In a smaller courtyard, 30 members of Nine Lives are seated here.
Among them are Hui Sang, Zhu Xu, and Yang Hai, along with—
"…"
Jing Yao, who is holding a simple white mask in her hand.
The attire of those belonging to this faction consists of a tall-collared outer coat, which is similar to a lab coat in design—except it's almost completely transparent. Inner wear wise, they are all dressed in a white changpao.
Different from the others, Jing Yao's attire has an opening on the outer coat—while her changpao is a bare-backed design. This is due to the nature of her Relic, which was awaken—after she had regained some of her memories as a practitioner.
Within those fragmented memories, Jing Yao found out that she and her older sister were both disciples of Jiu Sheng.
However, that doesn't automatically mean that her current life as Jing Yao is utterly meaningless—having lived under her current identity and status for so many years in this world.
And yet, there was also no way for Jing Yao to discard the entirety of her past-life—treating it as a life that didn't exist, especially under this world's current circumstances.
(…Maybe it's because I've lived in a sheltered manner throughout this life, but...… How great would it be—to be able to prolong this lifestyle a bit longer?)
Despite knowing how child-like her current thoughts are, Jing Yao finds it difficult to not dream of the faint possibilities.
"…"
Turning to Jing Yao, Hui Sang asks—
"Still undecided?"
If Jing Yao wishes to do so, she could continue to live out her current life without getting involved with the inevitable war against the Ling Yuan family—this choice was given to her by Jiu Sheng and Jing Yin.
However, knowing how impactful the Ling Yuan family's continuous intrusion on this world would become in the future, taking this choice is both naïve, and suicidal.
"…All who live in this world—regardless of their current identity and status, they'll all be forced to take up arms. The only question is when; however, the sooner a person does so, the better their odds of survival would be."
Compared to before, there is an evident sense of sharpness in Jing Yao's elegant green eyes.
(Choosing to stand on the battlefield… Means setting this life as a doctor aside. As for going back to being a doctor afterwards…)
(Those who specialize in life energy may look kind at a glance, but they're some of the vilest people around. During your practitioner life, how many fields of corpses have you left in your wake, and how many rich-soiled lands had you brought to ruin?)
Recalling Long Hua's words, Jing Yao raises a sigh—having to agree with the former's statement.
Raising a faint smile, Hui Sang says—
"Relax. The Ling Yuan family can't possibly just send another force in after suffering such a… Crushing defeat."
Saying this, Hui Sang—who knows the truth regarding that battle back in the village, can't help but have mixed feelings in her heart.
Towards the odd look on Hui Sang's face, Jing Yao twitches her lips, and replies—
"No need to force yourself to…- You know."
"…Ugh."
Clapping her hands against her cheeks, Hui Sang turns to Zhu Xu, who rosed off the ground, and announces—
"Listen up, the plan is to storm the imperial palace tomorrow. At this point, every other faction here should be thinking of-"
Before Zhu Xu can finish speaking, a bright beam of golden light blasts into the skies, and pierces through the dark clouds—revealing a starry heaven.
"…?"
"What happened?"
The location where this beam of light had come from was the imperial palace, specifically—it came from the audience hall.
...…
Situated at the far back of the audience hall, on top of an elevated platform is a dragon and phoenix throne—crafted from a solid block of wood that is filled with rich patterns.
"…"
"…"
Seated on top of this throne are Yu Ji and Li—who have their eyes closed, seemingly asleep.
Emanating from their bodies is the beam of light that has drawn the eyes of those who are outside of the palace.
Momentarily, this light dies down, revealing a hole in the ceiling above Yu Ji and Li's heads.
Following the light's dissipation—
...…
...…
A heavy sense of silence looms over the air.
Eventually—
"…"
"…"
Yu Ji and Li opened their eyes.
Going into further detail—regarding the audience hall's appearance, it is held up by a total of six pillars with golden rings wrapped around them.
Due to the passage of time, cracks and faint spots have appeared throughout the pillars' red layers.
Extending from the raised platform, and ending at the hall's edge is a torn carpet.
The floor of the hall is grey in color, and littering these floors are several articles of ancient clothing.
These clothing should have been worn by a person, but much like the other pieces of clothing that are littered throughout the ancient city, there is not a single trace of human remains nearby, as if all traces of flesh and blood had evaporated into thin air—leaving these articles of clothing behind as the sole proof of a civilization's existence.
"Gone, all of them…"
"…"
Nodding her head to Yu Ji's remark, Li looks to the side, where a set of ruined imperial robes rest.
"That general who took over this empire from us, I wonder how long his reign even lasted? All that effort—only to receive this ending, their reaction at the end…"
"Would have been an amusing sight."
...…
"…"
As the beam of light dissipates, Long Hua blinks his eyes.
Currently, he is seated on top of the roof with a ceramic wine cup in hand.
Seated to his right is Tian Cheng, who is holding onto the calabash.
"What are you thinking of, my dearest?"
Seating herself on Long Hua's left, and asking this is Wu Xiao.
"I'm wondering—where did most of my wine that should have been in the calabash go."
"…"
Towards Long Hua's reply, Wu Xiao blinks her eyes.
Naturally, she and the Tai Xuan Emperor had drank most of it during their late-night conversation—while he was asleep.
Shrugging her shoulders, Wu Xiao says—
"Who knows? Maybe some rat decided to drink it?"
"Then let me ask the rat herself, how are you going to repay me for it?"
"I wasn't the only one who partook in it, you know?"
Hearing this, Long Hua turns to Tian Cheng, who maintained a stoic expression on her face.
Moving the conversation along, Long Hua says—
"Apparently, those Spirit Extract leaves are beneficial to me."
"Uh?"
Raising an eye, Wu Xiao tilts her head at Long Hua, who continues to remark—
"I'm starting to regret auctioning those bottles off…"
"But if you hadn't, there would have been plenty of people on your ass about it."
"…I guess. Dammit, should have kept at least one bottle."
"Well, good news is there's plenty to be had—if you go to the palace."
Saying this, Wu Xiao takes out a plain wooden flute, and directs it to Long Hua.
"…"
Receiving the wooden flute, Long Hua spins it around in his left hand.
"...…"
Contemplating for a while, Long Hua remarks—
"In the distant past, there was a prince, who was born on a moonlit night. Though the moon shone brightly, the misfortunate prince—who was born blind, wasn't able to see it."
Raising a smile of amusement, Wu Xiao asks—
"What was that prince called?"
"Bujian Yue; bujian as in unable to see, and yue as in moon."
"What a mocking name that is."
"Indeed. However, though he was born blind, there was ultimately not a single person capable of saying that the moon wasn't shining for him—on his birth night."