As Tang Hao carried Tang San out of the darkness alongside Tang Xiao, their feet treading damp, sticky stone steps, a muffled rumble suddenly sounded behind them-the massive, cracked black-stone gates slowly closed. The blood-red skulls carved into them gleamed eerily beneath the blue-violet glow, their eye sockets seeming to swirl with dark-red mist.
Two rows of Black Warriors stood motionless inside the gates like weathered statues. They wore matte-black armor crusted with dried blood, their helmets concealing most of their faces. Their exposed eyes were hollow and lifeless, and even their chests showed no rise or fall, as though they were puppets controlled by soul power.
The long blades in their hands gleamed with a chilling light, the notches along their edges bearing witness to countless killings. The air reeked of rust mingled with blood.
"Welcome to Slaughter City."
A voice as gentle as spring water steeped in honey rang out, and a woman in a long black gauze dress emerged from the far end of the Black Warriors' ranks.
Black gauze veiled her face like mist, revealing only a smooth chin and a graceful neck. Her voice was soft and sweet, yet possessed a penetrating strength that pierced the cold gloom, utterly at odds with the oppressive deathly silence around them.
Tang Hao nodded slightly, his gaze sweeping swiftly over his surroundings as hazy, bloody memories flashed through his mind. This was his second time entering Slaughter City. Though the slaughter and madness of his last visit had faded, the chill that seeped into his very bones felt familiar.
Within Slaughter City lay an eerie world of blue and violet:
Glass lamps hanging along both sides of the streets cast a spectral glow, making the mottled stone walls flicker between light and shadow. Most passersby were wrapped in