Night had fallen like an endless expanse of black silk cascading from the sky, pressing down heavily upon the ancient city of Luochuan. The darkness possessed a crushing weight, resembling a starving beast poised to devour the city. Shrouded in the reaper's black cloak, the entire place was plunged into a dead silence. Only the Li Family estate blazed with light, standing like an isolated island amid a dark ocean. Its brilliant glow only made it appear more helpless, locked in a desperate struggle against the encroaching dark.
Inside the grand hall of the Li Family, the atmosphere was as heavy as if cursed, solidifying until it felt tangible. The air was squeezed as if by the hands of a netherworld purgatory, making it difficult to breathe. Li Meng, the head of the Li Family, had his dignified features twisted into a horrific, demonic expression of rage. The wrinkles on his face looked like ravines carved by fury, and his bloodshot eyes burned red like the fires of hell. His gaze was like a red-hot iron spike, hammering into the horribly battered Li Muge, a tangled mix of heartache and rage burning so fiercely it seemed to scorch the air.
"Muge, what has happened to you? Which deranged lunatic could have hurt you like this?" Li Meng's voice trembled with fury, forced from his throat by a violent surge of strength. Every word was wrapped in a blade, and the rage spitting from between his teeth threatened to scorch the world to ash.
Chapter 16