Chapter 151: The Sky

"Is that so? You didn't kill him, you just let him go." The man spoke flatly. "True or false, whoever you really are... once we send you to the Star Chamber of Commerce for a Soul-Shattering Investigation, everything will be clear."

The man gave the other Enforcers a look, and they immediately escorted Xi Renjie into Aurora City, heading toward the Star Chamber of Commerce.

Hearing the words "Soul-Shattering Investigation," Xi Renjie’s pupils contracted slightly.

"No... I don't want a Soul-Shattering Investigation!!" Xi Renjie raised his head abruptly. "I don't want it!! Let me confront Officer [Tan Xin] face-to-face! The trap he set isn't guaranteed to work; there are too many variables!"

"Officer [Tan Xin] certainly knows there are variables, but a fifty percent success rate is enough... If you are Chen Ling, we can get information about the forces behind you and your objectives. If you are Xi Renjie, we will provide you with sufficient compensation... Of course, that’s assuming you survive a round of the Soul-Shattering Investigation." The man glanced at him.

"You should know that without the trap Officer [Tan Xin] set, your only fate would have been to die in the Third District... Now your future has one more possibility. What else is there to complain about?"

Xi Renjie opened his mouth, but couldn't say a single word... He knew that no matter what, he couldn't escape today.

Just minutes ago, he had been looking forward to life after entering Aurora City. It was Aurora City that had given him the motivation to struggle out of that frozen hell. He had clearly arrived in the city, yet he never imagined it would end like this.

He was dragged along the road like a corpse, his head hanging low, his eyes hollow and desperate... Passersby pointed at him in confusion, unaware of what had happened.

"Mom, look at all the kites in the sky..." a child’s voice came from the roadside.

Xi Renjie paused. He struggled to lift his head and look at the sky.

Under the azure sky, hundreds of colorful kites floated amidst the aurora. They were of all shapes and sizes, vibrant in color, carrying dreams and expectations, flying freely in the warmth and peace...

This was the first time Xi Renjie had seen kites up close. It was also the first time he knew that the sky could hold more than just ice, snow, and auroras; it could hold such beautiful things. They seemed so close, yet so unreachable.

Before Xi Renjie could take another look, his sky was blocked by a heavy eave. It was a dim room, and in the center sat a stone table stained with blood.

On that stone table, a young man with a scar on his face lay motionless, like a corpse.

"The person is here," said the man who had escorted Xi Renjie.

"Tsk... This kid isn't finished yet, and you're bringing another one?" the figure beside the stone table said impatiently.

"What, Jian Changsheng’s soul hasn't shattered yet?"

"No, this is the fourth time already... It’s the first time I’ve seen such a tough nut to crack."

The man spoke cautiously, "Ours is quite urgent. How about we cut in line?"

The figure glanced at Jian Changsheng and waved his hand in annoyance. "Forget it, keep this kid and we can deal with him slowly. Take this new one and lock him in the dungeon for now... Let’s deal with something fresh."

Xi Renjie looked at the approaching stone table, the scarlet blood splattered on its surface seemingly overlapping with the colorful kites flying in the sky... This was his sky.

He slowly closed his eyes.

……

"So cold..."

Boss Xu hugged his shoulders, shivering all over, muttering the words as his breath instantly condensed into ice crystals.

"Damn it, why is it getting colder the further we go?"

"I can't do it... I really can't walk anymore. How much longer until we arrive?"

"We’ve probably only walked halfway?"

"I’m going to rest for a bit... You guys go on ahead."

"No! You absolutely cannot rest in this temperature. If you rest, you’ll never get back up."

"I really can't walk... You guys go on. I’ll come later... I’ll just rest for a moment, just a moment..."

“……”

More and more figures sat down heavily by the tracks, their bodies covered in ice crystals, looking snow-white from a distance. Most of them were elderly. Even when people in front stopped to pull them up, they just waved their hands, refusing to get up no matter what was said.

"Daddy... I’m so tired..."

"Come here, Daddy will carry you for a while."

Boss Xu felt a pang of heartache as he hoisted the boy onto his back. He stumbled, nearly falling to the ground, and his wife quickly steadied him, asking with concern, "Are you okay?"

"I’m fine... I can still do it." Boss Xu licked his cracked lips, only to get a mouthful of ice crystals. "But this weather seems a bit too cold... I never heard it was this cold near Aurora City?"

"Yeah, I feel like my whole body is about to freeze solid."

"And why do I feel like... there are fewer and fewer people in front of us?"

Boss Xu rubbed his eyes and realized that Boss Li’s family, who had been walking in front of them, had disappeared. The tracks stretched out on the mirror-like ice, vanishing into the mist at the end, and there were no figures on either side of the tracks.

This discovery made Boss Xu’s scalp tingle. He thought he had fallen behind, so he hugged the child and ran forward a few steps, but suddenly the world spun, and everything before his eyes changed.

Under the leaden sky, there was no longer any sign of the tracks. Beneath his feet was a perfectly smooth layer of ice. As he took a step, ripples spread across the surface, as if he were walking on the surface of the sea.

The most eerie part was that he could see his wife walking behind him through the reflection on the ice. As she stepped onto the ice, it was like stepping into a gap between two worlds, and she instantly appeared behind him, looking around in confusion.

"Where... where is this..." the woman asked, bewildered.

Boss Xu, holding the child, saw the other Third District residents reappearing in the distance. As if realizing something, his face turned ghastly pale.

"The Gray Realm? How is that possible??"

Before he could finish his sentence, a series of screams came from ahead. The residents who had been walking at the very front were running back toward them like madmen!

Behind them, the ice-like sea surface was violently disturbed. Dozens of ripples swept across the surroundings, and creatures covered in runes crawled out from the seabed, approaching them at an astonishing speed.

One of them leaped on the ice, flying up like a fish jumping over a dragon gate, and slammed precisely into a woman running at the back.

The next moment, a ball of scorching fire erupted, instantly swallowing the woman. The shrill, desperate screams were like a signal, spreading through the crowd in an instant.