Li Qingxian pointed at the traces on the ground and said, "All good roads have been cut off."
Yellow talisman ash had burned into lines across the ground, eight in all in every direction. Every line of paper ash had been severed in the middle.
Everyone sighed softly.
"What exactly does that mean?"
"I can't calculate it. But I keep feeling that something is wrong, yet I can't find it no matter how I look."
"Then what do we do?"
"We can only choose the least dangerous path among the dangerous ones. So everyone, prepare yourselves—prepare ten times more thoroughly than before."
Everyone fell silent.
Li Qingxian continued, "Once we cross this hurdle, we can reach the next gate and enter the Imperial City region. If nothing unexpected happens, the Imperial City must contain treasures from the Myriad Phenomena Diagram and the Death Realm, just like the Fate Stars in the sky."
Li Qingxian pointed overhead.
"Let's go. We knew we would reach this point sooner or later. We can't assume the road ahead will be smooth just because the journey so far has gone smoothly," Song Baige said.
The group set out once more.
After crossing three streets, shadowy figures appeared in the gray mist ahead, accompanied by the cheerful laughter of children.
Everyone's hearts lurched, and they stopped.
The gray mist ahead dispersed, revealing a group of children clapping their hands, hopping and skipping as they sang.
"Point here, point there, point Peach, point Peach right and fill your belly; point here, point there, point Peach, point Peach right and gain a treasure..."
One child stepped forward and pointed at his left eye. "Let's all point to the right eye." Then he pointed at his left eye.
The other children said in unison, "I'm pointing to the left