The alley was a chaotic mess, filled with terrified commoners running blindly in every direction.
All the courtesans from the brothel were here except those taken away by important figures. Lowly and homeless, they clung tightly to one another to avoid being scattered by the surging crowd, running about under the firelight like headless flies.
When a city fell, few were lucky enough to hide and escape disaster. Even if they struggled through the night, they could not evade the searches and plundering of daylight. The revelry of disorderly soldiers after a city's fall would last at least three to five days; it was difficult to escape such calamity by luck. They were merely driven by instinct to flee and struggle desperately, like drowning people desperate to survive.
In the small courtyard, Bai Yujun opened her eyes.
She heard the voices of several pure courtesans, dancers, and singers from the brothel with whom she had gotten along rather well. She knew some of them intimately; they had discussed zither arts together, and she had even learned pipa melodies from one of the pure courtesans.
"W-what happened to me...?"
Bai Yujun suddenly felt lost. The burning, killing, plundering, and screams outside felt so familiar.
She remembered that she had been nothing more than a little snake demon then, secretly learning every day while eating Failed Pills that nobody wanted...
Disasters and chaos had erupted throughout the land—locust plagues and Drought Disasters. With a book case on her back and weapons over her shoulder, she had descended the mountain to provide relief. Though exhausted each day, she had been fulfilled and busy, that tiny snake demon passing through village after village...
Rebels had caused chaos in the county town, burning, killing, and looting. It was exactly the same scene.
Back then, a