In truth, the change was extremely abrupt. After all, the ghost that had been dancing in the guise of a beautiful woman had flown straight back into its ghost-rearing bottle with a shriek, and the snow had stopped as well.
Ordinary people could neither hear that ringing sword note nor sense that chill. They merely felt that something was suddenly amiss with these mages.
The emperor looked at the mage who had just commanded the ghost and asked,
"Mage, why has that beauty stopped dancing?"
The mage barely dared to move now, but since the emperor had asked, he could only steel himself and answer.
"What I command is a ghost, after all. Well... the snow has stopped, and the clouds have suddenly thinned. The power of the sun is about to emerge, so the ghost maiden grew frightened and returned."
The explanation made sense. Only then did the emperor realize the snow had stopped. He glanced at the sky, then turned to the Three Sages of Xiaoshan.
"Mages, why has the snow stopped? The plum branches have yet to don their snowy robes. There isn't enough snow!"
The Three Sages of Xiaoshan had already been too frightened to move. At the emperor's words, all three even trembled slightly.
That sensation just now had actually felt somewhat familiar. They seemed to have experienced it once several decades ago, except that it had targeted only one person then, whereas this time, all three felt it was terribly close.
Back then, there had been no Three Sages of Xiaoshan, but rather the Four Sages of Mount Xiao.
"Y-Your Majesty... we are feeling unwell today. We have only recently arrived in Capital City and have not adjusted to the local climate. We should not cast spells for too long." "Yes, yes, we haven't