Chapter 151: Sky

"Oh, really? So you didn't kill him; you just let him go." The man's voice was flat. "Whether it's true or false, and who you truly are... all will be revealed once you're taken to the Galaxy Merchant Guild for soul-shattering verification."

The man gave the other law enforcement officers a look, and they immediately escorted Xi Renjie into Aurora City, heading towards the Galaxy Merchant Guild.

Hearing the words "soul-shattering verification," Xi Renjie's pupils slightly contracted.

"No... I don't want soul-shattering verification!!" Xi Renjie suddenly lifted his head. "I don't want soul-shattering verification!! Let me confront Officer Tan Xin face-to-face! The trap he set isn't guaranteed to work; there are too many variables!"

"Of course, Officer Tan Xin knows there will be variables, but a 50% success rate is enough... If you're Chen Ling, we'll get information about the forces behind you and your objectives. If you're Xi Renjie, we'll give you adequate compensation... provided, of course, you can endure one round of soul-shattering verification." The man glanced at him.

"You should know that without Officer Tan Xin's trap, your only fate would have been death in District Three... Now there's a sliver of possibility for your future. What more do you have to complain about?"

Xi Renjie's mouth hung open, but he couldn't utter a single word... He knew there was no escape for him today.

Just minutes before, he had been dreaming of life in Aurora City. It was this city that had given him the motivation to struggle out of that icy hell. He had clearly arrived, yet he never imagined such a fate.

He was carried along the road like a corpse, his head bowed, his eyes vacant and despairing... Passersby on the street pointed at him curiously, unaware of what was happening.

"Mommy, there are so many kites in the sky..." A child's voice came from the roadside.

Xi Renjie froze for a moment. He slowly raised his head, looking up at the sky.

Under the clear blue sky, hundreds of colorful kites floated among the auroras, each unique in shape and vibrant in color. They carried dreams and hopes, soaring freely in warmth and peace...

This was Xi Renjie's first time seeing kites up close. It was also the first time he realized that the sky could hold such beautiful things, not just ice, snow, and auroras. They seemed so close, yet so utterly out of reach.

Before Xi Renjie could take another look, his view of the sky was obscured by heavy eaves. He was in a dim house, and in the center of the room was a stone table covered in blood.

On the stone table, a young man with a scarred face lay motionless, like a corpse.

"He's here," said the man who had escorted Xi Renjie.

"Tsk... this kid isn't even done, and there's another one?" The figure by the stone table spoke impatiently.

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

"No, this is already the fourth time... I've never encountered such a stubborn one."

The man considered before speaking, "Ours is more urgent. How about we cut in line?"

The figure glanced at Jian Changsheng, then waved an annoyed hand. "Fine, this kid can be tormented slowly later. Someone, take him to the dungeon and lock him up for now... Bring in a fresh one to torment."

Xi Renjie watched the stone table drawing closer, the crimson blood splattered on its surface seemingly merging with the colorful kites that had been soaring in the sky... This was his sky.

He slowly closed his eyes.

"So cold..."

Mr. Xu hugged his shoulders, shivering all over. He mumbled two words, and his breath instantly condensed into ice crystals.

"Damn it, why does it get colder the further we go?"

"I can't... I really can't walk anymore. How much longer until we get there?"

"We've only gone about halfway?"

"I need to rest... You go on ahead."

"No! You absolutely can't rest in this temperature. If you rest, you'll never be able to get up again."

"I really can't walk anymore... You go on ahead, I'll catch up in a bit... I'll just rest for a moment, just for a moment..."

More and more figures collapsed with difficulty beside the railway tracks. Their bodies were covered in ice, appearing completely white from a distance. Most of them were elderly people. Even when someone ahead 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 bit."

Mr. Xu, his heart aching, picked up the boy on his back. He stumbled, almost falling, but the woman quickly steadied him, asking with concern, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine... I can manage." Mr. Xu licked his cracked lips, only to find them covered in ice crystals. "But it seems a bit too cold today... I never heard it was this cold near Aurora City."

"Yes, it feels like I'm freezing solid."

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

Mr. Xu rubbed his eyes, realizing that Mr. Li's family, who had been walking ahead of them, had disappeared. The railway tracks stretched endlessly across the mirror-smooth ice, vanishing into the mist, with no one visible on either side of the tracks.

This discovery made Mr. Xu's scalp tingle. He thought he had been walking too slowly, so he hurried forward a few steps with the child in his arms. Suddenly, he felt dizzy, and everything around him changed.

Under a lead-gray sky, there was no longer any trace of tracks. Beneath his feet was an incredibly smooth layer of ice. As he took a step, ripples spread across the ice, as if he were walking on the surface of a sea.

Most bizarrely, he could see his wife, who was walking behind him, reflected in the ice. As she stepped onto the ice, it was as if she had stepped into a void between two realms, instantly appearing behind him, looking around in bewilderment.

"This... this is..." the woman began, confused.

Mr. Xu, holding his child, saw the District Three residents reappearing in the distance. As if realizing something, his face immediately turned grim.

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

Before he could finish speaking, successive screams echoed from ahead. The residents who had been walking at the very front turned and ran back towards them frantically!

Behind them, the ice-like sea surface churned violently, dozens of ripples spreading outward. Creatures covered in runes writhed as they crawled out from beneath the ice, approaching them at an alarming speed.

One of them leaped from the ice, soaring like a fish over the dragon gate, and collided precisely with the last woman running.

The next moment, a searing flame suddenly erupted. A fireball over two meters tall instantly engulfed the woman. Her shrill, desperate screams acted as a signal, spreading through the crowd instantly.