The Night of the Final Battle

The gale howled, and flying snow billowed.

Night had already fallen, but the atmosphere throughout Chengdu Prefecture remained feverishly charged.

Red lanterns filled the city, casting scarlet halos through the mist, mingling with the biting wind and goose-feather snow.

Dull rolls of thunder occasionally rumbled overhead, and the oppressive feeling was suffocating.

The bamboo-and-wood lantern sheds lining both sides of the streets should have been dazzlingly colorful, but now they were uniformly draped in red curtains. Palace lanterns and revolving lanterns cast hazy red light through the dense fog.

The flowers, birds, and immortal figures painted on the lanterns were all reflected in grotesque, twisted shapes, their blood-colored shadows shimmering across the snow-covered ground.

The entire city seemed to have sunk into a netherworld blood pool.

Every citizen in the city had fallen victim by now. Their faces were flushed, sweat beaded on their foreheads, and drool hung from the corners of their mouths.

They wandered aimlessly through the dense fog, torches in hand.

Everyone had gone mad. Fights and brawls were everywhere, severed limbs and splattered blood staining the snow.

Even the children screamed as they lit firecrackers and hurled them into the crowds. Amid the explosions, even more frenzied howls erupted.

The "God of Joy Coins" on their bodies had flaked and rusted away. Where they touched the skin, veins bulged and spread like black threads, resembling dark-blue curse marks.

Yet they felt no pain at all. They merely repeated broken mutterings such as "burn incense and pray for blessings" and "slay the evil spirits."

The streets and alleys were littered with wreckage.

All of Chengdu Prefecture seemed to have been dragged into a nightmare.

At this moment, reality and illusion overlapped.

Only madness and blood remained the dominant tones.

There should have been soldiers patrolling atop the