He was looking at a fortress that needed to be sacked.
"It tastes like blood," Xiaochen said, his voice hardening into a blade of its own. "And I think I’m still hungry."
Then let us go, Ye Cangtian said. The climb will be long, and there will be many more who wish to stop you. But remember the contract, boy. You are the hand. I am the edge. And together, we are the end.
Xiaochen didn't respond. He simply turned and began to walk toward the base of the Abyss walls, the black sword trailing behind him, its tip carving a deep, dark furrow in the ancient stone.
He reached the first jagged outcrop of the cliff. He looked at his blackened veins, at the crimson ring in his eyes, and at the shadow that seemed to cling to him even in the dark.
"I'm coming for you, Zhao," he whispered to th
