Healing to Kill

"How far is the Gate of Sealing on Scarlet Flame Mountain from the Demon Suppression Cauldron?"

Jiang Chen looked at Moonlit Dance and asked.

"The Demon Suppression Cauldron is located at the eastern foot of the mountain. Even the nearest Gate of Sealing..."

Moonlit Dance thought for a moment and replied, "It's about a ten-minute walk."

"A ten-minute walk..."

Jiang Chen murmured, puzzled, "With such a distance, how could tens of thousands of players not stop the monsters from a Bronze Level gate?"

Is this a joke?!

There must be something wrong.

Otherwise, this task wouldn't be worth doing.

Jiang Chen's mind quickly raced, and he could only think of one possibility.

The players must have missed some monsters.

He continued to ask, "Besides you, do the other participants in the task receive notifications about the Demon Suppression Cauldron being eroded?"

Since Moonlit Dance was the task trigger for the entire server, she might receive more notifications than the other players participating in the task.

As for Jiang Chen himself, he hadn't even entered Scarlet Flame Mountain, so the system wouldn't recognize him as a participant in the server-wide task.

Naturally, he wouldn't receive any notifications.

"The other participants?"

Moonlit Dance thought for a moment and replied, "They might not have received any notifications... I'm not sure."

"Brother Chen means that all the players are busy killing monsters on Scarlet Flame Mountain, and no one knows that some monsters have already reached the Demon Suppression Cauldron?" Tao Xiaoyao's soft voice chimed in.

"That's the only possibility."

Jiang Chen nodded and then looked at Moonlit Dance, "No matter what, you should go check it out first and contact us if there's any situation."

"By myself?"

Moonlit Dance was taken aback.

"Of course, just go check the situation."

"If it really is a missed monster, someone has to inform those heroes on the mountain to come down and clear them out, right?"

After saying that, Jiang Chen rubbed his forehead helplessly.

These so-called heroes, can they be a bit more reliable?!

"I... understand."

After a brief hesitation, Moonlit Dance nodded.

Meanwhile, because the default setting for players was to block private messages from strangers, to avoid losing contact, she sent friend requests to Qing Ying, Tao Xiaoyao, and Jiang Chen.

Then, Moonlit Dance quickly headed towards Scarlet Flame Mountain alone.

"Let's go check it out too!"

Nearby, YouNet Masculine noticed that the silver-haired woman was actually the task trigger for the entire server!

He immediately said to Jiang Chen and the others, "Masters, rare materials are hard to come by. We'll head over first."

With that, the YouNet duo turned and followed Moonlit Dance.

After all, it was their job.

Wherever the heat was, that's where they would go.

"We're heading to Wu Man Village."

Jiang Chen didn't linger any longer and left the Holy City.

Upon arriving at Wu Man Village, Jiang Chen went straight to the small wooden house behind the low slope.

The door was still half-open.

Jiang Chen pushed the door open and entered alone.

Inside, it was empty.

"Stop hiding, it's me."

Jiang Chen said.

A rustling sound came from under the bed.

Then, Yi Ding crawled out.

He looked at Jiang Chen, his face full of excitement, and asked, "Adventurer, did you deliver the letter to Miss Li Sang?"

"I did."

"That's great!"

Yi Ding clenched his fist in excitement, his eyes seemingly ignited with hope.

"But..."

Jiang Chen paused and slowly said, "She asked me to kill you."

Instantly.

Yi Ding's excited and happy expression froze.

Then, confusion and disbelief filled his eyes.

Next, with a hint of fear, he took two steps back.

"Impossible, you're lying to me!"

Finally, Yi Ding's face trembled, his eyes filled with madness.

"Why would I lie to you?"

Jiang Chen asked calmly.

"You don't understand at all!"

Yi Ding shouted in a low voice, his eyes distant as if recalling the past, and slowly said:

"Three years ago, I was demoted to mine in a barren land by the Lord for drinking while on patrol and violating military discipline."

"Later, I couldn't stand it anymore and escaped from Leaving Fire City, crossed the Death Desert, and arrived at the Scarlet Flame Ancient Land."

"Here, the first person I met was Li Sang!"

"She took me in, gave me food, and a place to stay."

"Just a month ago, I confessed to her, and she accepted me, even allowing me to join the Holy Palace and become a soldier again!"

"But yesterday..."

As if recalling something unpleasant, Yi Ding's expression turned painful, and he gritted his teeth, "When I woke up in my room, there was a naked woman lying on my bed!"

"Before I could react, people rushed in from outside!"

"They accused me of assaulting that woman, but I didn't even know her!"

"I only like Li Sang, how could I do such a thing?"

"They paraded me through the streets, accusing me of lewd crimes, and wanted to imprison me in the Holy City dungeon for judgment!"

"I escaped and have been hiding here. I wanted to find Li Sang to tell her the truth and ask for her help, but I couldn't get out."

"Until you came... I asked you to deliver the letter to Li Sang."

"But now you tell me Li Sang wants to kill me?!"

Yi Ding spoke with deep emotion, each word filled with sincerity, "How can I believe you?"

"I'm just telling you the truth. Believe it or not, it's up to you."

Jiang Chen said calmly, "Maybe you were framed because Li Sang set you up?"

"Impossible!"

Yi Ding was shocked and quickly shook his head, "She has no reason to do that!"

"Maybe you did something, or saw something, that forced her to set you up."

Jiang Chen remembered that the chaos in the Scarlet Flame Holy Land was caused by the Holy Lord being bewitched by demons and colluding with them.

And Li Sang was the Holy Lord's maid.

There must be a connection.

Jiang Chen's words made Yi Ding fall into deep thought, "Did something... see something..."

After a few minutes.

"Respected adventurer, could you please go to the Holy City once more for me?"

"I remember seeing a withered Extreme Yang Flower on the lawn behind the Holy Palace while patrolling. I thought it was naturally withered."

"Now that I think about it, there might be something fishy. Please check it out and collect some soil from under the flower."

With that, the exhausted Yi Ding handed a transparent bottle to Jiang Chen.

[You have obtained the item "Glass Bottle," unlocking the subsequent task.]

[Current task: Please go to the lawn behind the Holy Palace, use the Glass Bottle to collect soil from under the withered Extreme Yang Flower, and give it to Yi Ding.]

Looking at the Glass Bottle in his hand, Jiang Chen couldn't help but complain inwardly, "A lousy task, and you wasted so much of my time!"

He had to make another trip to the Holy City.

What a torment!

Immediately.

Jiang Chen left the small wooden house.

But just as he stepped outside, he received a message from Moonlit Dance.

[Moonlit Dance: A player accidentally damaged the remaining seal. The server-wide task has changed, and the Gate of Sealing is opening faster.]

"Can you do something right for once?"

Jiang Chen's head throbbed.