Dill wasn't as nervous. She was most familiar with witches, then women, especially noblewomen, and Miletani had spent long years dealing with the noblewomen of Juniper River, and her own silver cup had come from one of their offerings.
"I'm sorry to have disturbed the lady." The young woman dismounted and gave a fairly regular salute.
The noblewoman shook her head and said, "No, no, it is my unruly escort who should apologize."
As if to show her sincerity, she ordered all those guards to withdraw from her side and personally went forward to help Dill up. The unusual respect and cordiality startled the young girl.
"Are you one of those who live here?" She seemed unsurprised by Dill's exotic face, her blue eyes even radiating anticipation.
Dill thought quickly: the woman was dressed heavily, but not in hunting riding gear, and with a bunch of heavily armed guards, she was obviously not a fool who had wandered into the forbidden land to camp in the wilderness, so it could only be...
"I'm just a medicine man who came from the east coast to the Junli River to study, and I just happened to be traveling through this place."
The woman's eyes flashed with a hint of disappointment, but she still held Dill's hand and said cordially, "You are an honest child; I am the Duchess of Leicester, and the Green Fei City will always welcome knowledgeable and lovely guests like you.
Mrs. Lester even wanted to ask the guards to escort Dill out of Shadow Hills. Dill hesitated and couldn't help but remind her: "Madam, do you know what place this is?"
Mrs. Lester's face flashed a trace of discomfort, and she continued, "I heard the shepherds say that there is a black witch living in this neighborhood."
"Child!" Mrs. Leicester bellowed, more as if to overpower her voice than in anger.
The woman turned and lowered her voice, horrified and even pleading, "You must not call the wise one who dwells in the dark shadows that way."
Dill immediately changed her words: "Ma'am, are you planning to visit... that wise man?"
The Duchess of Leicester didn't deny it, but she didn't change the subject: "You're still a child; it's too early for you to come here; I'll ask my guards to send you out."
Dill was about to refuse when another woman's voice came from a tent not far away: "Sister, what's the hurry? Won't it be nice to have another companion?"
The maid bent down to help out another noblewoman from within the tent; her face resembled Mrs. Lester's a bit, both with blue almond eyes, a sharp, thin chin, and a long, dark rose gold cloak that set off her gracefulness and made her difficult to approach.
She covered half her face with a feathered fan made of blue peacocks, and her cold blue eyes looked Dill up and down.
"An East Coast person? Born skinny and so eager to contain yourself and ask for a witch's love potion?"
Dill was puzzled by her conspiratorial remark, and before she could speak, Mrs. Lester beside her snapped, this time with real anger:
"You shut up! This girl is a learned medicine man at such a young age, she has traveled thousands of miles across the sea to seek the truth of wisdom, and this is how Mrs. Fogli treats a guest from afar."
Lady Foghri's face hardened for a moment, and she quickly smiled forcefully again and said, "I'm thinking of my sister; if this girl is also looking for that witch, why don't we just let her go in by the way with our token, so as to save us from having to labor and startle the witch's rest?"
She didn't wait for Mrs. Lester to respond, removing her fan and forcing a gracious smile at Dill:I know that there are many exotic herbs on the east coast, and that spices from a small fingernail can be sold for gold, but none of that compares to a finger of a witch, a spell that can call the winds and rain, and magic potions concocted by a witch that can save someone who is already dead."
Mrs. Fogli's tone grew gentle and sweet, reminding Dill of Oya.
"The witch who lives here can easily take a man's shadow and make him so crazy about you that he is willing to sell his soul, and once a man betrays you, she will stab his shadow to death and make him loyal to you."
Mrs. Fogli, seeing Dill's youth and beauty, apparently took her for an ignorant and reckless young girl. After all, the mysterious Shadow Mound was never short of bold visitors; men prayed to witches for power, and women often prayed to witches for love.
"Nonsense!" Exasperated and not wanting to reply to her sister's nonsense, Mrs. Lester turned to Dill and soothed her: "Child, the wise men are not very good-tempered people; you'd better get out of here; I'll have the guards escort you out."
This is a kind woman. After realizing that Dill is not the witch she was looking for, she turned to worry about the girl's safety, after all, the legendary "Wise Man" loves to eat tender children.
Mrs. Fogli obviously refused to give up. She glanced at the road that was covered by the thick fog, unable to hide her fear. She turned her head and added, "My child, as long as you are willing to bring us a problem to that witch, you will be the most honored guest of Green Fei City and Evening Twilight Hall, I have countless handsome and promising knights waiting for you to choose."
The young Moon Witch looked down and stroked the white goose in her arms, almost holding back a laugh.
She had no interest in Mrs. Fogli, but instead, she met Mrs. Lester's expression of angry worry, and couldn't help but ask with some curiosity, "Ma'am, what is it that you wish to ask the wise one?"
Mrs. Lester thought she meant to say yes and couldn't help but shake her head. "Child, you don't need to pay a high price for other people's business. You are still young and lovely; you don't need the witch's magic at all; there are countless people willing to smile for you; while we are just two old women who are afraid of death, it's not worth it for you to do so."
Then, as if she had made up her mind about something, she turned to her unsuspecting sister and said, "Since we have something to ask of the Wise One, we should show our sincerity to the Wise One in person; speculation will only make our situation more dangerous."
Mrs. Lester turned her head to Dill and solemnly admonished, "This is still the outside of Shadow Mound; the thick fog inside the forest is within real reach, and unusual people will easily get lost and not be able to find their way out. Child, you quickly leave; do not go any further."
Mrs. Lester, with the help of her maid, mounted a date-red stallion, and she waved away the company of her guards and maids, apparently intending to go in to Shadow Mound herself.
Mrs. Fogli was a little impatient; she clearly had something to ask for as well, but she couldn't make up her mind as well as her sister.
Dill looked at Mrs. Leicester's fading figure, sighed softly, rolled over, and jumped onto the black horse, and just under Mrs. Fogeri's astonished gaze, she rode into the thick fog of Shadow Hills.
Mrs. Lester was both surprised and saddened to hear the hoofbeats behind her and to see the dill coming after her. "I must show my sincerity to that wise man alone, child; this is not your test; leave quickly before dark!"
The young girl changed from her previous ignorance; the bottomless pupils of her eyes seemed to be able to see through people's hearts. "Are you doing this for your daughter, who is about to be married? Do you want to make sure that the man who happened to save your daughter from the hooves of a horse is a good match? Or is it a plot by the Earl of Rhein? Are you asking the witch to grant you a spell to protect your marriage?"
Dill locked eyes with the red horse beneath the woman, and the secret spilled out between the horse's panting breaths.