A blood-red moon hung high in the sky.
Everywhere they looked, the land lay desolate.
It looked like a city after its destruction, yet it was nothing like any city they knew. Buildings rose dozens, even more than a hundred fathoms high. The ground was neither earth nor brick, but something black, rough, and hard.
And in the distance...
A forest of steel stretched out before them. Its hard, cold aspect sent a chill through anyone who looked at it, as though they might be swallowed up inside.
The second brother stood dumbstruck. Then he slapped himself hard across the face twice and turned to the eldest of the Three Ghosts.
"Big brother, what the hell is this place?"
The eldest held back his anger and answered through gritted teeth.
"How should I know? We've probably fallen into a trap. Hold your ground. Spells like this generally can't last long. As long as we don't make a mistake, we can wait for it to fade!"
He had a point. Unless they had been transported somewhere, a fabricated world like this normally could not endure for long.
But there was a problem.
They had to hold their ground first. On the empty street, a faint laugh rang out.
It sounded as though someone were pinching their throat and forcing out a shrill, rasping laugh. It chilled them to the bone.
But the eldest had seen plenty of tricks like this. He drew an arrow, and his bowstring snapped. The shot pinned the thing to the ground—
Moonlight spilled over it, illuminating the spot.
The laughter did not stop. Horror filled the eldest's face.
For all he had seen, he could hardly describe what lay there.
It looked as though limbs had been torn from more than a dozen people and haphazardly