The Witch's moon fell to the ground.
The city standing in the wilderness drifted away like smoke. Mr. 39 gazed outward, watching a sparrow fly into the distance, and then, in a moment of distraction, vanished from sight like a reflection in water.
The tall buildings had long since collapsed. The city no longer existed.
They stood amid the ruins in the wilderness, able to see one another simply by looking up.
Wild winds scattered the dark clouds overhead, revealing the starlight dotted above them. On a night with so many stars, the moon was nowhere to be seen. Wei Yanchi stood where he was, seemingly still able to feel Mr. 39's gaze, bearing a deeply hidden, barely perceptible pity.
"Wei Yanchi! What are you standing there for? We need to get moving. Without Orion's carriage, we'll probably have to walk for quite a while before we get back to the village."
Zhang Ninde called loudly from behind him.
Lin Darong emerged from a distant patch of weeds. A moment ago, those weeds had been a magnificent building, but now all that remained were broken walls and rubble.
Lin Darong looked unwell. She hurried over to join the two of them. "I honestly feel a little sick right now. I found something awful while I was searching for clues inside. There was a basement prison, and I saw all kinds of torture instruments in there."
"The prisoners locked up inside were soldiers from the Regular Army who'd come to this city from the capital. The two sides were like fire and water. They'd been beaten terribly, and some prisoners were still being interrogated. I don't even know how to describe how horrible it was."
"And I also noticed that these rebels were a little too obedient to their so-called General."