"Village chief, have you heard about Old Xu and his wife saving a little girl?" Zhang Dafa hurried forward upon seeing the village chief at the village entrance.
The village chief of Anyang Village, preoccupied with thoughts of the divine envoy's words, was startled by Zhang Dafa's sudden appearance.
"Zhang Dafa, what are you doing?" the village chief scolded impatiently.
Thick-skinned, Zhang Dafa paid no mind and repeated himself.
The village chief frowned slightly. "Zhang Dafa, I know you and Old Xu don't get along, but Old Xu saving someone is a good deed. Do you expect this village chief to lecture him about it?"
Sensing that the village chief had misunderstood his intention, Zhang Dafa quickly added, "That little girl, I heard from someone, was covered in injuries. I'm thinking, isn't she a runaway female slave from the temple? With the Winter Solstice Festival approaching, we mustn't bring disaster upon Anyang Village!"
The village chief's expression changed.
"Is what you're saying true?"
Could it be such a coincidence?
The divine envoy had just sent a message saying a female slave had escaped the temple, and now the village had rescued a little girl.
Regardless of whether it was a coincidence, he couldn't ignore it.
The village chief immediately said, "The divine envoy is in the village. I'll go ask the divine envoy to visit Old Xu's house right away."
Upon hearing this, Zhang Dafa obsequiously cupped his hands. "I'll accompany you."
At this moment, the village chief couldn't spare him any more attention and quickened his pace towards the village.
Anyang Village was not a large settlement, with barely thirty households. However, for three consecutive years, the village had produced three divine maidens, so the village chief was not intimidated by the temple's divine envoy.
He explained the situation to the man with a golden mask sitting on a chair in front of him and said, "Divine Envoy Cui, why don't you go and see for yourself?"
Divine Envoy Cui, who had been troubled, brightened at the village chief's words. "Let's go, take this envoy to see."
Zhang Dafa's legs no longer trembled, and he was no longer afraid. He strode forward with renewed vigor. "I know the way. I'll lead the way for the esteemed envoy."
He knew it. That little girl was definitely problematic.
The group changed course and headed to Old Xu and Zhang Fang's house.
The sky was already darkening, and a cold wind was howling outside. Soon, snowflakes began to drift down.
Old Xu and Zhang Fang were listening to the doctor's instructions. Hearing that the divine envoy had arrived, they immediately invited him into the house.
"Esteemed Divine Envoy, may I ask… is there something you need?" Old Xu stammered.
After all, even though Anyang Village was currently in high favor with the temple, ordinary villagers could not easily meet a divine envoy.
Divine Envoy Cui ignored Old Xu completely, bypassed everyone, and went to see the little girl they had rescued.
The little girl's face was covered in injuries, making it impossible to discern her original features. However, she appeared to be young, around fifteen or sixteen years old…
Divine Envoy Cui's eyes flashed, his expression immediately changed, and he turned to scold Old Xu and Zhang Fang furiously, "You two have such courage! With the Winter Solstice Festival approaching, how dare you harbor a female slave in secret! Do you wish to be sinners in the entire Green Rong Small World?"
Old Xu and Zhang Fang were so frightened that they fell to their knees.
"Your Magnificence, the divine envoy, please see clearly! We husband and wife merely stumbled upon this little girl on the mountain!" Zhang Fang cried out indignantly.
She had only saved a pretty little girl, and now she was a sinner of Green Rong?
Divine Envoy Cui said sternly, "You can tell this to the Divine Lord yourself. This female slave, this envoy will take her back now!"
As he spoke, he reached out to grab Bai Shengyi's collar, intending to drag her back.
After all, in the temple, female slaves were merely servants to the divine maidens and offerings prepared for the divine wood. Their status was low, and he figured she wouldn't cause any trouble even if she woke up.
Divine Envoy Cui thought this as his fingers brushed against the hem of her clothing. Suddenly, he heard a sharp whistling sound. He instinctively withdrew his hand, but it was too late.
"Slap!"
A vine whipped fiercely across the back of his hand!
In a short while, his hand began to swell and turn red.
However, Divine Envoy Cui paid no mind to this. He was both surprised and panicked, "Where did this spiritual plant come from?"
"What spiritual plant?" Zhang Fang asked, puzzled. Daring to lift her head, she saw a familiar emerald green vine standing upright, protecting the little girl on the bed.
She murmured softly, "Isn't this the girl's jewelry?"
After she and her husband returned home, they discovered that although the little girl's clothes looked plain, they were actually embroidered with gold thread and bordered with silver. She also wore a jade tassel shaped like a vine.
They thought the item was very important and did not dare to move it themselves.
Divine Envoy Cui heard Zhang Fang's words clearly, and his expression changed again.
This spiritual plant was not only intelligent and agile but could also protect its master. Its sentience was even more mature than the one held by the Divine Lord.
His gaze immediately turned fiery, filled with covetousness. He attacked again!
This time, Divine Envoy Cui's hand was covered in a layer of spiritual energy as he reached out to grab the vine!
"Master! If you don't wake up, Little Vine Leaf will be taken away!"
Qingmeng Vine could have easily dodged, but it felt a powerful attraction emanating from the masked man's hand. It resolutely steadied its mind, preventing itself from being bewitched.
"Master, this man's spiritual energy is very strange. Why does it have a fragrance?"
Bai Shengyi regained consciousness and heard Qingmeng Vine muttering.
"What fragrance?" Bai Shengyi asked casually.
Her entire body ached. Sensing no danger around her, she let her consciousness recede into her sea of consciousness. To her surprise, as soon as she entered, she almost jumped.
"What is this?"
She looked at a fluffy white mass that had appeared in her sea of consciousness. She could no longer be bothered with what Little Vine Leaf was saying about the fragrance.
Qingmeng Vine was outside and unaware of the changes in Bai Shengyi's sea of consciousness. The Reincarnation Brush had exhausted its stored spiritual energy and had fallen into a deep sleep. The Crescent Moon Cat remained in the contract space, so no one could answer Bai Shengyi.
Bai Shengyi had no choice but to walk over herself to investigate.
The white fluffy mass looked incredibly soft, as if radiating a sacred light. Upon closer inspection, Bai Shengyi realized that interspersed within the white fur were many black hairs. The fur was dense and curled into a ball. Bai Shengyi vaguely thought it looked like… a tiger?
A white tiger?
Why was it in her sea of consciousness?
Could it be that her physique attracted these strange things? Bai Shengyi couldn't help but think of the black mist in her dantian that was still feigning death, then looked at the white fluffy mass, frowning deeply.
As she was about to take a closer look, she heard Qingmeng Vine's urgent voice.
"Master! Master! This man is a bit strange. Little Vine Leaf can barely hold on!"
Bai Shengyi did not delay and immediately returned her consciousness to her body.
Divine Envoy Cui never expected that after all his efforts, he couldn't even touch a single leaf of the spiritual plant.
He could feel the strange gazes from the surrounding villagers, and his anger flared. Disregarding the presence of many ordinary people, he took out a spiritual pearl that was entirely emerald green and flicked it towards the bed, "Go! Capture this spiritual plant for this envoy!"
He vowed to teach this spiritual plant a good lesson in the future. How could it possibly serve him well if it was so defiant?
The moment Bai Shengyi opened her eyes, she saw streaks of emerald spiritual light radiating outwards from the pearl. However, this spiritual light was not as refreshing as ordinary spiritual energy; instead, it tore at the life force within the body, converting life force into spiritual energy, much like a delicious delicacy, unconsciously drawing Qingmeng Vine towards the pearl.
"Get lost!"
A clear and icy voice, like shattering ice, uttered just one word but summoned a tremendous force that directly overturned the spiritual pearl, and even sent Divine Envoy Cui flying.
"Bang!"
Divine Envoy Cui rolled, crashing into the doorframe before coming to a halt.
Snowflakes drifted in from outside the door. Divine Envoy Cui, with a patch of white on his forehead, stared blankly.