The small clearing by the barracks entrance was as hard as frozen iron, its puddles filled with ice-crusted mud that cast a dirty, greasy sheen under the gloomy sky.
The stench in the air was heavier now—a blend of body odor, foot odor, cheap alcohol, and a faint, rust-like scent of blood, mixed with a chilling, damp, and moldy foulness that weighed heavily on the chest. A few crooked wooden posts were hammered into the muddy ground, hung with unidentifiable strips of tattered cloth that whipped wildly in the whimpering cold wind.
Qin Lie gripped the greasy, freezing key and did not stop walking. The crooked wooden door of the dilapidated barracks was right before him, its hinges badly rusted like a toothless mouth. The key slid into the keyhole, its chilling metallic screech grating harshly against everyone's eardrums.
Chapter 96