Chapter 2682: Chapter 2683: Misunderstanding or Malice?

"What... what did you do? If I can’t hold on, I’m really going to drop him." The birdman holding Luan Xin asked in panic.

Luan Xin below responded calmly, "You won’t."

The birdman’s face changed dramatically, and he angrily shouted, "Who says I won’t? If he dies from the fall, it’s their fault; it’s your companions who don’t want to save you. If it were us from the Golden Wings Clan, we wouldn’t treat a companion like this!"

As he spoke, he had already fallen to half the previous height, when Fo Lanying’s flying mechanical puppet suddenly attacked the hand that held Luan Xin.

Luan Xin instantly began to fall downward, Bai Ruozhu activated his light-footed skill, jumped up, and formed a magic shield with his hands to catch Luan Xin. The shield quickly broke, but another one regenerated below.

After consecutively forming three magic shields, Luan Xin’s falling force was fully neutralized, and he gently landed on the ground.

The birdmen were dumbstruck, even the astrologer revealed a look of admiration, "Bai Ruozhu, your control of magic is so precise, impressive."

His face turned slightly pale, the yin-yang rain was consuming a lot.

But it seemed to be a range attack, as all the birdmen were lying weakened on the ground, unable to fly into the sky.

Although birdmen aren’t considered demons, their bloodline is different from ordinary humans, and the yin-yang rain still affects them, just as it once turned Jiang Yichun’s legs into a fishtail, taking a long time to recover.

"Are you alright?" Bai Ruozhu went over to ask Luan Xin.

"I’m fine." Luan Xin showed no sign of panic, making Bai Ruozhu wonder how he could act like a child at all, at least he should have cried a bit.

Suddenly, a gust of wind blew by, and Heluo flew over.

"What happened here?" He asked in surprise.

"Clan leader, they tampered with the Fertility Tree and used evil techniques on us, we can’t fly." A birdman complained first.

Heluo was taken aback, then said, "I asked them to help check the condition of the Fertility Tree, why are you saying they tampered with it?"

"I said it was unfounded, but they insisted on surrounding us and even captured Luan Xin, threatening to kill him; otherwise, we wouldn’t have acted," Bai Ruozhu replied.

Everyone looked at the first two birdmen who arrived, and the handsome one spoke up, "The Holy Maiden just said there was a change in the barrier, indicating someone was harming the Fertility Tree."

Bai Ruozhu felt uneasy, she had asked Furball to check the Fertility Tree, but Furball wouldn’t harm it; could it be the poisonous insects Furball speculated?

Unfortunately, Furball had disappeared and hadn’t contacted her for a while now.

No, no, if their Holy Maiden could detect poisonous insects, wouldn’t they have discovered them long ago and prevented the Fertility Tree from wilting?

"Let’s go see the Holy Maiden, you all adjust your Qi here first," Heluo said sternly, "No matter what, you acted too recklessly, and you shouldn’t have threatened to drop Luan Xin."

The birdmen’s faces looked even worse, they all hung their heads down, seemingly quite obedient to the clan leader.

Heluo led them to their Holy Hall shortly after.

Perhaps because the Golden Wings Clan worships nature, their Holy Hall was not a grand palace, just a tree house nestled on a tree, surrounded by faint golden light and protected by a barrier.

"Tian Ning, what did the barrier indicate?" Heluo jumped onto the tree house, Bai Ruozhu also followed inside, anxious to look at the evidence.

The woman sitting cross-legged inside had a look of panic flash in her eyes, quickly hidden but not unnoticed by Bai Ruozhu.

"The barrier indicated the Fertility Tree is in danger, I’ve already called Wen Xuan and the others to check it, clan leader there’s no need to worry too much," Tian Ning said.

Bai Ruozhu stepped aside and spoke from behind Heluo, "Those you mentioned just engaged us in conflict; if you weren’t absolutely certain, I think there’s no need for such a dispute, right?"

She looked at Heluo again, "Heluo Clan Leader, I’m sure the clan’s barrier isn’t only visible to the Holy Maiden. The clan leader should verify, to prevent any misunderstandings."

"You..." Tian Ning gritted her teeth in anger, glaring fiercely at Bai Ruozhu.

Bai Ruozhu sneered, if this woman weren’t problematic, she’d be a ghost; why panic just now?

Moreover, she glanced at the barrier and frowned quickly, "The Fertility Tree’s alert is still the same, why did you send Wen Xuan and the others?"

Tian Ning hurriedly said, "The barrier indeed has been indicating danger for the Fertility Tree, the clan leader said to maintain vigilance, so he asked Wen Xuan and the others to consult."

"Did you say anything about the Jiuli guests tampering?" Heluo asked.

"How could I?" Tian Ning exclaimed, "Perhaps Wen Xuan misunderstood?"

Heluo’s face darkened, "I’ll handle this matter, today we were neglectful guests; there will be a banquet tonight and you should come out to address the clan and guests."

Tian Ning’s face showed a hint of grievance, "I’m the Holy Maiden, not someone who should be seen publicly."

Nothing about not wanting to be seen publicly, just putting up airs.

Bai Ruozhu watched silently from the side, Heluo would likely settle this account, and they hadn’t suffered undue losses,.

But they threatened Luan Xin’s safety, something Bai Ruozhu found very displeasing and wouldn’t easily forgive.

"The guests aren’t many, just two outside men, nothing inconvenient," Heluo’s tone set the terms.

He then turned towards Bai Ruozhu and said, "Bai Ruozhu, it seems to be a misunderstanding, I’ll invite the clansmen to apologize to you."

Bai Ruozhu raised her brow slightly, "We’re fine except Luan Xin was caught high in the air and threatened with being dropped; you say the Golden Wings Clan holds high pride, how could they bully a child this way?"

Heluo’s face showed discomfort, "This action was indeed disgraceful, I’ll punish him severely."

Bai Ruozhu nodded subtly, and they left the Holy Hall together, before leaving Bai Ruozhu glanced at Tian Ning with a half-smile, Tian Ning’s eye twitched, displaying a look of disdain.

Heluo then addressed the others and dealt with the clanspeople’s situation.

Bai Ruozhu didn’t follow but returned to their resting place and soon heard the Golden Wings Clan people gossiping nearby.

"The clan leader punished those involved today, each was whipped ten times, the main instigator Wen Xuan was whipped thirty and couldn’t rise again, his entire body was bloodied, yet he kept saying the Holy Maiden told him someone harmed the Fertility Tree and urged him to capture them quickly to prevent issues."

"And the one who caught the child, Lun Fan, was whipped twenty times and given a month’s confinement, the clan leader says his conduct was improper."

"Seems a bit harsh, though truly they shouldn’t have threatened a child, it made us Golden Wings Clan seem despicable and shameless."

"Those people remain weakened, even ten whips wouldn’t be so, it’s due to the yin-yang rain magic the guests used."