Chapter 141: Broken Stems
Under the pale light of the moon, the man moved like a shadow, his blade cutting through the winter air with lethal precision. The sound of steel slicing through the frozen stems and delicate plants of the garden filled the night, each swing methodical, destructive. His eyes narrowed as he approached the nearly finished greenhouse, the fragile structure gleaming faintly under the moon's gaze. With a smirk curling his lips, he stepped forward, intent on reducing it to splinters with a single strike.
He raised his blade, preparing for the decisive blow, when he suddenly froze. A sensation crawled up his spine, prickling his skin. It was a feeling he knew well—killing intent. Cold, sharp, and unmistakable.
His grip tightened on the hilt of his sword as he slowly turned, scanning the dark garden for the source. His gaze fell on a white serpent, coiled beneath the snow-dusted bushes, its body shimmering with a faint blue sheen. The snake's hiss cut through the silence, its blue eyes gleaming with fury.
The man’s shoulders relaxed slightly, a chuckle slipping from his throat. "Just the snake," he muttered, tilting his head as he considered whether to kill it as well. “It’s only a matter of time before it becomes a nuisance.”
He took a step toward it, but something caught his eye, movement just above the greenhouse, high on the rooftop.
There, bathed in the soft glow of the full moon, stood a figure. A woman cloaked in a flowing blue silk robe that shimmered like water. Her face was obscured, half-hidden beneath the folds of her hood, but what struck him most were her eyes.
Too large. Too blank. Cold, emotionless, and unnerving. She glowered at him with an intensity that sent a chill through his body, freezing him in place.
For a moment, the woman stood perfectly still, like a statue carved from ice. The wind tugged at her robe, but she remained motionless, her gaze never leaving him. There was something deeply unsettling about her presence, her stillness unnatural, her silence deafening.
His heart hammered in his chest, his fingers twitching at the hilt of his blade. "What the hell…?" he whispered, backing away, his bravado slipping. "They didn't say anything about this."