Luo Wei smiled as she took back the bag and explained each item to them.

"The knife and fork are a pair, used for cutting and picking up food; the small spoon is for drinking soup; this silver tube is called a straw, used for drinking water."

Finally, she picked up two chopsticks and demonstrated by picking up a piece of vegetable salad in front of them: "These are chopsticks, used for picking up food."

These were all newly customized utensils she had ordered, paying double the usual fee, and had only received them yesterday afternoon.

The school's food was too strange, and she was always worried it might be poisoned. Using silver utensils also made it convenient to test for poison.

Vina and Balke looked on with amazement; they had only seen small knives and large soup ladles before, never any of these other utensils.

During a break in their meal, Luo Wei brought up the topic of the southern church: "I've heard that the church's holy knights can purify demons. Have you ever seen that?"

Vina shook her head; she hadn't even heard of such things.

Balke, however, knew a little and enthusiastically said, "I've heard bards in the city sing about it. The church has twelve holy knights, each with the skills of a magic swordsman and the power of a mage. They're dual-system mages, incredibly powerful!"

Luo Wei asked with interest, "Have you heard how they capture demons?"

"It's said they have judgment stones and holy water. The judgment stones can judge a person's soul, and the holy water can purify demons," Balke explained.

"I've heard of that too," Vina finally heard a term she was familiar with and eagerly joined the conversation. "The judgment stone can make people confess their sins. In front of it, no one can lie; they can only tell the truth!"

"When I was little, my grandmother often tricked me with a regular stone, pretending it was a judgment stone. She fooled me every time."

Balke nodded in sympathy: "Yes, and there's also holy water. When I had a stomachache as a child and went to see the priest, he gave me holy water to drink. Later, I saw with my own eyes that it was just water scooped from the well. The real holy water is only available in the church!"

As the two continued talking, the topic gradually drifted, eventually landing on "who got spanked the most as a child."

Luo Wei listened with a smile, but her heart kept sinking, so heavy that she found it difficult to breathe.

She felt that something bad was about to happen.

After the meal, her right eyelid suddenly started twitching incessantly, and the ominous feeling grew stronger and stronger.

Luo Wei excused herself, saying she wasn't feeling well, and returned to her dormitory.

On the low cabinet in her bedroom still lay the turtle shell she had brought back yesterday. As if possessed, she placed her hand on the turtle shell.

The next second, a wave of dizziness washed over her, and she closed her eyes.

In the darkness, a point of starlight rapidly rose, illuminating a sky full of constellations.

Just as she was about to use what she had learned yesterday to interpret the star chart, a bolt of lightning suddenly split the sky, its branching pattern dividing the heavens into several fragments.

In an instant, the firmament collapsed, and celestial fire rained down. A massive turtle shell emerged from below, as if bearing the weight of the entire star chart. The shattered pieces of sky became the scutes on the turtle's back, with the arcing star trails merging into the concentric ring patterns on the shields.

The great fire star crashed onto the turtle shell, causing the star chart to shake violently. The earth split open, and mountains and rivers collapsed.

The turtle shell cracked with a thunderous sound, a fracture line extending from the southeast towards the north, from the Horn constellation to the Dipper constellation.

As soon as she saw the fracture, several lines of text suddenly appeared in Luo Wei's mind.

The Horn star, the first of the seven stars in the East, represents the horn of the Azure Dragon, great misfortune.

The Dipper star, one of the six stars of the Southern Dipper, represents the snake's head of the Black Turtle of the North, auspicious birth.

Luo Wei seemed to understand the meaning of this star chart.

It answered the most urgent question in her heart, testing the fortune of today and inquiring about the path to survival.

The star chart slowly faded away, and the turtle shell sank back down.

Luo Wei opened her eyes, her body swaying, nearly falling to the ground.

Her brain throbbed with pain, as if all her energy had been drained. Her vision remained blurry for a while before gradually becoming clear.

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She steadied herself against the wall and walked to the bed, sitting down with the turtle shell in her right hand, her thoughts in disarray.

According to the divination results, her current situation was one of great misfortune; she had already stepped one foot into the gates of hell.

But she hadn't done anything today, hadn't even left the school grounds. Where was this ill omen coming from?

Luo Wei's right eyelid twitched, and she suddenly remembered that her sense of unease had appeared only after hearing about the holy knights and the judgment stone.

Could it be related to the holy knights?

Axina had said that the church would receive Vina's letter today. From sending to receiving the letter, it would take at least two and a half days. Even if the holy knights were to come, they shouldn't arrive until the day after tomorrow. Why was today marked by great misfortune?

Wait, she knew what she had overlooked!

Professor Mike from the magic rune class had mentioned that in this world, there was a type of magic rune called the teleportation rune, which could connect two locations and enable long-distance teleportation.

If the holy knights used a teleportation array, they wouldn't need two days at all!

Oh no!

Luo Wei suddenly stood up, grabbed the turtle shell and the magic wand from the cabinet, and rushed out the door.

The divination result showed great misfortune; staying put meant certain death. Only the north offered a path to survival; she had to escape to the north!

Luo Wei ran quickly to the stables, using the excuse of wanting to ride out of the city to clear her mind, and led her horse out of the stable.

There was a side gate at the stables that led directly out of the school. She mounted her horse and galloped away, arriving at the small courtyard she had just rented yesterday.

"Where's Troy?" she asked.

Only Roman and Bella were in the courtyard; Troy was nowhere to be seen.

Bella replied in surprise, "Didn't you meet the swordsman, my lady? He left early, saying he was going to wait for you at the academy gate."

Luo Wei silently cursed herself. She had been in such a hurry that she had forgotten Troy usually waited for her outside the school gate.

"Miss, are you going somewhere?" Roman, seeing the horse outside the courtyard, ran over anxiously to ask.

"I have to go out for a while," Luo Wei patted his head and took out two gold coins from her money pouch. "Take this money and have Bella take you to buy some warmer clothes."

Roman's eyes welled up with tears, not daring to accept her money.

Luo Wei sighed. Children were most sensitive to emotions; he must have sensed something.

"Don't worry, I'll definitely come back for you." She placed the gold coins in Roman's hand and turned to leave.

On the street by the academy, Luo Wei finally met Troy.

"Why are you coming from that direction?" Troy asked, puzzled.

"No time to explain in detail. I need to go north, and you're going to escort me," Luo Wei reached out her hand to him. "Get on the horse, quickly!"

"You're leaving now?"

"Stop talking and hurry up!"

Troy didn't take her hand. With his long legs, he easily leaped onto the horse's back, maintaining a foot's distance from her, then reached out his hand: "Give me the reins."

Luo Wei didn't argue with him; her horsemanship was certainly not as good as Troy's.

As soon as the reins were in Troy's hands, he turned the horse around and galloped towards the outskirts.

"Which road should we take?"

"The shortest one!"

Troy said nothing more and rode the horse north, taking Luo Wei out of the city in one go.

Once they were out of the city, Luo Wei's tense face finally relaxed a bit, no longer as anxious as before.

Only then did Troy speak: "Where in the north are you going?"

Of course, the further north, the better!

Luo Wei was about to say this but immediately realized she was fleeing for her life and couldn't let Troy know.

As for where in the north, the star chart hadn't given her a specific location. She could only take it one step at a time.

"Let's just head north for now. I'm just out to clear my head," Luo Wei said vaguely.

Clear your head? Is that why you're in such a hurry? And coming all the way out here?

Troy didn't expose her lie, but simply gripped the reins tighter and continued to gallop forward.

He was sitting without a saddle, which was much more uncomfortable than Luo Wei's position.

After riding for more than two hours, the chestnut horse began to frequently raise its neck, slowing down and unwilling to go further.

Seeing this, Troy suggested, "Let's get down and rest for a while. The horse can't run anymore."

"Alright." Even if Luo Wei was unwilling, there was nothing she could do if the horse couldn't run.

They only had this one horse; they couldn't afford to exhaust it to death.

After dismounting, Troy led the horse to a small river bank full of green grass, letting it replenish its energy there.

He took off his cloak, spread it on the grass, and let Luo Wei sit down while he went to the river to fetch water.

"Don't," Luo Wei stopped him, "I don't drink raw water. The river water is very dirty; you shouldn't drink it either."

Troy gave her a look that said "noble ladies are so troublesome" and sat down on the grass beside her.

"If not river water, what are we going to drink? There's no grape wine here."

"Let's see if there's a village nearby later. We can borrow a place to boil some hot water."

Troy irritably ran his hand through his hair, his green eyes fixed on the riverbank.

The horse was eating happily, munching on the green grass.

Luo Wei leaned back, supporting herself with her hands on the ground, looking towards the distant forest. Dense pine trees covered the hillside, looking like fuzzy moss from afar.

A flock of birds circled above the forest, and there seemed to be a black mist lingering among the trees.

Black?

Luo Wei tugged at Troy's sleeve, pointing towards the strange black mist: "What's that?"

Troy looked up, his gaze falling on that patch of forest. His eyes suddenly sharpened: "It's an evil aura. Monsters have come out!"

TBC