The Red Lotus Sect opened a charity hall in Qing'an City, where they distributed porridge and rice to relieve the poor and provided them with clothing and other supplies.
This move earned the Red Lotus Sect widespread praise, and its reputation gradually spread throughout Qing'an City and its surrounding areas.
In addition, the Holy Maiden of the Red Lotus Sect personally led her followers to wipe out several bandit strongholds, providing greater security for the local residents.
These news spread quickly, causing a sensation not only in Qing'an City.
Those who frequently travel between Qing'an City and Jiye City applauded this.
However, the Grand Protector was secretly plotting something.
In order for the leader's great cause to be realized as soon as possible, the Red Lotus Sect not only needs a good reputation, but also needs a huge amount of funds to operate.
Situ Feng was unaware of these things, but the various acts of charity he arranged did indeed make the Red Lotus Sect famous in Qing'an City and Jiye City.
When he walks down the street, ordinary people will respectfully call him "Venerable One".
The respect he gained made him feel that he had indeed done something remarkable, so he did not notice that the people in Li Xi's courtyard had already changed.
After all, as a saintess, it's normal for her to choose which believer to serve her, so it's not strange.
Of course, Meng Zhelan was the one who did this. As Li Xi's personal maid, she relied on her a great deal.
Prince An, using his identity as a member of the Red Lotus Cult, secretly had people investigate whether there were any cases of official corruption, exorbitant taxes, or oppression of the people in Anqing City.
The prefect of Anqing had long heard that Prince An, as the Imperial Inspector, would be touring the country to rectify officialdom and eradicate corruption, and he was naturally filled with unease.
He knew that although he had tried his best to maintain order under his rule, there were bound to be oversights.
In addition, the fact that some of his subordinates, for their own selfish interests, engaged in embezzlement and oppression of the people made it even harder for him to sleep at night.
Prince An is using the name of the Red Lotus Sect members to carry out surveillance.
This caused widespread panic in Anqing, and many officials began to conduct self-examinations and self-corrections in private, attempting to make up for past mistakes.
Even worse, some secretly hide or transfer their ill-gotten gains in an attempt to evade the upcoming investigation.
Meanwhile, the Holy Maiden and her men suddenly disappeared while suppressing bandits.
When Situ Feng and the Great Protector learned of this, they were greatly shocked.
The Holy Maiden is the most valued pawn of the cult leader, and they plan to take her back to the capital after spring arrives.
The two men led their men to the place where the saintess had disappeared and searched carefully.
At this moment, Li Xi was taken to Qixia Mountain.
The bandits were just people Qin Xiaolin hired to impersonate her, with the aim of luring Li Xi out.
The unsuspecting saintess was bewitched by Meng Zhelan's scheme and was then quietly transferred to the top of Qixia Mountain.
That place is a mysterious place where the yin and yang energies of heaven and earth converge, and the moonlight is bright and the radiance is at its peak.
Hongying, along with Huang Banxian and Old Sun, had already arrived here to set up the formation for attracting the Gu.
Huang Banxian has already selected an open area on the mountaintop, where the moonlight is bright and the surrounding environment is quiet and undisturbed, making it the perfect place to set up the Gu-attracting formation.
Hongyu also brought four martial arts masters with profound inner strength and strong righteousness to this place.
Following the ancient texts, using the Eight Trigrams as a foundation and the stars as guides, they arranged the celestial stones in specific positions. The unconscious Li Xi was placed in the center of the formation.
Each array stone contains a faint fluctuation of spiritual energy. As the array gradually takes shape, these fluctuations of spiritual energy begin to intertwine, forming a visible network of spiritual energy.
At the exact moment of midnight, the formation was successfully completed.
Bright moonlight cascaded down like a waterfall, shining directly on the center of the formation, as if even the heavens and earth changed color because of it.
Huang Banxian held the medicinal catalyst in his hand, stood steadily at the edge of the formation, took a deep breath, and then quickly threw the catalyst into the air.
In an instant, a rich medicinal fragrance wafted out and quickly permeated the entire mountaintop.
As the medicinal catalyst was incorporated, the spiritual energy fluctuations within the formation became increasingly intense, as if countless invisible hands were forcefully pushing something.
Just then, the Gu worms in Li Xi's body suddenly became unusually active, as if they had received some mysterious signal.
She, who was originally unconscious, suddenly turned ashen-faced, and fine beads of sweat appeared on her forehead.
Her hands clenched into fists unconsciously, as if she were trying her best to endure some kind of excruciating pain that could not be expressed in words.
Those around her felt heartbroken seeing her like this, but this was the perfect opportunity to draw the Gu worms out of her body.
They could only suppress their anxiety and worry and wait quietly.
Li Xi could feel the Gu worms writhing wildly inside her body, bringing waves of indescribable pain.
It felt as if hundreds of sharp blades were simultaneously cutting through her flesh and soul.
Under the influence of the medicinal catalyst, the Gu worms began to appear powerless, and their vitality gradually dissipated under the suppression of the array's spiritual power.
Li Xi felt an unprecedented sense of ease welling up from within her body; it was the first time her body, which had been eroded by the Gu poison for so long, had felt such purity and tranquility.
Finally, with a crisp sound, the last Gu worm was completely forced out of the body, turning into a wisp of black smoke and dissipating into the night sky.
Because the Gu worm had already penetrated deep into her heart meridian, Li Xi bled profusely after it detached, and her face instantly turned ashen.
Seeing this, Meng Zhelan quickly stuffed a hemostatic pill into her mouth and began to perform the Thirteen Strange Needles.
Every needle landed precisely on the acupoints all over Li Xi's body.
As the acupuncture deepened, warm and gentle currents of energy flowed slowly through Li Xi's body.
As if they were alive, they automatically sought out the wounds left by the departing Gu worms and gently repaired every broken spot.
Li Xi felt an unprecedented sense of comfort sweep over her entire body.
After that, Li Xi fell into a dream.
Those fragments of memory, trapped by the Gu worms, gradually became clear and vivid in the depths of her consciousness.
She felt as if she were in a vast, boundless sea of memories, every single detail representing everything she had ever experienced.
It also brought back memories of a forgotten past.
Seeing that Li Xi's complexion had returned to a rosy hue and her pulse had stabilized, everyone finally felt relieved.
With Li Xi by their side, they found a temporary residence to stay in, which was a hunter's village near Qixia Mountain.
Hongyu had already left with the four top experts.
They said they were just passing travelers and gave them a generous reward, so the villagers didn't suspect anything.
After settling in, the group sat down and, seeing the person next to them breathing evenly, felt relieved and casually ate some dry food to fill their stomachs.
At this moment, Li Xi felt an unprecedented clarity; the mist had dissipated, and she remembered her mission to return here in this life…
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