Amidst that cruel interlude, the Holy Spring purification ritual ended like a farce.

Afterwards, the old Priestess took a willow branch, dipped it in the Holy Spring water, and sprinkled it onto the Ritual Master candidates, thus completing the ritual.

Only Yuan Qingzhi, thinking about how this pool had just devoured someone’s flesh and blood, felt utterly disgusted to the core, determined to take a thorough bath, scrubbing three layers inside and out, when she got back.

Later, seeing the scene become boring, the masked Head Priest teenager gave another listless yawn and floated away amidst the Priestesses and guards who were ostensibly fawning over him but were actually watching him closely, much to Yuan Qingzhi’s relief.

But clearly, the terrible influence he caused was far from over, still spreading rapidly.

“How can someone be so good-looking!”

“Yes, why haven’t we heard of the Head Priest’s esteemed name before?”

“Such a stunningly talented young man should be famous throughout the Qing Nation.”

“It’s a pity His Lordship put on the mask later, I really want to glimpse the true face behind it…”

The Priestess led them to their lodging place in the divine palace.

As soon as they entered the candidates’ quarters, the noble ladies began whispering excitedly as if a ban had been lifted, their words full of curiosity and admiration for the mysterious teenager.

Even the few young ladies who had previously spared a few extra glances for Yuan Xiangming, the newly appointed Commander of the Palace Guards, were now completely captivated by the Head Priest’s charm, unable to extricate themselves.

Even though it happened just moments ago, under Yu Mengjing’s innate demonic charm, these people had utterly forgotten how the young lady who forcibly dug out her own face had died.

The only saving grace was that they hadn’t yet seen the Head Priest’s face.

For now, it could only be called admiration, not yet reaching the state of losing themselves like the Priestesses and Priests in the divine palace, consumed by desire, sick beyond cure.

This dramatic and ironic scene actually diluted the discordant feeling of the opera being too similar to reality, deepening her impression that “this is just an opera.”

Yuan Qingzhi couldn’t help sighing. Just as she was about to wash up, Xie Niyun stopped her again.

“Hey, Wu Wu. Go figure out a way to switch Xie Shuyao’s room.”

The Eldest Miss Xie bossed her little follower around arrogantly. “The Priestess said we start learning the Prayer Dance for the Gods tomorrow. As long as Xie Shuyao doesn’t sleep well tonight, she’ll definitely make a fool of herself in front of everyone!”

Yuan Qingzhi: “…Alright then.”

She dawdled out under the light, only to unexpectedly encounter a scene at the entrance of the quarters.

“Who gave you the nerve to dare make requests of the Head Priest?!”

Several Priests formed a circle. The person in the middle knelt on the ground, soaking wet, clearly having had cold water thrown on them.

Looking closer revealed it was, shockingly, the Priestess from moments ago who had held the mask, volunteering to put it on for Yu Mengjing.

Priestesses and Priests came and went in an endless stream; they either watched coldly or stepped forward to vent their anger by stomping on her.

It was an utterly illogical, chaotic scene that defied the divine palace’s order, yet everyone seemed accustomed to it.

Even the bullied Priestess kneeling on the ground had ink-black eyes, a look of swearing defiance until death, and a crazed expression full of “you’re just jealous I spoke to the Head Priest,” her smile incredibly creepy.

Yuan Qingzhi watched this distorted atmosphere, no different from a cult, and cold sweat broke out.

Glancing again at the deep night outside, thinking about her night blindness, she silently shrank back.

This time it wasn’t just the timid persona; she was genuinely scared!

Case closed: there were no normal people in the divine palace.

At this point, the only ones capable of maintaining sanity were likely the female lead and antagonist, plus the unlucky sap Yuan Xiangming and herself.

Yuan Xiangming and she were unaffected, Yuan Qingzhi guessed, because they were ‘entrants,’ not bound by the opera’s internal rules.

As for the female lead and antagonist, it was simply plot immunity; those two were completely focused on the male lead, not noticing the Head Priest’s issues in the slightest.

Speaking of which, Yu Mengjing really shouldn’t have appeared at this time. Why had the plot deviated so drastically?

Yuan Qingzhi racked her brains but couldn’t figure it out.

Yu Mengjing was the final boss of the entire first volume of Evil Omen. In the original work, he only appeared during the climactic scene of the third act, and even then, only for a small segment.

It was said that entrants could potentially alter the plot. But only a few hours had passed since she entered the play, and she hadn’t had time to do anything yet.

It couldn’t be that just because she didn’t push Xie Shuyao, she summoned the final boss, right?

Thinking it over and over, she really couldn’t find a reason, so she could only go back to sleep.

The next day, before dawn, she was awakened by the ancient bell on the mountaintop.

After washing up and putting on the candidate’s uniform issued yesterday, Yuan Qingzhi yawned and walked downstairs.

After a night’s sleep, she had completely figured it out!

Realizing things were beyond her control, Yuan Qingzhi had indeed panicked. But only for a moment.

She had been a corporate drone for several years; her mindset was colder than the knife of a fishmonger at RT-Mart.

As long as she treated entering the play like clocking in for work, knowing she’d get paid when the shift ended, that feeling of calm like an old well came right back.

“Wu Wu, did you finish the task I gave you yesterday?”

“All done, all done, Eldest Miss, rest assured,” Yuan Qingzhi replied perfunctorily.

In reality, after seeing that chaotic mess outside yesterday, she had decisively gone back to wash up and sleep.

None of the little tricks the antagonist ordered Wu Wu to pull in the early stages ever succeeded; they mostly just backfired.

Since the plot had already veered off like a runaway horse, her small contribution wouldn’t matter much anyway.

Whether intentionally or not, Xie Shuyao up ahead turned sideways to glance at them.

Meanwhile, Xie Niyun eyed Xie Shuyao standing at the very edge, finding no indication whatsoever that the latter hadn’t slept well. On the contrary, she seemed full of energy.

“Strange, how come she seems quite energetic?”

“No idea, maybe she’s just pretending.”

“Is that so?” Xie Niyun sounded unconvinced.

Yuan Qingzhi was quite confident. Before the main plot of the script began, Wu Wu had already followed the antagonist for many years and done plenty of bad deeds.

Xie Niyun wouldn’t rashly suspect her own person over such a small matter.

“For the next three days, your task is to learn the Prayer Dance for the Gods.”

This undercurrent didn’t last long.

Soon, the old Priestess arrived at the entrance of the quarters with other Priestesses and announced the upcoming schedule: “In three days, the Ritual Master selection will be finalized. On the fourth day, the Grand Celestial Sacrifice Ceremony will be held. At that time, you will all participate in the sacrifice on stage, performing the Prayer Dance for the Gods to pray for blessings for Great Qing.”

As soon as she finished, besides Xie Niyun who had used her money ability to get the answers early, the other noble ladies erupted.

“Learn the Prayer Dance in three days? That’s too difficult!”

“Yes, we’ve never been exposed to it before…”

The Prayer Dance was an essential part of Great Qing’s state sacrifices, used by priestesses for invoking deities, praying for rain, and other rituals.

But it was also known for its exclusivity; ordinary people couldn’t learn the dances of the clergy, they could only be learned within the divine palace.

In other words, learning it completely in three days was almost impossible.

“Silence!” the old Priestess said coldly. “The selection of the Ritual Master is of utmost importance and allows no mistakes.”

“Anyone else with objections, state them now. I’m sure the Holy Spring would love someone else to go in for a bath.”

Since they wouldn’t address the objections, they’d just eliminate the objectors.

After this one-two punch, everyone fell silent.

Seeing this, the old Priestess nodded with satisfaction and led the group to the main hall of the divine palace.

Legend said the Qing God favored the color red, evident from the Night-Red Shrine.

Thus, all sacrificial items were the same color, including the deity-invoking banners, the burning candles, and the red flags hanging on both sides of the divine palace.

Clashing with this sea of fiery red were the pure white candidate uniforms worn by the noble ladies.

“Remember to watch carefully. The Prayer Dance will only be demonstrated three times each day. After that is your own practice time.”

With that said, the lead Priestess dancer walked barefoot to the center of the palace.

Soon, the Priests struck the chime bells, and the flute melody began.

The noble ladies widened their eyes, staring intently at the lead dancer’s posture without daring to blink, afraid of missing the slightest detail.

Yuan Qingzhi also watched intently.

Dance was an important means of expression in opera.

Evil Omen itself was an opera, so naturally, the actors performing it also needed to perform the Prayer Dance segment on stage.

So, while called the Prayer Dance, it could essentially be considered a water sleeve dance.

Even within the play, this aspect remained unchanged.

After watching carefully once, Yuan Qingzhi had a clear understanding.

When it was time for her own practice, she chose a secluded spot and experimentally moved her feet, flicking her long sleeves.

The dance, which seemed incredibly difficult to others, flowed effortlessly from her hands, clean and beautiful.

She had to admit, anything related to opera posed no difficulty for someone with natural talent.

This gift, coveted by everyone in the opera world, had placed her at the finish line from birth.

As she danced, Yuan Qingzhi couldn’t help but recall the past.

Her earliest childhood memory was of an opera house consumed by a sea of fire.

Her father, lost in his performance on stage, actually opened his arms to the great fire and was instantly swallowed by the thick smoke.

Young Yuan Qingzhi had barely run two steps when the burning, falling Pear Garden plaque struck her head-on.

She lay in bed recovering for a full month.

Fortunately, unlike other Liu family members, she didn’t suffer severe burns, merely losing her childhood memories.

The moment she opened her eyes, she saw her aunt, whose face was half-burnt, sitting by the bed, looking grief-stricken, crying hoarsely, “Natural opera talent! It’s because of this cursed natural opera talent that Wenqing became obsessed with the play, unable to distinguish between opera and reality anymore!”

Her aunt’s withered fingers, like eagle talons, gripped her small hand tightly, pinching painfully.

Tears streamed ceaselessly from eyes yellowed by smoke, already non-functional.

“Qingzhi, you must promise Auntie, you are forbidden from singing opera for the rest of your life!”

The amnesiac Yuan Qingzhi nodded numbly, unaware of the promise she had just made.

Growing up, she strictly followed her aunt’s dying wish, left the Pear Garden, went to study outside Qingcheng, followed the conventional path like an ordinary person, and became an office drone.

And the once vast Liu family, which held significant sway in the opera world, completely vanished after announcing the closure of the Pear Garden stage, as the main family members died or were injured.

Only Yuan Xiangming was still out there, trying to revive the glory of the Qing School.

Until the Si Tian Jian came knocking, bringing this fifty-million deal to save people.

Only then, by a twist of fate, did she enter the play.

“How are you dancing so smoothly? Have you practiced secretly?”

A nearby Priestess’s uncertain voice interrupted her thoughts.

“No, no.” Yuan Qingzhi gathered her water sleeves, laughing it off. “Eldest Miss Niyun stayed at the divine palace for a while back then, I learned a bit following her.”

For the rest of the practice, she began deliberately hiding her skill.

After all, looking around the entire palace, there was practically no one who could even manage a short segment of the dance; being able to perform the whole thing right away was truly a bit too much.

Fortunately, Eldest Miss was there to slack off with her.

Eldest Miss’s objective was very clear; she wasn’t participating in the Ritual Master selection to be chosen, but to cause trouble for Xie Shuyao.

“Who wants to learn this stupid Prayer Dance…” Xie Niyun fanned herself irritably, sitting down to rest nearby. “Wu Wu, go get me some fruit. What horrible weather, it’s killing me.”

“Oh right, while you’re at it, go ask a Priestess why Shi Honghua isn’t on duty today.”

Thanks to the power of money, the Priestesses were amiable towards Eldest Miss Xie, and by extension, Yuan Qingzhi the lackey also benefited.

With just a simple question, she got the answer.

“The Commander of the Palace Guards? He took leave yesterday, and changed his shift to night duty tonight.”

The plot changed again. But him taking leave proactively offered quite a few points worthy of consideration.

Yuan Qingzhi pondered.

Yuan Xiangming changed the plot. Could it be that he remembered something?

She decided she absolutely had to find a way to meet Yuan Xiangming tonight.

And Xie Niyun, as a script NPC, cooperated perfectly.

 After Yuan Qingzhi truthfully informed her that Shi Honghua would only appear tonight, she agonized for a long time before finally making a decision.

Eldest Miss took out a jade pendant. “Take this to Shi Honghua, tell him the person who saved him back then was me.”

Yuan Qingzhi held the jade pendant, feeling deeply emotional.

This thing was the token the male and female leads exchanged when they pledged their lives to each other!

Xie Niyun overheard and stole it to impersonate the heroine, driving the entire melodramatic plot of Evil Omen, the main culprit preventing the leads from recognizing each other later!

Now it had fallen into her hands; this was practically divine assistance.

If Yuan Xiangming himself also sensed that this was a play, it would be like adding wings to a tiger.

“If you mess this up even slightly, you’re finished, understand Wu Wu?!”

Seeing her motionless for a long time, Xie Niyun couldn’t help urging her.

Yuan Qingzhi quickly guaranteed, “Eldest Miss, rest assured! I will definitely handle this matter beautifully.”

Facts proved one shouldn’t carelessly set up flags.

That night, Yuan Qingzhi, like a thief, changed into a Priestess’s clothes and slipped out of her room carrying a palace lantern.

She had ultimately overestimated her night blindness. After leaving the candidates’ quarters, it was completely pitch black, she could only grope around blindly.

“The Priestess said the night patrol circles the divine palace, it should be this way…”

Recalling the layout of the divine palace from the daytime, Yuan Qingzhi confirmed the cardinal directions where she stood, then, trusting her sense of direction, confidently strode westward.

However, after walking for several minutes, she still hadn’t seen her destination.

Staring at the identical darkness ahead, Yuan Qingzhi felt a little nervous and could only approach a narrow path lined with temple towers on both sides.

After waiting there for a while, she happened upon a clergy member hurrying along, looking rather furtive.

“Hello, excuse me, which direction is tonight’s patrol team stationed?”

Thanks to the darkness, she didn’t see that the person’s eyes before her were completely pitch-black, without a trace of white, and their movements were exceptionally stiff.

If she could have seen this, Yuan Qingzhi would definitely have run far away.

After all, according to the script, this was the behavior only of those completely bewitched by Yu Mengjing, transformed into walking corpses.

Sure enough, the latter stopped, its eyeballs rolling strangely before settling on her ill-fitting Priestess clothes.

He tugged the corner of his mouth and pointed her in a direction. “That way.”

“Thank you.” Yuan Qingzhi, suspecting nothing, turned and left.

After walking for a few minutes, a patch of light appeared ahead.

Feeling she had found the right place, Yuan Qingzhi’s face lit up, and she quickened her pace.

Strange though, the lighting in the divine palace at night wasn’t exactly bright, but it shouldn’t be this dim either…

After passing through the deep, quiet corridor, the area ahead suddenly opened up.

Over a thousand ghastly white candles burned quietly on the side hall’s dark gold floor. From the dome downwards, strange red ribbons hung everywhere.

Looking closely, the ends of the ribbons were all painted with ancient runes in gold ink.

Coincidentally, a cold draft blew through, lifting every red ribbon, making the scene momentarily rather underworld-like.

Yuan Qingzhi held the palace lantern, feeling more and more that something was wrong.

She took a step back, preparing to turn and leave, when she suddenly heard a rustling sound.

Creak…

When vision is impaired, hearing often becomes exceptionally sharp.

Yuan Qingzhi jumped, about to speed up, when she suddenly heard the same sound again.

And it was getting closer, closer.

Both sounds had a distinct characteristic: they came from above.

Don’t be scared. This is inside the play. Fake, it’s all fake.

Yuan Qingzhi mentally prepared herself, took a deep breath, grasped the Exquisite Dice in her palm, and simultaneously forced herself to lift the palace lantern, peeking upwards stealthily like a thief.

Directly overhead, the teenager sat on a crossbeam, one hand propping up his cheek, watching her with leisurely composure.

Seeing her finally look up, he curved his lips with interest.

In the flickering candlelight, the half of his face not hidden by the mask was unbelievably beautiful.

It was clearly an extremely pleasing sight, but to another person’s eyes, it was like seeing a ghost.

Yuan Qingzhi screamed, fitting her character profile, then: “…”

She finally remembered.

These red ribbons in the side hall were clearly identical to the ones wrapped around the Night-Red Shrine outside!