Chapter 1 Lu'an, the Ghost Town

The whole of Lu'an was like a ghost town—a ghost town that still had vitality, but was filled with death.

Hao Ren and his party advanced along the central avenue of the city, deeper and deeper. The few pedestrians they encountered along the way all avoided them as if they were the plague. Even when Lily rushed out and forcibly detained two or three passersby who couldn't escape in time, they were completely immersed in unspeakable fear and hostility. Their illogical ramblings made no sense at all, and they couldn't provide any valuable information, so in the end, they could only be released.

Most of the residences along the road were occupied, but whether it was Kalaxius or Hao Ren who knocked on the door, the negotiations failed. Behind the doors were gloomy, guarded voices. The residents were unwilling to even open the door, let alone tell the strangers outside what had happened here. When Kalaxius offered to help, he was even met with vicious expulsion and curses—an inexplicable hostility and anger enveloped the city.

Hao Ren couldn't help but miss the days when the data terminal was around: although that thing was both nagging and foul-mouthed, at least its functions were still quite useful. If he could use the life radar to properly detect, maybe he could even check the city residents for some reason.

The other knights and monks also dispersed, going into the streets and alleys to look for locals who could be talked to and questioned. After the agreed time, everyone gathered on the avenue. From the disappointed faces of everyone, it could be seen that everyone's negotiations were unsuccessful.

"No one is willing to talk to 'outsiders'," a monk said with a worried face, "Even if I revealed my identity as a high-ranking clergyman to them, it was the same. They guarded against us as if we were thieves."

Another knight also shook his head: "I feel an atmosphere, an atmosphere that turns the people in the city into a severely xenophobic group. They seem to regard everyone who doesn't belong to them as a threat. I don't know where this mentality came from."

Kalaxius made a religious sign on his chest: "May the goddess bless us, are these still the glorious people of the Holy Domain?"

Hao Ren turned his head to look at the mysterious woman who had been silent since entering the city: "An, you always seem to know a lot, so do you know what's going on now?"

An shook her head and said lightly: "Don't treat me as if I know everything."

The church warriors brought by Kalaxius couldn't bring themselves to break into the houses after all, so the investigation and negotiation suddenly fell into a deadlock. Without finding anyone to ask, they could only start with magical detection: several monks took out their portable holy objects and began to check the flow of magical power in the city. Kalaxius believed that in the city's eerie atmosphere, he could probably capture the shadows of dark creatures—since the residents of the city were unreachable, it would be better to catch a few wraiths or something to ask.

Hao Ren took advantage of this time to find a quiet place and open communication with the "outside world."

As expected, this communication was established extremely quickly, and the signal strength reached the highest value since he arrived in the world of Colo.

"Yo, partner," the data terminal's voice sounded in his mind, "Hey, wait... did you set up a wifi over there again? Why is the signal so good this time?"

"I'm in the Holy Domain now," Hao Ren said quickly, "The situation in the Holy Domain is very wrong, it's already half-chaotic."

"Holy Domain?" Vivian's voice interjected, "Is that the place you said where the creator goddess left miracles? Isn't that the center of the holy power of the world of Colo, the place with the strongest order power?"

"It used to be, but now there's a problem," Hao Ren quickly told the other party about the Asu Man's Light of the Holy Domain weakening continuously over the past few months, and finally going out completely, "...I will investigate the reason for the extinction of Asu Man's Light, you don't have to worry about this. What's important now is to test whether physical matter can be transported to me. According to my previous speculation with the data terminal, the creator goddess's divine power is the bridge connecting the space of Colo with the external space. As the core of divine power, the Holy Domain is the foundation of this bridge, the place where the two spaces are most closely connected. Now the signal strength of my communication with you can also prove this: here, the connection between Colo and the external universe is very strong. So the material transfer test can already begin."

The data terminal's voice rang out: "Received, this unit will start the just-completed Rift Generator. The first round of testing is expected to take twenty-four hours. However, since it is a test run, we cannot precisely control the timing and landing point of the material transfer, we can only guarantee a certain range around you."

Hao Ren nodded: "No problem, I will pay attention to observing the phenomenon here."

After the data terminal took the order, Vivian's voice rang out again: "By the way, is the big dog still obedient?"

"She..." Hao Ren turned his head and glanced, seeing Lily wandering not far away looking for strange-shaped stones. After keenly sensing the gaze, the husky girl immediately turned her head cleverly and smiled at this side, her furry triangular ears standing upright, her tail still wagging behind her, obviously in a good mood, "She's still considered obedient, to be honest, I'm quite satisfied that a husky who runs wild can be successfully brought back. By the way, do you still have the herbal soup you used to boil that promotes hair growth?"

"Hair growth soup?" Vivian asked curiously, "I do have some, one or two of the herbs are not available now, but I can use magic or other magic medicines to replace them, anyway, the main effect is still my blood magic. But what do you want this for?"

"Lily's tail is bald..." Hao Ren curled his lips, "But don't laugh at her casually when I go back, it hurts her self-esteem."

"She still has self-esteem... alright, alright, I got it, you guys be careful and come back soon."

The communication was cut off, Hao Ren shook his head with a silent smile, and just then, the corner of his eye suddenly caught a figure shaking in the dim corner of the street.

In this city contaminated by dark magic, shaking figures were not uncommon, but Hao Ren immediately noticed that the figure not far away was a bit different from the pedestrians he had seen before.

The figure walked very slowly, not rushing and panicking like the pedestrians he had seen before, but he didn't look like a normal person either, because he moved slowly and walked in a strange and stiff manner.

"There's really not a single normal person in this place..." Hao Ren murmured in a low voice, restrained his footsteps, and quietly followed.

The pedestrian in front had no feeling of being followed from behind, just continued to walk forward swayingly, although his steps were weak, the distance of each step was almost exactly the same.

Hao Ren moved closer, but the other party still had no reaction.

Seeing this situation, he simply leaned forward even more, even deliberately making his footsteps louder.

But the other party still had no reaction.

Hao Ren had already come to the man who looked like an ordinary civilian—he saw that the other party was wearing a black short coat, his hair was dirty and stuck to his scalp, and although the clothes on his body were not cheap, they were dirty, as if they hadn't been washed for many days. The expression on the man's face was dull, and he walked forward along a fixed route with a step and a sway. Hao Ren stood a few meters away in front of him, but he seemed to turn a blind eye.

Like an out-of-body experience.

Hao Ren was no stranger to this situation. He had seen many similar phenomena in various secret realms and cursed places, but the key was what caused this phenomenon—what connection did this man who seemed to have lost his soul have with the citizens in the city who were full of vigilance, hostility, and exclusion.

The others finally noticed the movement here. Lily and Kalaxius and his party ran over. After they saw the swaying local, they all felt a chill down their spines. Lily pulled on Hao Ren's sleeve: "Landlord, what's wrong with this person?"

"It seems to be an out-of-body experience, or an illusionary influence," Hao Ren said in a low voice, "I've tried it, I can't wake him up."

Kalaxius made a decision after a brief thought: "Follow him."

A man who seemed to have lost his soul walked on the dim, deserted streets, and a group of people with vigilant faces and murderous aura followed closely behind, each of them lowering their voices, cautious and careful. In this city shrouded in darkness, the atmosphere of this scene was extremely eerie.

"Where is he going?" Hao Ren asked in a low voice.

Someone in the Holy Domain warrior team was more familiar with the situation in Lu'an City and replied in a low voice: "It seems to be going to the cathedral in the city center."

The man who had lost his soul continued to walk unhurriedly. Suddenly, Hao Ren saw another figure with a similar situation walking out of a nearby intersection.

"Look over there, another one!"

Lily also shouted in a low voice: "Landlord, Landlord, there's one here too!"

As they got closer and closer to the depths of the city, one after another zombie-like figure walked out of the forks in the streets and shadows.

At this point, those panicked and frightened, fleeting citizens were completely invisible. On the streets, only one after another zombie could be seen, one after another body without a soul swaying on the avenue, gradually forming a dark stream of people, slowly advancing towards the cathedral in the city center.

There was no sound.

Lily's ears and tail suddenly became fluffy: "Landlord, it's so creepy!"

At this moment, the towering shadow of the cathedral in the city center had appeared on the square at the end, and the last ray of the Light of Order was emitting a faint light at the top of the cathedral, like a candle flame, flickering.

The silent crowd was still surging forward, like sludge, slowly but persistently wanting to swallow the last piece of pure land here.