The north wind, laden with grit, lashed against the mottled stone walls of the Nether Palace like arrows, producing a piercing, rhythmic rustling. The walls, weathered by time, were webbed with cracks that seemed to whisper of the ancient, dark mysteries held within this grim fortress. Gu Jinghong pulled hard on the reins; his warhorse pawed the ground uneasily, letting out a low, guttural whinny. He stared at the bronze gate, which was covered in runes that pulsed with a faint, dark-red glow in the night—they looked like eerie eyes, staring him down. His throat constricted involuntarily. The broken twin-lotus Jade Pendant at his waist pressed painfully against him, a sharp reminder of his parting with Shen Mingyue. She had stood there, tears still staining her pale face, yet she had forced a smile and said, "I will wait for you." The concern and trust in that smile had twisted his heart into a knot. Behind him, twenty death warriors of the Eastern Depot gripped their Xiuchun Sabers, the blades shimmering with a cold, bluish light—the mark of the lethal Southern Frontier poison they were coated with. The icy glint of the steel matched the steely resolve in their eyes; they were ready for the slaughter to come.
"You finally return, Young Master." The voice, cold and serpentine, drifted down from the wall. The High Priest descended, his black robes billowing in a way that stirred a foul, nauseating stench. Beneath his skull mask, his eyes flickered with an unnatural green ligh…
Chapter 38