Green Plain.
Corpses piled into mountains, and demons ran rampant. Blood washed over the bluestone streets and stained the courtyard walls red. No sign of human life remained.
Nearly ten thousand people had yet to escape the town when they encountered this host of demons. In no more than an incense stick's time, human voices had vanished from the place, leaving only demonic howls.
Beside a mansion with vermilion gates, pale clouds swirled, concealing the presence within. The monsters that emerged from the white mist possessed no intelligence and had not yet broken inside.
Blood streamed across the bright hall. The mortal corpses had been devoured by monsters, leaving only scattered scraps of flesh.
Zhang Gaoxia crouched low against the ground, seemingly searching for something. Paying no heed to the blood and filth, she wore a torn dress, and a bloody hole the size of a bowl's mouth gaped in her abdomen. Though she had checked it with magical power, blood still slowly seeped out.
After searching for a long time, she finally found half a face among the scattered scraps of flesh. It belonged to a woman and bore a dimple like her own. Monster teeth had left their marks upon it.
"No, no..."
Her heart plunged into the depths. Once the last shred of hope shattered, what followed was not despair, but a hollow emptiness, as though she had lost her soul.
"Mother..."
She had led the people of Spring Sprout Hall away from Dapan. Seeing White Stone fall, she had immediately thought of her parents in Spring Plains Town and hurried over using Wind-Riding. She had evaded monsters along the way and returned home, but no one answered her.
An indescribable pain pierced her heart, like countless fine, closely packed needles. Yet no tears came. Her eyes