Snake-People Tribe in Peril!

Looking at Third Elder kneeling on the sand, this elder who had once been so imposing within the tribe, someone even her sister had to treat with respect, now appeared so humble.

Her heart was filled with mixed emotions—resentment, pity, and a dazed sense that everything had changed. She tried to soothe him in a relaxed tone. "Hey, the young master won't mind. You don't need to panic. Just compensate the young master."

Rather than comforting Third Elder, those words were more like an attempt to comfort herself, to simplify this thorny matter.

However, Third Elder suddenly raised his head. Not only was there no relief on his face, he became even more anxious, his wrinkles bunching together. "No, no, Second Young Lady! Senior Su is powerful, and his alchemy may truly be so formidable that he does not care about this slight, but those forces outside that are eyeing us like tigers certainly won't see it that way!"

His voice was urgent, trembling with despair. "Especially those mortal enemies of the Snake-People Tribe in the Jia Ma Imperial Family! If they learn that we have offended an expert who is at least a Dou Zong and also an alchemist, even if it is merely a rumor, they will absolutely take the opportunity to strike! They will treat it as a heaven-sent chance and join forces, using the excuse of currying favor with an expert to uproot our Snake-People Tribe entirely!"

Panting heavily, he continued to lay out the terrifying chain reaction. "By then, even if Senior Su has no intention of pursuing the matter, outsiders will see it as proof that our Snake-People Tribe has been abandoned by an expert! When a wall falls, everyone pushes it; when a drum breaks, everyone beats it! The Snake-People Tribe... is in grave danger!"

As Caidie listened to Third Elder's painstaking analysis, her rosy lips parted slightly, and her pretty face was filled with shock.

Back in the tribe, she had always lived a carefree life. Her greatest worries had been where to play that day or whether her sister would force her to cultivate again. Tribal affairs, diplomacy, struggles between factions—those distant, complicated matters had never truly entered her world.

At that moment, Third Elder's words seemed to push open a heavy, dark door before her. Behind it lay a cruel reality filled with treacherous currents and lurking killing intent, leaving her with an inexplicable sense of fear and helplessness.

She subconsciously took half a step back, her gaze somewhat panicked, like a child suddenly pushed onto center stage only to forget her lines. "Th-then... I don't know what to do either."

Her hands unconsciously twisted the hem of her new dress, her voice filled with grievance and helplessness. "I'm only a tiny maid by the young master's side. I've only followed him for a few days, and I haven't even properly learned how to serve tea and water... How could I possibly influence the young master? How could I save the entire Snake-People Tribe?"

As she spoke, she lowered her head in dejection. Her long lashes fell, concealing the complicated emotions in her eyes. Perhaps the young master only gave me the Transformation Pill on a whim, because he pitied me. If I rashly trouble him over the tribe's affairs now, will he think I'm pushing my luck and unable to appreciate kindness?

She had only just escaped the tribe's conflicts and found a place where she might be able to settle down. She truly did not want to lose it so quickly, much less leave the impression of being "troublesome" in the young master's heart because of the Snake-People Tribe.

"Th-this...!"

Caidie's words were like a basin of icy water filled with slush, completely extinguishing the final spark of hope in Third Elder's eyes.

He collapsed to his knees, his face instantly turning ashen as he muttered, "That's right... Second Young Lady has only just begun following Senior Su... Her words carry little weight, little weight..."

Endless despair engulfed him. He seemed to have already seen the bloody sight of the Snake-People Holy City being breached, his people displaced and slaughtered.

Seeing Third Elder's dejected appearance, as though he had aged another ten years in an instant, and the light in his eyes that was about to go out like a candle in the wind, Caidie's heart felt as though it had been pierced by needles.

The Snake-People Tribe—the homeland that had raised her, the tribespeople who might have had conflicts with her but shared her blood, especially her sister... How could she truly harden her heart and watch them walk toward destruction? If she did, she would suffer in regret for the rest of her life.

After struggling inwardly for a long time, the angelic kindness in her heart finally overcame her fear of the unknown and that tiny bit of selfishness.

Resigned and utterly helpless, she let out a soft sigh. It was as light as a breeze, yet it carried the weight of Qian Jun.

"...I'll... give it a try."

That soft sentence sounded like heavenly music to Third Elder!

He practically sprang up from the ground. His cloudy old eyes burst with the wild joy of surviving a disaster. So excited that he could barely speak coherently, he repeatedly kowtowed. "Thank you, Second Young Lady! Thank you, Second Young Lady! This old servant... on behalf of the entire Snake-People Tribe, thanks Second Young Lady for her great kindness!"

Yet Caidie paid no attention to Third Elder's tearful gratitude and kneeling. She turned around and looked resolutely toward the cave where Su Baichen was, taking a deep breath as though gathering enough courage.

Then she moved her newly formed legs, which she still had not fully gotten used to, and walked step by step toward the direction that would determine both her own fate and the future of the entire Snake-People Tribe.

Third Elder hurriedly climbed to his feet. Without bothering to brush off the sand on his body, he cautiously followed behind Caidie at a respectful distance.

Run away?!

That thought had never crossed his mind. A monk might run, but the temple could not. If he simply fled and enraged the unfathomable Senior Su, what he brought upon the Snake-People Tribe would be a true, irredeemable disaster.

At this moment, he could only place all his hopes on the slightly slender yet exceptionally resolute figure ahead of him.

Meanwhile, within the Snake-People Tribe's palace, the atmosphere was exceptionally grave.

The grand palace had been carved from obsidian, exuding an icy, majestic aura.

Queen Medusa wore a magnificent violet-gold gown as she lazily reclined upon a towering throne. Her splendid purple hair cascaded down like a waterfall, and her breathtakingly beautiful face showed little expression. Only her vertical pupils carried an innate majesty and indifference as she quietly watched below.

Beside the queen stood an old man with white hair and beard, dressed in a gray elder's robe. He was the Great Elder of the Snake-People Tribe.

At that moment, he stared in disbelief at the disheveled Second Elder before him, his eyes filled with shock and confusion.

Second Elder's current appearance was truly miserable. His elder's robe was covered in dust and grime, torn in several places to reveal the rumpled clothing beneath. His hair was disheveled, there were several shallow scratches on his face, and even a trace of blood remained at the corner of his mouth. He looked travel-worn and utterly bedraggled, without the slightest trace of his usual elder's dignity.

"What did you say?"

Great Elder's voice carried an almost imperceptible tremor, though it held even more suppressed fury. "That girl actually became the maid of an expert? And that person's cultivation is at least at the Dou Zong level?"

He simply could not believe this information. Caidie had always been spoiled in the tribe and had a somewhat lively, unruly temperament. How had she suddenly become the maid of a Dou Zong expert?

Moreover, a Dou Zong expert stood at the peak of the pyramid in this desert. Why would such a person take an interest in Caidie, a girl with little cultivation who only knew how to eat, drink, and play?

Sensing the anger in Great Elder's tone, Second Elder involuntarily shrank his neck. A faintly innocent expression appeared on his face as he said bitterly, "Great Elder, I couldn't do anything about it! Who could have expected Second Young Lady's luck to be so good? She just happened to encounter such a reclusive senior!"

He paused. Recalling Su Baichen's terrifying strength, lingering fear surfaced on his face, and even his voice trembled slightly. "And that senior's temper is anything but good! Just because Fourth Elder spoke without thinking and offended both the senior and Second Young Lady, the senior appeared out of thin air right in front of him. Without any unnecessary words, he slapped Fourth Elder straight into the nearby sand dune and made him reflect on his mistakes in there!"

"That was genuine Dou Zong strength! His strike was fast and ruthless—he was a man of few words and brutal action!"

After saying that, Second Elder seemed to recall that heart-stopping scene again. Remembering how Fourth Elder had been slapped into the sand without even a chance to resist, he shuddered all over, his face filled with terror.

Too brutal! That senior's strength had utterly surpassed his imagination!

Hearing this, Great Elder furrowed his brow and turned to look at Second Elder suspiciously, his gaze full of scrutiny. "Since that senior is so overbearing and bad-tempered, how did you return unharmed? I do not believe that, with your cultivation, you could escape from the hands of a Dou Zong expert."

"Uh—!" At Great Elder's question, the terror on Second Elder's face immediately froze, replaced by a somewhat awkward expression. He scratched his head and hesitantly explained, in full detail, how Su Baichen had demanded compensation. "That senior..."