Just as the first ray of light reached its peak in the sky, a noisy chatter broke out into the hazy atmosphere. The general had assigned over a group of new workers to Hongyue's courtyard to remove the dead bodies and clean up the residence. Since they were new workers, they had not known what occurred the day before. Most of them came from lower families. Furthermore, most of the workers heard about the gossip surrounding the good-for-nothing miss. So naturally, they held no respect nor restraint as they denigrate the eldest miss.

"Tsk, she's not only useless. She's also bad luck. We were supposed to help with the celebration, but because of her, we're stuck with cleaning up dead bodies!" A servant grumbled.

"Why does the general even keep her here? He's too kind to a useless 'normal.' There's no point of being a good father for an idiot who doesn't understand his generosity, " Another servant added.

An older servant solidified in place in horror and looked over at the closed door. He had overheard rumors about what happened, so he was scared upon hearing the newer servants speak so unrestrainedly.

He quickly rushed over and stopped in front of them, "Hush, don't let her hear you!"

"Why? Are you scared of trash? She doesn't even have power like us. We can easily kill her," Someone called out mockingly.

The older one jolted in fear, "You don't understand. The general was the one killed all these servants all because she said so."

Hearing this, the younger servants froze and quickly proceeded to move the corpses. No one spoke for a while until one of them brought up the subject of the upcoming celebration the general was preparing for the evening.

Inside the room, Hongyue lazily folded and unfolded her metal fan as she listened to the loud conversation. From snippets and pieces, she was able to understand that there appeared to be a massive scale celebration happening this evening, and she, the good-for-nothing miss, was not invited to attend. Hongyue listened with interest, her lips curling up.

After checking her body thoroughly last night, Hongyue found that the godly weapon appeared to be becoming stronger in terms of resisting her soul essence. She eyed the murky black liquid in the tub, sitting across the room. With numerous issues at hand, Hongyue wanted to find a way to subdue <Eternal Death> until her next full moon transformation. She couldn't tolerate any more possible miscalculations. She'll have to meet up with that herb seller to do a little more research.

As for now, what to do with the Blood Eroding poison? Hongyue frowned. She couldn't possibly leave it in her room. Moreover, it would be a waste of such a sophisticated poison. Hongyue snapped the fan shut and compressed it back into a bracelet before sliding it back onto her wrist.

If her memory served her correctly, there was a piece of jewelry that was hidden by her mother. Although the jewelry served as a prestige token, no one bothered to steal the first madam's procession after her death.

Hongyue walked across the room and rapped her fingers on the wall.

A hollow reverberation sounded.

Hongyue grinned and pressed her palm on the wooden surface. The wood around her palm reduced in size as it was drained out of any moisture. She removed her hand and patted the dried up surface. The small area of wood gave way and collapsed into brittle slabs. As it fell away, a black onyx hair stick was revealed.

The hair ornament was smooth without imperfection. At the end of the hair stick, there was a fiery black dragon. Hongyue touched the craved claws of the dragon, her eyes showing a bit of pity for the first time.

"I don't know you, nor do you know me, but since I've taken on the name Hongyue, I'll avenge your death," Hongyue hesitated for a moment, "... Mother."

Hongyue's heart shook after she spoke.

Mother was a word she was only able to say once in her past life, and it was never uttered again. Who would have thought she would have the chance in this life in such a messed up situation? She sighed bitterly, her eyes revealed an anguished heartbroken child before it converted back to her usual piercing eyes. Her mind went back to the words the human Hongyue had told her.

'Live Well.'

Hongyue shook her head, "Too naive. If you knew the truth about your mother's death, would you still be willing to forgive them?"

The lingering question hung in the air as she took a seat at her dresser. Hongyue tenderly pressed her lips on a tinted red paper and rubbed a bit of scented oil on her skin. With her fingers, she swiftly weaved her hair up into a bun. Hongyue smirked, she was planning to drop by the banquet after her visit to the old herb seller. After all, if the general had time to enjoy himself with a party, he must be happy.

And if he's happy, Hongyue was not.

Returning to the shallow tub of poison, Hongyue fumbled with her fingers casting out a hex. The black substance formed into a shape of a hair stick identical to the first madam's. Hongyue paused before she planted a magic array on it and slid it in her hair. Seeing there was leftover poison, Hongyue used it to generate a matching bracelet. She slipped on the newly formed poisonous bracelet. It clanged loudly when it settled neatly along with the metal bracelet she got from Qingyu.

She took one final glimpse around the room before she departed the courtyard, missing a familiar pair of pitch-black eyes that observed her in the dark.

in_awe

Enjoy~