After rescuing Miranda Joy's true soul, her body continued leading them out of the palace.
Before long, they arrived at the estate of one of the missing families.
Dean Bruce finally understood: the bodies had never left the capital!
It made sense. No matter how strange and powerful the purple mist was, it would have been impossible to transport all those bodies in one night.
As for Nicholas William, it was likely that the person responsible had used a diversionary tactic, leading Dean Bruce and the others to focus elsewhere, making it much harder to unravel the truth.
In hindsight, the culprit's strategy was quite clever—nearly flawless.
Thanks to the presence of high-level archmage magic, the spells concealing the missing family's estate were finally dispelled, and the real scene was revealed.
Though there were no signs of battle, the courtyard was covered in dust and fallen leaves.