Demon's eyes lit up, and he immediately created several clones to surround Shu Lan, while his main body hid.

After Shu Lan eliminated all the clones, she realized something was wrong. "Oh no! Xiao An!"

Just as Shu Lan finished speaking, the Blood Demon appeared behind Qin An and slashed at Qin An's back.