Seeing the excitement in the farmer's wife's eyes, Luo Wei sighed, "Alright, let go of my arm first, and I'll help you down."

Unexpectedly, the woman gripped even tighter, a crazed sneer spreading across her face.

"It's a person! It's a person! I've caught her! Someone come quickly, I've caught her!"

Her fingers dug deep into Luo Wei's flesh, her eyes darting about maniacally as she looked towards the crowd below. Her dry lips stretched to the corners of her face as she screamed, blood dripping, "Your Grace, quick! Kill her! She must be a follower of the Dark God, she's a follower of the Dark God!"

Luo Wei's expression changed abruptly as she forcefully pulled her arm free.

Her sleeve was torn to shreds by the woman's hard nails, and five scratch marks appeared on her fair skin.

"Demon, die!"

The bishop's roar came from behind.

She whirled around to see the bishop uncorking the swan-necked bottle and hurling its contents with all his might. The transparent liquid flew from the bottle's mouth, tracing a beautiful parabola as it scattered like heavenly flowers.

Luo Wei didn't dare gamble on whether the holy water would be effective or not.

She covered Lidia with her cloak-like raincoat, her wings stirring up a powerful gust as she soared into the clouds.

A sharp pain shot through her back as wisps of smoke rose from her wings. The tattered raincoat couldn't stop the holy water from seeping through to her outer robe.

In that instant, she felt as if thousands of red-hot steel needles were piercing her back. The pain burned through her entire body, making her want to curl up involuntarily.

She would forever remember the mistake she made today: never try to save someone who has already given their soul to faith. That's not a person, but a ghost serving the tiger that devoured it.

This kind of pain, etched into her bones, once was enough.

"A demon, it really is a demon, it really is a demon!"

The bishop clutched the empty swan-necked bottle, watching the smoking figure shoot into the sky, his eyes filled with deep fear.

"Quick, go fetch Dean Morrison, inform the city lord and the magic academy!"

With everyone else having fled, the bishop had no choice but to stumble towards the temple, shouting out names.

But before he could reach the temple gates, dozens of smoke-billowing, fire-engulfed spherical objects suddenly rose into the sky. The true demonic figure was lost among these ascending objects, impossible to distinguish.

Severely wounded, Luo Wei no longer had the strength to take Lidia out of the city. Enduring the excruciating pain, she cast an invisibility spell on herself and Lidia, flying back to the small courtyard as fast as she could.

Lidia had already passed out. Luo Wei stuffed a cloth into her mouth and tied her to the bedpost.

After this incident, Luo Wei finally learned a lesson: never gamble on a person's humanity, under any circumstances.

This wasn't a peaceful world. Even in a peaceful world, she could be betrayed, let alone in this utterly wretched otherworld.

Luo Wei pulled the raincoat off Lidia's head and faced the mirror to remove the rough contact lenses from her eyes and the ceramic false teeth that had been hurting her gums.

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She also painfully removed the bone wings strapped to her own wings.

Her once strong and powerful wings were now pitted and scarred from the holy water burns. The soft, glossy feathers had been scorched, leaving them looking like two patchy, roasted chicken wings.

Luo Wei felt a twinge in her heart. A few scars on her back weren't a big deal, but with her wings in this state, how could she fly in the future?

She had even coated the black wings with a layer of wax. Why hadn't she thought to waterproof them?

Luo Wei gently stroked her poor wings before retracting them.

She wondered if the wings could heal. She'd have to pray to the God of the Dead later for some help.

Luo Wei took off her outer coat and examined her back in the mirror.

Although the raincoat had some holes, it had still blocked a large portion of the holy water. Her back was sparsely dotted with about a dozen scars that looked like they had been branded with hot iron.

It still stung, but much less than before.

Luo Wei washed her back with clean water, dried it with a white cloth, and finally used a soft brush dipped in tung oil to gently paint over the scars.

The largest scar was about the size of a goose egg, right at the base of her wings. It must have been where the holy water had flowed along her feathers. The scar looked as if a chunk of flesh had been gouged out, leaving a sunken pit.

When pain reaches its extreme, it becomes numbness. She could no longer feel how much it hurt, but her nerves were extremely fatigued, and her limbs were beginning to weaken.

Luo Wei forced herself to change clothes and burned everything she had just used to ashes. As for the scythe and bone wings, thinking she might need them again, she hid them in the rafters.

After all this, she removed the cloth from Lidia's mouth and pinched her philtrum to wake her up.

The girl, now nothing more than skin and bones, awoke from her nightmare gasping for air, her pale green eyes unfocused as she looked at Luo Wei.

Luo Wei crouched in front of her with her magic wand. Seeing that Lidia had inhaled enough oxygen, her breathing gradually steadied, and her gaze began to focus, Luo Wei slowly spoke, "Are you awake now?"

Lidia looked at her with uncertainty, shrinking back towards the corner of the bed.

"Who are you? Wasn't I rescued by the great messenger?"

Luo Wei stood up. "I am the great messenger you speak of."

Lidia's mouth fell open in surprise, her gaunt little face as white as paper against her reddish-brown braids.

"I'm giving you two choices," Luo Wei looked down at her, eyes lowered. "First, leave Siria, change your identity, and never come back. Second, stay by my side as my servant."

Lidia thought for a moment before saying firmly, "I want to stay by your side and be your servant."

"Congratulations, you chose the right answer," Luo Wei tossed aside her magic wand. "If you had chosen the first option, I would have killed you."

Even though Luo Wei had nearly lost her life saving Lidia, she would have killed her without hesitation.

She wouldn't allow someone who could potentially expose her identity to roam beyond her sight. Agreeing to Troy's request to save her was the most impulsive decision she had ever made, and she still regretted it.

"Now, tell me, why did you choose to stay?"

Luo Wei sat down in a chair, her black eyes like a deep, dark lake.

A fire ignited in Lidia's bright eyes. "Because I promised to sacrifice my soul to the great God of Death and Time, to serve His evil for eternity."

"Very good. Your promise to keep your word has saved your life." Luo Wei had thought Lidia had seen the reality that she wouldn't be able to survive outside of Siria and had chosen to stay for that reason. She hadn't expected the answer to be a bit different.

She hadn't been mistaken; those were indeed eyes that remained unbroken and filled with hatred even when facing execution.

"I must tell you something. I am not a messenger of the God of Death and Time, but a messenger of the God of the Dead, the demon most feared by humans." Luo Wei propped up her heavy head with her hand. "Hearing this, do you still want to serve Him?"

"No, you're not?" Lidia's eyes showed shock. She was silent for a long time before answering in a hoarse voice, "In my heart, He is real, and so are you. It is you I want to serve."

Whoever pulled her out of the mire, whoever saved her life, that was who she would dedicate her soul to.

The person before her was the deity she had been desperately yearning for day and night.

"I allow you to serve me, but right now, I need you to do something else," Luo Wei raised her index finger to lift Lidia's sharp, thin chin. "Become a follower of the God of the Dead, and pray to Him with me."

Feeling the burning fingertip under her chin, Lidia looked at her devoutly. "Yes, my lady."

TBC