Chapter 753: Chapter 753

The killings in the Imperial City lasted all night. Amid a field of blood and ruins, Chao Mu Hall and Zhaoyu Palace were still relatively well-preserved in these flames of war.

When Ning Feiyan returned to the sleeping quarters, the dead bodies littering the small garden path outside the hall had been cleaned up by the Demon Army within the Imperial City. One could faintly discern the traces of the skirmish on the building’s beams and pillars, as well as the bloodstains dried among the flowers and leaves.

The morning sun was rising, and the clouds at daybreak cast a faint, glowing haze over Mo City, making it seem like a world apart.

Ning Feiyan searched around the hall but did not find Wen Hanwei and others. She thought that those injured Taixuan disciples must have been hidden very well by the Young Sect Master. Despite the great battle, they had not exposed the slightest trace of their presence.

Unfortunately, now that the Demon Lord had returned to the city, no matter how well they hid, it was probably still impossible to conceal anything from the Demon Lord’s sinister eyes.

The blaze of war outside the palace was subsiding. Ning Feiyan found the two young ladies under a grapevine in a courtyard of the side hall.

Empty jars littered the ground, filling the courtyard with the smell of alcohol.

By the looks of it, they might have been drinking for most of the night.

Su Jing sat, supporting her forehead with one hand, appearing quite drunk. Her eyes were tightly shut, revealing a pained expression as she pinched the bridge of her nose. Her little face was deathly pale.

Across from her, Yin Baishuang sat still as an ancient tree, with many wine jars piled beneath her. Her face, however, showed no sign of drunkenness, and her gaze was even clearer than usual.

She held an empty cup in one hand, lazily resting her arm on the rattan chair, gazing at the dawn’s light in the east. Yet reflected in her eyes was an endless grey expanse of sky.

Perhaps sensing Ning Feiyan’s approach, Yin Baishuang’s gaze returned from the horizon and glanced at her. Slowly putting down the wine cup, she said, "It seems that your Demon World doesn’t have many peaceful days either. I have only infiltrated the Demon World for a few days, and even the Imperial City has been breached."

Ning Feiyan cut straight to the point, "One piece of good news and one piece of bad news, which do you want to hear first?"

Yin Baishuang replied seemingly without a care, "The good news."

"The Imperial City is heavily damaged, and the Demon Lord’s wedding will probably have to be postponed."

Yin Baishuang nodded, "That counts as a piece of good news, I guess. I heard that the Demon Clan’s Shouhe has a cache of thirty thousand secret techniques, and I doubt that the little corpse demon would find the Gate’s location in just over ten days. Now that the wedding is postponed, it’s not a bad thing."

Pinching the bridge of her nose, Su Jing slowly let go and opened her eyes to look at Ning Feiyan, "Why hasn’t Si Chen returned?"

Ning Feiyan responded, "That would be the bad news. The extent of Mo City’s destruction, mostly his masterpiece, has enraged the Demon Lord to the point of imprisoning him in the dungeon. Judging by the situation, he probably won’t be released until the wedding."

In other words, delaying time was meaningless.

The drunkenness in Su Jing’s eyes faded, replaced by a frigid glint, but she remained silent.

Yin Baishuang sneered with an expression that seemed almost to revel in schadenfreude, "I truly underestimated that little corpse demon. He had the audacity to create such mayhem in the Demon Lord’s Imperial City. But he’s really shot himself in the foot; the dungeon cannot be as comfortable as the soft beds in the palace."

Ning Feiyan gave her a meaningful look and said with a smile, "Miss Yin speaks with great wisdom indeed."

Su Jing, who had been quietly drinking with Yin Baishuang all night, suddenly spoke up with a chilly voice, "Is this really the time to be making cutting remarks?"

"Miss Su Jing, there’s no need for such anger. I brought the news back so we could all discuss a solution together, didn’t I?"

Su Jing’s gaze was as cold as a blade’s edge, and her crisp voice carried the heat of Blood Energy, "Which of your eyes saw me getting angry?"

Ning Feiyan blinked both eyes, remaining silent with a smile.

Yin Baishuang, hands empty, spread them out and said, "I’m only responsible for making the moves. As for the rest, that’s for you all to worry about."

However, reality was that even if she didn’t want to get involved, trouble would still come knocking.

An Inner Official from the Demon Clan approached through the garden, bearing the Hand Token of the Demon Lord, summoning Su Jing and Yin Baishuang to Changqiu Hall to see His Majesty. There was to be no error.

Upon hearing this, neither Su Jing nor Yin Baishuang showed any hint of fear or panic, both maintaining a composed demeanor.

Ning Feiyan hadn’t expected so much trouble after the battle. The Demon Lord had surplus energy to bother these two women, and for a moment, she couldn’t guess what the Demon Lord was planning.

Pushing down her doubts, Ning Feiyan asked the Inner Official, "Has His Majesty summoned me as well?"

The official replied with respect, "No, but if Baili Da-Ren is worried about the two ladies from Chao Mu Hall, you may accompany them."

With that, Ning Feiyan roughly guessed the Demon Lord’s intentions. She swept her glance over the two women and said, "After all, they are Si Chen’s people. I naturally have to take good care of them, so as to avoid any impropriety in front of His Majesty."

Guided by the Inner Official, the group quickly left Chao Mu Hall, with little conversation among the three as they walked.

As they were passing by a stone lion at the palace gate, the Demon Generals outside were counting the corpses of the Manxie that had been dragged out of the hall.

To their surprise, not only the Demon Generals were present, but Lianhua, who lost to Ning Feiyan at the Monarch’s Return Banquet, was also among them, cleaning up the battlefield.

The bodies were piled high, nearly exceeding the walls of the hall. As the three were about to pass the Corpse Mountain, a dismembered corpse tumbled unstably from the pile and crashed onto the path right in front of them.

The Demon Clan Inner Official leading the way turned back at the noise and saw Lianhua, hands crossed over his chest, looking with evident interest at the fallen Manxie corpse on the ground. He couldn’t help but remind him, "Lord Lianhua, this is Chao Mu Hall after all. You must behave with some decorum."

Chao Mu Hall was originally Ning Feiyan’s sleeping palace, but since the Monarch’s Return Banquet, Baili An had requested Ning Feiyan from the Demon Lord, so now both the person and the hall rightfully belonged to the future Royal Consort.