Shen Miao chuckled, finding Xia Ying truly pathetic and pitiful. She was clearly about to sell the baby, yet she pretended to be very protective of him. Who was she trying to fool?

He shook his head and turned to retrieve the animal skin bag from his stall.

Her beast crystals are all stored inside.

However, just as she turned around, a gust of wind swept from behind, and Xia Ying's angry voice suddenly rang out: "Go to hell! So what if you have beast crystals? I'll teach you to sabotage me! I'll send you to the underworld today!"

"Mother!"

The four cubs cried out in anguish and rushed toward this place.

They were instructed by Shen Miao to stay at the stall selling blood tofu and not dare to leave, for fear that someone would take the blood tofu away.

However, the children were still paying attention to what was happening here, so as soon as Xia Ying took out the knife, the children immediately noticed, their expressions changed drastically, and they all shouted.

But the little ones are short and have short legs, so even if they rush, they can't rush over in a short time.

By the time they arrive, Shen Miao will probably already have a bloody hole in her body.

"Uncle Jiuying, Uncle Jiuying, save Mother!"

Helpless, the babies started calling out for help randomly.

Jiuying stayed with them, as Shen Miao had instructed. Once she left, Jiuying had to stay by the children's side without ever leaving her sight.

Jiuying faithfully carried out this order.

So now, he witnessed Xia Ying attacking Shen Miao, and he was extremely anxious.

Even for him, it was too late to get there at this point.

Jiuying had only one thought in her mind: she couldn't let Shenmiao get hurt, absolutely not!

Without thinking too much, Jiuying used her teleportation ability and appeared between Shen Miao and Xia Ying in the blink of an eye, just in time to block the knife for her.

With a soft thud, the knife pierced the flesh, making a distinctive sound.

Jiuying groaned, but stood there firmly, protecting Shen Miao.

Shen Miao had thought she was doomed from this blow, but unexpectedly Jiu Ying suddenly appeared and blocked it for her. She turned around, supported Jiu Ying's body, and said anxiously, "How are you, Jiu Ying? Hold on."

"No, it's nothing, don't worry." Jiuying forced a smile.

"Don't say anything, I'll take you back right now," Shen Miao said immediately.

She glanced at Xia Ying, a glance filled with chilling coldness. Xia Ying's stone knife had long since slipped from her hand and fallen to the ground, but her hands were still stained with blood.

She frantically shook her hands and broke down in tears, crying, "I didn't mean to, it's all your fault, you forced me to do this."

Shen Miao was absolutely furious.

Unable to hold back any longer, he rushed forward and slapped Xia Ying several times, saying coldly, "You just wait, if anything happens to Jiuying, I'll never forgive you."

Xia Ying covered her face, huddled there, and dared not cry anymore.

Shen Miao ignored her and, supporting Jiu Ying, led the children back to the mansion.

Jiuying's wound looked terrifying, but it wasn't actually that deep. Xia Ying was scared, and it was her first time killing someone, so she couldn't control her strength. Before the knife even went in, she withered up.

This is also where Jiuying is relatively lucky.

Lin Shousheng examined Jiuying's wounds and said, "Kid, you're lucky. The person holding the knife isn't strong enough. Otherwise, if he had used a little more force, you probably wouldn't be able to stand here."

"Thank you for your help, Veterinarian Lin," Jiu Ying said politely.

Lin Shousheng cleaned his wound, applied medicine, and carefully bandaged it: "Don't do too much heavy work these days, be careful the wound will reopen."

This time, it was Shen Miao who answered: "Okay, Uncle Lin."

After leaving Lin Shousheng's house, Shen Miao scolded, "Jiuying, don't do this again next time. I took you in, not so you could take the fall for me."

Jiuying smiled slightly and obediently replied, "Okay."

In reality, he was thinking that if there was a next time, he would do the same thing, because it was Shen Miao who took him in when everyone else rejected him.

Without Shen Miao, we don't know where he is now; perhaps he died alone in the mountains.

Seeing Jiu Ying's silly grin, Shen Miao knew he hadn't listened and couldn't help but feel a headache coming on.

Just as he was about to continue persuading her, Jiuying's body suddenly swayed, and she spat out a mouthful of blood.

Shen Miao was shocked. What was going on? Why was Jiu Ying vomiting blood? Could it be that he had suffered internal injuries? But how could he have internal injuries? She had been watching him the whole time, and Xia Ying didn't seem to have any special abilities.

"Jiuying, Jiuying, how are you?"

Jiuying wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth and smiled weakly at Shen Miao: "It's nothing, I was just in a hurry and some blood got stuck in my throat."

Shen Miao stared into his eyes and said seriously, "Jiuying, at this point, don't try to hide it from me. Tell me honestly, what exactly happened?"

Under Shen Miao's relentless pressure, Jiu Ying had no choice but to say, "Actually, it's nothing. I just used my teleportation ability, which was a bit beyond my body's capacity."

He paused for a moment, then quickly added, "It's really okay. This is my ability. I just used it a bit too much, so I'll be weak for a while, but I'll be fine soon."

Shen Miao looked him up and down. She didn't believe what Jiu Ying said, but she believed what she saw.

"This isn't just simple weakness; you're probably suffering a backlash."

Orcs' abilities are not unrestrained; on the contrary, excessive use can lead to backlash, just like with the Nine-Headed Serpent, causing significant harm to their bodies.

If it's not properly treated, there might be long-term side effects, such as slow progress and even the inability to advance at all.

This is not just not serious, it's extremely serious. I don't know how Jiuying could say such a thing so casually.

"You should rest well these few days and not worry about anything else. Focus on getting better first," Shen Miao said firmly.

Jiuying opened her mouth, but ultimately didn't utter a word of refusal.

That evening, while Shen Miao was cooking, she used some highly nourishing medicinal herbs, all of which she had taken from her healing space. Whether they would be useful or not, she would just use them first.

The children ate so much that they all got nosebleeds, so Shen Miao quickly stopped them and prepared some lighter dishes instead.

After finishing their meal, Qingchen took advantage of Shen Miao's absence to call Jiu Ying over and thank him. This was the first time Jiu Ying had spoken to Qingchen properly.

In this family, he spent the most time with Shen Miao, followed by the four children, while Qing Chen had relatively little contact with her.

He could vaguely sense that Qingchen was very capable, and he was a little reserved when speaking to Qingchen. Seeing this, Qingchen said, "Don't be so nervous. I'm grateful to you for protecting Shenmiao. You don't need to be so afraid of me."

"No, it's nothing, it's what I should do," Jiuying stammered.