Dajinshan Temple.
The temple grounds that had once spread for hundreds of li were now a pit several hundred zhang deep.
Several rivers that had once fed the temple’s waters and water features gurgled into that pit.
In a little over a day, the whole place had become a vast, misty lake.
There were even fish, shrimp, turtles and crabs in the water now, and white egrets lazily winged across the surface.
It looked so natural you could almost picture a fishing boat casting its nets, a few hale old fishermen singing loudly.
Only now the great lake was ringed by countless soldiers, packed so tight no water could escape.
Above, several floating mountain peaks drifted across the sky, their slopes flickering with the light of various wards and seals.
Armored elite troops stood by the cliffs in formation, eyes like hawks, staring down.
On a stretch of grass by the lake, a few enormous tents had been set up, made from the hides of strange beasts and embroidered with splendid patterns in gold and silver thread.
Xuan Taiyi and his retinue sat expressionless in one tent, their gazes cold as winter as they stared at the official kneeling on the ground and loudly reporting.
Yuzhou’s capital had been sacked clean.