After Frod opened the door, the face revealed was that of City Lord Meng Lu.
Meng Lu was clearly somewhat different from her usual self. Her face was full of anxious urgency, as though she had something she desperately wanted to say, but running from the bottom floor to the top of Skyvault Tower had evidently taken a great deal out of her. Even as she kept stroking her chest, her words still came out in broken fragments. "Lord Tisen, this is bad! Outside... outside... something's happened outside!"
The more hurried she was, the harder it became for her to get the words out properly.
However, since Meng Lu had mentioned "outside," Frod suddenly understood. It was probably because she had seen the change in weather and was startled by it.
"Of course I know the weather has changed. What's so shocking about that? Have you never seen a sunny day before?" Frod rebuked.
Meng Lu hurriedly shook her head. Her breathing had calmed considerably by then. "It's not that. The weather outside isn't sunny—it's extremely strange. And some people have gone missing."
Frod froze for a moment.
Why were "strange weather" and "people going missing" being mentioned together? What logical connection was there between them?
"Don't tell me lightning struck them and turned them into nothing?" Frod asked in confusion as he turned and walked toward the terrace doors. Just as he was about to go out and inspect the situation, a bolt of lightning crashed down from the sky, striking the ground not far in front of him.
Staring at the large crater blasted open before him, at the scorched-black ground, Frod—who had been muttering under his breath—instantly froze stiff.
Had his words become a curse?
Could it really have been heavenly lightning punishment, striking people into ashes?