The ground began to bleed.
It was not human blood. Its color was abnormal as it kept being squeezed out of the soil.
The lights should have been bright white, but after passing through the summoned distortion zone, they were filtered into a sickly, greenish dark yellow, like the color of an old shroud.
The light itself seemed to have been warped. Where it shone, the shadows on the ground became unnaturally heavy, their edges blurred, as though they might come alive at any moment.
"Transfer progress: 68%." Wu Heng's voice remained steady, though it was slightly faster. "The Cage's space is beginning to be dragged into this area. Everyone, be alert. We may witness cognitive interference next. Stay focused. Don't panic or let your thoughts run wild."
Before he had even finished speaking, the abnormalities had already appeared.
A young demon hunter on patrol suddenly stopped and stared at his hand. It was becoming transparent—not disappearing, but turning translucent, with the texture of glass. He could see the bones and blood vessels inside slowly pulsing.
"My hand..." His voice trembled.
"It's an illusion." Dean rushed over and slapped the back of his neck, using pain to stimulate his nerves and snap him out of it. "Focus. This is sensory deception caused by spatial fluctuations!"
The young demon hunter shook his head sharply. When he looked at his hand again, it had returned to normal, but cold sweat had already soaked through his clothes.
Similar phenomena sporadically appeared throughout the center of this balanced zone:
Some saw the ground writhing like intestines; some heard dead relatives calling to them; others smelled odors that did not exist—rotting flesh, sulfur, decaying flowers.
They were all "radiation" leaking out from the Cage's space.
That place itself was made of pain, despair, and madness.