Run!
They accelerated into a mad sprint.
More than a dozen people raced through this unnatural red weather.
The stench of blood in the surroundings grew ever heavier, and the living beings within the Path to Heaven gradually began to lose their minds, stirring restlessly.
Then, without warning—
A beam of light swept over them, and everyone instinctively turned their eyes toward it.
Not far down the great road, beneath the leaves, stood more than a dozen things shaped like people.
They had no facial features and wore no clothing. Their bodies were a deep black, covered in stripes—ring after ring, circle after circle.
Even the surrounding light was warped and distorted by their presence.
Clinging to them were bizarre creatures with disproportionate bodies: one huge eye, two pairs of legs, and a tail.
The light had shot from those eyes, landing directly on the path Li Su and the others were taking and drawing their attention.
"They're Tree-Ring People and Evil-Eye Crawlers!"
Hongjin's expression changed slightly. "Everyone, whatever you do, don't look at the rings on the Tree-Ring People! This race is extremely strange. They feed by devouring the 'time' of other living beings. The rings on their bodies can drain others' lifespan—one ring is a hundred years, ten rings a thousand. Once you see them, your lifespan will drain away in an instant."
In that instant, Dao Xuan and the others immediately paled and turned their heads away.
Though Hongjin had warned them quickly, quite a few had still been caught. Even Li Su, after seeing the rings upon the Tree-Ring People, felt his own years slipping away.
The speed was terrifyingly fast.
Long years passed in an instant. Their flesh aged by decades, stripping away nearly an entire ordinary lifetime.
The next moment, light burst from their