Courtyard Within and Without

That night, the first autumn rain fell in a soft, steady drizzle.

Wang Xian slept in.

Song Tian had gotten up early, and Bai Xue kept clamoring to find Wang Xian and have him see that she hadn't just been dreaming—she had broken through two realms in one go.

Hu Keke gave the two of them a few Storage Rings, and the three went out shopping together.

At Peach Blossom Valley, a carriage slowly approached the Cloudmist Manor, now reduced to ruins.

Liu Piaopiao, who had been missing for many days, had brought Liu Xian'er to Peach Blossom Valley.

Seeing the corpses strewn before the mountain gate and more than two hundred heads, Liu Xian'er couldn't help screaming.

"Big sister, it's a ghost!"

"How did this place suddenly become a ruin? We haven't been gone that many days, have we?"

"Wait, why are there corpses of imperial guards here?"

Liu Piaopiao furrowed her phoenix brows and silently surveyed the scene before her. Her spiritual sense swept across the valley, but she couldn't find a single living person.

The autumn rain had fallen all night, washing away what little evidence there had been.

All that remained was a ground strewn with mangled limbs and corpses, and more than two hundred gruesome heads.

With a quiet sigh, she waved her hand, sending out a tongue of flame. The heads and corpses on the ground instantly went up in flames.

She had no intention of gathering up these people one by one.

Even if the imperial guards from the capital came again, they probably wouldn't find anything useful. Better to burn everything.

The two drifted into Cloudmist Manor and made a round of the ruins. As expected, there was nothing there—not even a single corpse.

The sight before them left Liu Piaopiao horrified.