After descending from Taishang Palace, they walked for another six days.
The scent of the sea began to appear on the evening of the fifth day. The land breeze blowing from the west turned into a briny sea breeze, and the vegetation thinned, losing the inky green distinctive to the Eastern Wasteland. Low salt trees began to appear beside the road, along with seaweed spread across the sand.
Nian Nu'er had not stepped on a single dry twig.
Fang Mo only noticed this on the sixth day. Her feet always landed on gravel and hard earth, avoiding tiny obstacles with something close to instinct. After six days of walking, the soles of the cloth shoes she had bought in the town at the foot of Taishang Palace barely had any dust on them.
Fang Mo had already replaced a layer of his soles.
Seaside City appeared after noon on the sixth day.
Its walls were grayish white, built from a kind of stone crusted with salt, with dried vines creeping over them. When Fang Mo saw it from a distance, he thought it was an abandoned city. Only when he drew closer did he make out figures moving in the gateway.
There were no guards at the gate-or rather, there were people standing where the guards should have been, but those two were not guarding the gate. They were guarding the wooden frames standing on either side of it.
Something hung from the wooden frames and stirred when the wind blew past.
Nian Nu'er stopped beside Fang Mo.
Her Nine Nether Origin circulated within her new body, giving her a natural perception of Yin Qi and resentment. At that moment, her palms warmed slightly, and a film of black, waterlike essence seeped out, only for her to suppress it an