When Grace picked her place to stay on the tenth day, she chose a spot not far from this location. As long as she could escape past that wall, her chances of survival would skyrocket!
She ran as fast as she could, but without any spiritual power.
Just as she was about to be caught, Grace spun around and fired her wrist arrow, laced with anesthetic, in a shower of petals.
The two still dodged, but Grace managed to widen the gap between them again.
Cecilia Chen shot a glance at the man, who suddenly leapt into the air and ran along the top of the high wall.
He then jumped down, blocking Grace’s escape near the entrance of the Forbidden Garden.
Grace slammed on the brakes.
A man in front of her, Cecilia Chen behind her, the Forbidden Garden’s gate to her right, and tall bushes to her left—there was nowhere to run.
She was completely cornered!
Grace pressed her back against the tightly shut gate, aiming her wrist arrow at Cecilia Chen with one hand and her bracelet at the man with the other. She said, "Cecilia Chen, I never wanted to steal the General from you! If you let me go today, I swear I’ll repay you someday!"
"Repay me?" Cecilia Chen sneered. "You? A useless nobody? What could you possibly offer me?"
"I'm a doctor. Plus, I have quite a few rare spiritual medicine recipes," Grace replied. "Maybe one day you'll need me to save your life again, just like last time."
"Who knows what the future holds? Right now, you’re just a roadblock to my marriage!" Cecilia Chen radiated killing intent, and suddenly a boomerang blade appeared in her hand, which she hurled at Grace.
The boomerang blade spun rapidly, radiating deadly force and pressure, and reached her in an instant.
For an ordinary person without spiritual power, dodging it was impossible.
In that moment, Grace thought, how miraculous is it that someone could live a second life?
But that miracle was about to end, just like that!
So what was the point of her rebirth, anyway?
Damn it, she hadn’t even gotten to see her parents yet!
All these thoughts flashed through her mind in an instant. Just as her head was about to be sliced off by the boomerang blade, the giant bronze gate behind her suddenly swung open!
A powerful force sent the boomerang blade flying back at several times its original speed, cleanly slicing off the man’s head before continuing to whiz forward, disappearing into the distance.
At the same time, the giant bronze gate slammed shut with a bang.
Lily Bai was dragged into the Forbidden Garden!
Cecilia Chen stood frozen, staring at the corpse on the ground, then at the door. Suddenly remembering the legends about the Forbidden Garden, she bolted and ran off.
...
Inside the bronze gate, Lily Bai stared blankly at the scene before her.
Last time she passed by here, the sound of water she heard wasn’t a hallucination.
There really was a pool inside.
A pool so huge it was hard to believe!
The water in the pool was crystal clear, but so deep it made her dizzy just looking at it.
Of course, having a pool was nothing special, and deep water wasn’t a big deal, but—there was... a dragon in there?
A dragon as thick as a barrel, deep ink-black, most of its body submerged, with just its head and part of its back exposed, looking down at her from above.
No denying it, this was one gorgeous Black Dragon. But—
"Help!" Grace screamed and bolted.
She struggled to unlatch the door, just about to pull it open when something cold swept her feet. With a shriek, she fell straight into the water.