When Wanlan realized she could wake up, the first thought that came to her was relief. Slowly sitting up and looking around, she found herself on a hillside, with no one around, and her bag lying on the ground next to her.
Wanlan didn't react for a moment.
Lying in the wild on a hillside should be normal, because her car had overturned before she lost consciousness. But the scene before her was very unfamiliar, even though it was surrounded by lush vegetation, there was an inexplicable sense of strangeness.
Wanlan looked around, moved her limbs, and breathed a sigh of relief when she found that she was in good shape.
Next month, she was about to challenge the new depth of deep-sea diving with her bare hands. If her limbs were injured at this time, it would definitely be a fatal blow. Moreover, in the event of a fracture, even if the wound healed, the healed bones would be a major hazard under strong water pressure in the deep-water area.
She slowly stood up and looked around again. The previous sense of resignation gradually disappeared, replaced by a feeling of unease.
Although she had also awakened at the bottom of a hill, this place was definitely not the first scene of the car accident. There were no traces of the car body being pressed on the hill, and her car was also missing.
There seemed to be a road at the top of the hill. Wanlan picked up her bag and slowly climbed up the hill.
There was indeed a road on the slope, running from north to south. The road surface was covered with yellow mud and gravel, with narrow tracks from wagon wheels, indicating frequent traffic. But this was definitely not the mountain road she had previously traveled.
Everything here seemed too primitive, completely lacking the modern feel she was familiar with.
She felt a strong sense of unfamiliarity and even felt uneasy.
Wanlan looked around but couldn't find anyone. She took out her phone from the bag and found no signal. She had to give up and walk south along the road. She remembered that to the south was the direction of the city, and hoped to be lucky enough to find a car to hitch a ride.
Wanlan walked for almost ten minutes without seeing a car. But finally, she saw a side road on the right up ahead, as if there was a house at the end. Her spirits lifted, and she hurried her steps. Upon getting closer, she discovered it was a temple. Although it looked dilapidated from the outside, it seemed to still have incense burning inside.
Where there's a temple, there are people. Wanlan went into the temple and was immediately stunned—there was a woman lying on the ground, with her back to Wanlan. Moreover, this woman was dressed in ancient attire. Her hair was tied in a bun, wearing a washed-out indigo cloth shirt and a pair of worn-out cloth shoes.
Wanlan was only stunned for a moment, then suddenly felt that something was not right about the woman, who appeared weak and barely moving, as if she was about to die. Suddenly, she started coughing violently and then slowly turned her face towards Wanlan, murmuring, "Save me, I'm in a lot of pain..."
Wanlan finally saw clearly that this woman was quite young, probably in her early twenties. After she saw Wanlan, probably also disturbed by Wanlan's attire, her originally listless eyes widened, staring at Wanlan without moving.
Wanlan was certain that this was not a movie set. She immediately came to her senses, approached the woman, and felt her forehead, realizing she was burning up.
After a while, Wanlan finally understood the reality of her time travel. She found it hard to accept, but there was nothing she could do about it. Finally, after comforting the woman who was clearly scared of her, and communicating with her intermittently, she learned about the woman's experience.
The dynasty was called Daxing, similar to the Ming Dynasty. The woman's surname was Li, and she was known as Sanniang in her family. She was actually eighteen years old, but because she grew up in the fishing village and was constantly exposed to the sea wind, her skin was rough and dark, making her look older. She was from Donghai County, Zhejiang, and her family had been fishermen for generations. The current emperor was incompetent, and most officials were greedy; the government was excessively imposing taxes, and the local bullies in the fishing market, in collusion with the officials, oppressed ordinary fishermen like her family. Life was already difficult. Unexpectedly, a year ago, tragedy struck. Her father and brothers encountered a storm while fishing, and they perished at the bottom of the sea. Her sister-in-law remarried, and Wang Er from the same village, who was already engaged to her, changed his mind and refused to marry her. Her mother was already in poor health, and after this blow, she fell ill and passed away a few months later. Before she died, she asked her to go seek refuge with her aunt. The aunt, who had married a military household when she was young, had frequent contact with her family years ago. Later, she followed her husband's family to Lingnan, and because of the distance, there had been no news for many years. Only in the previous year did she hear through a businessman surnamed Zhang who traveled between the two places. The message said that her son had become an inspector, and she was now living with her son in Bailong City in Pingjiang Prefecture, everything was fine, but she was having eye problems and it was inconvenient. Sanniang was at her wit's end and asked Zhang to convey a message to beg for shelter. Half a year later, she finally received a reply that her aunt had heard about her family's situation and was very sad, so she immediately asked Zhang to bring her over. Sanniang then set off with Zhang. After a series of stops and hardships along the way, she finally arrived in Lingnan last month. Unexpectedly, while on the road one day, they encountered bandits, and several people traveling with them were killed. Sanniang and Zhang luckily managed to escape. However, misfortune followed, and they both caught a malarial fever. A few days ago, Zhang died of illness in a guesthouse in Shuangping County. The innkeeper reported to the authorities and was ordered to bury him after paying a fee. Complaining about his bad luck, the innkeeper haphazardly buried him at an unmarked grave. As Sanniang was also seriously ill and had nothing valuable in her belongings, the innkeeper chased her out. She struggled to reach a place called Liuzhuang, only to collapse. The villagers nearby were afraid to help her, fearing trouble if she died, so they carried her into this mountain temple. Only a kind-hearted woman named Mrs. Fan brought her some food during the day, which barely kept her alive until now, but her situation was dire.
Sanniang spoke intermittently with tears streaming down her face. Suddenly, she shivered, and her breathing became rapid. Wanlan glanced at the rusty phlegm she had coughed up earlier and then pressed her chest, finding her in severe pain. It seemed she had pneumonia, and it was already very serious. It appeared that without treatment, her chances of survival were slim.
Wen Lan untied the bundle placed on the ground by Third Sister Li, and found only two sets of clean clothes and a folded piece of paper inside. Other than that, there wasn't even a single copper coin.
Wen Lan sighed. She also wanted to help this poor woman, but she had inexplicably arrived in this completely unfamiliar ancient time and space. Although she had money in her bag, it had become worthless. She reluctantly rummaged through her bag again, besides her phone, there was a diving mask she had prepared to give to a friend and a pack of tissues, all of which were useless. Feeling helpless, she heard Third Sister Li coughing again, and when it stopped, she was already half unconscious. Suddenly, she remembered that she had been wearing a gold chain around her neck. She raised her hand to check, and luckily the necklace was still there. As she took it off, she heard Third Sister Li coughing again, and when it stopped, she was already half unconscious.
Wen Lan weighed the necklace in her hand and immediately stood up. Even if she didn't help Third Sister Li, if she wanted to survive without stealing or robbing, she could only rely on this item.
As Wen Lan stepped out of the temple door, she glanced down at her attire, hurriedly returned, took a set of clothes from Third Sister's bundle, and changed behind the statue. As she was about to leave, she met a woman carrying a bowl of porridge.
The woman was none other than Ms. Fan, who had always been enthusiastic about doing good deeds. Seeing the pitiful situation of Third Sister Li, she couldn't bear to see her starve and brought her food every day. Suddenly noticing a strange woman, she was naturally surprised. Wen Lan only said that she was passing by to visit relatives, and coincidentally had a connection with Third Sister in the past. Unable to bear seeing her ill, she asked her to go and fetch a doctor. Seeing Ms. Fan's troubled expression, Wen Lan showed her the necklace and said, "I'll pay for the medicine."
Ms. Fan, being poor and unable to afford treatment for Third Sister, was hesitant to accept. Now, seeing Wen Lan willing to help, she naturally nodded and said, "The county is not far away, about ten miles. Do you want to come with me to exchange the silver?"
Accompanying Ms. Fan, Wen Lan went to the county and exchanged the necklace for silver at the money house. She regretted buying such a delicate chain, as it was only weighed and exchanged for a little over three taels of silver.
Wen Lan collected the silver and followed Ms. Fan to the doctor's. The doctor, upon seeing their attire, knew they were not wealthy, and was reluctant to make a visit, thinking there wouldn't be much profit. Helplessly, Wen Lan described Third Sister's condition in detail to let him prepare the medicine. The initial three days' worth of medicine alone cost nearly a tael of silver. After that, as they passed a public notice kiosk, which was surrounded by many people discussing animatedly, Wen Lan, concerned about Third Sister Li's serious condition, hurriedly left without much thought. As they neared the city gate, they suddenly heard a commotion behind them. Turning back, they saw a burly man rushing towards the gate, with a group of people wielding iron chains and knives chasing after him, shouting, "Stop!"
"The authorities are capturing someone! Quick, hide!"
Ms. Fan's face changed, and she grabbed Wen Lan, quickly running into a nearby alley with the others.
Though the man was burly, he was fleet-footed, but he turned back and emerged at the mouth of the alley. Startled, they made way for the men as they seemed to be chased from both sides, and they couldn't escape. As the man looked up, he found himself trapped in a dead-end, unaware that troops were about to catch up. Hastily, he seized the nearest woman near him and dragged her to his front.
The soldiers soon filled the alley entrance when the woman was held as a hostage, trembling and crying. The man brandished a knife, holding it to her neck.
"Ding Biao, surrender now!"
The soldiers urged the man to surrender, and the magistrate, Fang Zhen, appeared, reprimanding him. Ding Biao, suspected to be the local leader of the White Lotus sect, was causing a commotion.
The White Lotus sect worshipped Maitreya. During the late Great Zhou dynasty, struggles for power were rife throughout the realm. Apart from the founding emperor of this dynasty, Pei Yanlu was quite powerful. Claiming to be Maitreya's reincarnation, he led a rebellion while spreading his teachings. After facing defeat, the sect was hunted down. In current times, due to the dark policies of the court, oppressive officials, and continuous natural disasters, the White Lotus sect had experienced a resurgence. Ding Biao had caught the attention of the authorities, and even the commander of the local militia, Wei Xing, personally came down to supervise the arrest.
In all dynasties, emperors established special agencies directly under their command, with varying sizes, but this agency was maintained from the previous dynasty. Supposed to suppress centralized forces, the emperor granted unlimited power to these agencies, bypassing judicial authority. Though the officials didn't hold high ranks, they answered directly to the emperor and even the high officials feared them. Even a low-ranking county magistrate like Fang Zhen was afraid of trouble, let alone the entire authorities. Ding Biao proclaimed himself as Maitreya's eternal vajra, defying the authorities to capture him.
Fang Zhen was about to order an attack when officer Wei Xing arrived. The young officer dismounted and listened to Fang Zhen's report. Without showing emotion, he looked at the woman held hostage by Ding Biao and coldly ordered, "Capture him."
Wen Lan hides behind the crowd, nervously watching this scene, her heart pounding.