Rong Zhi let out a deep sigh.
With no leads, she could only meditate and circulate her internal energy.
No matter what, her priority was to recover her body.
After a night's rest, Rong Zhi felt her body had recovered ninety percent, though her throat still ached as much as before.
To recover quickly, she needed to buy some medicine.
As soon as dawn broke, Rong Zhi left her lodging.
This time, Rong Zhi felt as if someone was following her.
Without betraying her thoughts, she quietly employed her movement technique, making several turns in the crowd. The feeling of being watched from behind disappeared.
Were they after her?
Rong Zhi quickened her pace and arrived at a pharmacy.
"Hello, what medicine can I get for you?"
Rong Zhi handed over a prescription. The shopkeeper smiled and took it. "Oh, this is medicine for external injuries. I'll add a dose of Strychnine to help relieve the pain."
Rong Zhi nodded, and the shopkeeper went to prepare the medicine.
Just then, a person suddenly burst in from outside, grabbed Rong Zhi, and vanished from the pharmacy.
In a small alley outside, Rong Zhi looked at the black-clothed man before her, her eyes filled with uncertainty.
She had been about to fight back, but judging by the man's attire, he was identical to the person who had delivered the message yesterday. She didn't know if he was friend or foe.
The man took out a portrait, glanced at Rong Zhi, then reached out and pulled off the white cloth covering her face. After comparing, a look of confusion appeared in his eyes.
Rong Zhi subtly glanced upwards, and her heart sank.
The portrait was of her in her past life, exactly the same.
"Strange, she doesn't look like it…"
The black-clothed man muttered to himself and compared them again.
"What do you want to do with the young lady of the young master?" a dissolute voice suddenly called from the alley entrance. Chen An walked in, fanning himself, and pulled Rong Zhi into his embrace.
"Why are you running around? I've only been gone a few days, and you're already looking for other men? I said, even if you're going to switch, find someone good-looking. What is this, a withered melon and a cracked date."
Chen An's words were directed at the black-clothed man, his face laced with mockery.
The black-clothed man's eye twitched twice.
"Young Master Chen, this subordinate was ordered to apprehend someone. This young lady resembles the person, so I was merely inquiring. I meant no harm."
"Is this how your Plum Blossom Guards investigate cases? Look how scared my young lady is! Who are you trying to find? Let me see."
Saying this, he snatched the portrait. The black-clothed man wanted to react, but ultimately restrained himself.
"How does she look like that? The person in the painting has narrow, elongated eyes, radiating a seductive aura. How can she compare to my young lady's fresh and refined charm?"
The black-clothed man also hesitated. He had felt it wasn't a match earlier, but the First Prince had given the order: better to kill a thousand by mistake than let one go.
"Why are you apprehending someone? Are they a fugitive?" Chen An asked.
"Young Master Chen, please forgive me. My superiors have given orders, and this subordinate cannot disclose further information."
"Speak if you want, don't if you don't. So mysterious. My young lady is definitely not the one you're looking for. You don't need to bother yourself, go to the next place!"
Chen An waved his hand, dismissing him. The black-clothed man paused for a moment. "This subordinate takes his leave."
He then quickly departed.
Rong Zhi thought to herself, Plum Blossom Guards. They were Xiao Jianli's men. But it seemed he didn't recognize her.
Xiao Jianli's relationship with her was a secret. It appeared only a few people knew, and this man was part of the other group.
"Hey, I saved you, aren't you going to thank me?"
Chen An looked down at her, his gaze falling on the scar on her neck, and his expression turned somber.
Rong Zhi smiled and formed the word "thank you" with her lips, but no sound came out.
"Why aren't you talking? Are you mute? A verbal thank you isn't enough. How about a kiss? This young master wouldn't mind taking advantage."
He then offered his face.
Rong Zhi instinctively took a step back. She suddenly remembered, hadn't the seals been applied? Why was Chen An standing here unharmed? The General's Estate, which had also been sealed, its owner Xia Yunting, had already been imprisoned in the Ministry of Justice.
"What are you looking at me for? You disguised yourself to trick me before, and I haven't settled that score with you yet. This is the first time I've seen what you look like."
Chen An scrutinized Rong Zhi from head to toe, looking at her with keen interest.
She did look very similar to the person in the portrait.
Though the person before him was a bit thinner.
Rong Zhi put back on the white veil covering her face and walked back to the pharmacy.
"Hey! I saved you, why aren't you talking to me?"
Inside the pharmacy, the shopkeeper was still craning his neck, looking outside. The person had been there just a moment ago, how had she disappeared so suddenly? Had she seen a ghost?
The next moment, Rong Zhi walked in, threw a piece of silver on the counter, and picked up the medicine bag next to it.
She raised her hand and made a "writing" gesture in the air.
"You need paper and pen?" The shopkeeper understood and took out paper and a brush. Rong Zhi nodded and smiled as a sign of thanks, then left with the paper and brush.
The shopkeeper weighed the silver, a silent astonishment in his heart.
Such a generous sum.
Rong Zhi led Chen An to a secluded spot and picked up the brush to write a few words on the paper.
Wasn't the Chen Estate already sealed? Why are you alright?
Chen An chuckled. "Who am I? How could I be in trouble? Thank you for worrying about me." His eyes held a smile, a look of affection, but Rong Zhi could tell he was feigning it.
She wrote a few more words.
Why was it sealed?
"Don't mention it. It's all because of that lunatic I saw in the outskirts that day. It turned out to be someone from my household. My father and sister have been arrested. I was lucky to be released in advance, otherwise, how could I have come out to save you?"
What did that mean?
Rong Zhi inferred from his words that Grand Tutor Chen and Chen Yanyan were still imprisoned?
Then why wasn't Chen An worried at all?
They were his own father and sister, yet his reaction was so indifferent.
However, it was good that he had come. She had something she wanted to ask him.
A few people walked past the alley entrance. Rong Zhi retreated further inside, using the wall to conceal herself, and wrote on the paper: What did you mean by the "Vengeful Woman's Den" last time?
Upon seeing this question, Chen An's playful expression subsided slightly, replaced by a serious one.
"It means nothing. Just some old matters from years ago."
Tell me, perhaps I can learn more.
Rong Zhi dangled the paper in front of Chen An, her expression very earnest.
Chen An scrutinized her. "How do you know? Why should I believe you?"
Cheng Yichen told me.
Rong Zhi crumbled the paper into powder.
Chen An hesitated for a moment. "Let's talk somewhere else."
He took Rong Zhi's hand and led her to the second floor of the Drunken Immortal Residence.
Entering a private room, the noise from outside was instantly muffled.
Rong Zhi then realized that this private room was completely different from the one she had dined in last time. The walls were much thicker, as if specially prepared for secret conversations.
"You first. What can you tell me?"
A sharp glint flashed in Chen An's eyes. He wouldn't make a losing deal. If the other party didn't have information he was interested in, he wouldn't easily reveal what he knew.
Rong Zhi thought for a moment and wrote a few words on the paper.
Jin Yunfei is at Qian Ji Ge.
Chen An watched her write, and the expression in his eyes settled.
Jin Yunfei, the First Prince, had always maintained an image of a studious and diligent ruler. No one knew he had connections with Qian Ji Ge.
It seemed this young lady truly knew something.
"Alright, I'll tell you. But you must promise not to tell anyone else."
Rong Zhi nodded.
Chen An mused for a moment and then spoke. "To put it bluntly, the Vengeful Woman's Den is a mass grave. It's said to be the former site of Qian Ji Ge."
A mass grave? Another mass grave.
Now, whenever she heard those words, Rong Zhi felt a heavy weight pressing on her heart, as if seeing countless corpses walking towards her.
"Do you know why I said those corpses are related to Qian Ji Ge? Thirteen years ago, the Valley Master of Medicine King Valley died of poison. The Imperial Advisor wanted to create a grand formation for resurrection. This formation required suitable bodies. To find such a body, they tried countless young girls of the appropriate age."
He seemed lost in thought, his tone becoming heavy.
"Resurrection means one life for another. This formation is not easily formed. If it fails midway, those girls die in vain. The deceased girls, filled with resentment, were all buried three li outside the imperial city, which is where Qian Ji Ge is located. Later, the resentment there was too strong, and incidents occurred frequently. The Imperial Advisor then built Qian Ji Ge there to suppress the corpses underground."
"As the corpses increased, burying them elsewhere would cause commotion. The Imperial Advisor suggested burying the corpses outside the imperial city, with the dragon qi of the imperial city suppressing them. Therefore, underground, in all four directions of the imperial city, there are corpses buried everywhere."
What does this have to do with him?
Rong Zhi remembered that when Chen An had asked Cheng Yichen, he had inquired whether this matter was related to his father.
She looked at Chen An doubtfully. Chen An gave a bitter smile. "The ones who searched for young girls from all over the country and sent them to Qian Ji Ge back then were my father."
Rong Zhi's hands tightened. No wonder Chen An cared so much.
"However, all the effort back then was ultimately in vain. How can resurrection be possible? Honestly, your appearance is not much different from those corpses underground. I almost thought you were the resurrected Valley Master of Medicine King Valley."
Rong Zhi's expression remained unchanged. She simply wrote a few words on the paper.
The corpses underground have not fully decayed. Do you know why?
"Of course, I know. Because the resurrection formation has never stopped. Thousands of young girls die every year because of this formation. They will not stop until the Valley Master of Medicine King Valley appears."
Rong Zhi lowered her eyes, concealing the flicker of killing intent in them. Her fingernails had already dug into her flesh within her sleeve.
Inhuman!
"Do you have any other questions?" Chen An fanned himself, creating waves of cool breeze on this cold winter day.
Rong Zhi directly wrote on the paper: Do you know why they are so insistent on resurrecting the Valley Master of Medicine King Valley?
Chen An looked at the question, pondered for a moment, and then let out a cold laugh.
"Isn't it easy to understand? The Valley Master of Medicine King Valley! A world-renowned physician. How many people did she save when she was alive? How many people were grateful to her? There were even people who built temples for her and worshipped her like a deity. Anyone who could obtain such a person would be like having a divine helper."
Divine?
Rong Zhi immediately seized on the word and suddenly recalled the myth the old man had mentioned.
Wasn't she the male immortal in that myth? A person used the male immortal to deceive the world and guide innocent people, causing chaos to satisfy selfish desires...
Could the Emperor of Tianque Kingdom have the same intention?
Upon realizing this, Rong Zhi suddenly felt that she had unknowingly become entangled in a shocking conspiracy.