Chapter 244

Under the blood-red devouring, Gu Xuan and Du Gu Yan simultaneously felt the ground give way beneath them, everything around became illusory, and all their perceptions were completely sealed off at that moment.

That pain, which they could not control, gave rise to an inexplicable fear in each of their hearts.

What they could not see was that the killing intent on each of their bodies had gathered into a thin white ripple that protected their bodies; without those killing intents, they would have been truly devoured the moment the blood-red spread.

After an unknown amount of time, accompanied by a violent jolt, all perception returned, and the surrounding blood-light gradually faded.

When Gu Xuan and Du Gu Yan finally came to, they found themselves standing on a circular platform about five meters in diameter—not large.

Although both were lying on the ground, they awoke almost simultaneously, so their gazes met each other's at the same moment; after locking eyes, they rose and began to survey their surroundings.

Upon close observation, both couldn't help but suck in a breath of cold air—the situation before them was far more perilous than they had imagined.

Everything around was tinged with a faint blood-red hue; aside from the five-meter-diameter circular platform beneath their feet, it was nothing but an abyss of immeasurable depth.

Besides that, there was only a narrow path less than half a foot wide—just enough for both feet to stand side by side—leading into the unknown darkness, and this was the sole route from their platform to the outside world.

Du Gu Yan glanced around, then at the dark path, frowned slightly, and said, 'I don't know what lies down there.'

Gu Xuan pretended to look down at the platform, then his expression turned troubled.

'How is it? Can you see clearly what's below?' Du Gu Yan asked calmly.

Gu Xuan nodded and said, 'Below is blood, or rather a blood pool; if I'm not mistaken, that pool should be the human blood accumulated over the years by the City of Carnage—what they call Bloody Mary and the offering for this Hell Road.'

Gu Xuan naturally knew what lay below, but to avoid unnecessary trouble, he naturally pretended not to know.

Upon hearing that, Du Gu Yan fell into thought, then after a moment said, 'Simply put, this Hell Road is not only the route out of the City of Carnage, but also likely the city's very core.'

Hearing Du Gu Yan's analysis, Gu Xuan nodded in approval; although Du Gu Yan usually stayed by his side and rarely faced true life-and-death danger, she had not slackened in the slightest.

Being able to see through this problem without Gu Xuan's reminder is undoubtedly her own cleverness.

Gu Xuan said lightly, 'Yanzi, have you noticed? In this City of Carnage, the most important thing is blood; that so-called Bloody Mary appears almost everywhere here, and it functions like currency.'

'Just as I told you before, this blood contains a chronic poison, yet it also has a stimulating effect; there are many ways to control people, so why do the rulers of the City of Carnage always use blood? Is it merely to give people a more mysterious feeling?'

He paused, then Gu Xuan continued to guide Du Gu Yan, letting her also discover the City of Carnage's uniqueness.

'Although we still don't know the true secret of this blood in the City of Carnage, we can be certain that if the blood supply were cut off, it would be a massive blow to the entire city—possibly even destructive.'

After hearing Gu Xuan's words, Du Gu Yan gradually understood, then said, 'If that's the case, if we destroy this place, wouldn't it mean that no one could ever obtain the Slaughter God's Domain again?'

Gu Xuan nodded and said, 'Correct, but there's no need.'

'As I told you before, this City of Carnage should be the inheritance ground of some deity; that is also our opportunity, so there's no need to destroy it now.'

After speaking, Gu Xuan looked toward the distant darkness and continued, 'This narrow path should be the so-called Hell Road; we don't know how long it is, but we can be certain that the Hell Road is far from being as simple as just walking past here.'

'Below is a large blood pool, which likely harbors some special beasts or other dangers; going down would certainly be inadvisable, so our best way out of here is still from above.'

Du Gu Yan heard this and had no objection, as she nodded.

This shows their strong mental fortitude; for ordinary people, arriving at a strange and terrifying place would make them eager to leave as quickly as possible.

But Gu Xuan and Du Gu Yan were not in a hurry; instead, they first restored their condition, completed all preparations, and then set out.

Gu Xuan led, Du Gu Yan followed.

Maintaining this formation, they stepped onto the narrow path; the path was not wide, only enough for both feet to stand side by side, and its end was not yet visible.

For an ordinary person, being able to walk more than ten minutes on such a path would already be remarkable, since even a slight deviation could cause a misstep and fall.

Gu Xuan and Du Gu Yan needless to say; their strength may not be the greatest, but their experience and erudition surpass that of ordinary people.

At this moment, Gu Xuan and Du Gu Yan were like grasshoppers on a rope—any slight mistake could lead to a catastrophic disaster.

Maintaining a harmonious rhythm, the two gradually faded into the dark red, and the circular platform behind them disappeared from view.

As they pressed on, Gu Xuan and Du Gu Yan's spirits became extremely tense; they had to watch their step and also remain alert to unknown dangers lurking in the darkness.

Walking along, Gu Xuan suddenly said, 'We've already gone five hundred meters; the air is starting to heat up, and this place seems no longer quiet—there are sounds around, though faint and still distant, but they seem aimed at us, so stay on guard.'

Hearing Gu Xuan's words, Du Gu Yan released her mental power to probe the surroundings, and her expression changed slightly.

Through her powerful mental scan, Du Gu Yan discovered dark dots in the distance rapidly approaching them, and quickly.

That faint sound appeared in Du Gu Yan's mental realm; the sound was not strong, but its frequency was very high, just as Gu Xuan had said—these faint sounds were moving toward their direction.

Gu Xuan naturally knew these faint sounds came from those blood bats, yet he subtly indicated it, first warning Du Gu Yan to prepare defenses.

Then Du Gu Yan's green eyes swept downward, and she whispered, 'Xiao Xuan. I know why we feel hot—the blood pool below is getting closer.'

Hearing that, Gu Xuan nodded even more approvingly, because he had not hinted at this; she had figured it out herself.

Seeing Gu Xuan nod, Du Gu Yan continued, 'Earlier the blood pool was about a kilometer below us, but now the distance has likely shrunk to around eight hundred meters, which is why we sense the temperature change.'

'It seems the pool may not be blood but possibly magma; if the temperature keeps rising as we go forward, I can almost certainly say that our final stretch will likely be submerged in that pool—and that is truly the hardest part of the Hell Road.'

Hearing Du Gu Yan's words, Gu Xuan showed no other reaction, as if this were not the greatest threat.

Only then did Gu Xuan suddenly speak in a low voice, 'Never mind those for now; no matter what, let's first deal with this immediate crisis.'

'Here they come!'

As Gu Xuan's words faded, the buzzing sound grew louder; faintly, Du Gu Yan could see red shadows swiftly approaching.

Soon she understood why the frequency of that sound in her mental perception was so high.

Because the incoming creatures were not just a few, but a swarm—at least a thousand strong.

As they drew nearer, the flying creatures became clearly visible: they were blood-red bats.

Like a miniature version of the blood-red pattern left on the ground of the Hell Slaughter Arena, each blood bat is about a foot tall, but its huge wingspan exceeds one meter.

One or two such blood bats would be nothing, but when thousands appear at once, they form a red cloud, flying swiftly toward Gu Xuan and Du Gu Yan.

It had the feel of a dark cloud pressing down.

At this moment, Du Gu Yan's face became extremely grave, and she whispered, 'Xiao Xuan?'

PS: Typos will be corrected later.

(End of chapter)