"Goddess... Oh my, this person is truly like a deity."

Even after changing jobs, the two chefs still maintain a high degree of awe for their mysterious former employer.

"At first, my brother and I didn't believe in any goddesses in the world. We didn't care about this or that. But the goddess is really amazing. She knew with a single calculation that my mother had an intestinal disease. At that time, my mother was still healthy. But guess what? Not long after, she was actually diagnosed with an intestinal disease!"

At this point, one of the masters sighed.

"Later, the goddess sent someone to tell us not to stay at home on the fifteenth of September. As a result, on the fifteenth of September, my mother and I had just stepped out when our neighbor's house collapsed and landed right on top of our house. If we hadn't listened to the goddess, we probably would have died long ago."

The other craftsman then continued.

"These can all be called coincidences. You all know about the earthquake in Yaozhou City in the twelfth year of the Great Sheng Dynasty, right? It's amazing! The Goddess predicted that the earthquake would happen in Yaozhou City half a year in advance!"

Is it possible that there are people in the world who can predict the future? This also explains why the spies and informants of the Lanjiang are spread all over the world, and even ordinary people are loyal to this organization.

To ordinary people, a goddess is a true deity descended to earth.

For the sake of their faith, they were willing to sacrifice themselves and their families, and they did not see it as a sacrifice or an evil deed. They simply respected the will of the gods and served the gods. They believed that their own and their family's souls would be guided by the goddess to the heavens and join the ranks of the immortals.

Looking at it this way, Lanjiang really is a genuine cult.

Zhan Xinjia stroked her chin. "Since she's so capable and even saved your mother, why did you defect?"

The cook chuckled a few times.

"But my mother passed away a few years ago! I don't care what you say, even if you were the Jade Emperor, you can't treat people like donkeys, right?"

My brother and I used to be as strong as oxen, known as the "Dragon and Tiger Duo." We did half a year's work for Lanjiang—and then, after we finished our mission, we randomly picked a shop to rest for a bit, but as soon as we got to the door, one of the waiters kicked us two miles away, cursing, "Who threw two ribs at my doorstep?"

"That's right, my brother was kicked so badly that he was embedded in the wall, and I couldn't pry him out. If Master Miaoyu hadn't passed by and saved him, he would still be stuck in the wall!"

Zhan Xinjia: "..."

Damn capitalism.

Having gathered all the necessary information, Zhan Xinjia decided to set off for Yaozhou City that very night. As for the few officials sent by Lord Shen to keep watch... let Sister Cui handle them.

Upon learning that Zhan Xinjia was going to visit the old man who had suffered from loneliness, Cui Wanzhao didn't say anything. After all, she was still immersed in the fear of the cult and the plague. She needed to go back and give her father a heads-up first, lest they be caught unprepared and the plague broke out and they were truly doomed.

As for Yan Yuyao, he simply clasped his hands together and smiled slightly at Zhan Xinjia.

"If you have any difficulties, please send someone to inform this humble monk."

Zhan Xinjia asked suspiciously, "Then can you help me solve it?"

Yan Yuyao: "I can kowtow a few more times to try and get Buddha to bless you more."

Zhan Xinjia: "..."

What a clever trick of pretending to be a pig to eat feed! I'm off!

Having shaken off the officials, Zhan Xinjia casually found a noodle shop, ate a dozen bowls of noodles, and then set off for Yaozhou City.

To avoid alerting the enemy, she didn't hire a carriage and relied solely on her light-footed skills to fly the entire way. She was initially in a good mood, feeling she had gathered quite a bit of information on the journey.

But upon seeing the stone bridge that had been deliberately broken, her mood involuntarily became heavy.

Once they entered Yaozhou City, it was as if the sky had fallen.

Yaozhou City is located in the commercial center of the Great Sheng Dynasty and has always been prosperous. However, the main street in front of us is deserted. The doors and windows of every household are tightly closed. The whole city exudes desolation. The streets are piled with withered branches and fallen leaves, and there is hardly anyone to be seen.

The streets were completely dark, without even a streetlamp, like a ghost town.

Although she had never been here before, she knew that a city this big couldn't possibly be in this lifeless state.

She climbed over the city wall to get in, but she also saw that there were an absurd number of soldiers guarding the city gates, and the whole city was under martial law, as if only entry was allowed and no exit was permitted.

Has something already happened?

Out of the corner of his eye, Zhan Xinjia caught sight of Fu Shou'an, an old acquaintance, talking to the guard at the city gate. Afraid of being recognized, Zhan Xinjia hurriedly turned and rushed towards the tavern in the north of the city.

According to the cook, the elderly man who had suffered a devastating loss lived nearby.

But with so many households nearby, where does she even begin her search?

Zhan Xinjia climbed onto the roof and explored along the roof tiles. Under the cover of night, she nimbly leaped from one roof to another, as light as a swallow, so fast that only a fleeting shadow remained, scattered in the wind.

It wasn't a fruitless journey.

She eavesdropped and managed to overhear some of the details.

It turns out that around noon today, someone secretly threw a dead dog onto the busiest street.

The dog was highly decomposed and infested with maggots, exposing its internal organs and bare bones. Its eyes were an unusual oily green, and its bared teeth were covered with blood and murky saliva mixed with white foam. The stench was nauseating.

There were flies swarming around the dead dog, but after a short while, they all fell to the ground in a dense swarm, like rain, and stopped moving immediately.

Later, several passersby who had observed the dog up close developed high fevers, nausea, dry heaving, and foaming at the mouth.

Just then, a carriage arrived outside the city. The important person on board ordered that the dead dog's body be immediately wrapped tightly in mashed medicinal herbs and dragged outside the city to be burned. The feverish patients were also placed in the prefect's mansion for isolation.

In the evening, the prefect sent people to beat gongs along the streets to issue a strict order, forbidding any household from going out.

Zhan Xinjia slapped his forehead in frustration.

Indeed, the authorities only said that the plague would officially break out in fifteen days, but they didn't say that it would start in fifteen days.

The most insidious thing is that once Lord Shen steps into this trap, he will never be able to escape unscathed, regardless of whether he has been infected with the plague.

If he contracts the plague, Lord Shen will die. If he doesn't, he will be the first to be held accountable if such a large-scale epidemic is not controlled, not to mention the unrest among the people. If someone with ulterior motives infiltrates the crowd and stirs things up, the panicked people alone will not allow Lord Shen to leave Yaozhou City alive and safely.

They wouldn't care if he came specifically to save them; they would only believe that he brought the plague.

This cult, driven by greed, treats human lives like ants and the entire city's inhabitants as pawns. Isn't this cult simply driven by a desire for revenge against society? What exactly are their goals?

Zhan Xinjia isn't very good at things that require thinking; she gets a headache from thinking and a headache from getting angry.

She was just about to sneak into the prefect's mansion at night to check the situation when she heard terrified screams coming from inside.

Immediately afterwards, several officials scrambled out of the backyard, their faces ashen, eyes wide, and features contorted with terror.

"My lord! My lord, something terrible has happened! Those people who died this afternoon have come back to life!!"