Entering Slaughter City, This is Purgatory, Not a School

The pork rib soup, braised fish, and steamed buns he'd eaten for dinner were all vomited up onto the grass by the flowerbed. He retched until he was completely empty, bringing up nothing but bile, yet he continued to dry heave.

His body shuddered with every spasm.

Luo Shang stood to the side, watching him retch.

He couldn't help but chuckle.

His expression was a mix of heartache, helplessness, and a hint of relief.

This kid really knew how to put on an act.

Back in the prison, he had killed nine people without a single change in his expression, his eyes as cold as ice. When he walked out, his back had been straight as a rod, his voice steady and calm.

Luo Shang had almost believed his son had truly turned into a killing machine.

Yet, the moment they were out, he was vomiting like this.

Luo Shang crouched down and patted Luo Yun on the back, his touch neither too heavy nor too light.

"Weren't you acting pretty tough just a moment ago?"

Luo Yun spat out the last of the bitter bile and looked up. His eyes were red-rimmed, his face smeared with a mixture of tears and sweat, and his mouth tasted of sour bitterness.

"I was not!!!"

One month later.

The prison.

The flickering light of torches danced on the walls, casting the entire underground space in shifting shadows.

Luo Yun stood in the center of the open floor, surrounded by bodies strewn in every direction.

Thirty of them.

Blood spread across the ground, pooling into a vast, dark red lake that shimmered with a viscous sheen under the firelight.

The entire prison was now empty.

Luo Yun's robes were soaked in blood.

He looked truly terrifying.

Even his eyes had changed.

A month ago, those eyes had still held hesitation, fear, and the unease of a six-year-old child.

Today, all of that had vanished, replaced by something cold and heavy...

Malice!

A killing intent that seeped from the very marrow of his bones.

When those eyes swept over the corpses on the ground, there was no emotional fluctuation, as if he were merely looking at a pile of trash that needed to be cleared away.

Luo Yun raised his hand, holding the Moon Eclipse Sword horizontally before him. The blade was caked in blood, its purple-black glow flickering faintly beneath the crimson stains.

Looking at his own reflection in the blade, the corners of Luo Yun's mouth curled slightly.

The arc was shallow; it wasn't a smile.

It was coldness.

"Ants."

Luo Shang stood in the distance, arms crossed, leaning against the iron bars of the prison.

He looked at the bodies covering the floor, then at Luo Yun standing amidst them. He remained silent for a moment, then gave a slight nod.

He was deeply satisfied.

This child, Luo Yun, had changed.

If not for this damn God Trial, who would ever want their child to become like this?

"Let's go." Luo Shang's voice was not loud, but it carried clearly through the empty prison.

Luo Yun looked up, and the Moon Eclipse Sword dissolved into points of light that vanished into his palm. He turned and walked toward Luo Shang, stepping through the pool of blood; the sound of his boots splashing in the gore was sticky and dull.

An ordinary person would have been sickened by this sight long ago.

The adjutant stood to the side, watching Luo Yun approach, and instinctively stepped half a pace back.

He had killed many men on the battlefield and had seen scenes of carnage ten or a hundred times worse than this prison, but facing this six-year-old child, a chill he couldn't name welled up in his heart.

It wasn't fear.

It was... the aura radiating from this child, which was not something a child should possess.

Luo Shang glanced at the adjutant but said nothing.

Father and son left the prison, one following the other.

Two days later.

Slaughter City.

Luo Shang led Luo Yun on a long journey, crossing stretch after stretch of wasteland and climbing over hill after hill.

Until a desolate, uninhabited village appeared before them.

Luo Yun stopped in his tracks and looked up.

The village was small, with dozens of dilapidated adobe houses scattered across the wasteland. There were no lights, no signs of life, only crows screeching in the sky.

Luo Shang brought him to a tavern.

He let Luo Yun go inside alone while he...

Slaughter City, core region.

Luo Shang walked through a dim corridor, the stone walls on both sides embedded with glowing crystals.

The passage was long and winding, leading to an unknown destination.

At the end of the passage stood a massive stone door, carved with a bat spreading its wings, its eyes formed by two red gemstones.

Luo Shang stood before the stone door, neither knocking nor speaking.

The stone door opened on its own.

Behind the door lay a vast hall, its walls draped in dark red curtains and its floor paved with black stone slabs, through the cracks of which a faint, dark red light pulsed.

At the far end of the hall sat a person upon a towering stone throne.

The man wore a dark red robe, his face as pale as paper, yet his lips were as red as blood.

His eyes were deep crimson, with vertical pupils like those of a snake.

His hair was blood-red, cascading over his shoulders.

King of Slaughter.

He sat on the stone throne, one hand propping up his chin, his deep crimson vertical pupils watching Luo Shang as he entered, the corners of his mouth curling slightly.

"King Frost Extreme." The King of Slaughter's voice was soft, carrying a lazy, indifferent tone. "A rare guest. What wind has blown you to This Seat?"

Luo Shang walked to the center of the hall, stood still, and looked up at the King of Slaughter on the stone throne.

"This King is sending someone in." Luo Shang's voice was flat, neither servile nor overbearing. "Six years old, a boy."

The King of Slaughter raised an eyebrow, a flicker of surprise flashing through his deep crimson vertical pupils.

"Six years old?" He repeated, the arc of his mouth widening. "King Frost Extreme, do you have some misunderstanding about Slaughter City? This is purgatory, not a school."

"I know." Luo Shang's tone remained unchanged. "That is why This King has come to ask you to look after him."

The hall fell silent for a moment.

The King of Slaughter sat on the stone throne, watching Luo Shang, his deep crimson vertical pupils narrowing slightly as if sizing something up.

After a while, he laughed, though the sound was faint.

"Since King Frost Extreme has spoken, This Seat must naturally give you face." The King of Slaughter said, his tone very polite, yet Luo Shang heard clearly what lay beneath that courtesy.

It was a condescending, charitable posture, as if saying, "I am giving you face, but you must know this is a favor I am bestowing upon you."

Luo Shang did not speak, merely nodding slightly.

He did not offer thanks.

Because thanks were meaningless.

The more readily the King of Slaughter agreed, the more it indicated he had no intention of actually doing anything.

Luo Shang knew the ways of these old monsters all too well.

Polite on the surface, but in reality, they wouldn't lift a finger.

Yet he had no other choice.

Luo Yun had to enter Slaughter City, and he could not enter himself.

So, all he could do was stand outside and wait.

Luo Shang turned and walked toward the exit of the hall.

His back was straight and steady, revealing no emotion.

But the moment he turned away, the corners of the King of Slaughter's mouth curled, and a trace of disdain flashed through his deep crimson vertical pupils.

A level ninety-five Super Douluo, a hundred-thousand-year spirit ring, ruler of the entire Northern Territory.

So what?

This is Slaughter City.