Font Size:
The villagers no longer shouted for the Wei family to compensate them for interrupting their prayer ceremony, and the road at the village entrance fell silent for a moment.
Surrounded by the crowd, the Holy Maiden Suixin, like the moon surrounded by stars, suddenly closed her eyes. She brought her thumbs and middle fingers together to form a special gesture, murmuring something under her breath.
“What is she doing?” someone in the Wei family’s group asked in confusion.
Soon, the villagers’ reactions provided the answer.
“The Holy Maiden is listening to the will of heaven.”
“Hurry, now is the time to bow and pray! I’ve heard that praying at this moment is the most effective!”
In no time, a large number of villagers knelt at the village entrance, their eyes filled with fervor and devotion as they gazed at the Holy Maiden.
In an instant, only the Wei family and the guards from Tianshu Pavilion remained standing.
At this moment, the Holy Maiden opened her eyes, her clear gaze fixed intently on Wei Maolin.
“This noble person,” Suixin said, “I have heard the guidance of the heavens and calculated that you are destined to face a calamity. This calamity not only endangers your life but also threatens your family; however, it is not insurmountable.”
With one hand, she held her thumb and index finger to her chest while the other three fingers remained upright, her posture reminiscent of the Bodhisattva Guanyin.
Coupled with her pure and elegant attire and aloof demeanor, she indeed exuded a certain celestial aura.
Wei Maolin, who had once witnessed a divination by a grand celestial master, felt that this aura had a hint of pretense.
Though he didn’t believe it in the slightest, he still feigned concern, asking, “What can be done about this?”
“The Holy Maiden says it is not insurmountable, which means there is still a chance to resolve it. You outsiders should hurry and seek the Holy Maiden’s blessings.”
“Perhaps the Holy Maiden will grant you some good fortune, and this calamity can be resolved.”
The villagers looked at the Wei family as if they were fools, their expressions clearly conveying that they should know to bow before the Holy Maiden while asking how to resolve their predicament.
“Do not be disrespectful.” The Holy Maiden again admonished the villagers, her gaze toward the Wei family remaining respectful. “Suixin has calculated that this noble person has made contributions to the nation and its people, but now they have fallen victim to treacherous individuals, which has brought them to this dire situation.”
“To gather is to have fate; perhaps the interruption of today’s prayer ceremony was to await your arrival.”
As the Holy Maiden spoke, she gestured for the Wei family to come forward. “Suixin still needs to perform another ritual. You may enter the village and participate in this prayer ceremony with the villagers. Fortune and misfortune can balance each other out; as long as there is enough good fortune, calamity will naturally dissipate.”
Suixin appeared to genuinely admire Wei Maolin’s character, unwilling to see him face great calamity. She had decided to hold the prayer ceremony again to seek blessings for him and avert disaster.
After her speech, even the villagers couldn’t help but feel moved. This was their compassionate Holy Maiden!
If they hadn’t already known about the Sacred Moon Sect’s involvement in poisons and espionage, one might have truly been convinced by the current performance.
Unfortunately, the Wei family already understood what kind of organization the Sacred Moon Sect was.
No matter how well the Holy Maiden acted, she couldn’t hide the reality that she was in league with the sect.
Wei Maolin and Wei Yunlan exchanged glances, and after a moment, Wei Maolin spoke, “I apologize, but we are in a hurry and cannot delay here. We must decline your kind offer.”
The Holy Maiden’s expression stiffened slightly, seemingly caught off guard by the Wei family’s refusal to follow the script.
Wasn’t it odd that they weren’t curious about how she had divined these things?
Did they not desire to eliminate their calamity and return to the bustling capital?
The performance had been set, but someone was refusing to play their part.
“You people are truly ungrateful!” one villager shouted, pointing at the Wei family. “The Holy Maiden not only does not blame you for interrupting the prayer but even graciously allows you to join in the blessings, yet you still complain about the delay?”
“Holy Maiden, such people do not deserve your blessings.”
“Holy Maiden, don’t bother with these people. No matter how great their merit, could it possibly surpass that of the Holy Maiden?”
The Holy Maiden raised her hand to silence the villagers, then smiled apologetically at the Wei family. “Since you are in a hurry, I won’t keep you any longer. Today’s prayer ceremony will end here. Perhaps we will have the chance to hold a blessing for you another day.”
Upon hearing this, the villagers all understood.
The Holy Maiden had only promised to hold a prayer ceremony for their village, and now that the ceremony had been interrupted by outside interference, there was no possibility of repeating it.
As the Holy Maiden had said, everything was fate. For there to be another prayer ceremony, these passersby would have to stay and participate.
Though they begrudged the fact that these outsiders had caught the Holy Maiden’s favor, having her presence was better than none. It wasn’t easy to have the Holy Maiden come to their village.
Understanding this, the villagers began to raise their hands.
The villagers raised their iron shovels and hoes, declaring, “You can’t leave!”
“Stay here until the prayer ceremony is over, or you’ll have to compensate our village with five hundred taels of silver for interrupting the ceremony!”
The Sacred Moon Sect was truly skilled at stirring people’s emotions.
These villagers had completely become tools for the Holy Maiden’s manipulation. She wanted to keep them, so she guided the villagers to carry out her wishes.
Unfortunately, the Wei family remained unmoved throughout the entire ordeal.
Wei Yunlan firmly believed that the best way to break the deadlock was to avoid getting involved altogether.
No matter how many tricks the Sacred Moon Sect and the Holy Maiden had planned for the prayer ceremony, as long as they didn’t take the bait and didn’t participate, all those tricks would be useless!
Calculating the time, Wei Yunlan felt it was about time to leave.
“Uncle Liu, get back to driving the carriage. Once the Tianshu Pavilion people move, we’ll prepare to break through directly.”
Liu Quan, Suihe, and others returned to the carriage, while the rest gradually moved closer to the vehicle.
Wei Yunlan’s gaze swept over the villagers surrounding them, landing on the people from the Sacred Moon Sect at the village entrance.
The guards from Tianshu Pavilion had been inside for a while now.
It should be about time, right?
Just as she was thinking about this, she noticed white mist starting to rise above the village, followed by a streak of red light appearing in the sky.
“What is that?” Wei Yunlan asked.
The villagers surrounding the carriage followed her gaze, their eyes widening in shock.
“Divine signs!”
“That’s a divine sign of blessings descending from heaven after a successful prayer ceremony!”
“But didn’t the prayer ceremony get interrupted? How could divine signs still appear?”
Hearing the astonished voices and seeing the flustered expression on the Holy Maiden’s face, Wei Yunlan couldn’t help but smirk coldly.
Of course, this so-called divine sign was nothing but a trick to deceive them!