“Ahhhhhhhhh—”

The young man was originally half-conscious, but after Xie Lian severed his left leg, he suddenly woke up and screamed wildly, "My leg! My leg!"

Xie Lian knelt in a pool of blood, his white clothes stained with gore. He struggled to hold him down, saying, "It's okay! Doctor, stop the bleeding!"

Several doctors frantically frantically intervened. Mu Qing, unable to bear the sight, said, "Don't lose your mind." He came up and pulled out a small medicine bottle. A faint stream of smoke emanated, and the bleeding slowly stopped. Xie Lian also blessed the young man's wound with a spiritual aura. As for the severed leg, it lay alone on the ground. Suddenly, it curled up slightly, twitching and wriggling even after being separated from the body, as if it were alive. Xie Lian raised his hand, and flames blazed. The leg was reduced to a pitch-black charcoal in the raging flames. The young man screamed, "My leg!"

Xie Lian checked his waist and saw that the human face mark had not crept up. His eyes lit up and he exclaimed happily, “Alright, it’s stopped, it’s not spreading any further!”

The young man finally stopped crying, opened his eyes, and asked, "Really? Is he really healed?"

The crowd gasped, ready to move. After a moment of hesitation, someone shouted, "Your Highness, please help me too!"

A young man's voice shouted from a distance, "Don't do anything rash! It's not certain. What if he relapses after a while?"

After being reminded by this voice, Xie Lian calmed down and said, "Yes. We can't be sure yet. We need to observe for a while longer."

Some people said fearfully, "How much longer do we have to observe... We can't wait any longer. If we wait any longer... this thing will grow on my face!" Others risked their lives, saying, "I'm willing to take the risk!" Soon, hundreds of people in the Undead Forest clamored in unison, "Your Highness, please relieve our suffering!"

Everyone knelt before him one after another. Xie Lian was placed in the center. Although he felt awkward, he didn't dare to be careless. He said, "Please stand up first. If this person doesn't relapse after a period of time, I will do my best to treat everyone..."

After finally calming the crowd and making many promises, Xie Lian took the young man with the broken leg to a new place and settled him down. Mu Qing looked around and whispered, "Why did you just cut off his leg? Don't make decisions like this unless he's begging you repeatedly. What if cutting off his leg doesn't work? He'll be hating you then."

Xie Lian’s heart was still pounding wildly. He covered his face with one hand and said in a hoarse voice, “…The situation at that time couldn’t wait any longer. He didn’t answer me, and the doctors didn’t dare to take action. We couldn’t just stand by and watch the epidemic spread. Someone had to come out and make the final decision on what to do. I really…”

Feng Xin, with a rare look of worry on his face, said, "Your Highness, I think you should take a break. You really don't look well. We'll hold you over here for now."

Xie Lian also felt that he could not hold on any longer, so he nodded slowly and said, "Okay. I'll rest here for a while and then go back. I can't go too far." Just at this moment, someone in the forest cried out again. Feng Xin and Mu Qing went to see what was going on. Xie Lian was stunned for a while and then lay down on the ground.

If in the past, no one had set up a tent and a bed for him, he would definitely not have just lay out on the muddy ground in the wilderness. But now he really didn't have the energy to bother with those things. He didn't even dust off the dust and blood on his clothes, and fell asleep covered in dust.

After an unspecified amount of time, Xie Lian heard Feng Xin calling him from a daze. He jolted awake, feeling something slip from his body. Looking down, he saw a patched, ragged blanket that someone had put over him while he rested. Xie Lian rubbed his brow and said to Feng Xin, who was approaching, "I don't need this. Take it to those patients."

Feng Xin was stunned when he heard this and said, "Ah? What did you say? This blanket? This is not given to you by me. I just came back."

Xie Lian turned around: "Are you in love?"

Mu Qing said, "It wasn't me. It was probably sent to you by a believer living in the quarantine area."

Xie Lian looked around, seeing no one worthy of note. He shook his head and thought, "I didn't even notice anyone approaching. This state is really terrible." He folded the blanket and placed it on the ground, then stood up and said, "Let's go."

He left with something on his mind, and soon, what he feared happened.

Just two days later, when Xie Lian returned to Buyou Forest, some doctors told him that more than a dozen people with the plague had ignored warnings and secretly gotten up during the night. Some had burned the affected areas with fire, while others had cut their flesh with knives. Several others, due to improper treatment, had bled to death, and died quietly while huddled under blankets, refusing to make a sound for fear of being discovered.

Xie Lian had just left the battlefield when he heard the tragic news. Standing among hundreds of people, looking at the blood-soaked, screaming patients on the ground, he finally lost his temper. "Why didn't you listen to my advice? Didn't I tell you that we still haven't confirmed whether this can eradicate the epidemic? How can you do this?"

This was the first time he'd lost his temper in front of so many believers. Everyone bowed their heads in silence, as if terrified as a cicada. Xie Lian was furious, unable to resist adding a few words. Suddenly, someone said, "Your Highness is immune to all poisons. The pain is on us, not you. Of course you're accusing us of reckless behavior. But we're desperately ill, so we're seeking help from anyone. What else can we do?"

Although this person didn't directly contradict him, his tone was full of sarcasm. Xie Lian felt his blood rush to his head when he heard this. He asked, "What did you say?"

The man retreated after saying this, and could no longer be found. Feng Xin didn't hear from a distance, otherwise he would have immediately cursed. Mu Qing, sensing the crowd's unfavorable direction, cautiously chose not to escalate the situation. Seeing that Xie Lian didn't respond, another person said, "Your Highness, if you can't save us, we'll have to save ourselves. Don't worry, your elixirs and mana won't be wasted."

Xie Lian's blood had just been boiling with passion, but now it felt like he was sinking into an icy cave. He thought to himself, "...what is this? Do I really care about those elixirs and mana? I clearly stopped the amputation because I was worried it would be useless. Why are you saying it as if I can do it without any pain? I can't understand these people's pain, but if I didn't truly want to save people, why would I give up my position as a priest and ask for trouble instead?!"

He had never been spoken to like this before, nor had he suffered such injustice. He was filled with words, yet unable to utter a single word. He knew that his failure to find a cure for the human-faced plague had driven his followers to a state of impatience. The suffering these people endured was a hundred times more unbearable than his own. He could only clench his fists, his joints cracking. After a moment, he suddenly struck a nearby tree.

The tree snapped, startling everyone and hushing their whispers. Feng Xin, who was in the distance, realized something was wrong and rushed over, saying, "Your Highness!"

Xie Lian threw a punch, releasing his pent-up anger and calming himself down a bit. Unexpectedly, in the dead silence, another person spoke up, "Your Highness, there's no need to be so angry. Everyone here is a patient, a believer. No one owes you anything."

As soon as these words were spoken, many people nodded silently. Although they all kept their voices down, Xie Lian's five senses were clear, and he heard every word clearly. Everyone in the audience was muttering, "Finally, someone dares to tell the truth. I've been holding it back and haven't dared to say it..."

"Didn't they say His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was very gentle... How come he is actually like this..."

Amidst the tidal wave of voices, Xie Lian inadvertently took a step back. For twenty years, he had never felt fear before any enemy; he was eternally fearless. Yet, at this moment, a wave of something akin to dread washed over him. Then, he heard someone whisper, "With such divine power, spreading fire against the enemy wouldn't be such a struggle!"

After hearing this, he could no longer stand here.

How could he not know that he was nothing like the war god on the altar who held a sword and a flower, smiling calmly!

Xie Lian turned and ran, dashing out of the Undefiled Forest as if fleeing. Feng Xin and Mu Qing shouted after him, “Your Highness! Where are you going?”

A sudden commotion erupted in the crowd. It seemed a young nurse had unceremoniously started punching and kicking several patients, sparking a furious brawl. However, Feng Xin and Mu Qing couldn't care less. They summoned several squads of soldiers to secure the scene and followed Xie Lian away.

He ran furiously towards Beizi Slope, leaping several feet in one stride. Soon, he reached the densely forested hilltop. Xie Lian's eyes flashed red as he shouted from within the forest, "Come out!!!"

Feng Xin said: "Your Highness! What are you doing here?"

Xie Lian shouted to the sky, "I know you're here, get out here!!!"

Mu Qing said: "If he would come out as soon as you called him, it wouldn't be so..."

The words were cut short before they could finish. All three heard a creaking sound behind them. Turning around, they saw the strange figure in white, with the left side of his face showing tears and the right side smiling, sitting on a vine and looking down at them.

He actually came out after just shouting!

Xie Lian lost his mind the moment he saw him, leaping forward and sternly yelling, “I want your life!!!”

The man in white nimbly and lightly moved aside, his wide white sleeves dancing like a pair of butterfly wings, incredibly graceful. Feng Xin and Mu Qing both exclaimed, "Huh!" They were about to go over to help, but suddenly realized something was amiss and stopped, both with a look of astonishment on their faces. Xie Lian, however, was so enraged that he didn't notice anything. He unsheathed his sword. Feng Xin shouted, "Your Highness! Didn't you notice, he..." Xie Lian already had one hand around the man in white's neck, the other holding the sword, the tip of the blade against his chest. The man in white was clearly under his control, but suddenly he started laughing.

The laughter was clear and gentle, like that of a young man. Xie Lian felt it was very familiar, like someone special. But in his fury, he couldn't place the voice for a moment. Only a flicker of doubt crossed his mind. Soon, the man in white sighed, "Xie Lian, Xie Lian. No matter how you struggle, it's useless. You're doomed, and Xianle Kingdom is doomed!"

Xie Lian was furious. He slapped him with his hand and said, “Who do you think you are? If I didn’t tell you to, then shut up!”

For him, this was truly an extremely rude act. The man in white's head was knocked aside by him, then turned back and said, "Do you really want me to shut up? Fine, fine. But actually, there is a way to turn defeat into victory for you. It depends on whether you are willing to do it."

If he hadn't added the last sentence, Xie Lian would have ignored him. But he added the last sentence, and Xie Lian felt that what he said might be true. There was a way, but it would cost him a heavy price. He took a breath and said in a deep voice, "What way? Just tell me what you want me to do. Cut the crap!"

The man in white said, "Come closer and I'll tell you."

Xie Lian said, “Okay.”

Feng Xin said, "Your Highness! You wouldn't..." But then Xie Lian pierced the white-clothed man's chest with his sword, leaned over, and said, "Speak."

The man in white whispered something to him in a very low voice, so no one else could hear what he said. But the more Xie Lian listened, the wider his eyes widened. After a while, he couldn't stand it anymore and slapped him again, shouting, "I didn't ask you to say that! I want a solution! A solution!"

The man in white said, "I told you, this is the solution. It depends on whether you are willing to do it."

Xie Lian’s face twisted as he asked, “…What on earth do you want to do? Who are you?”

The man in white chuckled, "Who am I? Can't you take off your mask and see for yourself?"

Xie Lian had already intended this, and he immediately took off the mask of half-crying, half-smiling expression. The next moment, he froze.

Smiling at him under the mask was a handsome, fair-skinned young man's face, with sparkling eyes, a smile on the corners of his lips, and an expression of infinite gentleness and humility.

This is his own face!