Blood Moon

In the courtyard, Elder Chen looked up at the black smoke in the northern sky.

A Spirit Hall deacon rushed into the courtyard, shouting, "Something terrible has happened, Elder Chen!"

"What is it? Don't panic, take your time." Elder Chen turned around, his expression grave. "What happened in the north? Why is there such strange black smoke?"

"Elder Chen, it seems to be related to the Evil Soul Masters who attacked the city some time ago. We already sent people to investigate. The Village north of Tieyan City has been massacred," the deacon answered.

"Where is your Hall Master?"

"The Hall Master has already taken people to inspect the situation. Before leaving, he told me to notify you."

"Then let's go."

As Elder Chen spoke, an ancient book appeared in his right hand, and seven Soul Rings emerged around him in succession.

Then, with a flash of yellow light, a green shadow flew from the book and condensed into a large azure bird. Elder Chen leaped onto its back.

"Get on, quickly." Elder Chen called to the deacon.

Before long, Elder Chen and the deacon arrived at Tieyan City's northern gate.

Black smoke filled the sky here, blotting out the sunlight. If the rest of Tieyan City had not still been illuminated, they might have thought night had already fallen.

"Elder Chen."

A woman in her thirties or forties came forward to greet him. Her appearance was ordinary, but she carried herself with authority.

"Little Wen, what's the situation now?" Elder Chen jumped onto the northern city wall, and the azure bird dissolved into specks of light.

"You should see for yourself." Woman surnamed Wen glanced at the Soul Masters nearby who were crouched down and vomiting before speaking hesitantly.

Elder Chen focused his gaze and saw a deep pit at the source of the black smoke. Waves of chanting came from its vicinity. He did not know what language it was, much less what it meant.

Dozens of black-robed Evil Soul Masters were conducting a ritual.

Elder Chen's pupils contracted. The pit was filled with half-melted chunks of human flesh and dark red, thick blood. Whenever the liquid churned, it seemed as though countless dead souls were silently wailing within the pool.

The black smoke was emerging from it out of thin air.

Beside the pool of flesh and blood stood dozens of villagers, along with several corpses that had long since lost all signs of life. Every villager stared at the pool in terror, unable to speak or move.

"This..." Elder Chen pondered with a solemn expression. "Evil Soul Masters usually devour the flesh, blood, and Soul Power of others to strengthen themselves. Yet I cannot sense any fluctuations of Soul Power within it. That is highly abnormal."

Just as everyone was discussing how to proceed, a sudden change occurred. The black smoke blanketing the sky abruptly gathered into a sphere, and a trace of scarlet appeared at its center, slowly spreading outward.

Before long, the black sphere of smoke became incomparably crimson, like a Blood Moon hanging in the sky.

The scarlet moonlight shone into the pit. The pool of flesh and blood that had been churning moments earlier instantly dried up, and the blood clots within shriveled.

As for the living humans trapped beside the pit, under the moonlight, regardless of age or gender, their bellies swelled rapidly as though being inflated. In the blink of an eye, they had swollen to resemble women several months pregnant. Their clothes stretched taut, and something could even be seen writhing beneath their skin.

Even the several corpses nearby, which had long since lost all signs of life, had their bellies bulge in a bizarre fashion. Their taut skin stretched paper-thin like inflating balls, on the verge of bursting.

Elder Chen had barely taken half a step forward when one swollen belly split open.

The imagined explosion did not occur. Instead, the belly was slowly torn apart from within, and a pair of wet little hands reached through the opening, gripping the flesh as they crawled out.

Calling it a humanoid monster would have been generous. It looked more like a lump of flesh with limbs. It had no facial features, yet it let out the cries of an infant.

Its entire body was coated in sticky fluid, with an umbilical cord trailing from its belly to the ground.

It crawled forward a few steps, moving slowly like a newborn baby.

One after another, infant cries rose and fell, but none of them crawled more than a few steps before turning to ash.

No one on the city wall spoke. Those were not Soul Beasts, nor did they possess any Soul Power fluctuations. It was all too bizarre, and everyone felt a chill run down their backs.

The scarlet moonlight spread outward. The Evil Soul Masters chanting outside were no exception—their bellies all swelled. They lowered their heads to look at their bulging abdomens, their gazes turning tender with affection. Then their skin stretched translucent, and they collapsed one after another.

The scarlet moonlight was shining toward Tieyan City, about to reach the northern gate.

"Elder Chen... what should we do?" Even the authoritative woman could not make a decision now.

"Try attacking that red moon with long-range Soul Skills. That is the source." As Elder Chen spoke, he summoned one Soul Beast after another from his Wuhun.

Hearing this, everyone immediately unleashed their Soul Skills.

At once, multicolored lights flared and all shot toward the Blood Moon in the sky.

But unfortunately, under the moonlight, every attack inexplicably exploded, unable to strike its target at all.

The Soul Beasts Elder Chen had summoned were not living creatures and did not possess even a trace of flesh or blood, yet under the moonlight, their bellies still swelled in a bizarre manner.

Elder Chen also lost control of the Soul Beasts at that moment. He watched as they, like the people before them, tore open their bellies and "gave birth" to offspring, regardless of sex.

The moonlight had already reached the city gate.

A quarter of an hour earlier.

As An Chen stared at the strange black smoke in the sky and pondered what that tremendous bang had been, a sharp pain struck without warning.

An Chen's legs gave out, and he collapsed onto the road. The pain came in increasingly violent waves.

His vision darkened, his ears buzzed, and faint whispers began to emerge.

Something warm flowed from his nostrils, dripping down his lips onto his collar. He raised a hand to wipe it away, only to find his palm covered in blood.

Then his vision gradually turned scarlet. Blood flowed simultaneously from his eyes, ears, mouth, and other facial openings.

"An Chen!"

Someone seemed to be calling him, but he could not hear clearly. He wanted to respond, but at that moment, darkness fell over his vision, and he toppled backward.

After An Chen fainted, his consciousness did not sleep. Instead, it felt as though he had entered a dream.

He found himself "standing" amid endless walls of flesh. The flesh walls writhed around him, wet and layered upon layer, as though they were breathing.

A Blood Moon hung overhead, casting eerie moonlight.

At that moment, countless umbilical cords "grew" from the flesh walls in every direction and reached toward him.

An Chen could not move. Grayish-white, wet umbilical cords covered in mucus wrapped around him one after another, trying to drag him into some deepest, warmest place.

His consciousness gradually blurred, and the whispers in his ears became filled with maternal affection, incomparably gentle.

An Chen wanted to return to "Mother's" embrace.

Just as his consciousness was about to fade completely, a roar suddenly thundered in his ears. An Chen instantly woke, and gray mist surged from his right hand toward the umbilical cords.

The cords wrapped around him rapidly receded as though ice and snow had met boiling water.

At the same time, the voices vanished from his ears, leaving behind total silence.

Within the gray mist, An Chen felt something inside his body shatter.

Something within him seemed to be rapidly breaking apart and dissipating.

An Chen suddenly opened his eyes and saw a grayish-white ceiling. He smelled oil from a lamp.

Shitou and Qian Yiming's faces hovered above him. One had red-rimmed eyes, while the other pressed his lips together.

"...He's awake! Brother Pot is awake!" Shitou's voice trembled with tears.

An Chen opened his mouth, his throat dry. "...Why am I here?"

Shitou wiped his face. "You suddenly collapsed while walking down the road, bleeding from all seven facial openings! Qian Yiming and I happened to see you while heading back, so we hurriedly carried you to the infirmary. The doctor said your spiritual essence was weak and your vital energy and blood were depleted. He told you to rest."

"What about the north?" An Chen recalled the tremendous bang from before. "What happened after that sound?"

Shitou froze, then turned to glance out the window. "A few minutes after the bang, the black smoke in the sky gathered into a Blood Moon."

"Blood Moon!?" An Chen recalled the Blood Moon he had "seen" in that world of flesh walls.

Is there some connection?

"Yes, a red moon. Everyone says it's beautiful." Shitou thought for a moment before answering.

"Beautiful..."

At the northern tower of Tieyan City.

Everyone watched the spreading moonlight and their collapsing Soul Skills, their hearts turning cold.

"Little Wen! Take them and leave," Elder Chen said steadily, though his tone was grave. His gaze was fixed on the ever-advancing scarlet moonlight. "Immediately lead all Spirit Hall personnel in an orderly evacuation of the ordinary residents within the city. Move the civilians as far back as possible."

"Elder Chen? What about you?" Woman surnamed Wen frowned slightly.

"I'll see whether I can destroy that red moon." The seven Soul Rings around Elder Chen trembled faintly. "Remember to calm the entire city and do not trigger widespread panic. If I fail as well, immediately send someone to Wuhun City's main hall to seek aid."

Without giving them a chance to dissuade him, the ancient book in Elder Chen's hand began flipping rapidly, and his seventh Soul Ring abruptly erupted with dazzling black light.

"Seventh Soul Skill! Myriad Beasts Possession!"