The fierce wind howled, and the snow whirled.

At this moment, night had already fallen, but the atmosphere in Chengdu Prefecture remained feverish.

The city was full of red lanterns, emitting a blood-red glow through the fog, mixed with the bone-chilling wind and heavy snowflakes.

Occasionally, the sound of muffled thunder came from the sky, suffocating and oppressive.

On both sides of the street, the bamboo and wood lantern stands that should have been colorful were now uniformly covered with red drapes, and various palace lanterns and revolving lanterns emitted a dazzling red light in the dense fog.

The patterns of flowers, birds, and immortals painted on the lanterns appeared grotesque and distorted, casting blood-colored shadows on the snow-covered ground.

The whole city seemed to have sunk into a blood pool of the Netherworld.

At this moment, all the townsfolk were possessed, their faces flushed, foreheads perspiring, and saliva dripping from their mouths.

Waving torches, they wandered aimlessly in the thick fog.

Everyone had gone mad, fights and brawls were everywhere, severed limbs and blood were splattered on the snow.

Even the children screamed as they lit firecrackers and threw them into the crowd, the explosions inciting more frenzied shouts.

The "Joyful God Money" on their bodies had rusted and peeled off, and where it touched the skin, blood vessels swelled like black lines, resembling blue spell patterns.

However, they were oblivious to the pain, merely mumbling broken phrases like "Burn incense and pray" and "Slay the evil spirits."

The streets and alleys were in complete disarray.

All of Chengdu Prefecture seemed to have been dragged into a nightmare.

At this moment, reality and illusion overlapped.

Madness and the color of blood became the main themes.

On the city walls, there should have been soldiers patrolling, but when the Secret Realm of the Dragon Palace was drawn from the Water Mansion, all soldiers had received orders to retreat and defend outside the Shu Prince Mansion.

At this moment, Chengdu Prefecture was undefended.

On the desolate field, a red mist wrapped in wind and snow came rushing, dodging left and right, with a bang, it collided with the city wall.

The red mist dispersed, revealing a wretched figure.

It was none other than the Sect Leader of the Dragon Worship Sect, "Lang Wu."

"Ah~"

He screamed miserably, blood streaming from his head, as he clawed with five fingers at the edge of the bronze mask, trying hard to pull it off.

The vertical eyes on the bronze Nuo mask flickered with a red glow.

This thing seemed alive, the red Evil Spirit Qi exceedingly viscous, like tiny roots tightly clinging to Lang Wu's face.

As the mask loosened, the blood-colored roots stretched longer.

Pop!

Finally, the bronze Nuo mask was removed and rolled away.

Lang Wu's face was covered with dense blood holes, pitted and ghastly.

He couldn't care less, panting heavily, his eyes full of fear as he stared at the bronze Nuo mask on the ground.

This thing is a divine artifact from the Ancient Shu Kingdom, mysterious and unfathomable.

Guided by someone, he used it to absorb the Evil Spirit Qi trapped in the Dragon Palace Water Mansion, fully transforming it into Demonic Qi.

More powerful, yet more dangerous.

Had it not been to avoid the Yin Bureau troops, he would never have used this item.

More troublesome still, the ritual had failed.

Why is Li Yan still connected with the Dragon Lady…

"Lang Wu" couldn't figure it out, but had no time to ponder, he wrapped the Nuo mask with a rag and, struggling to his feet, stumbled toward the city.

At this moment, the city was in chaos.

The mad townsfolk wandered like drunken ghosts, the red light from torches and the shadows of lanterns weaving into a net, attacking anyone not under a spell.

However, Lang Wu paid it no mind.

The Nuo mask in his arms emitted a red glow that influenced the frenzied townsfolk under a spell, causing them to see him but disregard him, making way.

Finally, Lang Wu reached the Shu King Palace.

The Shu King Palace was a different world at this moment.

Every few dozen meters outside the palace, a three-foot-tall magic flag stood, its flags flapping in the wind and snow, alongside large white lanterns.

On the white lanterns, black ink characters with the large word "Sacrifice" were written, adorned with lotus flowers and immortal cranes.

This object was called the "mourning lamp," originating from the Song, also known as the "Soul Summoning Lamp," said to illuminate the path for the dead to the Netherworld, preventing them from getting lost.

In some northern regions, it was customary to hang white lanterns in courtyards on the night of the "seventh day" for the deceased to "return home and visit family."

In hindsight, hanging these was a bit ominous.

However, the one hundred and eight array flags outside the Shu King Palace, along with the one hundred and eight mourning lanterns, formed an array that blocked the red glow and dense fog out of the city.

The cool white and the frenzied red were distinctly separated.

The garrison soldiers transferred to Chengdu were now camped outside the palace, close to thirty thousand soldiers, their camps sprawling, enclosing the Prince Mansion water-tight.

They were not under a spell, standing with long spears in the wind and snow, gazing at the frenzied world on the other side, their eyes filled with confusion and fear.

These soldiers came by order, but their loyalty to King Shu far surpassed that of the distant emperor.

Now, however, they all felt uneasy.

This scenario didn't look like establishing a sovereign...

Of course, no one dared ask.

Behind the high walls, squads of King Shu's personal Black Feather Guards patrolled on horseback, armed with new firearms, exuding a deadly aura.

Questions were raised before, and the questioner was executed on the spot.

The mangled body still hung on the wall.

In a distant dark alley, Lang Wu cautiously observed, not breaking in from the front, but instead turning to a nearby house, leaping into a well.

This well led directly to the moat outside Shu Prince Mansion.

Lang Wu couldn't use Water Escape, but his Qi was long and enduring, allowing him to traverse underwater and slip through the aqueduct into Shu King Palace.

Resurfacing, he appeared in the water pool of the Prince Mansion Garden.

He seemed quite familiar with the place, slipping through shadows, quickly diving into a woodshed.

A rustling ensued, and when he pushed the door open again, he was dressed in eunuch clothing, bowing and heading toward the Eastern Six Palaces.

Along the way, troops occasionally stood guard, with eunuchs and palace maids wandering about.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.