Tang Ya spread her arms and tilted her head back, taking a deep breath. The damp morning air filled her lungs, and a cool sensation spread through her body, clearing her mind like a splash of cold water.
She looked toward the eastern horizon, where a hint of orange-red was showing. A flash of purple light passed through her violet-red eyes.
The rising sun brimmed with vitality, as if it were breathing life into her body. She no longer felt as stifled as before.
The deep, powerful roar of a dragon echoed in her ears, shattering the morning calm.
Tang Ya glanced around the front courtyard. It had been too dark on the previous two nights, and events had been too urgent for her to stop and look around.
Now, seeing the renovated buildings still bore some resemblance to what she remembered, she found them overlapping with the past in her mind. As she recalled the memories she had carefully buried, sorrow flowed through her eyes like a river.
After returning to the Tang Sect's old grounds, she had a rough idea of what Xu Lanqing intended to do.
The dragon's roar faded, replaced by the noisy chatter of people filling the space once more. Then came the disorderly sound of footsteps approaching from afar as the crowd hurried toward the source of the roar.
The first to arrive was a tall, middle-aged man. He had tiny eyes and short hair, with a bald spot at the crown.
The people behind him looked like a rabble. Their clothes were disheveled, likely because they hadn't had time to get dressed.
"Who are you? Why have you trespassed on the Iron Blood Sect?" the middle-aged man shouted, though his eyes kept drifting toward the Snow Empress.
Her proud figure, like a plum