The Dou Ling Empire, at the border.
Not far from here lay the northern entrance to the Star Dou Great Forest, and a city had been built in the area.
It offered Soul Masters heading into the forest a place to rest. With Shrek City relatively close by and trade flowing between them, it had gradually developed into a fairly prosperous midsized city.
Yet it had also unwittingly offered shelter to the evil lurking in the shadows.
A stretch of wasteland lay on the city's eastern outskirts. There had once been a small village here, but at some unknown point it had been abandoned, leaving only weed-choked fields and dilapidated cottages. At another equally unknown point, people had moved back into the deserted village.
Inside a slightly larger, ramshackle wooden house, several gray-robed men sat around a table, eating exquisite dishes. Their surroundings were crude, but their meal was a feast of delicacies from mountain and sea. With their cultivation, enjoying such luxuries was no trouble at all.
Not far from these gray-robed men, a group of children huddled in a corner of the room.
They sat on the floor, boys and girls alike, none looking older than five or six. Terror filled every child's eyes, and one little girl was still sobbing softly in fear.
But one boy was different. Though he was only around six, there was not a trace of fear in his eyes. Instead, he kept a cold, resentful gaze fixed on the gray-robed men drinking and eating nearby.
Finally, one gray-robed man grew irritated by the children's crying. Setting down his wine cup, he cursed, "Stop crying. If anyone cries again, I'll eat them with my wine."
The terrifying threat instantly silenced the children's sobs, as though the gray-robed man had not been joking at