Heat waves warped the view; leafless branches stood over yellow earth that smoked.
When the heavens suffered a great drought, banditry was bound to breed. Ruined walls lay scorched black, while horse bandits and roving brigands howled past, the yellow dust they kicked up visible clearly from miles away.
The air was stifling and windless. Once the yellow dust gradually dispersed, a plump rabbit pricked up its ears.
After confirming it was safe, it hopped toward the grass. It opened its mouth and bit down, but the dry grass, baked by the blazing sun until it was nearly aflame, crumbled to grit in its mouth. The dry fragments clung to its mouth, unbearably uncomfortable, making the rabbit smack its lips helplessly. All it could do was stare blankly at the sky. It was so thirsty that it did not even have spare saliva to wash its face...
The silt in the riverbed below the slope was harder than bricks, and beasts migrated along the riverbed in confusion.
Suddenly, the animals sensed a faint breeze carrying moisture, but it vanished just as quickly, as though it had brushed past them in an instant.
Bai Yujun swept over mountains and rivers, flying across waterways devoid of water. She saw the suffering of too many living things—not merely birds and beasts, but also the withering of grass and trees. In truth, after seeing too much of it, one simply became numb.
She did not summon clouds or rain, because she could not remain for long. To living beings, the cruelest thing was to bring hope, then take it away again.
Her dragon tail swept through the sky.
She looked up at the Dying Sun, temporarily blocked by the Star Dou Great Formation.
She precisely calculated and corrected her flight path.
She flew toward