Fang Yun and Hu Li proceeded cautiously the entire way. After two days and nights of effort, they finally spotted a great gate and passed through it.
The instant they stepped through the gate, both breathed a sigh of relief, then exchanged smiles.
Fang Yun looked ahead, while Hu Li said, "I would rather carve a bloody path through hundreds or thousands of Demon Kings than enter Silent City again..."
Before she could finish, both she and Fang Yun froze.
Hu Li could not hear her own voice.
Fang Yun, meanwhile, discovered that the space beyond the gate was utterly open: an endless desert.
There were only two colors between heaven and earth-the blue sky and the yellow desert. There were no white clouds, no mountain peaks, no plants, not a trace of any other color.
"I never expected Silent City to connect to the Voidless Desert..."
Fang Yun likewise stopped halfway through his sentence and looked at Hu Li.
They stared at each other, each seeing astonishment in the other's eyes.
This was a world without sound.
There was no sound of breathing, no sound of heartbeats. Fang Yun reached down, scooped up a handful of sand, then released it.
Sand streamed between his fingers and landed without a sound.
Both suddenly felt an emptiness inside, as though they had lost something they treasured most.
Fang Yun felt as though he had stepped into empty air and was falling from a cliff.
After experiencing the omnipresent Silent Killing Sound of Silent City, he had suddenly arrived somewhere utterly soundless, and an inexplicable irritation rose within him.
He had clearly hated that clamor, yet this sudden arrival somewhere quiet was far harder to adjust to than Silent City had been.
Fang Yun sighed softly. This Contest of the Ten Cold