Chapter 80

The night was as thick as ink. Heavy, pitch-black clouds weighed down upon the mountains of the Southern Frontier so oppressively that the range seemed like a giant beast crouching on the earth, ready to devour everything in its path. The stronghold of the Blood Fiend Alliance was shrouded in an eerie black fog, and a foul, rotting miasma churned around the fortress like millions of writhing venomous snakes. The city walls, tangled with poisonous vines, oozed a dark green slime that dripped to the ground with a soft, sizzling hiss, eating away small, smoking holes in the earth. Gu Jinghong reined in his warhorse, which was already foaming at the mouth. Sweat mixed with blood coated his palms, making the reins stick to his skin, and the rough hemp chafed his hands raw. He stared at the distant fortress, which looked like a brooding giant beast. Scattered torches flickered faintly within the dark fog, resembling the beast's baleful, greenish eyes. The curse mark between his brows waxed and waned with his rapid breathing, as though it might be swallowed by the darkness at any moment.