"Benefactor, allow me to arrange some matters first. Tomorrow, I will accompany you to the Lan Clan tribe," Tu Er said, glancing at Fang Ling.
Since they had already found out the destination, Fang Ling wasn't in a hurry. He nodded slightly in agreement.
Suddenly, a dark-skinned man came running over in a rush.
"Chieftain, the envoy from the Mu Clan tribe has arrived..." he said.
Upon hearing this, Tu Er's face turned grim, and the old grandpa beside him sighed helplessly.
Tu Er looked at Fang Ling again and said, "Benefactor, I have other matters to attend to, so I'll take my leave."
"You can chat with the old grandpa here. He knows many strange and interesting stories about the Miao Territory."
Tu Er immediately headed to the tribe's altar, where he saw the envoy from the Mu Clan tribe.
The envoy from the Mu Clan tribe was a young man with a fierce appearance and only one ear.
"Tu Er, how is your tribe's preparation for the witch maidens?" the fierce-looking envoy asked arrogantly.
"In nine days, it will be the day to worship the witch god."
"Our priest said that if you can't gather enough people, he will send someone to pick them directly."
"If more are picked than needed, don't blame us."
Tu Er looked troubled and said, "Our tribe has suffered from a strange illness this year, and many people have died."
"The number of witch maidens set by the priest is too high; we really can't gather that many people."
"Could you please report our tribe's situation to the priest and ask him to reduce the number of witch maidens?" he pleaded humbly.
The envoy from the Mu Clan tribe was immediately enraged upon hearing this. "Hmph! Worshipping the witch god is of utmost importance, and there's no room for negotiation!"
"Your tribe has a large population. It's just a hundred witch maidens; you can definitely gather them."
"Don't try to play tricks on me. I advise you to cooperate obediently!"
Tu Er wanted to say more, but seeing the young envoy's impatience, he had to give up.
"I will try my best to gather them..." he said helplessly.
The envoy from the Mu Clan tribe's expression softened slightly. "That's more like it."
"Also... the priest wants to drink your tribe's Soul-Nourishing Tea."
The dark-skinned man behind Tu Er looked indignant but had to endure it. He stepped forward and handed over a box of Soul-Nourishing Tea.
The envoy opened it and sniffed, nodding in satisfaction. "Hmm, the quality is decent. The priest should like it."
They all knew that the priest didn't care for the tea they offered. It was just the envoys who wanted to extort them.
"Let's go! Send the witch maidens quickly. Don't keep the priest waiting, or your tribe won't have peace!" The envoy from the Mu Clan tribe happily took the tea and left arrogantly.
Tu Er stood there, closing his eyes in pain.
"Chieftain, what should we do?" the dark-skinned man asked.
"We've already decided on twenty households this year, but their daughters have died of illness. Now..." Tu Er said helplessly, "We'll have to take twenty from next year's households to make up for it."
"I'll handle this. I'll be the bad guy."
Meanwhile, in front of the old grandpa's bamboo house.
Fang Ling was listening to the old grandpa talk about the interesting stories of the Miao Territory.
But he had also clearly heard the conversation at the altar earlier.
"What is the story behind these witch maidens?" he suddenly asked.
The old grandpa shook his head in pain, seemingly unwilling to talk about it.
After a while, he said in a deep voice, "People of the Miao Territory mostly worship the witch god."
"Every year on April 16th, there is a grand ceremony to worship the witch god."
"And the offerings are the witch maidens."
"Not all women can be witch maidens. They must be under thirty, virgins, and at least know one witchcraft spell."
"Some ancestors thought it was too cruel to use living people as offerings, so they gradually abolished this custom and used wild animals like tigers, leopards, pigs, and wolves instead."
"Our Tu Clan tribe is one of those."
"But some tribes still retain the ancient custom and use witch maidens for the ceremony on that day."
"The Mu Clan tribe that just arrived is one of them."
"But the witch maidens they use for the ceremony are not from their own tribe. Every year, they take them from our Tu Clan tribe..."
"The Mu Clan tribe is much stronger than us. We have no power to resist."
"We can only endure this humiliation generation after generation, hoping that one day, a genius in witchcraft will emerge from our tribe and lead us out of this predicament."
Fang Ling: "The Mu Clan tribe should be very close to your Tu Clan tribe, right?"
The old grandpa nodded. "Yes, it's less than half a day's journey north of our tribe."
"The Mu Clan tribe is very powerful, and their priest is proficient in three types of witchcraft, with formidable strength."
"Younger generation, I know you have a kind heart, but don't act impulsively."
"The problems of our Tu Clan tribe should be solved by our own people. We don't need to trouble you."
"I was just asking casually," Fang Ling said lightly.
On the other side, Tu Er gathered the families for next year.
He knelt down with a thud, kowtowing to these people.
"Chieftain, please get up! We understand," an old woman wiped her tears with a cloth and helped him up.
"Anyway, they have to die sooner or later, whether it's a year earlier or later, it doesn't matter."
"Living one more year is just one more year of suffering."
Everyone was saddened and in tears, but in the end, they all stepped forward to draw lots...
Fang Ling quietly left the Tu Clan tribe and soon caught up with the envoy from the Mu Clan tribe.
But he didn't show himself. Instead, he followed the envoy silently all the way to the Mu Clan tribe's settlement.
The Mu Clan tribe was much larger than the Tu Clan tribe, with an estimated population of over two hundred thousand.
Among them, there was a rather formidable aura. Fang Ling guessed that this person was the priest of the Mu Clan tribe mentioned by the old grandpa.
This priest had a late Alioth Realm cultivation, but his true strength was definitely more than that.
The spiritual power level of these witchcraft practitioners didn't fully represent their combat power.
What they relied on was their powerful divine soul and exquisite spells or witchcraft.
"Huh? Why is she here?" Fang Ling raised an eyebrow in surprise.
While probing the Mu Clan tribe's priest, he sensed a familiar aura!
In a dimly lit room, Dou Qin was bound with ropes.
She had traveled to the Miao Territory to learn the art of witch doctors, but she was captured shortly after arriving.
She was brought here and imprisoned.
At this moment, an old man dressed in fine clothes and holding a gray-green staff walked in.
The old man looked Dou Qin up and down, a lecherous smile on his face.
"Judging by the size of your boots, you must have a pair of delicate, white feet."
"And as a healer, with the scent of herbs permeating your body, your feet must be... heh heh!"
"You are also beautiful, just to my liking."
"I can't wait to take off your boots and play with them."
"Not to mention eating them, even just smelling them would prolong life!"
Dou Qin shuddered at his words, struggling desperately.
The Mu Clan tribe's priest grew even more excited at the sight.
Just as he was about to step forward to enjoy, a sudden commotion of shouting and screaming came from outside.
"Priest, a formidable intruder has stormed into the tribe and is on a killing spree."
"Elders like Mu Huo were slain in an instant. Please, take action to suppress this intruder!"
The old priest's face changed upon hearing this and he immediately left the room.

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