Urgent rain knocked at the door.
Rain whipped by the wind fell in disarray as the heavy wooden gate was struck.
The knocking was not loud, but it rang clear.
The sudden storm caught everyone in the courtyard off guard, and the sounds that followed inexplicably tightened their heartstrings.
Within moments, water had pooled in the low spots of the courtyard. Raindrops struck the surface, stirring up one fleeting bubble after another. The air was thick with oppression, as though a world-destroying flood stood beyond the gate. The pressure was so great that hearts raced and faces flushed. All of it happened in a single instant.
Creak~
The bolt across the courtyard gate slid, slowly and steadily being moved aside.
The instant the gate opened, the wind and rain suddenly froze...
Dry grass swept up by the cold wind hung motionless in midair, as did countless tiny droplets. Rain filled the sky as though time itself had stopped. Neither refugees nor cultivators in the courtyard could move—not because they did not wish to, but because their entire bodies had gone stiff. The richly dressed man raising his axe suffered the greatest pressure of all, frozen completely in place.
The gate opened, and a slender girl in a white dress held up an umbrella as she crossed the threshold. Her phoenix eyes were unforgettable at a glance.
Bai Yujun felt that the threshold was a little too high.
She had to lift the hem of her skirt to step over it. Her exquisite white paper umbrella left the gatehouse and entered the rain, pushing through the countless suspended droplets as she walked slowly onward.
The thunder paused, and the silence reached its limit.
She had knocked out of courtesy, but that courtesy was not for the people in the courtyard.
"..."