The improved female villains regained their memories.

For a period of time afterward, he was unable to speak or see, and was both blind and mute. He gradually recovered as he grew older.

The royal family couldn't figure out what was wrong with him. The emperor initially disliked him, but gradually began to value him after he displayed his talent for weapon crafting.

It is said that at a young age, he was able to sense spiritual energy and use its power to refine weapons.

Shi Yuzun was exactly three years younger than Zhizi. After Zhizi became a human chess piece, the system showed her many scenes from Shi Yuzun's side.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that Zhi Zi watched him grow up.

Having grown up in the shrine, Zhi Zi was always surrounded by people summoned by the system to teach her. Her daily life consisted of no fun, only day after day of human chess training.

The player in the game can only have a task; they cannot have any other thoughts.

She looked at the person in the picture, and in the end, her heart and eyes were filled with only this one person.

-------------

The system is not online all the time.

According to it, it needs to hibernate to replenish its energy every once in a while before it can start operating again.

Therefore, during her dormant period, she was taught by these servants in the shrine.

They were even more demanding than the system, so demanding that not even the slightest micro-expression was allowed. Expressions, posture, and movements had to perfectly match the character's persona in the plan. If Zhi Zi couldn't hold on even slightly, she would be brutally beaten.

The worst time was when she was distracted by the sunset and couldn't maintain her smile, for which she was punished.

She was first whipped, then a spiky wooden stick rolled over her limbs, leaving her covered in blood.

At that moment, she truly broke down, crying and struggling, trying to escape from there.

But the silent man in white held her down firmly, preventing her from moving.

He put his gloved hand into her mouth and forced her lips open to make her smile.

She smiled, but it looked worse than crying.

Later, they threw her into the snow and left her to fend for herself.

The system appeared out of nowhere and healed her injuries.

"Are you feeling better?" it asked.

She looked up wearily, feeling the sunrise shining on her.

It turned out to be dawn.

“...I don’t want to do this anymore,” she said in a hoarse voice.

The system remained silent for a long time before saying, "You have become a human chess piece; you cannot give up."

"What if I give up?"

"This body has been trained for a long time and has basically developed muscle memory. If you are unwilling, I can only replace your soul with another soul."

The system said, "You wouldn't want your body to be used by another soul, right?"

Gardenia sniffed but didn't say anything.

So this is what the way of Heaven is—so cruel.

It was cruel, making her afraid to resist.

-------------

The mission deadline is fast approaching.

In previous years, the Holy Maiden would descend the mountain to listen to the people's prayers near the wishing well.

But this year is different. For the sake of the mission, the shrine announced that this year the Holy Maiden will not go to the wishing well, but will instead stay inside the shrine and listen to everyone's prayers.

The shrine is open for only seven days, and only those with the utmost sincerity may come.

All of this was to lure the villain in, and Gardenia certainly understood this.

She could have treated those who came to make wishes perfunctorily, sitting there like a mascot, leaving everything to the system and the white-robed figures it had arranged, but she didn't.

She sat there attentively, listening to the wishes of each pilgrim and responding to them.

A little girl suddenly let go of her mother's hand and ran forward, looking at the gardenia sitting there with curious eyes.

"Are you the holy maiden favored by Heaven?"

The white-robed men on both sides stepped forward and blocked Zhi Zi's way. Her mother quickly stepped forward, apologized to them, and begged the saintess for forgiveness.

Ignoring the system's warning, Zhi Zi nodded to the girl, "That's me."

The girl's eyes widened as she asked, "Can you really communicate with the heavens and ask them to bless our wishes?"

Gardenia paused for a moment, then nodded: "Mm!"

"Really? That's great!"

The girl immediately knelt down, clasped her hands in a fist, and said sincerely, "Holy Maiden, I pray to you that Heaven will bless my illness so that I may recover soon, and my mother will no longer shed tears for me!"

Gardenia looked at the mother, who stood there with tears in her eyes, unsure of what to say.

She looked at the little girl again, noticing her thin body and how, despite her optimistic appearance, her spirits were listless.

It's hard to imagine how the mother and daughter got here.

Gardenia reached out and touched the girl: "Good girl, you will get better."

The girl immediately cheered and ran to her mother to take her hand: "Mom, did you hear that? The Holy Maiden said I will get better."

The mother thanked them with tears in her eyes and left with the girl. Zhi Zi watched their retreating figures, unable to come back to her senses for a long time.

What saintess?

The one sitting here is just a one-man chess piece.

-------------

That evening, Gardenia sat there in silence.

The system appeared and asked, "What's wrong?"

Gardenia looked at it: "Will that child get better?"

The system shook its head: "It can't be cured, it's a terminal illness, it's just not that serious yet."

Can you cure it?

"No."

"...Even someone as capable as you can't..."

“Gardenia.” The system interrupted her, “This is why I’m warning you today. All we’ve done is to cover up, including this divine palace and your identity as a saintess.”

"I understand, I just..."

Don't think like that!

-------------

The system's words were calm, yet cruel.

"You are the human piece, don't forget your mission!"

She is not some saint who listens to the wishes of all beings; she is a human chess piece chosen by the system.

Everything they did was simply to lure the villains into their scheme.

not to mention--

-------------

—The player who plays chess does not think, does not want, and does not dwell on anything.

As a tool to eliminate the villain, the human chess piece cannot develop any feelings for the villain or that go beyond its character design or script plan.

Chapter 699 Actors

Players have no freedom.

The one sitting here is not a saintess of the shrine, but a human chess piece being manipulated.

The system repeatedly warned her not to get involved in other relationships and to maintain her persona until the mission was over.

"Don't really think of yourself as a saint," the system said. "Don't forget, everything we have—whether it's me, them, or this divine palace—is ultimately for the purpose of getting you closer to that villain."

Gardenia nodded and said nothing more.

The walls of the palace behind the shrine are covered with wishes tied to them by the people. Some of these wishes were collected beforehand, but the vast majority were brought by the pilgrims this time.

At night, it's quiet here because it's all performances, so no one really cleans up the place.

But she will.

She carefully read through all the wishes and tidied the place up neatly.

Her gentle gaze swept across the area; years of training had instilled this habit in her, even when no one was around.

There was an empty space in the corner; that was the spot she had reserved for herself.

The system said that as long as the task was completed, it could grant her any wish.

She asked the system if it could resurrect someone, but the system said no. After all, it was a servant of the Heavenly Dao, which emphasized the order of life and death. So even if it could resurrect someone, it couldn't do so.

It can fulfill the life she wants to live.

At first, Gardenia wanted a life with lots and lots of money, but now that she's grown up, the long hours of training have made her numb and empty, to the point that she doesn't even know what she should wish for anymore.

So she had some free time and decided to save this answer for her future self.

-------------

People from the royal family have arrived; they are the Crown Prince's men.

The system sent a man in a white robe to receive them, but Zhi Zi didn't know what the two talked about.

She greeted the believers as she had on the first day, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw the white-robed man, guided by the system, lead the prince's men into a secret room.

That afternoon, the crown prince also arrived.

Now that the Emperor is old and his cultivation has not been able to break through, ordinary elixirs cannot prolong his life. He can only stay in a ninth-grade magic artifact to prolong his life, and his death is imminent.