Black fog spread everywhere.
But Xu Yuan could now walk freely through it.
He returned to Yanmen and followed the street back to the bar.
The door was open.
Qianqian sat at the bar counter, drinking a glass of red wine.
Team Battle... activate.
Xu Yuan recited the words silently and walked in.
Everything was normal.
The bar had become a Safe Zone again.
But when Xu Yuan sat down at the bar counter, he found that he was the only customer in the bar beneath the night sky.
The blood-red lights were gone.
The parrot perched obediently on its wooden stand.
"Welcome, young man. Back again? Fond of the nightlife?"
Qianqian greeted him.
Xu Yuan smiled and said,
"I'm looking for a few people."
"We don't have many customers tonight. Who are you looking for?" Qianqian asked, watching him intently.
"Hmm... have you seen any of these people?"
Xu Yuan laid the portraits of the missing cultivators on the counter and spread them out for Qianqian to see.
"I haven't." Qianqian shook her head.
Xu Yuan glanced toward the parrot.
Its eyes were closed. It seemed to be asleep.
"What are they to you?" Qianqian asked with a smile.
"You said everyone was welcome, so they came. Who knew they'd disappear as soon as they arrived?" Xu Yuan sighed.
Qianqian had not meant to say anything, but in the end she spoke.
"Tell the people outside that they should come during the day. Work done in daylight brings rewards. Night is when the Universe waters this place with malice."
"What happens then?" Xu Yuan asked.
"The moment even a sliver of malice arises in someone's heart, the Universe erases their consciousness and turns them into a vessel for malice," Qianqian said.
"That's brutal. All right, I'll pass the word