He leaped over the high wall and swooped down, his Dao Yuan surging and flames blooming. A woman half-squatting in the corner of the wall suddenly turned her head in horror.

Jiang Wang forcibly stopped his momentum, extinguished the flames with a grasp, and landed in front of her.

Because in that instant, he noticed that the woman didn’t have a trace of Dao Yuan fluctuation in her body, and her eyes were dazed, not fully conscious.

Looking at the paper figure burning in front of the woman, the eerie feeling clearly originated from it.

Jiang Wang pressed down on the paper figure from afar, extinguishing it.

The woman’s eyes cleared, and she looked at Jiang Wang, who was wearing a cloak and holding a long sword, and said uneasily, “Who are you? Don’t come any closer, I’m going to call for help!”

Jiang Wang lifted his cloak, revealing his young face, and frowned as he asked, “Who are you, and what are you doing here?”

“I am…” This woman had a gentle and lovely face, and her expression was frightened and helpless at the moment, making her even more pitiful.

She reached behind her back to grab the paper figure, probably trying to hide the evidence.

At the same time, she suddenly seemed to remember something and said very forcefully, “This is my home! What’s it to you?”

She only felt a blur before her eyes, and the cloaked teenager seemed to have moved, but it seemed that he hadn’t.

The only difference was… he was holding a paper figure with a burnt corner in his hand.

“Give it back to me!” she shouted.

Jiang Wang looked at the paper figure back and forth for a long time, confirming that it was indeed a bit strange.

But what puzzled him was that the paper figure only had two words written on the chest area – “Curse”.

Other than that, nothing else was written, not even simple curse words like tripping or falling into a pit, let alone corresponding ritualistic incantations.

The word “curse” sounds simple, but to put it into practice, there must usually be a relatively specific direction, such as shortening one’s lifespan or something like that.

The scene before him completely defied Jiang Wang’s understanding.

He couldn’t help but ask, “What are you cursing?”

Probably realizing Jiang Wang’s speed and knowing that she had no room to resist, the woman replied indignantly, “Just cursing!”

Jiang Wang: “…”

Jiang Wang realized that he had encountered a little girl who didn’t understand anything.

Even if this paper figure could indeed have some effect, she didn’t write anything on it. It would be a miracle if this could succeed. Unless the woman in front of him was the darling daughter of some evil god.

“Then let me rephrase.” Jiang Wang said, “Why do you want to use this curse paper figure?”

The woman was silent for a moment, and tears suddenly flowed down her face.

“My cousin… my cousin is going to die.” She sobbed and said, “He’s going to be eaten by that monster outside the city.”

This was the first time Jiang Wang had heard someone in You Country refer to that giant turtle beast as a monster. Most of them revered it as a god, because it was the guardian beast of You Country.

At the same time, he remembered what the Confucian scholar Xu Xiangqian had said – “Look, those turtle sons are all cowardly and cautious. If their performance is ranked the worst, they will be dismissed and eaten!”

Dismissed and eaten. At first, he thought being eaten was just a metaphor for being deprived of power. But connecting it with what the woman in front of him said, it should be that they would really be eaten…

This matter would have aroused Jiang Wang’s disgust and revulsion, but after the fall of Maple Forest City, his thoughts had changed.

If the officials in Zhuang Court hadn’t been derelict in their duties and hadn’t taken the lives of the common people seriously, how could Maple Forest City have suffered such a disaster?

Although You Country’s measures were stricter, perhaps they could achieve miraculous results. After all, the starting point was for the sake of the common people.

“If officials don’t do their jobs properly, can’t protect the territory and the people, and only know how to be tyrannical, they deserve to die!” Jiang Wang said.

“You’re talking nonsense! My cousin is a good official!”

“If he’s a good official, how could he fail the assessment?”

“This… I…” The woman was immediately choked, just repeating while shedding tears, “No, my cousin is very good, he’s very good. He said it has nothing to do with the assessment, he was framed. No matter what he does, he will still be eaten in the end.”

“Who framed him?”

“I… I don’t know.”

Jiang Wang didn’t want to listen to the woman’s defense of her sweetheart anymore. He didn’t think it was true or objective, so he changed his question and asked, “Where did you get this curse paper figure from?”

Tracing the source of the curse paper figure and ferreting out the hidden cultists was also his original goal.

Evil cults under the heavens should be killed when they are found.

“It was my wet nurse. Ever since Qingge’er died, her condition has been getting worse and worse, so I occasionally bring her home for a few days, but she never wants to stay long. After hearing about my cousin’s matter, she said this could help me, as long as I curse them, they will be punished…”

Perhaps because she had just been freed from the influence of the cursed paper figure, she seemed to be saying whatever came to mind, talking a lot.

“Who is Qingge’er?” Jiang Wang interrupted her.

“It’s the wet nurse’s son…”

“Where does your wet nurse live?”

She blankly said the address and then asked, “What are you asking this for?”

“Doing good deeds and accumulating merit.” Jiang Wang said.

She was stunned for a moment, then suddenly pleaded with Jiang Wang, “Then please help me! Save my cousin, please?”

“I have no interest in helping you. And I can’t help you either.” Jiang Wang directly refused, “Clearing out the cultists who bewitched you is the only good deed I can do for you.”

This woman lived in this kind of place, so her identity must not be simple. She wouldn’t be unable to hire a cultivator. But she was now being bewitched by someone and could only secretly hide here to burn paper figures.

This was enough to show the complexity of the situation.

He, Jiang Wang, was unfamiliar with the place and didn’t have the strength to sweep everything away, so of course, he wouldn’t rashly intervene.

Moreover, since being eaten by the turtle beast for dereliction of duty was the political environment of You Country, he had even less reason to interfere.

The woman just begged, “He’s a good person, he really is a good person! Please believe me. Please help me!”

If it were Linghe… he would definitely try to help.

Thinking of Linghe, Jiang Wang felt a pain in his heart.

He stopped talking and flicked a pebble with his toe, then kicked it out.

The pebble suddenly accelerated, making a sharp whistling sound, and directly pierced a hole in a rockery in the courtyard!

“Who’s there!”

“What’s that sound?”

People in the courtyard were alarmed and would probably come over soon to watch the woman and prevent her from doing anything foolish again.

Jiang Wang stepped down, flipped out of the courtyard wall, and headed straight for the northern city.

The woman’s wet nurse lived in the northern district, in a low-lying commoner’s house.

This house was easy to find because the family was obviously better off than the neighbors on either side.

Jiang Wang placed his hand on his sword and gently pushed the door open with his toe.

Creak.

It was noon, but the room was surprisingly dark.

An old woman with white hair was doing something in front of the dressing mirror. Hearing the sound, she slowly turned her head.

Her voice was dry and hoarse, “Is Mu Qing already…?”

Mu Qing?

Jiang Wang thought of the woman in the deep courtyard.

Her name was indeed elegant, but she was a bit stupid.

“You really are harming her.” Jiang Wang said coldly.

“Wuu wuu wuu… Hahahaha…”

The old woman was crying at first, but as she cried, she laughed again.

The sound was ear-piercing and heart-wrenching, extremely unpleasant.

“You… all deserve to die!”

She said viciously, “I curse you, with my flesh and blood, my hair, my life, everything I have, I curse you! I am willing to tread through mountains of knives and hells of fire. As long as you… suffer the same pain as me!”

Jiang Wang shifted his feet. Before he could make a move, he had already retreated, retreating out of the room and into the street.

Because he felt a strange force suddenly explode.

Right before his eyes, the old woman was covered by a layer of black flames and instantly burned to ashes!

Not even a single hair was left.