The Mirror of Startling Beauty: Her courtiers are everywhere

Outside the palace gates, the night was as dark as ink.

The seven figures knelt for an entire day, their knees already numb and stiff.

But they dared not move, they could only kneel, kneeling on the cold, hard stone steps, kneeling in the boundless night.

The humiliation of the day still burned in their hearts, and the young Yuezhi empress's indifference towards them was like a thorn, deeply embedded in the hearts of the seven.

Now that night had fallen and no one was around, they could no longer contain themselves and began to whisper among themselves.

"This little Yuezhi girl is absolutely vicious."

The elder's voice was hoarse and cold, like chilling air seeping from the depths of the earth.

He knelt at the front, his back hunched, but his cloudy old eyes were now brimming with resentment.

"How dare she treat us like this?"

The second elder gritted his teeth, his voice filled with suppressed anger.

"The women of the Yuezhi tribe are all as beautiful as celestial beings."

The Third Elder's voice suddenly rang out, carrying a nauseating laugh.

His laughter was sticky and wet; he didn't continue, but everyone could hear the meaning in his laughter.

"Just like those Moon Clan women of the past, the feeling... was truly indescribable."

The Fourth Elder picked up the conversation, his smile sinister, like a venomous snake flicking its tongue, slithering through the night.

"Wait until she is completely worthless before sending her to the altar..."

The Fifth Elder's voice lowered, becoming as deep as a stone falling into an abyss.

There was no anger in that voice, only an almost devout fanaticism.

"To be torn to pieces!"

The Sixth Elder's voice suddenly rose, filled with madness.

"Only then can we live up to our expectations for her over the past twenty years."

The Seventh Elder's voice was the softest, yet it sent chills down one's spine.

His voice was as soft as a needle, yet it could pierce the deepest fears in people's hearts.

"I can't wait to see her..."

His eyes shone with a fanatical light. He knelt there, leaning forward, as if about to pounce on something at any moment.

"Such a noble destiny will surely grant us longevity!"

The elder's voice rang out, carrying an arrogant and condescending tone, as if he were pronouncing a judgment.

What do billions of ordinary people matter?

He paused, his voice full of disdain.

"This world is inherently a dog-eat-dog world. I'm just living it more consciously."

The second elder took over the conversation, his tone full of self-righteousness.

"What is good and evil, what is right and wrong, only those who survive to the end have the right to define."

The Third Elder seemed to be stating a self-evident truth.

Those who challenged me a thousand years ago have all turned to dust. And I am still here, watching them die generation after generation.

The Fourth Elder's tone was full of arrogance.

"This is the way of Fengxiao Pavilion."

The Fifth Elder's voice was deep and resolute, as if he were reciting some sacred scripture.

"When I live for ten thousand years, they will be nothing more than a line of small words in the history books."

The Sixth Elder's voice was full of determination, as if he could already see himself a thousand years from now.

The Seventh Elder remained silent.

He just smiled.

The laughter, "hehehe," rose up like a wind surging from the depths of hell.

The laughter was cold and cloying.

The Moon Guards, who were lurking in the shadows, were initially puzzled.

Why did the Moon Emperor execute loyal officials as soon as he returned?

Why did Her Majesty the Empress have to kill those seven highly respected elders so soon after her return?

But when they heard those seven elders, who appeared to be loyal and virtuous, utter such vicious words...

When they heard that they were plotting to do such a heinous thing to their Empress.

All the Moon Guards hardened their fists.

Those fists were clenched so tightly that the knuckles turned white and the veins bulged.

These experts had exceptional hearing and could hear their vicious whispers clearly.

Every word was like a knife, piercing their hearts.

The knife was sharp and cold, each cut causing them excruciating pain.

They used to think Xingyu, the usurper, was utterly hateful, but now they realize that the real evil spirit is right beside them.

"These evil spirits! They cannot be tolerated on earth, and hell should also find them filthy."

High up in the pavilion, Xingyu's hand, gripping the Silver Moon Bow, was so tight it almost crushed.

The knuckles were white, as white as snow.

Veins bulging.

But he held back.

He is waiting.

Waiting for the right opportunity.

When the light that obscured the secrets of heaven completely enveloped this world.

Once the seven figures were completely surrounded by them.

He had hunted them down many times before, but each time he failed. The protection of Heaven made them impossible to kill.

The seven figures were still whispering to each other.

"Hehehe—"

Their laughter hadn't stopped yet.

suddenly.

"Release the arrows!"

With a furious command from the moon, a rain of arrows descended upon the sky.

Arrows rained down from all directions, accompanied by blazing flames.

The arrows were like shooting stars, like locusts, densely packed, blotting out the sky and the moon.

The firelight from the arrowheads left long trails of flame in the night sky, like a meteor shower falling to earth.

"You old scoundrels, tonight we'll send you on your way."

Yue Zhongtian's voice was as cold as a blade from the deepest hell. He stood in the shadows, his blue eyes burning with a furious rage that could consume everything.

"You filthy creatures dare to covet my empress—her feet should not bear the shadows of your defilement."

The seven elders thought there was no one around.

They thought only they could hear those words.

Little did they know that the Moon Guards were already lying in ambush all around, listening to every single word they said.

Every word of those words was carried by the wind to the ears of the moon in the sky.

His fists were clenched so tightly they cracked.

His eyes were red, the redness of boiling blood.

"Damn it!"

"Enemy attack!"

"We are protected by Heaven, what are we afraid of?"

"Even the heavens are on our side, what do we have to fear?"

"Oh no, how did I get hurt?"

The seven elders suddenly changed color.

Why has God stopped protecting us?

The color change was as fast as turning the pages of a book, going from smug to terrified in the blink of an eye.

"Run—run fast!"

They wanted to escape.

After kneeling for a whole day, my legs were numb and I couldn't stand up at all.

They wanted to hide.

But the rain of arrows was too dense, as dense as a net, leaving nowhere to hide.

But the secret had been hidden, and their reliance was gone.

"It's too late, we're surrounded! Quick, form ranks!"

"I refuse to believe they would actually dare to kill us!"

"Isn't the Moon Clan Empress afraid of public opinion?"

At that very moment, when a barrage of arrows was unleashed.

A figure darted out.

Tang Xixue gripped the Longevity Sword in her hand.

Her sword was incredibly fast.

It was as fast as a flash of light.

It's as fast as lightning.

It was as fast as a bolt of lightning striking down from the heavens.

As the starlight obscured the heavens and arrows rained down like a waterfall, the sword in her hand had already severed their throats.

One sword.

Two swords.

Three swords.

The sword light, like moonlight condensed into frost, weaved between the seven figures.

The sword was too fast; they didn't have time to react.

The sword was so sharp that they didn't even feel the pain when it cut their throats.

Blood splattered three feet deep.

The blood was warm, sweet and pungent, and glowed a dark red under the moonlight.

The blood stained the stone steps in front of the palace gate, stained the seven figures who had been kneeling for a day, and stained the once arrogant and wicked.

Tang Xixue stood under the cold moon in the high pavilion, her long sword dripping with blood.

The blood slid down the sword, one drop, two drops, landing on the stone steps at her feet, spreading into dark red flowers.

The moonlight fell on her, illuminating her pure and otherworldly face.

"Didn't you want to see me, the Emperor?"

Her voice rang out softly.

"I've seen it now."

She lowered her eyes, the smile on her lips as faint as moonlight.

"If you see him, then die."

"Your Majesty, won't you spare anyone for interrogation?"

"Interrogation?"

"The King of Hell will judge for me. My only responsibility is to send them to see the King of Hell."

"Shuashuashua——"

The Butterfly Sword whirled like a butterfly, circling around the seven fallen corpses.

A flash of sword light, and seven heads rolled to the ground.

The heads rolled onto the stone steps, some with their eyes open, some with their mouths agape, their expressions still frozen in the terror of the previous moment.

"Even a centipede that has a hundred legs does not fall down when dead."

Xie Jinlian's voice was as cold as the wind from a polar glacier.

"Beheading is the safest course of action."

He sheathed his sword with fluid, clean movements.

Her clothes fluttered gently in the night breeze, untouched by a speck of dust.

There wasn't a single drop of blood on the sword.

"boom--"

Stars meet water and condense into arrows.

Seven arrows, carrying a chilling aura, pierced the air and flew away.

The arrows landed precisely on the seven corpses, without missing a single one.

"To be reduced to ashes and vanish without a trace, beyond the cycle of reincarnation."

The corpse exploded, turning into dust that drifted away in the wind.

"That's what you call destroying evidence."

His voice was as cold as frost, as if it came from the depths of the netherworld.

"Let's see how they achieve immortality then?"

"bite--"

A clear, melodious bell rang out in the night.

The bell rang crisply and melodiously, like a drop of ink falling into clear water, creating ripples that spread out layer by layer.

He Lichen calmly took out a Soul-Suppressing Bell.

The bell was small and exquisite, entirely blackish-gold, and shimmered with a faint luster under the moonlight.

The bell was covered with fine runes, which glowed faintly in the night.

He looked at the place that had long since turned to dust, a faint smile appearing on his lips.

"Oh."

He chuckled softly.

"You all want to do a lot to my Orioru."

"Death is only the beginning."

He gently shook the Soul-Suppressing Bell in his hand.

The sound of bells drifted into the depths of the night, towards those souls that had long since vanished.

The bell tolled after the spirits, like a hunter chasing its prey, relentlessly pursuing them.

He has plenty of ways.

Slowly let them learn what the law of the jungle truly means.

What is the cycle of cause and effect?

What does it mean to harm someone? What will happen to them?

"Oh my god! I think we're the real villain team."

Bai Duo tugged at Yue Zhongtian's sleeve and said, dumbfounded.

His eyes were wide open, like copper bells, his mouth was agape, and his jaw was about to drop to the ground.

Their Empress's actions were truly swift, accurate, and ruthless.

Clean and efficient, without any unnecessary delays.

One sword to the throat, one sword to the head, one arrow to the corpse, one bell to the soul.

A complete funeral service, everything is arranged clearly and transparently.

"This...this is your weak and helpless Empress?"

His voice sounded somewhat unsteady, like leaves scattered in the wind.

"I don't think even our Sea Emperor is as ruthless as her."

He seemed to have thought of something, and suddenly lowered his voice, leaning close to Yue Zhongtian's ear.

"Compared to her, our Sea Emperor might actually be the one on the bottom..."

"???"

Yue Zhongtian suddenly turned his head and glared at him, his gaze sharp as a knife, as if he wanted to pierce Bai Duo on the spot.

"Do you want to die? What kind of outrageous talk is that!"

His face flushed red, as red as a boiled shrimp.

"What...what did I say?"

Bai Duo looked completely innocent.

"I'm talking about those in lower positions. Understand?"

He stared silently at the moon in the sky.

"What are you thinking, bro?"

"I wasn't thinking anything."

The moon clenched its fist and blushed.

He looked like a little crab that had just come out of a steamer.

He lowered his head, not daring to look at anyone.

"You're overthinking it. Our Sea Emperor said it himself, that's his sister."

Bai Duo analyzed it in a very serious manner.

"No matter what, our Emperor can't be... in a subordinate position on that side, can he?"