Sounds of gasps and labored breaths echoed continuously in the surroundings.
Time after time, Fei Yue plunged the wooden shovel into the soil, each thrust barely taking any noteworthy amount of dirt.
Yet she didn't give up, didn't rest, didn't tire.Her bosom rose and fell in a delicate manner as she brushed the beads of sweat from her brow.
Each time her crimson hair hindered her movement, she tucked it behind her ear.
One, two, three—she continued digging as the hole gradually widened.
"What a stubborn woman," the leader uttered. He was impressed.
While it had taken his men mere minutes to gather and bury over a hundred bodies, that was because they were adepts—stronger, faster, and with more stamina than regular mortals.
But this woman had spent hours digging without rest, seemingly hell-bent on burying her family with her own hands.
"Sigh Too bad she's past the golden age of youth. She would have made a fine talent to add to our ranks," he muttered to himself.
Though his voice was barely audible, his men could still hear him loud and clear.At first, they had held a certain amount of disdain for Fei Yue, but her resilience had clearly changed their minds.Their leader was right.
Anybody could tell that Fei Yue was already past her mid-twenties. It was too late for her to become an adept.
The earliest stage of maturity was the best time to walk the adept path.
Anything beyond sixteen was considered too old and seen as a waste of resources.
As a woman in her mid-twenties, even if Fei Yue had any talent for magic, it was too late for her.
Quite the shame—Fei Yue was a beautiful woman, even more so now with her captivating red hair and crimson eyes.
It took more than four hours for her to dig a hole big enough for both Jin and Ning.
This was mainly because the shovel had blunt edges and wasn't very useful for digging such large holes.
By this time, it was already midday, and the sun burned profusely at its zenith.
Tucking her hair behind her ear, she bent, revealing her pristine white legs through her dilapidated clothes.
She meticulously pushed her husband in first before jumping inside. Despite containing one fully grown adult, there was still enough space for her to go in and position the body properly.
She then gently picked up the body of her daughter, Ning. Her daughter's body had become hollow at this point, with her internal organs frozen solid.
It was easy for Fei Yue to lift the body and place her on the other side of the hole.
She then proceeded to cover the hole with dirt and sand.
Before leaving, she placed a wooden plaque on the grave, engraving the words "Jin" and "Ning."
"I think you should come with us to Dawn City. It would be a great place to start over," the leader stated.
Fei Yue, still reeling from her loss, had nowhere to go.
She nodded at the man's words, having never heard of Dawn City before.
Whether she would be able to start a new life, however, was up for debate.
"Great. The nearest Shen Passage is about two days away from this village on foot. Gather whatever you need—we set forth right away," the man stated in a hurried tone.
As a high priest of the Golden Order, he had plenty of duties to attend to. This village had merely been a detour.
Their initial goal was to track a rank-four corruption, but they had lost its trail and instead stumbled upon this village, well-hidden among the mountains, absent from any map of the Lesser Region.
Although this was not rare—despite being considered the weakest and smallest of all nine heavens, the Lower Three was still incomparably vast, making it impossible to map completely—villages like this would often appear from time to time, and the official map would be quickly updated.
With their time here coming to an end and nothing else to do, it was time to head back.
Fei Yue, however, frowned at the mention of "Shen Passage." It was a term she was completely unfamiliar with.
After all, like many, she had never ventured beyond the borders of her village.
Due to the strange topography, only a select few ever left the village, and even then, they didn't go far, fearing they might encounter a vicious beast's lair.
Villages like these were self-sustaining, with people relying on hunting animals and gathering herbs for sustenance.
While the men did the hunting, the women engaged in farming activities and collecting wild plants.
There were also other occupations, like tailors and blacksmiths, all working hand in hand to ensure a smooth society.
But in the end, they were destined to be forgotten, buried beneath the snowflake-like relics of a dead age.
Though she had conversed little with the strangers, Fei Yue had mostly refrained from asking, doing, or saying anything that might be considered disrespectful to the adepts.
There had been various myths and stories surrounding adepts—even the weakest of them were not to be trifled with.
This was why she didn't ask what a Shen Passage was. Whatever the case, she would find out soon enough.
Fei Yue didn't take anything with her. She had only changed into something more proper—a piece of loose garment woven from the furs of a white wolf.
It was her dowry; Jin had made it for her on their wedding day, and it was her most prized possession.
She let her red hair fall over her shoulders, making her look even more beautiful.
Though crudely made, the garment only served to highlight her beauty further.Without much talk, the group of six set out into the forest.
Fei Yue cast one last look at the place she had once called home.
Before long, their figures gradually disappeared into the distance.