The hazy sky was gray and black, showing a heavy depression, as if someone had spilled ink on the rice paper, and the ink soaked into the sky and blurred out the clouds.
The clouds overlap and blend with each other, spreading out streaks of crimson lightning, accompanied by rumbling thunder.
It's like the roar of gods, echoing in the world.
The blood-colored rain, with sadness, fell into the mortal world.
The earth was hazy, and there was a ruined city, silent and lifeless in the dim red rain of blood.
The city is in ruins and everything is withered. Collapsed houses can be seen everywhere, as well as blue-black corpses and broken flesh, like broken autumn leaves, silently withering.
The streets that used to be bustling with people are now deserted.
The sandy dirt road that used to be bustling with people is no longer noisy now.
Only blood and mud mixed with minced meat, dust, and paper were left, indistinguishable from each other, which was shocking.
Not far away, a broken carriage was stuck deep in the mud and was full of sadness. Only an abandoned rabbit doll hung on the shaft of the carriage, swaying in the wind.
The white fluff has long been soaked into wet red, full of eerieness.
There seemed to be some resentment left in his turbid eyes, looking lonely at the mottled rocks in front of him.
There, a figure was lying down.
This is a boy of thirteen or fourteen years old, his clothes are torn and covered with dirt, and he has a broken leather bag tied around his waist.
The young man squinted his eyes and remained motionless. The biting cold penetrated his worn coat from all directions and spread throughout his body, gradually taking away his body temperature.
But even when the rain fell on his face, he didn't blink, staring coldly into the distance like an eagle.
Following his gaze, he saw a skinny vulture gnawing on the carrion of a wild dog, seven or eight feet away from him, occasionally observing its surroundings vigilantly.
It seems that in this dangerous ruins, if there is the slightest movement, it will instantly rise into the sky.
The young man is like a hunter, patiently waiting for the opportunity.
After a long time, the opportunity came, and the greedy vulture finally buried its head completely into the belly of the wild dog.
In an instant, a cold light suddenly appeared in the young man's squinted eyes.
His body was like an arrow off the string, he rushed out quickly and went straight to the vulture. With a flick of his right hand, he pulled out a black iron stick from the leather bag on his waist.
A sharp cold light flashed from the tip of the iron stick.
Perhaps because of the sense of murderous intent, the vulture immediately noticed the moment the young man rushed out. It was frightened and flapped its wings in the air, about to fly away.
But it's still too late.
The black iron stick turned into a black line and shot out as the young man swung it expressionlessly.
puff!
The sharp iron stick instantly penetrated the vulture's head, shattering its skull and killing it instantly.
The powerful impact brought its body down, and with a bang, it was nailed to the carriage not far away.
The bloody doll on the side was also shaking more and more due to the turbulence of the carriage.
The young man's expression was calm, and his speed did not stop at all. He ran straight to this place, and when he arrived, he grabbed the vulture's body together with the iron stick.
The force was so strong that a small piece of the carriage was lifted up from the part where the iron pick was nailed.
After doing this, he quickly left along the edge of the street without looking back.
The wind seemed to be stronger at this moment, and the bloody doll on the carriage swayed as if watching the boy go away.
Farther.
The wind was indeed stronger, carrying the chill from the rain, blowing through the young man's thin clothes.
The young man shook involuntarily, frowned slightly, shrank his clothes, and made a sound of inhalation.
He hates the cold.
The way to resist the cold was to find a sheltered place to rest, but the boy running on the street did not stop at the slightest speed, and dilapidated shops passed by his eyes.
He doesn't have much time left.
Because hunting vultures took too long, there was still one place he had not gone to today.
"It shouldn't be far." The young man whispered to himself, speeding along the street.
On the way forward, blue-black corpses could be seen everywhere. Their hopeless faces were full of ferocity, as if they had turned into an aura of despair, trying to contaminate the young man's mind.
But the young man was so used to it that he didn't even look at it.
As time passed, the young man looked at the sky from time to time, with a little anxiety on his face. It seemed that to him, the change in the sky was more terrifying than those corpses.
Fortunately, soon after, when he saw a medicine shop in the distance, the young man breathed a sigh of relief and rushed away.
The medicine shop was not big, and there were many medicine cabinets scattered on the ground. It gave off a musty smell, like a tomb that had been opened and was full of mess.
There is also the corpse of an old man in the corner, covered in black and blue, leaning against the wall, seemingly unable to close his eyes and looking at the outside world.
The young man stepped in, took a quick look, and immediately started rummaging around.
Most of the medicinal herbs here have turned into blue-black like those of the corpses, only a few of them are still normal.
Among these normal herbs, the young man carefully identified them for a long time.
As if recalling past experiences, he finally picked up a common golden grass and took off his thin clothes, revealing a huge scar on his chest.
The scar has not completely healed, and you can see that the edge of the wound has begun to turn black, and there is even some blood oozing out.
The young man looked down, crushed the herb, took a deep breath, gritted his teeth, and raised his hand to apply it little by little on the wound.
In an instant, the severe pain from the wound suddenly hit like a raging tide, causing the young man's body to tremble uncontrollably, but he forced himself to endure it, but he could not suppress the sweat on his forehead, and drops fell down his cheeks on the dark ground.
It became smeared.
The whole process lasted for more than ten breaths. After he had completely applied the herbs to the wound, the young man seemed to have lost all his strength. He held on to the medicine cabinet beside him and waited for a long time before taking a deep breath.
Slowly put on clothes.
He looked at the sky outside again, thought about it, took out a broken map from the leather bag on his waist, and spread it out carefully.
The map is very simple and depicts this city.
The locations of the pharmacies inside have been marked, and many areas in the northeast direction have been marked with crosses, leaving only two areas without crosses.
"After searching for these days, it should be in these two areas." The young man murmured in a low voice with a hoarse voice. He put the map away and was about to leave.
But before leaving, he looked back at the old man's body and his eyes fell on the body's clothes.
It was a leather jacket. Perhaps due to the special leather, the leather jacket was not very corroded.
The young man thought for a while, walked over, took off the leather jacket from the old man's body, and put it on himself.
The leather jacket was a bit big, but after wrapping his thin body, the young man finally felt a touch of warmth. So he lowered his head and looked at the old man's open eyes, raised his hand and gently covered it, making him close his eyes.
"Rest in peace." The young man said softly, tore off the curtain in the shop, covered the old man's body, and turned around to leave the medicine shop.
As he walked out, a glimmer of light shone in front of his feet. The young man looked down and saw a fragment of a palm-sized mirror in the bloody mud.
In the mirror, he saw his own face.
The face reflected in the broken mirror was covered in dirt, but it could still be seen that it was an extremely delicate face.
It's just that the immaturity that a thirteen or fourteen year old should have is gone, replaced by indifference.
The young man silently looked at himself in the mirror on the ground. After a while, he raised his feet and stepped on them.
There was a click.
Cracks appeared one after another.
After crushing the mirror with his foot, he swayed and ran away.
On the ground, although the broken mirror was full of cracks, it still reflected half of the vast human face in the sky, which seemed to cover the world and all living beings, like the broken face of a god.
The remaining face is indifferent with closed eyes, standing high above, with only strands of withered and curved hair hanging down.
It is the same natural existence of this world as the sun and moon.
It seems that under Him, all living things are like ants, and like the sting of insects, the growth of all things is affected by it and has to change.
At this moment, the sky was gradually losing its brightness under the remnant face of this god.
The shadow of the setting sun is like a black haze, filling the ruins of the city and covering the earth, as if it wants to swallow everything up.
The rain is getting heavier
As the night gradually swallowed up, so did the wind, sending out bursts of sharp whimpers.
It was as if the roar of a fierce ghost began to awaken the strange existence in the city, causing all kinds of creepy sounds to respond one after another like a soul-stirring one.
The running boy's steps are faster and his movements are more urgent. Between this and the falling night, you are chasing after each other, and he nimbly shuttles through the streets.
Until, when he passed by a collapsed house and wanted to use his strength to make a long jump, the young man's pupils suddenly shrank.
From the corner of his eye, he saw what seemed to be a person among the ruins not far away.
From a distance, this man was neatly dressed and seemed to have no injuries. He was sitting there leaning against the wall.
The most important thing is that the exposed skin of the other party's body is normal in color, not blue and black!
Such a figure would not appear in this city unless it was a living person!
As for living people... the young man has not met anyone other than himself these days.
This scene shocked him, and he soon seemed to think of something, and his breathing became slightly faster.
I had the intention to go, but the hazy night behind me had already swallowed me up.
The young man hesitated, remembered the location, and left quickly.
After galloping all the way, and finally catching up with him in the dark night, the young man returned to his temporary residence in this city.
It was a hole in the ground. It was very small and full of bird feathers.
The gap at the entrance is not big enough for adults to get in, but teenagers can barely get in.
After entering, he skillfully blocked the entrance with books, stones and other debris from the cave.
The moment it was completely filled, the darkness outside covered it in an instant.
The young man did not relax his vigilance. He held the iron stick firmly in his hand, held his breath, and squatted there to listen for a long time.
Gradually, the roars and shrill sounds of strange beasts came, occasionally mixed with weird laughter.
It wasn't until a clearer roar echoed, and the young man was so nervous that the sound seemed to be passing by and faded away. After it gradually became quieter, he breathed a sigh of relief and sat aside.
It was pitch dark inside the cave, and the young man sat there silently, as if time had stopped at this moment.
He was in a daze for a while, calmed down the nerves that had been tense all day, grabbed a water bottle from beside him, took a few sips, ignored the sounds outside, and took out the vulture from his pocket.
In the dark, he put it to his mouth and bit it bit by bit.
There was a fishy taste in his throat, but he calmly swallowed it slowly, squeezing the food down his throat and into his stomach.
The stomach is also moving vigorously at this moment, trying to digest and relieve hunger.
Soon a whole vulture was eaten by him. The young man took a deep breath, waves of exhaustion rushed over his body, and his eyes slowly closed.
But he was always holding on to the black iron stick in his hand, like a lone wolf pretending to be asleep.
If there was any abnormality, he would open his eyes instantly.
In the outside world at this moment, darkness is like a curtain, covering the city, the earth, and the sky.
The world under the sky is extremely vast, and the overseas Nanhuang Continent is just one of them.
Few people know the exact size of the entire world, but the majestic remnant face in the sky is so intimidating that everyone can look up.
The exact time of arrival of this remnant face is unknown.
People only know from brief descriptions in some classics that a long, long time ago, this world full of fairy spirit was prosperous and full of vitality, until...this huge broken face emerged from the distant depths of the void.
, comes with destruction and attraction.
During the arrival process, the sentient beings in this world tried every means to stop it, but all failed. In the end, only a few ancient emperors led some of their tribesmen to abandon the sentient beings and chose to migrate.
Soon, the broken face arrived and hung in the sky. From then on, the nightmare came.
The aura from Him pervades the entire world, including mountains, seas, all things and sentient beings, and even the spiritual energy that monks rely on for their practice has been infected by it.
All things will wither, all living things will perish, and not one of a hundred will survive.
From then on, those who survived this disaster called this half-face...a god.
This world is called the End Land, and the place where the Ancient Emperor went is called the Holy Land.
This title has been passed down from generation to generation through many eras.
And the disasters brought by the gods are not just these. His majesty suppresses all living beings all the time, because...
Every few years, decades or even hundreds of years, He would open his eyes from time to time and continue to count his breaths.
Every time He opened his eyes and looked at the area, it would be instantly polluted by its aura.
All life is reduced to ashes and turned into an eternal forbidden area.
Over the past epochs, there have been more and more restricted areas in this world, and the habitable areas have become less and less.
Nine days ago, the god opened his eyes again and looked at the area where the young man was.
All species and more than a dozen human cities in that area, no matter where they exist, whether in the city or in the slums outside the city, are instantly polluted and turned into a restricted area for life.
Under this horrific pollution, some of all living things decomposed directly into blood mist, some mutated and became mindless alien beasts, and some even lost their souls and left behind polluted blue-black corpses.
Only a very small number of humans and animals can survive.
Young man is one of them.
At this moment, outside the dark cave, with a shrill sound coming from far and near, the sleeping young man quickly opened his eyes.
He instinctively raised the iron sign in his hand and looked warily at the blocked entrance gap.
It wasn't until the shrill sound circled around and then gradually faded away that the young man breathed a sigh of relief.
No longer sleepy, he touched his leather bag and took out a bamboo slip from it.
In the darkness, he touched the writing on the bamboo slip, and there seemed to be some light in his eyes. Then he sat upright, closed his eyes, and adjusted his breathing.
The boy's name is Xu Qing, and he has lived alone and difficultly in a slum outside this city since he was a child.
During the sudden catastrophe nine days ago, he hid in the crevices of the rocks. Different from other people who were frightened and crazy, he calmly looked at the gods in the sky who opened their eyes. In the eyes of the gods in the sky, the special cross pupils seemed to be lost.
The emotion of fear.
Until he saw a purple light falling from the sky and landing in the northeast of the city.
The next moment, he fell into a coma.
After waking up, he became the only survivor inside and outside the city.
But he didn't leave immediately.
Because he knew that the restricted area formed by the opening of the gods' eyes would initially be covered by a rain of blood and turn into a barrier.
People inside can't get out, and people outside can't step in, unless the restricted area is completely formed.
The sign formed was that the rain of blood stopped.
This catastrophe seemed nothing to Xu Qing, who grew up in a slum.
Because in the slums, whether it is all kinds of homeless people, wild dogs, a disease, or even a cold night, people will lose their lives at any time, and it will be very difficult to survive.
And as long as you are alive, nothing else matters.
Of course, amid the cruelty of the slums, there is occasionally a touch of warmth.
For example, some down-and-out scholars will make a living by teaching literacy to a group of their children. Other than that, they are just memories of their loved ones.
It's just that in Xu Qing's mind, the memories of his relatives are gradually blurring as time goes by. Even if he tries hard to recall them, fearing that he will forget them, they are still getting blurry.
But he knows that he is not an orphan, he still has relatives, but they have been separated for a long time.
So his ideal is to live.
It would be even better if we could live a better life and have the opportunity to see our loved ones.
So he was lucky enough to survive and chose to enter the city.
He was going to the residences of the upper class men in the city, looking for ways to become stronger that were spread in the slums, and he was also going to look for the purple light that fell into the city.
The way to become stronger has been circulated in the slums and is desired by everyone. They call it practice, and those who master the method of practice are called monks.
So becoming a monk is Xu Qing's biggest wish besides the memories of his relatives.
Monks are not uncommon. Xu Qing has seen this type of people entering the city from a distance in the slums in the past few years.
Their typical characteristic is that their bodies will instinctively tremble when looking at them.
Xu Qing even heard people say that the city lord was a monk, and there were also monks among his bodyguards.
So after searching in the city for a long time, five days ago, he finally found the bamboo slip in his hand on a corpse in the city lord's palace.
It was very dangerous there, and the wound on his chest was from that time.
What the bamboo slips recorded was exactly the method of practice he longed for.
All the contents on it have long been memorized by his heart, and he has even begun to try to practice it in the past few days.
Xu Qing has never seen any other cultivation techniques, and this bamboo slip is the only one he has obtained, and he doesn't know how to practice it correctly.
Fortunately, most of the descriptions are in simple and easy-to-understand words, focusing on visualization and breathing.
So he followed the steps step by step, and he gained something.
This method is called Haishan Jue.
The method of practice is to think of the totems carved on the bamboo slips in your mind and breath them out with specific breathing.
This pattern is very strange, it is an alien existence, with a big head and small body, only one leg, the whole body is black, and the face is as ferocious as a ghost.
Xu Qing had never seen this kind of creature, so the bamboo slips called it a mandrill.
As he practiced at this moment, not long after this pattern appeared in his mind, Xu Qing's breathing gradually changed, and an undercurrent gradually filled the air nearby.
Silks of spiritual energy from all around poured in, slowly penetrated into his body, and flowed throughout his body, causing bursts of biting cold. The parts he passed through felt as if he were in icy water.
Xu Qing was afraid of the cold, but he resisted and did not give up. He persisted.
After a long time, when he finally ended this practice in accordance with the requirements of the bamboo slips, his body was soaked in cold sweat.
And just after eating the vulture's belly, I felt hungry again.
Xu Qing wiped away the cold sweat and touched his belly again, his eyes showing determination.
Since practicing this technique, his food intake has significantly increased and his body is more flexible than before.
All of this made him more tolerant of the cold during cultivation.
Looking up at this moment, Xu Qing followed the gap at the entrance and looked outside.
The outside world was pitch black, with only terrifying roars, sometimes strong and sometimes weak, echoing in my ears.
He didn't know the real reason why he became a survivor. Maybe it was luck, or maybe...he saw that purple light.
So while looking for the technique these days, he also kept going to the Northeast region to look for the point where the purple light fell, but unfortunately he never found it.
In his thoughts, Xu Qing listened to the roar outside. His mind couldn't help but think of the corpse he saw leaning against the wall when he returned from sunset, so he slowly narrowed his eyes.
The other party's location is in the Northeast region, and... he seems to be a living person.