Innate Religion.
Noon.
Sand Snow City.
A blot of ink-black darkness suddenly appeared above the city, then rapidly spread and poured down.
In no time, Nether Heaven Mist enveloped all of Sand Snow City. Shouts and curses, cries for help and pleas for mercy rang out from within, but lasted only a moment before silence fell.
From the outside, Sand Snow City looked as though a curtain of night had wrapped around it. The city walls marked the boundary: inside, darkness lay thick and viscous; outside, everything remained as it was, the midday sun shining so brightly it made people feel faint.
Tower of Reincarnation.
At dawn, a caravan from afar drove its camels toward a white city standing among the dunes.
Camel bells rang out as the procession left neat tracks in the Yellow Sand.
Before long, they reached the city walls. The gates of the once heavily guarded city stood wide open, and the soldiers at the entrance slumped in scattered heaps against the walls, arms wrapped around their weapons, heads bowed and eyes closed, as if asleep.
The caravan was somewhat puzzled, but gave it little thought and drove its camels straight into the city.
Once inside, they discovered that the entire city was eerily quiet.
There were no cries of hawkers, no passersby, no children playing and laughing... not even the chickens, dogs, or livestock made a sound.
The caravan slowed as it went, unease growing with every step. At last, they stopped outside the inn where they usually stayed whenever they came to town, and exchanged bewildered looks.
"Boss, what... happened here?" One young hand could no longer bear the invisible pressure. He swallowed and asked the caravan leader in a hushed voice.
The leader was just as uncertain, but his camels carried a lifetime's