When those cloudy old eyes turned, the village chief blurted out the improvised lie he had come up with:

"I'm really sorry, but your sister is no longer with us."

"Being no longer here" naturally did not mean she had left the village.

The village chief was just subtly telling Yu:

Your sister has passed away!

As for the reason, the village chief explained it like this:

"Six years and seven months ago, an epidemic spread to the village, and many adults fell ill and died; your sister was so young at the time, so she couldn't escape it..."

The village chief began to admire his own cunning.

Even in the act of spontaneously lying, he firmly grasped the art of language.

For example, speaking about time in such detail, even down to the month, was to increase the credibility of the lie.

Before the next moment arrived, the village chief believed that with his superior level of lying, he could make the listening party believe it to be true;

As long as he transferred all the blame of "human disaster" onto "natural disaster";

As long as he did that, Yu would likely not confront the villagers in front of her, and the truth could continue to be hidden...

"You old man! Do you think I'm a fool?"

Yu raised her forehead, licked her tongue, and a cold light that could be transformed into killing intent surged in her eyes.

"Do you think I would believe a randomly fabricated statement? Or are you just joking, using a jocular way to find your own death?"

A few drops of cold sweat dripped from his forehead, rapidly draining the village chief's body temperature.

At the same time, a drum began to beat in his heart, but on the surface, the village chief still had to pretend to be innocent, with a sincere face and earnestly defend himself:

"N-No, there's no such thing. I'm just a timid old man. How could I dare to deceive the person sent by the kingdom?"

"Still pretending? Old man, if you're shameless like this, don't blame me for not cherishing our old friendship."

Yu raised three fingers, grinning to reveal sharp teeth, and issued the ultimatum to take action:

"If you don't tell the truth before the final countdown of three, I'll turn around and leave immediately; at that time, the knights waiting outside the village will rush in and sacrifice half of the villagers at night!"

Upon hearing this, the already not-so-brave village chief immediately turned pale, the few remaining teeth in his mouth trembling:

"What? Yu, you can't do this. We're fellow villagers!"

"Who cares about you and your fellow villagers who are nothing more than worthless debris? Three!"

"Are you pretending that the past you experienced in the village can be treated as if it never happened?"

"Shut up! If you mention that unforgettable past, I'd wish even more for all of you to die here. Two!"

With three fingers raised, now two of them lowered, there was very little time left for the reaction of the old villagers in front of Yu.

The villagers were all people who didn't know how to fight, but even if they had never been on a battlefield, they could still clearly sense the intense killing intent currently lingering in the village.

It was like a pack of wolves had invaded the village, staring at the villagers with their pupils, quickly overpowering their rationality with instinct.

In the brief final second, most people, including the village chief, almost simultaneously shifted their bodies, pointing their fingers in one common direction.

"It was him!"

The fortune-teller was pushed forward as the sacrifice, and the others considered:

Since one person had to be sacrificed, it would be better to expose this clumsy fortune-teller on the spot;

Next, all they had to do was firmly deny any connection with the incident, leaving the "sacrifice" to bear all the responsibility.

Betrayed unexpectedly, the fortune teller, in a panicked state, met Yus eyes. The overwhelming pressure coming towards him shattered the facade of composure he had tried to maintain, quickly giving way to fear. With no other choice, the fortune teller recounted in detail what had happened five days ago. Of course, he didn't have the noble idea of sacrificing himself for the happiness of others in his heart. At the same time as he revealed the truth, the fortune teller made sure to confess everyone who had been involved in the incident, without leaving a single person out, including the old man.

Yus made a judgment based on what he said, "So there isn't a single innocent person. Everyone, including the old man, is guilty!"

If it were a usual time, Yus would personally torture and kill all dozen or so people on the spot. But not now. He was thinking about his sister, and those villagers still had some remaining value to him.

"Hey, you're saying my sister went to that mountain five days ago?" The villagers, who were bowing and nodding continuously, now tried to shift blame and evade responsibility.

"Your sister willingly sacrificed herself for the village. If you want to blame someone, blame those cruel demons!"

"Lord Yus, if you don't mind, we, the young and strong villagers, can organize ourselves and attack the mountain tomorrow to avenge your sister!"

Yus didn't respond immediately. Instead, he held the cross in his hand and looked at the glowing red light for a while. He stood for a long time, waiting for the moonlight above to be gradually covered by dark clouds before his closed mouth finally let out a definitive shout.

"Who says... my sister is no longer in this world?"

Outsiders may not understand, but Yus himself knew the power of the cross best. It was not just a small trinket that provided peace of mind; it was a magical item left by their deceased parents to their two children.

His sister, Cai, believed her brother was dead, but Yus, based on the condition of the cross, concluded that she was still alive. The main reason for the difference in their knowledge was their age. Yus had learned the secret of the cross from his parents when he was fifteen years old. But when their parents passed away, Cai was only seven years old, too young to understand certain things.

Among the people still alive, only Yus understood the purpose of this magical item. For example, when both siblings wore the cross, it would emit a red light as long as they were within ten miles of each other. If one of them lost their life for any reason, the cross worn by the other person around their neck would instantly shatter. And if there was no shattered result, it could prove with a hundred percent certainty that the other person was still alive.

"But this is quite incredible. My sister went to the gathering place of the demons and stayed there for five days, but her safety wasn't threatened at all..."

What factors influenced this? Yus could only make a rough analysis based on the information he knew now. Unlike most uninformed people who just parroted what they heard, Yus, as the captain of the knights, knew a truth that many didn't. He knew that the leader of the thousands of demons was actually a young human male. After all, the King, in the past, had gone to the marketplace for shopping, and it was not difficult for the intelligence network of the kingdom to gather this information.

The leader of the demon race is not only human, but his sister also did not encounter any accidents after going up the mountain;

Combining this information for analysis, it is not difficult to come to a conclusion:

"That man seems to have a certain interest in my sister!"

Otherwise, Youshi couldn't imagine:

A young girl staying on the mountain filled with demons, not being harmed for several days, nor being released;

The specific reason for this:

In addition to the possibility that the man targeted my sister and forced her to stay, Youshi couldn't think of any other plausible explanation.

"The situation has developed to this point... It's quite interesting."

Although talking to himself, Youshi did indeed have an idea that emerged in his mind.

He called the terrified villagers, speaking with absolute authority:

"Do you want to stay alive?"

This sentence was like an impending forgiveness, causing those people to immediately discard their dignity and prostrate themselves on the ground.

"We haven't had enough of life yet, we want to continue living."

"We were indeed wrong to mistreat your sister, please give us a chance to make up for our mistakes!"

Seeing through their desperate thoughts, Youshi could guarantee that no matter what tasks he gave these people, they would cooperate well.

"Don't be so nervous, I'm not asking you to do anything dangerous."

The task Youshi instructed the villagers with directly related to his sister.

According to his earlier guess:

His sister must now be in a state of captivity, being imprisoned by the leader of the demon race.

Even if he wanted to rescue his sister, it couldn't be done in the blink of an eye. Youshi had to wait for the arrival of the main force before launching a full-scale attack on the demon race.

And during this waiting period, if his sister luckily found an opportunity to escape from the mountain;

If his sister really managed to escape successfully, she would inevitably return to the village and interact with the villagers again.

"When my sister returns to the village, you must pay close attention to your attitude towards her."

Contrary to what most people thought, Youshi didn't request everyone to maintain a friendly attitude towards his sister;

On the contrary, he demanded the opposite, speaking with an unchanging tone:

"When facing my sister, you are not allowed to show any kindness towards her because of me. You must be even more fierce!"

"Why? Because she is your own sister."

"It is precisely because she is my sister that I want you to treat her cruelly."

"We don't understand."

"It's actually very easy to understand: If you don't do something more extreme than before, how could she, with the stubbornness she has shown since childhood, willingly give up this village?"

Youshi wanted his sister to give up this doomed village and go with him to the kingdom.

But Youshi speculated:

His sister would not agree obediently because this place was her hometown, a place with childhood memories for her.

When the will of the siblings could potentially clash, there was only one thought in the mind of the older brother:

This matter is not up for discussion, he must make his sister obey!

For this, he had to make his sister completely give up on this village;

Even if, in the process, he had to let his loved one experience some painful experiences, it was an indispensable and inevitable process!

The village chief looked at Youshi in front of him, observing that sadistic smirk on his face, and suddenly realized something.

Actually, everyone present had fallen into a huge misunderstanding, all making assumptions:

All the brothers, will always treat their sisters well.

But little did they know, in this world there is always an exception, and Yu is such a typical exception...