They say that when you suddenly look up from the good things in life, you're more likely to see death.
I had to admit, this moment felt remarkably familiar.
Compared to the last time I'd been here, the restaurant's furnishings hadn't changed much.
Above this spot still hung the same slightly ornate, old-fashioned chandelier.
The fixture hadn't been lit to begin with, but now it seemed to be covered in a layer of lifeless gray.
It was hard to make out beneath the shadows, and easy to overlook if you weren't paying attention.
But once you noticed it, it was hard to look away from that strange sight.
Everything withered, good and evil turned to ash—one second was all it took to put you in a sage-like state.
On top of that, the feeling was strangely familiar. Fu Qian felt as though he'd just seen it somewhere.
That's right. Though it wasn't exactly the same, the gray on the people at the bottom of the lake in Unseen Hill, just beyond the door, had looked quite a bit like this.
Ding!
At one point, Fu Qian reached out, producing a crisp ring.
Not only did it look like the gray on a person's body, but once it realized it had been spotted, the shadow wriggled and actually thrust out a slender, pointed claw.
Its curve was elegant and its color a dark red. It looked bone-like, yet when it touched the Mirror Armor on his hand, it rang like metal striking metal.
Ding!
Before the first ring had even faded, another rang out. Fu Qian's little finger had already caught a second pointed claw.
Crack!
Then came a third.
The sound was slightly different because, as this claw thrust out of the shadow, its tip suddenly split open and sinisterly