Ye Zhao muttered "Lian" under his breath, the intensity of Qing Shi Lian's stare making it impossible for him to look away.

Every inch of his body was frozen with fear, his heart pounding in his chest.

The atmosphere was tense, as if a storm was brewing just beneath the surface.

Xia Tian had disappeared without a trace, leaving behind scars that were more than physical, they had left their mark on her soul.

Ye Zhao could see the pain written on her face, etched deep into the lines of her expression.

Her gaze was distant, as if she was looking at something that only she could see. He knew that the wounds she had suffered would never fade in this life or the next.

He braced himself for the inevitable backlash that would come from not being able to protect her, but instead of anger, all she gave him was a faint smile. With her head hung low, she muttered, "I failed, husband. I failed as a wife."

At this point, she wasn't even able to shed a tear, as if all the sadness she felt had been drained out of her.

The weight of her words hit him like a ton of bricks, leaving him speechless and unsure of what to say.

Ye Zhao was startled by her words and tried to ask, "What do you mean?" But before he could even finish his sentence, a thunderous noise shook the ground, interrupting him with a deafening roar.

*Boom!*

He let out a heavy sigh, stood up from his seat, and said, "Let me go and check outside." As he walked towards the door, he cast a final glance at Qing Shi Lian.

Her watchful, piercing gaze followed him, seeming to bore into his very soul.

It was clear that something was coming, and Ye Zhao had a feeling that it wasn't going to be good.

He opened the door, ready for whatever awaited him on the other side.

As soon as Ye Zhao was out of sight, Qing Shi Lian dragged her weighty, lifeless body up to a seated position.

Her hair was disheveled and clung moist to her forehead, her limbs numb and heavy with exhaustion.

The glimmer of tears rested on her cheeks, having glistened under the flicker of the dim lights in the room.

Inconsolable and stricken, Qing Shi Lian's body lay naked and exposed, with bodily fluids still oozing from between her parted legs, its pungent odor choking her senses.

The once-mesmerizing woman of grace and desire was now nothing more than a discarded object, torn apart by an act of senseless violence.

The agonizing pain radiating from her violated body screamed for attention, but Qing Shi Lian's eyes remained fastened upon the ceiling, hopelessly staring into space.

Her mind was in a disarray of tumultuous and conflicting thoughts.

The image of Xia Tian's frighteningly expressionless face, his eyes devoid of any emotion, flashed before her eyes.

Qing Shi Lian shuddered, the reality of what had happened, stealing away her breath.

The deafening silence that ensued was terrifying, and the quaking woman's thoughts were in turmoil.

She realized that people who cause harm to others in anger are easily predictable.

The real monsters are those who are capable of inflicting hurt and pain with no emotions whatsoever.

Xia Tian did not even gave her an last glance before disappearance, which let Qing Shi Lian take an big hit on her.

It was as if the her violater refused to even recognise her existence.

As the magnitude of what had happened hit her, Qing Shi Lian's body crumbled finally, an uncontrollable wave of nausea and convulsions coursing through her.

Her legs gave out, unable to bear her weight any longer.

The warm, putrid fluid trickled down, and she was unable to hold back anymore.

She sobbed uncontrollably, gasping and choking as the reality of what had happened dawned on her.

Qing Shi Lian was broken beyond repair, her body scarred and ruined, her mind forever etched by the memory of the worst pain she had ever experienced.

Qing Shi Lian heard some noises coming from outside and sighed.

Finally, she saw a chandelier-like decoration hanging from the ceiling.

Taking a rope from somewhere, she stood beneath it, deep in thought.

She took one last breath before making her final decison.

--------------------

As Ye Zhao stepped outside, gasping at the sight before him, he heard the distinct sound of two voices engaged in a heated argument.

He crept forwards, using abandoned rubble as a cover, to peek around a corner of a demolished building.

There, he saw two of the elders of the sect furiously exchanging words with each other, magic crackling at their fingertips.

"I can't believe you would stoop so low as to attack one of my students," one elder spat, her eyes flashing with rage.

"Don't be a fool," the other elder responded, a sneer on his lips. "He slept with my wife, now It's kill or be killed."

The first elder raised her staff, the tip glowing bright with energy, but Ye Zhao appeared from behind, intercepting her.

"You two, stop it at once," he ordered, his voice low and stern.

The two elders whipped around, their eyes widening in surprise at the sight of Ye Zhao standing there, his power crackling around him.

"What are you doing here?" one of them hissed.

"I came to put an end to this," Ye Zhao growled, glaring between the two of them. "Killing each other is not going to solve anything."

But as Ye Zhao watched, the two elders began to fight again, their shouts of rage filling the air.

Even as he tried to push them apart, it became clear that he was too late.

The sect was beyond saving. His mind foggy with exhaustion and grief, Ye Zhao returned to his room, where a ghastly sight awaited him.

The pale, lifeless body of his wife hung from the ceiling, swaying ever so slightly in the silent air.

At the sight of her, Ye Zhao felt the ground fall away from underneath him, and he sank to the ground with a strangled cry, his sorrow and pain too much to bear.

"Why, why did you leave me?" he whispered into the empty room, his voice barely audible over his sobs.

.....

The darkness of the night engulfed the Sacred Sky Jade realm, filling it with an eerie sense of fear and gloom.

Two of the most prominent families had been destroyed overnight, leaving the entire realm in a state of utter shock and disbelief.

The palpable tension in the air was suffocating, as everyone searched for answers as to how something so catastrophic could have happened, and who could have been behind it.

Even the most powerful forces of the mortal realm were incapable of causing such destruction alone, and soon, rumours began to spread like wildfire that the Dark Soul sect was behind this heinous act.

Others, however, believed that the evil spirits, the legends the realm had feared for centuries, were the cause.

The news of the destruction travelled far and wide, spreading to every corner of the Sacred Sky Jade realm.

Beyond its borders, neighbouring realms too heard the whispers, each eager to capitalize on the chaos and claim their shares of the spoils.

Amidst it all, the perpetrator responsible for this chaos was found sleeping peacefully with two delicate bodies snuggled close to him.

For him, it was just another day of destruction. Even Evelynn, who felt a flicker of guilt for the innocent children caught up in the destruction, could barely make a sound.

The sheer devastation before her eyes had left her numb, and despite her best intentions, she knew it was futile to convince him to be more cautious in the future.

In such a state, Nyx purred away, unfazed by the chaos around her.

She had already located the source of the earlier space crack that had swallowed Xia Chen alive, but being near her "daddy" was far more important.historical

She closed her eyes, savouring the warmth of his touch, and the peace in her heart.

But for the residents of the Sacred Sky Jade realm, there was no such peace, only unease and uncertainty.

Zhou Zhixuan hastily excused herself in the name of secluded cultivation, knowing all too well that a storm was brewing.

She could feel the tension in the air, the thick ominous clouds gathering overhead.

She wanted no part in the upcoming drama. Better to stay out of the way until the dust settled.

Meanwhile, Ye Suyin lay soundly asleep, blissfully unaware of the chaos that had befallen her family.

The destruction had been wrought in the dead of night.

The Sword Fairy was resting in her chambers when she received the heart-stopping news from the Imperial Family.

There had been two recent discoveries of mass destruction in two of the largest martial arts families.

Her eyes widened in shock, and Xia Tian's face flashed through her mind.

'Had he had a hand in this?' she thought.

But she quickly pushed the thought aside and composed herself, knowing that she had to investigate both sides.

She emerged from her chambers, her heart pounding with trepidation as she ventured out into the ominous clouds.

The air was thick with the smell of burning wood and the acrid scent of destruction.

She made her way to the nearby Su Family, determined to get to the bottom of this.