Bai Jin raised a hand and, with a smile, said, "Matchmaker, no need for such courtesy, please rise."
Daji got up and walked to Bai Jin’s side, also looking into the distance towards the lake.
Daji asked with curiosity, "Emperor, what brings you here?"
"Just strolling around, wandering about, and before I knew it, I found myself here."
Daji rolled her delicate eyes, seemingly unconvinced, as if to say ’Yeah, right!’
"Did Wa Niangniang send you?"
Daji said solemnly, "Wa Niangniang mentioned that the fated bond between Jin Naluo and A Xiu is forming a dead knot, which might even affect the Primordial World’s course in the future. She asked me to come and watch, to try and see if it’s possible to untie this knot."
Bai Jin hesitated before asking, "Which Wa Niangniang?"
"It’s Lady Yue Lao!" emphasized Daji.
Bai Jin instantly eased up, thinking Lady Yue Lao is fine, but if it were Nuwa, who knows what might happen!
Bai Jin questioned, "What do you plan to do?"
"We can’t let them continue , I’m afraid I’ll have to play the villain this time." A flash of light enveloped Daji as she transformed into a woman in her forties and walked towards the city.
Bai Jin glanced at Daji and then dismissed the thought, continuing to watch the pair boating in the distance. If it could be easily resolved, would it still be called a death knot?
The woman Daji had turned into arrived within the city, where she saw a group of women chatting in a corner. She walked over and sat among them.
"Sisters, I just discovered a big piece of news~"
All the women turned their heads towards Daji, eyes lit with curiosity, their souls of gossip ablaze.
"Do you know about A Xiu?"
All their faces changed instantly, subconsciously thinking of their husbands’ maimed hands, their teeth itching with hate.
"Why bring up that wretched woman?"
"It’s because of her that my Da’er has only four fingers left on his hands, we can’t even maintain a living!"
"Index finger devil!"
The women all started calling out angrily.
Daji, now a woman, whispered, "I just saw A Xiu outside the city, she’s left the Red House."
"Really?" a woman hastily asked.
"I wouldn’t mistake it," Daji asserted with conviction.
In Yun Brahman, as the foremost beauty, A Xiu attracted countless men who ended up with severed fingers at her hand.
The women of Yun Brahman dared not blame their own husbands but expressed their anger towards A Xiu. If not for the King’s decree forbidding women from nearing the Red House, A Xiu would have been killed long ago by the women of Yun Brahman. But now, an opportunity had arisen.
Soon the news that A Xiu had left the Red House to set up home outside the city spread throughout, and hundreds of women swarmed towards the outskirts.
In the evening, beside the still river, wisps of smoke rose from a thatched cottage.
A Xiu, carrying cooked meals out of the kitchen, placed them on a crude table in the small fence yard, sitting beside it looking at the setting sun in the distance, her heart having not felt so peaceful for many years, a smile involuntarily appearing at the corner of her mouth.
"That wretched woman is right ahead!"
Groups of women, carrying various weapons, ran toward the hut.
A Xiu’s complexion changed, she left the meal on the table, lifted her skirt, and ran towards the house, slamming the door shut and bolting it from within.
Thousands of women flooded into the yard, shattering the fence like a deluge and trampling it underfoot.
Bang bang bang~ The sound of knocking erupted outside the door.
"Bitch, no one can save you today."
A torrent of curses rose one after another.
Fortunately, the house built by Jin Naluo was very sturdy and withstood the onslaught of the many women.
Inside the house, A Xiu leaned against the door. As the women outside knocked, her body shook back and forth; she bit her lower lip tightly, her eyes resolute and unyielding.
A woman ran out from the kitchen, brandishing a torch and shouted angrily: "Move aside, I’m going to burn her to death."
All the women stepped back, and the woman threw the torch with force. With a smack, the torch landed on the roof, and the spark began to spread. Thousands of women retreated continuously, but still surrounded the thatched cottage, their eyes filled with fury.
On a distant hill, two figures stood.
Bai Jin glanced at Daji and said, "Is this your method? To end her life?"
Daji replied, "Holy Envoy, if this knot remains untied, it will form a huge karmic debt, and even accelerate the arrival of the Calamity. By that time, it won’t just be an A Xiu who has died, but also countless beings from the Primordial World. You should know which is more important."
After a pause, she added softly, "I pity A Xiu, her entire life was a tragedy, as if she lived in Abyss Hell.
I will take her soul to the Eastern lands, so she may be reborn into a wealthy family and enjoy the life that truly belongs to her. Holy Envoy, isn’t that a kindness?"
Bai Jin looked at the raging inferno consuming the wooden house and said, "Daji, we have no right to decide another person’s life.
Moreover, some things cannot be avoided. By doing this, you’re only pushing the evolution of emotional tribulation. If it were so simple to resolve, it wouldn’t be a knot capable of generating such significant karma."
In the distant woods, Jin Naluo, dressed in coarse hemp clothes, carried a bundle of firewood as he walked outward, holding several bamboo shoots in his hand, a smile on his face.
Suddenly, Jin Naluo’s face changed. He saw billowing smoke rise ahead, and his figure vanished in an instant, the firewood and bamboo shoots dropping to the ground with a clatter.
Inside the wooden house, smoke billowed. A Xiu, choked by the smoke, coughed repeatedly and fell to the ground, her face twisted in pain, feeling a burning sensation in her eyes and darkness before her. A realization dawned in her heart—was this the sensation of dying?
As her spirit sank into the endless darkness, about to be swallowed by it, suddenly, a beam of light shone forth, and within that light, a golden hand reached out.
Boom~ The wooden house collapsed, and flames soared to the sky. Thousands of women outside instinctively took a few steps back.
"Is that whore dead?"
"She’s dead~ That bitch is finally dead."
"She’s finally dead!"
A wave of excited chatter rose among the crowd.
The roaring flames parted to both sides, and Jin Naluo, dressed in a pale blue robe, emerged from within, dignified and spotless, carrying A Xiu in his arms.
"The whore is still alive!"
Instantly, stones, wood blocks, bricks, old shoes, rotten eggs, and dog feces poured down like heavy rain upon Jin Naluo.
With a sweep of his robe, Jin Naluo took it off and draped it over A Xiu. He gazed down at her and said solemnly, "The sins of your past life, I shall bear them all for you!"
Thump~ A stone struck Jin Naluo on the head, causing him to stagger and take a couple of steps backward, before continuing to walk forward.