The Great Elder remained silent, and the room fell into a temporary, eerie quiet.
Ah Lan kept examining Jiang Si, her eyes constantly changing.
After an unknown amount of time, the Great Elder finally spoke, “Elder Hua has already told you, that our clan’s Holy Maiden is gravely ill and cannot appear before the clan members. So we ask you to temporarily act as the Holy Maiden to comfort the clan.”
Jiang Si nodded slightly.
“Good. In the next few days, I will tell you some necessary things. Seven days from now, during the New Fire Festival, you will appear before the clan members as the Holy Maiden and take on the responsibility of fetching the fire…” The Great Elder finished and asked Jiang Si gently, “Do you understand?”
Jiang Si nodded again, saying concisely, “I understand.”
She couldn’t be too casual with the Wu Miao Great Elder. She was grateful to this elderly person before her, but also wary.
While Elder Hua might struggle to keep her in Wu Miao, the Great Elder had many methods at her disposal.
“Ah Lan, take the… Holy Maiden to rest first.”
Ah Lan suddenly looked at the Great Elder, her lips moving as if wanting to say something, but ultimately didn’t dare. She bowed to the Great Elder and said to Jiang Si, “Follow me.”
The Great Elder frowned slightly and reminded her, “Ah Lan, mind your attitude towards the Holy Maiden.”
Ah Lan’s heart tightened, and she obediently said “Yes,” her demeanor becoming respectful: “Holy Maiden, please follow this lowly servant.”
Regardless of Ah Lan’s contempt or respect, Jiang Si’s expression remained largely unchanged as she silently followed.
“Wait a moment,” the Great Elder spoke again.
Jiang Si stopped.
The Great Elder walked up to her step by step and gently pressed her index finger between Jiang Si’s eyebrows.
A slight burning sensation came, and then a red mole appeared prominently between her brows.
Ah Lan’s expression became excited as she stared intently at the small red mole.
With this red mole, if she hadn’t personally witnessed the Holy Maiden’s passing, she would have truly believed the Holy Maiden was standing before her.
“Go now,” the Great Elder waved her hand.
As Jiang Si left, the Great Elder’s expression became subtle. In the room filled with a faint exotic fragrance, she slowly said, “Earlier, you said there was a woman in the Great Zhou capital who looked almost identical to Ah Sang. I had my doubts, but seeing her today, I find she’s almost like another Ah Sang.”
Elder Hua nodded, “Yes, and what’s more extraordinary is that she understands the Wu Miao language. When I first saw her in the capital, I truly thought it was the Holy Maiden.”
The Great Elder fell silent.
Ah Sang had been dead for over three years.
In these three years, the Holy Maiden had not appeared before the clan members, and gradually both clan members and outsiders had begun to speculate. Especially recently, rumors that the Wu Miao Holy Maiden was no longer in this world had been spreading, causing turmoil in Wu Miao.
The Holy Maiden’s death was initially known only to her and Ah Lan, but now they had no choice but to let Elder Hua and others know. It had reached a point of no return.
This woman who looked identical to Ah Sang was a salvation sent by the true gods to Wu Miao.
The Great Elder knelt and bowed reverently towards a certain direction.
Elder Hua followed suit and knelt.
The Holy Maiden Ah Sang’s place of seclusion was not far from the Great Elder’s residence. Jiang Si, following Ah Lan, arrived after a short walk.
Ah Lan pushed open the door and stopped, her tone cold: “This is the Holy Maiden’s room.”
Jiang Si scanned the room.
Although the room had been unoccupied for a long time, it was spotlessly clean.
Jiang Si sat down at the table.
The fatigue from the long journey couldn’t be alleviated in just a day or two, especially since she had been constantly on edge, which made it even more exhausting.
Seeing this, Ah Lan became irritated and said sharply, “Who told you to sit down?”
Jiang Si’s eyes flickered slightly as she calmly looked at Ah Lan.
Her indifference made Ah Lan even more furious. She said coldly, “Do you think you’re the Holy Maiden? Let me tell you, you’re just a substitute for the Holy Maiden. Just follow the Great Elder’s instructions and complete your task obediently. Don’t touch anything in the Holy Maiden’s quarters, not a table, not a chair, not a blade of grass…”
Jiang Si listened expressionlessly.
Ah Lan felt a sense of embarrassment at her monologue. Her gaze towards Jiang Si grew increasingly cold: “Did you hear what I said?”
Jiang Si poured a cup of tea and offered it to her: “Why is Miss Ah Lan so angry? Have a cup of tea to calm down, and then we can talk properly.”
To maintain the illusion that the Holy Maiden Ah Sang was still alive, everything in this place remained the same as when she was alive.
The tea in the pot on the table was still warm, and it was high-quality flower tea.
Ah Lan’s eyebrows rose in anger as she shouted, “Who told you to touch the tea? Didn’t you listen to a single word I just said—”
Her words were cut short as Jiang Si threw the cup of warm tea in her face.
Tea leaves clung to her face and hair, and tea streamed down her fair and beautiful face, making her look utterly disheveled.
For a moment, Ah Lan forgot to react, staring blankly at Jiang Si.
Jiang Si calmly put the empty teacup back on the table and said unhurriedly, “I already said to have a cup of tea to calm down, but Miss Ah Lan wouldn’t give me face, so I had to do it myself.”
She had wanted to do this for a long time!
In her past life, she always felt that she had taken someone else’s identity and needed to keep a low profile. In the end, she never vented this frustration, which felt pathetic in retrospect.
Ah Lan finally reacted, pointing at Jiang Si: “You, are you crazy?”
Jiang Si didn’t move, sitting in the chair and looking up to meet Ah Lan’s gaze.
Although Ah Lan was standing over her, Jiang Si’s aura completely overpowered her.
Jiang Si leaned back in the chair, appearing lazy: “Miss Ah Lan, have you not understood the situation? Your Great Elder invited me here. Your clan needs me, not the other way around. I’m not here begging to be some damned Holy Maiden!”
Ah Lan’s face suddenly turned pale, and she trembled with anger: “You, you dare to insult the Holy Maiden—”
“Insult the Holy Maiden?” Jiang Si raised an eyebrow, her tone as cold as ice, “Aren’t you the one shouting at the Holy Maiden right now?”
Ah Lan was stunned by the question, then sputtered, “But you’re fake—”
Jiang Si stood up with a cold smile and suddenly threw open the door: “Then go stand outside and shout. Tell your clan members that someone is impersonating the Holy Maiden, and have them drive this fake Holy Maiden out.”
Ah Lan’s face turned white with fear. She hurriedly closed the door and pressed her back against it, saying fearfully, “What are you doing? Do you know what the consequences would be if this leaks out?”
Jiang Si gave Ah Lan a deep look and smiled charmingly: “Whatever the consequences, what does it have to do with me, a person from Great Zhou?”
This rhetorical question left Ah Lan speechless for a long time.
Jiang Si’s expression was half-smiling, half-not: “So, Miss Ah Lan, do you understand the situation now?”
“I, I—” Having just warned the woman before her not to be arrogant just because she looked like the Holy Maiden, to avoid getting any strange ideas, Ah Lan now found herself completely outmaneuvered. It felt as if her throat was stuffed with cotton, leaving her unable to speak.
Jiang Si simply walked over to the bamboo bed and sat down, leaning against the headboard and casually instructing: “If you’ve understood, go wash your face, and remember one thing.”
“What?” Ah Lan asked reflexively.
“As long as I’m playing this Holy Maiden, you’d better behave yourself. Otherwise, I’ll quit.”