Woodshade City is usually quiet and hospitable, but these days it has been in complete chaos. Many people grabbed their carriages and fled with their families, causing the streets to become crowded; others began begging the heavens and the immortals for help.
This often happens in small cities like these when a ruin is discovered. It is very likely that the other cities are also in chaos, preparing countermeasures in case the Woodshade outposts fail to clean up the ruin.
After all, a ruin can be deadly to all of them, who are but a speck of dust in the entire empire.
Amidst all the chaos, Xiaotian moved quickly through the streets, a black hood covering him completely.
As he walked through the city, it seemed that instinctively he approached the Zhang house, but he didn't. He looked at them with contempt from a distance.
'I will never let you have my father's technique. Even if I don't need it, you are not worthy of having it.'
He swore to himself that he would take revenge.
For little Xiaotian, who deserved justice. And for his own growth.
He continued walking down the road and, after about 30 minutes, reached one of the last mansions in the city, one of the most prestigious.
"Mu House," read the sign above the large gate.
Among the local mansions, it was the quietest, even with guards posted at the gate and along the walls.
'I hope Ruxue is still here,' he thought.
Fortunately, not much time had passed since the ruin appeared, so it was unlikely that it had already disappeared.
He prepared to enter by jumping over the wall, as he couldn't show his face at the entrance, when suddenly a beautiful female figure, surrounded by several guards, appeared on the other side of the road.
It was the early hours of the morning, so there shouldn't have been many people awake here, but...
'Ruxue?' He stared at her...
Was she... drunk?
"M-Miss, please... walk slowly." The guard holding her... no, he wasn't a guard; he was her personal butler, and he was sweating cold sweat.
'Shit, the master is going to kill me...'
He looked at the guards, "Prepare a nice cold bath! If the master finds out that the young lady was drinking, we're all going to die!"
"B-b-but, sir..."
"Can't you hear me?!"
His shout alerted Ruxue.
"Uncle... wh-what's all the commotion? B-bring me another bottle..."
"M-miss, calm down. You'll have it soon... We're on it." The butler wiped the sweat from his brow and continued to help her until they reached the entrance.
Under the butler's piercing gaze, the guards had no choice but to run inside.
"Why did the young lady end up like this?"
"Don't you know? They say that young Master Xiaotian died... or perhaps he was murdered."
"What? The son of Grand Hutian?"
"Yes, the famous Son of the Sword... Such a pity."
"Damn... he and the young lady were so close, no wonder..."
"Yes... The worst part is that she found out just 15 minutes after his death and couldn't see the body. They say it's completely disfigured..."
"I see... Such a pity, such a pity."
Xiaotian frowned. 'I died?' He was in shock.
Well, he had certainly died...
'Those damn Zhangs already gave me up for dead. So you, you old bastard, are behind the beating I took.' Xiaotian clenched his fists in anger.
Nothing happened in the Zhang house without his uncle Fenglian or his grandfather Hao knowing about it. Therefore, if they were saying that "Xiaotian died," it was because Fenglian and Hao knew what they were doing.
They were damn traitors.
Xiaotian had to swallow his thirst for revenge and slipped past the guards, easily crossing the control line at the main gate.
When they entered the mansion, he did not follow them. Instead, he ran to the mansion's garden and climbed through the windows until he reached the second floor, hiding on the balcony of a woman's room.
The decor was impeccable, like that of nobility, and perfectly tidy. He remained silent, trying to avoid attracting attention, and looked at a woman waiting patiently there, next to a bathtub.
Soon, the butler quietly opened the door and quickly entered, closing the door behind him.
Then he looked at the elderly woman standing there.
"Wife, use the medicinal herbs I bought some time ago to give the young lady a bath; she got drunk in my absence!"
"How on earth could you lose sight of the young lady when you are her personal caretaker?" His wife glared at him. "Are you going senile, you old fool?"
If it hadn't been so early in the morning, she would have yelled all her truths at him.
The butler had no choice but to bow his head. "I'm sorry. The young lady asked me to go investigate the death of young master Xiaotian... when I returned, she was like this."
The woman closed her eyes and took several deep breaths to calm herself.
"All right. Go. You'll figure out how to inform the master tomorrow. I'll take care of the rest." The woman approached Ruxue and held her in her arms.
"Don't worry, you're home now," she whispered.
Ruxue seemed to feel at home and, despite being half asleep, she snuggled a little into the arm of the kind butler who was attending to her.
"I leave everything in your hands, wife. I will apologize to you later," said the butler, before walking out the door.
The woman did not see him leave; she was angry and had work to do.
"I'm going to have to beat that old bastard up later," She whispered and approached the bathtub.
First, she carefully removed the young lady's clothes, then she put her in the tub. Thanks to the medicinal herbs, she didn't wake up even though the water was cold; instead, she relaxed.
The woman stood to one side and slowly poured water over her, water that would wash away any hangover or drunkenness.
"You too, young lady..." She shook her head and sighed. "You've become so infatuated with that boy that now you're even vulnerable just because he's not here."
She couldn't blame her, even though she wanted to scold her. Why was she so determined to be with someone who had proven time and again that he had no talent?
He died after receiving the lowest possible talent rating, fueling the curious rumors on the streets that they had committed suicide.
And here was their young lady, tormented by his death!
"Tsk, men are the downfall of good women," she muttered.