The breach in the city wall was larger than it had looked from afar.
As Qi Wu passed through the crack, his sole landed on a half-melted metal plate, its surface still glowing dark red with residual heat.
He did not look down and kept walking. Behind him came the orderly footsteps of the Northern Expedition Army, like a wall being pushed forward, moving slowly and inexorably.
The outlines of the Imperial Capital's inner city gradually sharpened in his view. The once-orderly streets had lost all trace of their original routes, leaving only twisted skeletons covered in a dark red membrane.
Fine veins covered the membrane's surface, like skin that had been peeled away and laid back down. It rose and fell rhythmically in the faint light, as though it were still breathing.
Qi Wu stopped. His Six Eyes swept across several kilometers ahead, peeling back the scene layer by layer. Beneath the membrane lay thicker tissue, and beneath that, a rootlike structure spreading underground.
It was the underlying network left behind by the Four Fiends Formation. Although the main formation had been destroyed, the veins used as its foundational conduits had not yet died completely.
"The formation's foundation is still running," Qi Wu said.
The footsteps behind him stopped.
Xiao Tiance approached from the side and followed Qi Wu's gaze, but he could not see what lay beneath those membranes. All he could see was the dark red surface and the occasional flicker of faint light.
"It can still run?" he asked.
"Not fully. Residual energy is still circulating through inertia."
Qi Wu said, "The water supply has been cut off, but the water in the pipes is still flowing. It needs time to drain. If we leave them alone, these remaining conduits could be used again."
Xiao Tiance