The Frost March

[Countdown: 50s]

Burning Rage went on cooldown, and Zhou Heng's HP kept dropping by 100 at a visibly rapid rate.

[Countdown: 40s]

Zhou Heng could already see the faintly glowing teleportation array in the distance. Once he reached it, he could teleport to Frost City, a tier-three main city.

[Countdown: 30s]

Zhou Heng had drawn close enough to feel the teleportation array's vast yet gentle power.

At that moment, Burning Rage came off cooldown.

Without hesitation, Zhou Heng activated Burning Rage again. Combined with the Sakast Imperial Sword (Holy Sword), it sent his movement speed soaring even higher, to 6.2 m/s. Under the rules of the Boundless Endless World, that speed should have been unmatched among players of his level.

[Countdown: 20s]

Zhou Heng had charged into the teleportation array's range. The enormous array radiated a majestic glow, like something that had existed for eternity, remaining fixed there as it released the mighty power of teleportation.

Three kilometers away, Tate saw that Zhou Heng had reached the entrance to the teleportation array, and his eyes nearly split with fury. He absolutely would not allow Zhou Heng to enter Frost City, because he could not go there.

"Zhou Heng!"

"Stop... right there!"

Tate roared, no longer caring about using dark power in Little Bird Town. Endless darkness poured into his body and formed a gigantic black tentacle over ten meters in diameter, which ignored Little Bird Town's many defenses and smashed toward the teleportation array.

Off to the side, nearly two kilometers away, Wang Heng's pupils abruptly contracted at the sight of the gigantic black tentacle reaching into Little Bird Town.

He had known it. How could someone who could make his younger brother vanish without a trace possibly be ordinary?

That old man he had met once actually possessed such a terrifying skill. Even Wang Heng himself might not have been able to withstand that attack.

But the more this happened, the more attention he paid to Zhou Heng.

Both the assignment from the Su Family, a Longevity Family, and this old man's strange, frantic actions pointed to Zhou Heng harboring a great secret.

"Hmph."

Wang Heng snorted and grasped at thin air. An orb of light appeared in his hand, and he hurled it at the black tentacle without hesitation.

"Seal!"

Wang Heng gave a low shout, then dove from the sky toward the teleportation array.

Feeling the tremendous resistance against his tentacle, Tate immediately locked onto Wang Heng.

"You damned bastard! I should have slaughtered you back then!"

"Do you have any idea what you're doing?!"

Tate flew into a rage, and even more terrifying darkness surged from his body.

Without so much as glancing at Tate, Wang Heng kept tossing sealing orbs around himself as he dove at sheer speed.

[Countdown: 5s]

Zhou Heng rushed into the teleportation array and activated the teleportation to Frost City.

At that moment, torrents of darkness surged along the black tentacle, about to pour into the teleportation array and bind Zhou Heng.

In the blink of an eye, Wang Heng arrived right behind him, his entire body blazing with brilliant light as he blocked Tate's dark attack for Zhou Heng.

[Countdown: 0s]

[You survived successfully]

[The Fate Hint ends here]

As the teleportation array activated, Zhou Heng and Wang Heng were teleported to Frost City together.

Tate stood in midair, staring at the spot where Zhou Heng had vanished, his eyes bloodshot and his face as hideous as a demon's.

"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!"

"Why did you stop me? Why did you stop me?!"

"I won't accept this! I won't accept this! Aaaah!"

Tate went berserk, and torrents of darkness cascaded from his body. The next second, his level rose from 50 to 60, then from 60 to 70.

Just like that, Tate's level soared all the way to level 100, max.

"Hahaha! Little Bird Town? Fuck your Little Bird Town! All of you, die!"

Tate laughed maniacally, letting the darkness pour from his body.

Little Bird Town was instantly swallowed by darkness.

[You successfully escaped Little Bird Town, but the true danger has not passed. The enemy is still watching for an opportunity]

[Fate offers you hints]

[Fate Hint 1: Ignore the glare of teleportation and move right. You will evade pursuit by the sealer]

[Fate Hint 2: Ignore the glare of teleportation and move left. You will evade pursuit by the sealer]

A sharp gleam flashed in Zhou Heng's eyes.

To be honest, this was the first time he had encountered hints where both options worked.

That raised the question: left or right?

Zhou Heng made an immediate decision, stopped thinking, and followed his body's instincts.

The glare of the teleportation would last for only one second after the teleportation was complete, and that single second gave Zhou Heng room to act. He abruptly turned right and strode forward.

Soon, Zhou Heng came into contact with people, packed tightly together. He had clearly plunged into a crowd.

When the glare faded, Zhou Heng found himself amid a sea of people with no end in sight.

"Where the hell has the city lord gone?"

"Come out and give us an explanation!"

"Fuck, players from other worlds logging into our Sakas Empire already slowed development for us native residents, and now this?"

"Answer us! Why does it take 300,000 copper coins to exchange for one silver coin?"

(After the emperor was beheaded, prices skyrocketed again.)

"The city lord needs to give us an explanation! Otherwise, what use are our copper coins?"

"We need stable prices! Frost City must offer currency exchange at the rates from when prices were stable!"

Countless NPCs, along with players, were taking part in this massive march.

The glare faded from Wang Heng's vision. He opened his eyes to look for Zhou Heng, but when he took a good look, his face darkened completely.

Ever since the emperor had been beheaded, prices had indeed continued to collapse, especially the silver-to-copper exchange rate, which had soared from the original 1:1,000 to 1:100,000, and finally to 1:300,000.

But even so, a protest riot on this scale should not have erupted in Frost City.

Looking at the densely packed procession stretching beyond sight, Wang Heng desperately wanted to unleash a skill and seal every last one of these people.

But he knew he could not do that, nor was he capable of it.

After all, the Frost Codex that kept Frost City under control was no pushover.

Otherwise, why would that old man who had embraced darkness have stopped on the other side of the teleportation array?

After searching around for a long time without finding any sign of Zhou Heng, Wang Heng could only suppress his frustration and leave the area for now.

Zhou Heng hid in the crowd, waving flags and shouting along with everyone else while constantly watching his surroundings.

He saw Wang Heng fly into the sky and disappear into the distance with his own eyes, but even then, he did not leave.

After all, he could not be sure whether Wang Heng had truly left or was lying in wait.

So the best option now was still to follow the procession until the march ended.

Six hours later, in the afternoon, the blazing sun shone overhead.

Wang Heng appeared above the sea of marchers again. Seeing that there was still no sign of Zhou Heng, he finally gave up completely, turned, and left.

Even after seeing him disappear entirely, Zhou Heng did not let his guard down. Who knew whether this was another one of his tricks?

In any case, Zhou Heng's mind was made up: he would follow the procession and leave only when it dispersed.

Sure enough, Wang Heng appeared twice more afterward. Only after confirming that there really was no sign of Zhou Heng did he truly leave, still unwilling to accept it.

By then, the sky had darkened. The procession, having marched all evening and found that no one had come out to respond at all, was filled with people whose anger had reached its peak...