The sky was dim, and dark clouds pressed down.
Rain County, which had just cleared after a morning rain, began to drizzle again by evening.
Zhong Li emerged from the inn, casting a glance at the innkeeper and waiter who were fawning over her with ulterior motives, and quickly merged into the crowd heading away in the distance.
Heading south from Rain County, one would pass a small lake and then enter a dense forest.
Perhaps due to the rain, the dense forest was covered in mist, appearing ethereal and illusory from afar, truly giving it the feel of a heavenly realm.
"Is this the place where the Divine Maiden roams?"
Someone in the crowd’s voice rang out. The people around immediately knelt on the ground and began to worship, chanting, "Divine Maiden, may you live for ten thousand years, Divine Maiden, you heal the world."
Zhong Li also quietly knelt on one knee, muttering along while observing her surroundings.
The followers of the Divine Maiden Sect, who led the common people, numbered eighteen in total. They were positioned around all the people holding wooden tablets. They appeared to be believers, but Zhong Li, judging by their gazes and actions, surmised they were actually meant for surveillance and control.
"Clang!" A familiar bell sound echoed.
Before she could react, someone shouted, "Divine Maiden, the Divine Maiden has arrived!"
Zhong Li looked up towards the source of the sound. She saw a flash of red appear in the mist-shrouded forest. The figure seemed to descend from the heavens, appearing and disappearing, before slowly landing before the crowd.
"Divine Maiden, may you live for ten thousand years, Divine Maiden, you heal the world! Divine Maiden, may you live for ten thousand years, Divine Maiden, you heal the world!"
The chanting of the people grew faster, and some, overcome with emotion at seeing the Divine Maiden, even fainted.
Zhong Li narrowed her eyes, trying to get a clear look at the blurry figure to discern if it was a human or a ghost.
Suddenly, the Divine Maiden raised her hand and pointed directly in her direction.
Before she could recover, another series of bell rings sounded.
Zhong Li's eyes widened abruptly, and the oncoming headache nearly made her collapse.
"Ugh..." She clutched her head, supporting herself with one hand on the ground, large beads of sweat trickling down her cheeks.
"Clang! Clang!" The bell sounds grew more frequent than before. She gripped the muddy ground tightly, trying to appear no different from the others.
However, the more she tried, the more her head ached.
At this moment, the crowd let out a gasp, and everyone slowly moved away, creating an open space around Zhong Li.
Unable to bear the pain any longer, Zhong Li collapsed onto the ground, biting her lip with all her might, and a trickle of blood flowed down from between her teeth.
"Heretic." At some point, the Goddess had appeared before her, her voice ethereal, mournful, as if emanating from hell.
Zhong Li, struggling to maintain consciousness, looked up at the woman before her.
The woman's head was covered by a red veil, her features blurred and indistinct, and a string of bells hung from her slender, willow-like waist.
The bells swayed gently with the rain and the surrounding wind, emitting a faint sound that, if one wasn't paying close attention, could easily be mistaken for the sound of the rain.
"Execute!" The Goddess’s ruby-red lips parted, and she slowly uttered two words.
At the same time, several approaching cultists extended their grasping claws towards Zhong Li.
"No!" Zhong Li uttered a single word, and with the last of her strength, she grabbed the bells at the Goddess’s waist.
The Goddess, caught off guard by this action, instinctively recoiled in panic.
It was in this movement that one of the bells on her waist fell off, and Zhong Li felt her head, which had been on the verge of exploding, suddenly become less painful.
The cultists surrounding her, seeing this, paid no mind to the onlookers. They drew daggers from their waists and lunged towards Zhong Li.
"Sss..."
Suddenly, the sound of a firecracker igniting filled the air, and a cloud of smoke instantly billowed out.
"Chancellor Zhong, hurry!"
Zhong Li watched as the surroundings became shrouded in an impenetrable mist. The cultists who had been lunging at her were also disoriented, unable to locate her. A low growl came from behind her.
She followed the sound, scrambling to her feet, and as an arm was pulled, she was rushed out of the smoke and into the depths of the forest.
"Quick, they’ve escaped, chase them!"
Before they had run far, the smoke behind them dissipated, and several cultists spotted her first, shouting at her fleeing back.
Zhong Li glanced back and said to the person pulling her, "Find a hidden spot to hide first. They have too many people, we can't outrun them."
Upon hearing this, the person nodded, took a side path, and hid in the nearby bushes.
After a while, as the sounds of pursuit faded into the distance, Zhong Li let out a long sigh and turned to the person beside her, saying, "Ah Wu, Mo Cang was right, you were nearby."
Ah Wu turned his head and looked at the woman smiling at him. "Chancellor Zhong, aren't you afraid that I wouldn't see the messages you left along the way, or that I wouldn't be here to save you at all?"
Zhong Li shook her head and slowly took a small vial from her embrace, saying, "No, if you hadn't come, I would have used this to escape."
"What is this?" Ah Wu asked curiously, taking the small vial and sniffing it. "Brain-awakening pill?"
"Something like that, but I added more peppermint, camphor, and pulverised faba bean," Zhong Li replied.
Ah Wu looked at her in surprise. "How did Chancellor Zhong know this could help you escape from the Divine Maiden Sect? You should have just arrived here."
Zhong Li nodded, glanced back to ensure no one was following, and said, "Is there a safe place? We can talk about it there."
Ah Wu stood up, broke off a large leaf from a tree for Zhong Li, and took one himself. "This way."
Deep in the forest stood a small hut, appearing long abandoned. Fallen leaves and creeping vines covered its eaves and walls.
Zhong Li sipped slowly from a bowl of clear water, her gaze fixed on the man opposite her.
She had been too busy escaping to notice Ah Wu's condition earlier. Now that they were safe, she realized that Ah Wu was clad in coarse linen, frighteningly thin, with dark circles under his eyes, clearly indicating he hadn't slept or eaten properly for many days.
"Tell me, what happened after you left Liaocheng for Rain County more than half a month ago to find medicine for Lu Wu Xie?" Zhong Li asked.
Ah Wu rubbed his aching forehead and, after a moment's reaction, said, "After the Young Master was drugged by Governor Chang, I was ordered to come to Rain County to find the medicine for him. Chancellor Zhong, you must have stayed at the inn in Rain County when you arrived, right?"
Zhong Li nodded, knowing that Ah Wu must have encountered the same situation as they did.
"I was luckier. From the believers, I learned that the Divine Maiden would appear in this dense forest. I couldn't wait for the medicine distribution every three days, as there was no one capable of protecting the Young Master except me.
So, I took a risk and went into this dense forest alone. I had thought I could seize an opportunity in the forest to steal a dose when the Divine Maiden distributed the medicine. But I didn't steal the medicine, and instead, I got trapped here."
"What do you mean?" Zhong Li asked, surprised.