There was an unspoken rule in the divine palace: anything related to the Head Priest, no matter how trivial, was a major issue.

After the Commander of the Palace Guards arrived, the head Priestess also hurried over.

Hearing someone had broken into the Forbidden Hall, the old Priestess was so furious the wrinkles on her face trembled.

She immediately identified the intruder as Wu Wu, one of the noble young ladies participating in the Ritual Master selection.

“Wu family? Never heard of them. But since she’s a noble lady, she probably isn’t a spy sent by the rebels, right?”

“No, we can’t be sure yet. This must be reported to His Majesty tomorrow. Take her down first and await judgment!”

Since the outcome was set in stone, her fate could be considered sealed.

Yuan Qingzhi was trussed up, dragged all the way, and thrown into the dungeon beneath the divine palace.

How could an ordinary candidate possibly deserve to see the Head Priest’s perfect, flawless face?

On the dark red path, the Priestesses’ gazes continuously swept over Yuan Qingzhi’s face and body, sinister and creepy as if coated in poison, excitedly discussing how to sentence her.

They muttered, “In my opinion, disturbing the Head Priest’s rest warrants skinning alive as an apology, at the very least.”

“Exactly!”

“Well said!”

Through the iron bars, in the dim light, everyone wore the same twisted expression of shared hatred, as if saying “you defiled our pure, immaculate Head Priest,” thick black ink seemingly swirling within them.

They wished they could flay her alive and swallow her whole right then and there.

After everyone left, Yuan Qingzhi curled up in a corner, her expression frantic. “How on earth did things turn out like this…”

Ever since the jade pendant was found, Yuan Qingzhi had been trapped in a state of self-doubt.

If the female antagonist Xie Niyun was one reason the male and female leads of Evil Omen couldn’t have a happy ending, then Yu Mengjing, who played the role of the shit-stirrer, was another important reason.

In the third act of the opera, Yu Mengjing unexpectedly awakens and acquires the jade pendant. Then, he begins his cursed path of separating the young couple.

Yuan Qingzhi couldn’t even imagine the consequences now that he had obtained the pendant in the very first act.

That thing falling into Yu Mengjing’s hands was like a meat bone dropping to a dog.

“No, I have to find a way to fix this.”

Clutching the Exquisite Dice in one hand, she forced herself to calm down.

Since the execution wasn’t immediate, there was still room for maneuver.

Just as Yuan Qingzhi was racking her brains, trying to figure out how to achieve desperate survival, footsteps suddenly echoed from the dungeon entrance.

She looked up, just in time to see a pure white candidate’s skirt.

Xie Niyun lifted her skirt hem, holding an embroidered silk fan with dangling tassels, fanning herself as she walked, still muttering, “I must be crazy to come to such a rundown place.”

After turning a corner and seeing the person behind the iron bars clearly, her expression immediately turned hostile, mixed with utter disdain.

Yuan Qingzhi, however, rushed over as if seeing a beloved relative. “Sob sob sob, Eldest Miss!”

“Wu Wu! You really are more harm than help!”

Seeing her like this, Xie Niyun was furious.

The incident of someone breaking into the Forbidden Hall had caused a huge uproar, disturbing the divine palace for half the night.

By early morning, all the noble ladies participating in the Ritual Master selection knew about it.

Wu Wu’s family background wasn’t prominent among these noble girls; she only got a spot in the selection by being Xie Niyun’s follower.

Now that she’d messed up and gotten caught, it was naturally Xie Niyun who lost face.

“Eldest Miss, I didn’t want this either! You know my old problem, I get lost easily at night… I was just so scared.”

Guards were stationed throughout the dungeon; Yuan Qingzhi couldn’t possibly claim it was that dog Yu Mengjing who deceived her, so she could only pinch her nose and swallow the lie.

“Alright, alright.” Xie Niyun cut her off impatiently.

The Eldest Miss glanced around, clutching her handkerchief, clearly aware that the walls have ears.

Reluctantly, she had to speak cryptically. “The crime you committed this time is too great. You might escape the death penalty, but you won’t escape punishment. It’s impossible to smooth over completely; you’ll have to endure a few lashes at least. Prepare yourself mentally.”

Although Xie Niyun was glaring and speaking harshly, Yuan Qingzhi was still moved to tears.

“Eldest Miss, you’re too good to me!”

These clergy members in the divine palace had long been blinded by Yu Mengjing’s demonic charm.

Their dark sides were constantly expanding, breaking through normal moral standards. They were definitely the type who won’t act without incentive.

Xie Niyun’s words were harsh and unpleasant, but she must have secretly spent quite a bit of silver to get those fanatical psychopaths to let her off lightly.

After reading the script, Yuan Qingzhi had prepared herself for Xie Niyun being a standard vicious second female lead.

She hadn’t expected her to be genuinely good to her own people!

“Okay, okay, less of the smooth-talking.” Xie Niyun rolled her eyes. “Also, after you get out, you must find a way to clean up the mess you made. If you ruin things, I definitely won’t forgive you!”

“Rest assured, Eldest Miss, definitely this time!”

“Hmph, let’s hope so.”

With that, Xie Niyun hurried away, clearly having reached her limit of tolerance for the damp, unpleasant environment.

Yuan Qingzhi, however, was in a rather good mood and curled back up in her little corner.

Just moments ago, she was worried she might have to restart, but unexpectedly there was an unexpected turn of events, one good thing after another.

Having confirmed the situation was being downplayed, she couldn’t hold back after a sleepless night and groggily began to doze off.

She didn’t know how long she slept, but she was suddenly awakened by chaotic footsteps.

“How strange! Why would Lord Shi plead for her before His Majesty!”

“Eldest Miss Xie, Commander Shi, even the Head Priest just sent word to be lenient. What exactly are her origins?”

“Just an ordinary noble lady, I don’t know what virtue or ability she has…”

Immediately after, the locked cell door was roughly pulled open.

Someone spoke in a pinched, sarcastic voice, “Come out. You sure are lucky.”

And so, Yuan Qingzhi, eyes still hazy with sleep, was bewilderedly led out of the dungeon.

As they neared their destination, she finally realized the place looked strangely familiar.

Soon, the Priest leading the way confirmed her thoughts.

“From now on, you must come here every Zi Shi (11 PM – 1 AM) to do chores, responsible for cleaning the hall and tending to the candles.”

Yuan Qingzhi: “…?”

Looking at the sinister, towering Forbidden Hall before her, she slowly formed a question mark in her mind.

“What? This is a great assignment where you can see the Head Priest every day. Do you dare have objections?”

Seeing the thick black fog in the Priest’s eyes about to turn ferocious, Yuan Qingzhi quickly backed down. “How would I dare! It’s just… isn’t the Forbidden Hall usually off-limits to unrelated personnel? Why suddenly make an exception for a criminal like me?”

Please, I beg you, I really don’t want to spend any more time with Yu Mengjing!

A couple more times and it’ll really shorten my life, save me!

“Hehe, so you know you’re a criminal.” The Priest sneered. “Originally, based on your crime, you should have had at least ten fingers chopped off. If not for the Head Priest’s kindness, you probably would have been thrown into the Holy Spring long ago.”

So this order came directly from Yu Mengjing!

Yuan Qingzhi trembled with anger.

However, the situation was set. In the divine palace, apart from the Ritual Master candidates whose bewitchment was relatively shallow, everyone else was thoroughly corrupted.

If she dared to voice opposition, the threateningly eyeing Priest before her could find an excuse on the spot to send her directly into that corpse-dissolving Holy Spring.

Having no choice, Yuan Qingzhi could only submit to the tyrannical power. “…Fine. Many thanks for the Head Priest’s profound grace.”

Before leaving, the Priest’s face was still full of regret for not finding other faults to make her suffer more hardship.

That overflowing malice was horrifying.

After watching the Priest leave, Yuan Qingzhi glanced at the Forbidden Hall before her, then turned around without a second look.

It’s afternoon now, not night! Office workers are very sensitive about time; absolutely no voluntary overtime before the shift starts!

So she smartly went to the main hall.

However, the moment she stepped over the threshold, all the noble young ladies practicing the Prayer Dance, the stern-faced Priestesses… everyone looked towards her.

Their expressions varied, unified only by surprise.

“What, you actually came back completely unharmed?!”

The lead Priestess’s expression was the most incredulous. “But you disturbed the Head Priest!”

Anyone who didn’t know better would think she’d committed some heinous crime.

Yuan Qingzhi was now basically immune to the words of these fanatics; after all, normal people don’t waste time getting serious with a bunch of lunatics.

So she nodded calmly. “Yes, but I still have to go receive punishment every night. It’s super miserable.”

Although having to see Yu Mengjing every night was indeed comparable to torture, Yuan Qingzhi truly didn’t dare say her punishment was to work in the Forbidden Hall.

If this group of psychos got jealous, she could basically prepare for her funeral banquet.

So she deliberately described her nightly punishment as extremely pitiful, something incredibly easy for an office drone to do.

“That’s more like it. Hopefully, those guards administering the punishment weigh their options carefully; she needs to be taught a lesson somehow.”

Sure enough, hearing her playing the victim, the Priestesses looked satisfied, not even bothering to hide it.

Yuan Qingzhi pouted, and taking advantage of no one paying attention, went to her usual corner for slacking off.

Only upon arriving did she realize someone was already standing there.

Water sleeves flipped back and forth awkwardly, emanating a cool aloofness.

The face behind them was like a lotus emerging from water, expression indifferent, none other than Evil Omen‘s female lead, Xie Shuyao.

Given Yuan Qingzhi’s current follower status, she couldn’t help but hesitate.

Just as she was about to find another spot, she heard the other party speak first. “There’s plenty of space here. If it’s not enough, I can move inwards.”

Since the female lead had spoken, Yuan Qingzhi couldn’t very well just turn and leave.

Besides, this was the only good spot for slacking off in the entire main hall. After thinking for a moment, she nodded. “Thank you.”

With that, Yuan Qingzhi began randomly waving her sleeves, planning to flick them around for two minutes then go rest on the side.

However, she hadn’t been waving long when Xie Shuyao suddenly spoke again, out of the blue. “You weren’t here when the Priestess was teaching today.”

“Ah, yes.”

“This is what was taught today. You can follow me to learn.”

“Um… Huh?!”

Staring at the female lead whose attitude towards her had suddenly done a 180-degree turn, Yuan Qingzhi’s head filled with question marks.

Wait, hold on, why is Miss Female Lead suddenly being so pleasant to a lackey like me!

However, Xie Shuyao showed no intention of explaining. After speaking, she began demonstrating the Prayer Dance herself.

In the script, Xie Shuyao was typically a woman of few words, aloof and proud.

If not for this, she wouldn’t have, after misunderstanding the male lead’s relationship with Xie Niyun, despite being heartbroken, refused to explain herself further, merely saying if Shi Honghua mistook someone else for her, then she wished them a hundred years of happiness, before turning around without looking back to participate in the Ritual Master selection.

Watching the earnestly demonstrating Xie Shuyao, Yuan Qingzhi agonized for a long time.

Given her current identity, the things the antagonist ordered her to do, plus Xie Niyun herself…

Yuan Qingzhi glanced over at Xie Niyun and found her chatting animatedly with several other noble ladies, occasionally catching keywords like “rouge” and “fabric.”

Forget it. The plot’s already been wrecked this badly, what’s the point of trying now.

She quickly turned her head back like a thief, wanting to say thank you, but remembering Wu Wu’s current identity, could only force out, “I certainly won’t say thank you to you!”

Hidden by the water sleeve, Xie Shuyao pressed her lips together, seemingly revealing a hint of a smile.

Finally managing to get through practice until dismissal, Yuan Qingzhi specifically found the Priestess she had bribed with money a few days prior on her way back to the quarters.

Ever since learning about the major incident she caused in the Forbidden Hall, this person always looked at her with lingering disdain.

Fortunately, the power of gold and silver hadn’t diminished. Under the funding sponsored by Eldest Miss, there was no mouth that couldn’t be pried open.

“Do you know where the Commander of the Palace Guards is stationed recently?”

“Lord Shi?” The Priestess greedily counted the knife money in her hand, replying casually, “He was recently assigned to the Forbidden Hall. The Head Priest specifically requested him to guard outside, the kind where he can’t leave even for a step.”

She knew it! Yuan Qingzhi ground her teeth in anger.

That dog Yu Mengjing was extremely well-informed!

He must have recognized at a glance that the jade pendant belonged to the male lead Shi Honghua.

To prevent her from going directly to Yuan Xiangming to clarify things, he was forcibly keeping the man detained.

She had to find a way to meet Yuan Xiangming.

After dinner, Yuan Qingzhi dawdled, procrastinating until the very last moment. Seeing the time on the armillary sphere had reached the deadline, only then did she reluctantly leave the candidate quarters and head towards the Forbidden Hall.

Unlike yesterday, tonight the Forbidden Hall was brightly lit.

Rows upon rows of Priestesses waiting to serve stood outside.

The one at the very front held a tray, looking anxious.

“Why hasn’t the Head Priest called for the meal yet?”

“His Lordship is not in a good mood today. He’s kept the hall doors shut tight, refusing to see anyone no matter how much we knock.”

What started as ordinary worry and concern somehow shifted, the atmosphere suddenly turning sour.

“This isn’t the first or second time he’s thrown such a tantrum! We’re clearly just worried about His Lordship, how can this be acceptable?!”

“Could it be… His Lordship doesn’t want to see us? Has he finally grown tired of us?”

The moment this sentence was uttered, a thick darkness visibly spread across everyone’s eyes.

The noisy chatter completely vanished.

The surroundings became terrifyingly quiet.

Faces were filled with resentment and poison, utterly horrifying.

Yuan Qingzhi, who had just reached the entrance of the Forbidden Hall and was still scanning the area for Yuan Xiangming: “…”

Holy crap, this bunch is having an episode again!

Just as she was about to step back, she saw a pair of pure black eyes.

The instant Yuan Qingzhi realized that this person was completely bewitched by Yu Mengjing and sensed something was wrong, the latter grinned maliciously and deliberately shouted, “Someone’s here!”

Instantly, everyone turned their heads in unison.

Enduring this gaze filled with malice, a drop of cold sweat trickled down Yuan Qingzhi’s forehead. “Hi… Good evening?”

Amidst the silence, the leading Priestess spoke coldly.

“Perfect timing. You, go in and serve the meal.”

Fine then, she walked right into trouble again.

Yuan Qingzhi sighed in resignation, taking the tray with an utterly dejected expression.

“Wait, you want me to serve this???”

Because it was nighttime, she hadn’t seen clearly from a distance before.

Looking closely now, she realized that the tray held a bowl of black, mushy incense ash mixed with rice.

No wonder Yu Mengjing wouldn’t eat it; if she were in his shoes, she wouldn’t touch this underworld concoction either!

However, this group of Priestesses saw absolutely nothing wrong with it.

“This is a delicious delicacy we meticulously prepared for the Head Priest.”

Yuan Qingzhi: “…Alright then.”

How could she dare to argue? The script of Evil Omen clearly states that bewitched individuals are extremely mentally unstable, and under the influence of their expanded dark sides, they easily commit acts of murder and robbery.

These past few nights, while sleeping, Yuan Qingzhi has consistently heard strange, noisy sounds from downstairs, sounds mostly ending with the splash of water from the Holy Spring.

Friends who often kill people know that while killing is easy, disposing of the body is difficult.

Now, with a convenient tool like the Holy Spring and Yu Mengjing acting as a catalyst, how many outlaws could be bred?

She didn’t dare to say, didn’t dare to ask.

So Yuan Qingzhi picked up the tray and walked towards the entrance of the Forbidden Hall, facing death as if she were returning home.

But before that, she wanted to make one last struggle.

“Let me make this clear beforehand, since none of you could get in, I definitely won’t be able to either—”

Creak.

Halfway through her sentence, the door opened inwards automatically, still at least three steps away from her.

Yuan Qingzhi: ?