Yue Zhiyin, who inexplicably became the esteemed Lord of Justice, didn't quite understand how it happened.
But seeing Qi Yu below, looking even more bewildered than he was, Yue Zhiyin couldn't help but suppress a chuckle.
He cleared his throat and slammed the gavel beside him. "Take the prisoner away!"
The bailiff immediately complied, forcibly shoving Qi Yu into the cell.
Sitting in the cell, Qi Yu looked down and found her clothes had automatically changed into prisoner's garb.
Frowning in confusion, she pondered her current predicament when she suddenly heard the faint squeaking of rats nearby.
Qi Yu turned her head.
Only then did she see Ming Lou, dressed in a bailiff's uniform, waving at her.
"Sixth Senior Brother!" Qi Yu gripped the bars, her voice filled with excitement. Ming Lou, seizing the moment when no one else was around, tiptoed over, squatted down, and whispered, "Qi Yu, time is of the essence. What I'm about to tell you, you must remember clearly."
"This world is an illusion, and all the events and timelines within it are fixed according to the memories of the caster."
"The caster themselves is the Nine-Turn Immortal Grass."
"I just checked some books about the Nine-Turn Immortal Grass. The records state that the Nine-Turn Immortal Grass can alter a woman's appearance and is a rare, top-grade immortal herb. However, in reality, the Nine-Turn Immortal Grass was transformed from a woman whose reputation was tarnished. She was the daughter of an official family and was abducted by kidnappers while out on the Qixi Festival."
"Although she was rescued shortly after being captured, ... once a girl's reputation is stained, in the eyes of others, it doesn't matter if her chastity was lost or not; it's all the same."
Ming Lou raised an eyebrow at Qi Yu. "This kind of incident would be unbearable for an ordinary family, let alone the daughter of an official family. So, the girl's fate is something you can guess without even thinking."
Most likely, she died.
After death, she transformed into the Nine-Turn Immortal Grass.
However, this explanation made sense of why the Immortal Grass could alter a woman's appearance.
Based on the Nine-Turn Immortal Grass's experience, it was likely that by changing her appearance, the woman could live anew with a new identity.
Of course, these were just Qi Yu's speculations.
But...
"Even so, why did they make me into a kidnapper? Is it because I'm going to pick the Nine-Turn Immortal Grass?" Qi Yu felt utterly wronged.
Although she presented herself as a man externally, she was actually a woman!
If a man becomes a kidnapper, does a woman doing the same thing make any difference?
Wuwuwu, this is so unreasonable!
Ming Lou crossed his arms. "I don't know what we should do now. I can only guess that this is the situation. We'll have to wait for Eldest Senior Brother to come and ask him."
Qi Yu nodded. "A bailiff is coming. You should leave quickly. If anyone sees you chatting with me, a kidnapper, be careful you won't be treated as an accomplice and locked up with me."
Ming Lou nodded, turned, and resumed his patrol.
Qi Yu sighed, cupped her cheeks with her hands, and sat on the pile of straw in the corner, lost in thought.
After an unknown amount of time, night fell outside, and torches were lit around the prison.
Yue Zhiyin opened the cell door and said to Qi Yu with a tone of urgency, "Alas, I've never been an official before. I never imagined that dealing with all that messy official business would take so long. Qi Yu, you know what Ming Lou told you, right? The story of the Nine-Turn Immortal Grass."
Qi Yu nodded.
Seeing this, Yue Zhiyin's heart eased somewhat. He continued, "The world we are in now is what the Nine-Turn Immortal Grass experienced before its death, when it was still alive in the world. No matter who picks the Nine-Turn Immortal Grass, they will experience this."
"To break this illusion, you must prevent the Nine-Turn Immortal Grass from committing suicide. You are the one picking the Nine-Turn Immortal Grass; you must stop it personally."
"I understand," Qi Yu nodded and immediately prepared to escape.
Yue Zhiyin glanced back at the sky, calculated the time, and said, "The Nine-Turn Immortal Grass's suicide is expected in three hours, because three hours later, at midnight, the Nine-Turn Immortal Grass will wither."
With that, Yue Zhiyin, while no one was looking, slipped Qi Yu a key and quickly retreated.
At the same time, the bailiff guarding the cells, holding a wooden stick and a lantern, began his routine patrol and inspection at the appointed time.
Qi Yu hid the key in her pocket and beckoned to the patrolling bailiff.
"Officer, officer, could you come here for a moment?"
Qi Yu's face was full of fawning and ingratiation.
The bailiff approached, carrying the lantern, his face stern. "Not sleeping in the middle of the night, what do you want!?"
"Officer, it's like this..." Qi Yu spoke halfway, then delivered a chop to the man's neck. Seeing him faint, she quickly took out the key, unlocked the cell door, and as she walked out, said, "I'd like to escape temporarily."