Second Madam Lian's little plan had fallen through. Naturally, when Ping'er went to Daiyu's courtyard to look for her, she came up empty-handed.
That was because a certain great immortal had taken Daiyu, Tanchun, Zijuan, and Xueyan out early that morning. No one knew what she had gone off to do this time, so Ping'er had naturally found no one there. After asking the young maids and older women in Daiyu's courtyard a few questions, she returned gloomily to report back.
As for what Wang Xifeng did afterward, and whether she managed to send that lame Daoist away, that remained to be seen.
In any case, it was almost sunset before Annie, Daiyu, Tanchun, Zijuan, and Xueyan finally left the bustling Divine Capital far behind and arrived at a desolate, secluded valley thousands of miles away.
The land here dipped low, surrounded by mountains on three sides. The entrance was narrow, but the valley itself was quite spacious, almost like a paradise hidden from the world.
Yet, strangely, the scene inside was desolate enough to make one's heart race!
The neat rows of fields and paths that should have been here had now been swallowed up by weeds, yellow and taller than a person. Here and there, a few rotten plows lay half-buried in the dirt, bearing witness to the human life that had once flourished here.
Farther away, the crumbling remains of dozens of mud-brick huts could just be made out. Even the homes of wealthy families were mostly roofless or collapsed, leaving only blackened posts and beams that pointed toward the darkening sky like dry bones.
The evening wind passed through the empty doors and windows, carrying a distant, mournful wail. The air was filled with a faint, indescribable chill mingled with the smell of decaying soil.
This