Murdering One's Own Husband

Pitter-patter—

The downpour had gradually eased, yet a curtain of rain still shrouded the Heaven Origin Mountain Range. Rainwater washed over the winding bluestone steps, gathering into little streams that flowed down the mountain.

Ran Qingmo held an umbrella in one hand as she climbed the cloudlike stairs. Her plain white mourning clothes snapped in the wind, and the pendant at her waist lightly tapped against her sword sheath with every step, producing a crisp, delicate chime.

After walking through the fine rain for an unknown length of time, Ran Qingmo raised her eyes toward the half-tilted archway at the mountaintop. The two gilded characters, "Five Elements," were overgrown with moss. She remembered her master saying that every roof tile and every bluestone brick within the Sword Sect's gates bore the weight of countless years of history.

At its height, the Tianyuan Sword Sect had once possessed thirteen peak swordmasters. After a thousand years had passed, only six of those thirteen remained; the other seven peaks had already declined with time.

Those of old were gone, while their former grounds endured. Yet though the place remained, the people had changed. The Tianyuan Five Elements Sword Peak, once coveted by cultivators across the world, had now fallen into decline and become sleeping quarters for receiving honored guests.

Her plain white skirts swept through the puddles before the steps as Ran Qingmo emerged from the rain and mist beneath a bamboo-ribbed umbrella. Her dark eyes looked ahead, where a girl had long been waiting beneath what had once been the Five Elements Hall.

"You're here."

Tianyan sat crouched upon the stone steps before the hall, one hand propping up her cheek as she watched the woman ascend the bluestone stairs from the mountain. Her deep golden eyes held no emotion. Her saintess