The old woman spoke rapidly and urgently, her face flushed red with anger.

Jiang Si seemed to have some difficulty understanding but grasped the gist of the old woman’s words: The Holy Maiden has a mole between her eyebrows, you don’t, you vile girl who deserves to have your heart devoured by ten thousand insects.

“Hua Zhua, what are you saying?” The young girl looked shocked, pointing at Jiang Si. “Isn’t she the Holy Maiden?”

The old woman calmed down slightly and asked harshly, “Who are you?”

Jiang Si looked at the old woman calmly and said softly, “I am A’Sang.”

The old woman’s expression turned to one of bewilderment, her previously firm demeanor wavering slightly.

If this girl, who looked identical to the Holy Maiden, had claimed to be the Holy Maiden, she certainly wouldn’t have believed it.

But this girl said her name was A’Sang.

If an outsider were impersonating the Holy Maiden, how would they know her childhood name?

The old woman hesitated.

Jiang Si raised her chin slightly: “Could someone impersonate me?”

“But the Holy Maiden has a mole between her eyebrows—” The old woman’s aggressive attitude diminished considerably.

Jiang Si showed no sign of timidity and retorted with displeasure, “Just based on a mole?”

In her previous life, she had lived as A’Sang for several years without ever revealing any flaws.

Of course, this was related to the Wu Miao tribe’s method of cultivating the Holy Maiden.

They first selected a group of talented girls from the tribe, who were then separated from their parents and families to study mystical arts together.

This was a process of continuous elimination. Year after year, the number of Holy Maiden candidates decreased until a single Holy Maiden was chosen to live and cultivate with the Grand Elder.

A’Sang was selected as the Holy Maiden at the age of ten. The people who knew her best were the Grand Elder and her maid. To others, the Holy Maiden was an untouchable, sacred existence.

Now, A’Sang had been dead for two years, and it was even less likely that anyone had seen her.

She had the same appearance as A’Sang, could speak the Wu Miao language, understood Wu Miao’s mystical arts, and even knew some of A’Sang’s small habits. Who would dare say she wasn’t the Holy Maiden?

Of course, if the old woman were to seek confirmation from the Grand Elder later, and the Grand Elder revealed A’Sang’s death, then she would be exposed.

But who cared? She only wanted to extract the information she needed from the old woman now.

“But the Holy Maiden has a mole between her eyebrows…” The old woman became increasingly uncertain, her eyes filled with doubt.

Jiang Si smiled and raised her hand to brush her brow. A small red mole suddenly appeared there.

The old woman was stunned, staring intently at the small red mole.

Jiang Si gave the old woman a cold look: “What? Do you still think I’m not the Holy Maiden? You probably haven’t seen me for a long time, have you?”

The old woman immediately bowed down: “Please forgive my ignorance, Holy Maiden.”

Jiang Si’s heart stirred, suddenly understanding the old woman’s identity.

In Wu Miao, only those with the rank of Elder could refer to themselves as “I” in front of the Holy Maiden.

“Rise,” she said.

The old woman stood up and asked Jiang Si, “Why has the Holy Maiden come to the capital of Da Zhou?”

“And why has the Elder come?” Jiang Si seized the opportunity to ask in return.

Since the old woman had come to the Da Zhou capital over ten years ago, she boldly guessed that even A’Sang wouldn’t know the purpose of the old woman’s visit.

The old woman hesitated for a moment, then said, “I came here on the Grand Elder’s orders, but as for the reason… please forgive me, Holy Maiden, I cannot tell anyone without the Grand Elder’s permission.”

Jiang Si sighed quietly.

She couldn’t trick the information out of her. What a pity.

However, not knowing about tribal secrets might not be a bad thing.

In the future, when the old woman returned to the Wu Miao tribe and mentioned this to the Grand Elder, her identity would surely be exposed. If she knew some important secrets now, it might cause big trouble.

“Was this shop opened more than ten years ago?” she asked.

“Fifteen years ago.”

Jiang Si’s eyebrows twitched slightly.

Fifteen years ago, she was just over a year old. It was around that time her mother had passed away.

“It’s been so long, I’ve never heard the Grand Elder mention it,” Jiang Si remarked.

Jiang Si’s familiar and natural tone when mentioning the Grand Elder immediately dispelled any remaining doubts the old woman had.

With this, the conversation became more open.

“This matter is of great importance, known only to the Grand Elder and those executing the mission. Of course, the Holy Maiden wouldn’t have heard the Grand Elder mention it.”

“I see,” Jiang Si, seeing that the old woman no longer doubted her, asked, “Do you know why I sought you out?”

The old woman shook her head.

Jiang Si’s expression suddenly turned cold, and she said with displeasure, “I discovered by chance that someone has been afflicted with the Heart-Imprinting Gu!”

The old woman glared fiercely at the young girl, then assumed a respectful posture: “Please calm your anger, Holy Maiden. It was my granddaughter’s thoughtless and reckless act…”

The young girl immediately said, “Holy Maiden, please don’t blame Hua Zhua. It’s all my fault… Please punish me instead…”

As she spoke, the young girl prostrated herself on the ground, trembling.

“Don’t let it happen again.”

The old woman commanded, “The Holy Maiden has forgiven you, now get up.”

The young girl hurriedly stood up, obediently standing behind the old woman.

The old woman glanced at Jiang Si, thinking to herself that when she had last seen the Holy Maiden, she was still young, but after just a few years, she had developed quite a bit of the Grand Elder’s authority.

Thinking of this, she revealed a gratified smile.

The Wu Miao tribe had a worthy successor; it was truly heaven’s blessing.

Between the Grand Elder and the current Holy Maiden, there should have been another Holy Maiden, but during that period, no heaven-chosen Holy Maiden had appeared.

The Grand Elder was getting older and would eventually close her eyes forever. If there was no Holy Maiden to take over as the Grand Elder, the Wu Miao tribe, without the Grand Elder’s protection, would be like a wolf without fangs, becoming a target for other groups to fight over and devour.

At that time, the entire Wu Miao tribe was in a state of panic until A’Sang’s appearance finally allowed the tribespeople to breathe a sigh of relief.

“Apart from this time, have you ever given the Heart-Imprinting Gu to others before?” Jiang Si asked with a stern face.

The young girl hurriedly shook her head: “No!”

“What about you, Elder?” Jiang Si stared at the old woman as she asked.

What she wanted to know, of course, was what the old woman had to say.

The old woman thought carefully and shook her head: “No.”

Jiang Si froze, feeling a sense of frustration as if she had punched a cotton ball.

More than that, she felt disappointed.

Could it be that this lead had come to a dead end, and to find out where Princess Rongyang had obtained the Heart-Imprinting Gu, she would have to ask her directly?

Of course, she wanted to deal with the true culprit who had killed her mother, but getting this information from the Princess herself would likely be difficult.

Given that the old woman had accepted her identity as the Holy Maiden, unless she had developed thoughts of betraying the Wu Miao tribe, she wouldn’t lie to her.

If the old woman said no, it probably meant no.

Jiang Si felt somewhat reluctant but had no other options.

“Holy Maiden?” The old woman called out, as Jiang Si had been silent for quite some time.

Jiang Si came back to her senses and looked at the old woman. Her peripheral vision inadvertently caught sight of the young girl beside her, and an idea struck her: “Did the Elder come here alone all those years ago?”

The old woman replied, “There were two of us.”

“Was the other person also an Elder?”

“She was a second-generation Elder.”

From the group of Holy Maiden candidates who had initially trained with the Grand Elder but were eliminated, the most talented few were chosen as first-generation Elders. The second-generation Elders were selected from A’Sang’s previous batch of candidates, although no heaven-chosen Holy Maiden had emerged in the second generation.

“Why don’t I see the other person?” Jiang Si asked calmly, suppressing her excitement.

The old woman said, “Shortly after we arrived here, she entered the palace.”