"Sister, I have something for you!"
The woman had dark skin, a honest-looking face, and many calluses on her hands. Hearing Yaohua's voice, she was first stunned, then quickened her pace and distanced herself from Yaohua as if she were avoiding a plague.
Yaohua was almost amused by anger.
"Sister, don't run. I won't hurt you!"
The woman walked even faster.
After a while, the woman Yaohua had seen at the village entrance came over cursing, holding a rag in her hand. She directly stuffed the rag into Yaohua's mouth, preventing her from speaking.
She should have kept her mouth shut...
"It's just a brute. What's there to be afraid of?" The woman spat at the person who had been scared away by Yaohua just now. "Hurry up and get back to work!"
Yaohua was quite dissatisfied. The phoenix was a divine beast from ancient times. Brutes hadn't even cultivated into their true forms. How could they be compared with the phoenix?
"Brother System, is there any other way?"
The system didn't respond. Yaohua was a bit helpless. If she had known this, she should have killed those villagers in the cave instead of being at their mercy now.
The water was soon boiled and poured into a large vat one bucket after another.
Two fair-skinned women rolled up their sleeves and came over. They took Yaohua down from the tree but warily didn't touch the ropes on her hands and the shackles on her feet.
"This little girl is really fair-skinned." One woman casually stroked Yaohua's face. "Oh, her little face is so tender!"
"The phoenix is a god. It must be different from us ordinary people." The other woman lifted Yaohua's shoulders with a smile. "I wonder if this divine meat tastes as tender as it looks."
As they were talking, they lifted Yaohua and threw her into the boiling vat.
Yaohua quickly closed her eyes. She wasn't afraid of the heat, but she was afraid of choking on the water.
But unfortunately, her hands and feet were tied, and her mouth was tightly gagged. She had no way out and could only be tortured repeatedly.
"Pinch her nose and see if she'll die if she doesn't breathe."
This was so vicious!
Yaohua rolled her eyes from being pinched. Killing was one thing, but torturing was another!
"Stop playing. The mountain god said that the phoenix meat tastes better when it's alive. If you torture her to death, be careful that the village head will come after you!"
Hearing the words "village head", the woman who had been torturing Yaohua was obviously a bit afraid. "Fine, I won't play. Don't scare me with the village head."
The two women reached out and tugged at Yaohua's hair. Seeing the jewelry on her body, they glanced at each other.
"Sister-in-law, in my opinion, this hairpin suits you. It's just right."
"This pair of earrings also suits you, sister."
Those were all gifts from her master!
Yaohua was shocked. A strong sense of resentment welled up from the bottom of her heart. These two dared to touch the things her master had given her. Even if she died, she would take them down with her!
"What are you looking at? You're going to die anyway. Why do you still care about these things? How stingy!"
"She's supposed to be a god, but she's so petty!"
Even so, their hands suddenly shrank back.
Yaohua was almost amused by anger again. These two were really shameless!
They dared to take her things without permission and still dared to talk to her like that. Where did they get the nerve?
"Sister-in-law, go ahead and take it. I've never seen such a beautiful hairpin before."
"You take it first. I think these earrings are really rare. I want to see how to take them off."
Yaohua stared at them viciously. Let's see who dared to take them!
"Oh, fortune favors the brave. If you won't take them, I will!"
The woman who was coveting the earrings couldn't wait to reach out and tug at Yaohua's earring.
Just as she touched the earring, a powerful spiritual force suddenly erupted from it. In an instant, the vat burst, and boiling water splashed everywhere. The two women were caught off guard and were flung far away, falling to the ground.
There were cries of pain everywhere.
It turned out that the magical artifact her master had given her was also effective against ordinary people.
Yaohua felt a warmth in her heart. She broke free from the cracked ropes on her hands, kicked away the broken shackles at her feet, then quickly pulled out the rag in her mouth and threw it away. She tried to use her spiritual force, and it had recovered!
This was really great!
Yaohua looked at the two women with ill intent. Although she wouldn't kill them, these two were definitely going to get a lesson!
Two streams of spiritual force shot out from her fingertips. The next moment, the two women cried out even more miserably.
Yaohua stood up and flew towards the cave without looking back.
"I didn't expect to underestimate you."
A sinister voice sounded beside her ear.
The mysterious man!
Yaohua's heart almost stopped beating. She quickly sent out phoenix fire to the side, but unexpectedly, her wrist was grabbed.
She reached out and scratched at the man's face.
"Don't grab his mask!" The system tried to stop her, but it was already too late.
Perhaps not expecting Yaohua to do this, the mysterious man was caught off guard, and Yaohua really grabbed his black mask.
Without thinking, Yaohua covered her other hand with phoenix fire and suddenly smashed it at him!
The surprise in his purple eyes hadn't faded when he was attacked so fiercely. The mysterious man quickly dodged.
Yaohua quickly retreated and landed at a safe distance.
Only then did she see the mysterious man's face clearly.
His face was like a bright moon, and his eyebrows were like distant mountains. He had a peach-blossom-like face. Even when angry, there was still a hint of tenderness in his expression. He was unexpectedly good-looking.
"What are you looking at!"
The mysterious man suddenly realized something and quickly reached out to cover his face, only showing his extremely vicious purple eyes, glaring at Yaohua fiercely.
"Ah, I..." Yaohua came to her senses and found that the mysterious man's black mask was still in her hand. She quickly threw it away. "Who's looking at you! Shameless!"
Saying that, she transformed into her original form and quickly flew away. It wasn't until she no longer sensed the mysterious man's aura that Yaohua landed on the ground.
"Brother System, why didn't you let me grab his mask just now?"
Before the system could answer, another voice sounded.
"Since you've seen my face, you can't leave."
The mysterious man's voice sounded again. This time, except for her eyes, Yaohua couldn't move at all.
She was horrified. She never thought that the mysterious man hadn't used his full strength just now!
A hand pinched her chin and turned her head.
The mysterious man didn't put on his mask. His handsome face was directly facing her. "Since you've taken off my mask, from now on, you'll be mine. I'll form a blood pact with you, and I won't hold you accountable for what happened in the past."
Blood pact?
If she remembered correctly, this was a life-and-death pact!
Normally, only Taoist companions would risk their lives to form such a thankless pact!
Was this mysterious man crazy?
Why would he suddenly want to form such a pact with her?
"By the way, I don't like your name. I'll give you a new one in the future."
The mysterious man bit his finger and pressed it against her forehead.
"Mm-mm..." Yaohua tried to make a sound.
"Do you have something to say?" The mysterious man frowned. He lifted the spell that silenced Yaohua. "What do you want to say?"