It's like a heavy curtain opens, and rows of lights come one after another. The people on this stage are glamorous and drunk; the audience seems to be crazy and full of variety; and this farce is bizarre and does not distinguish between joy and sorrow.

Yundu is this stage, and the audience can only see her gorgeous face, but they can't deny how much dirty ugliness is covered by the shadow cast behind her.

This is the edge of Yundu, the inevitable result of capital expansion, and the inevitable disease of urban development. Countless factories have been built or closed down here over the past few decades. The poor who depend on these factories for their livelihood build their own nests in the cracks of the factories. Without a unified plan, the slums are now a giant labyrinth.

The people who live here come from a variety of backgrounds, from landless peasants, bankrupt merchants, to losers who once came to Yundu with dreams, to thieves, robbers, murderers who fled from nowhere, to stowaways from war-torn areas, and even nobles who failed a coup d'état.

Take a pen around, and so many characters of all kinds are encircled in this gray area, which is not big or small. It's a wonderful story to think of here.

······

"Hmph" An old and fierce voice was remembered in the dimly lit room, like a poisonous snake crawling through the dry bark of a tree, "Several more believers died last night, and there were not many people available, and you were all to blame for not being clean back then." ”

Another identical voice sounded: "Now is not the time to say this, the top priority is to find a way to solve the 'clown'." ”

It was as if one person was playing two roles, and the voice sounded again: "We can't pull away now, so we can only take out the skeleton." ”

"It's like this, it's a pity that I've only raised a few bodies through Yundu's resentment for so many years. ”

"Isn't there a saying in Zhongzhou that 'reluctant children can't trap wolves'. ”

······

Qianzhou stood by a crumbling wall, just a street away from the nearest sentry box. But if you go further inside, there is a notorious gray area.

The bearer of the Blood Soul Seal needs to kill people often to replenish blood and essentia, and if there is a place in Yundu where the dead are the least noticeable, it must be a gray area.

Starved to death, died of disease, froze to death.

Murder, love killing, vendetta killing.

The ugliness of human nature is vividly reflected here.

Looking at the canopy of the sky that was about to completely darken, Qianzhou couldn't help but think about it.

Is it worth it?

Qianzhou asked himself.

Is Professor Finn going deep into the Grey Zone just to get along with him? He's just a character in the book. What can I find out?

He is not the protagonist of the novel, he does not have the aura of the protagonist, and he does not have special skills. What can I do besides writing a few articles? Persisting in it is nothing more than another unknown corpse in the jade water tomorrow.

Thinking of this, Qian Zhou couldn't help but take a step back.

Aurora noticed the boy's abnormality and took his slightly trembling hand.

Feeling the temperature of the girl's palm, Qianzhou realized that the girl in front of her was a living person, not just a character in the book. The same is true of Professor Finn, who has never cheated on his help and care.

I remembered that I wrote novels at that time to satisfy the bizarre dreams of my youth.

Because he believes that "good and evil will be rewarded in the end". It's not because you're the protagonist that you're invincible, but because you dare to do the right thing and stick to your heart, you're the protagonist!

Thinking of this, Qianzhou smiled, maybe he was such a fool! If the Great Sage's answer to "If you don't go back?" at that time was not "Then you won't go back", then he would not be the Monkey King in people's hearts.

Life is not about shopping on Taobao, where is it worth it so much, is it a win or a loss?

Suddenly, a loud roar erupted from the depths of the gray area, and Qian Zhou only felt that the blood soul mark on his left arm was hot—it was in the gray area that someone was trying his best to activate the blood soul seal.

Qianzhou only threw a sentence at Aurora, "Find a place to hide and wait for me to come back." He hurriedly jumped over the broken wall and ran straight to the gray area, leaving only a thin back for the girl.

The heavy rain finally fell, pulling the heavy cloud curtain and falling on the ground of the cloud capital with the autumn cold, splashing muddy water, falling leaves, and blurring the surrounding scenery into a silhouette. The rain hit people like cold copper beans, beating people to a burst of pain, and then let out a "whoosh" shrill laugh: "The stage has been set up, and the actors—please—all enter!"

······

The man in the clown mask stabs the dagger into the chest of another person. The man didn't seem to feel the pain at all, but laughed maniacally: "It's useless, you and I will both die, only the true God can redeem everything!"

"Maniac. The clown spat and drew his dagger, blood splattering onto his mask, making the otherwise comical clown hideous.

Qianzhou hides behind a low wall, taking everything in his eyes.

Several corpses lay messily on the ground in the pouring rain, and a man in a clown mask stood in the middle, holding a blood-stained dagger in his hand.

Who the hell is like a madman, don't you have any points in your heart? Qianzhou complained in his heart.

Qian Zhou had already recognized the clown at this time as the killer of last night.

And who did he kill? Listening to the man's words before he died, he looked like some kind of cultist.

Before Qianzhou could come up with a reason, six strange shadows came out of the alley and surrounded the clown in the middle.

That's definitely not people!

The monster is more than two meters tall and has a slightly bent back. The slender arms hang down to the knees, and the fingers are long and sharp. The gray skin is covered with knotted muscles, and only the facial features are faintly visible.

There was no verbal communication, and the six monsters acted at the same time. The burly body slammed through the rain curtain, and five slender fingers went straight to the clown like five steel knives.

The Joker rushed towards one of the monsters, dodging the monster's attack and slashing it in the arm.

"!" As if gold and iron were clashing, the dagger only left a white mark on the monster's skin.

The monster was aroused to ferocity and elbowed the clown in the chest with a backhand.

The clown snorted and threw a fireball in the monster's face with his right hand as he quickly distanced himself.

At the same time, the other five monsters also approached, and the clown saw that several more fireballs shot out, splashing large clouds of water vapor in the rain.

The Joker raised his dagger again, and by this time the dagger had several sinuous red lines wound around it.

This time, the dagger easily slashed the monster's arm, and black blood gushed out. But instead of flinching, the monster grabbed the dagger. Seeing this, the rest of the monsters immediately swung their blade-like fingers at the clown.

The clown hurriedly let go of his weapon, and several wounds were still cut on his body during the dodge.

The clown fought and retreated, and suddenly four white doves flew out of his sleeve. The dove pounced on the monster's face and turned into handkerchiefs, which were firmly covered like glue.

The remaining two monsters tried to chase after them, and the Joker popped a few more pokers from his fingertips. The poker slammed into the monster's knee in an elegant arc, not hurting the monster, but stumbling it. The clown took advantage of this opportunity and hurriedly ran into the labyrinthine alley.

The three monsters chased down the alley, and the remaining three hesitated for a moment before turning around and walking towards the thousand boats.

Qianzhou was shocked, and immediately rolled to the side with his feelings. Then the low wall was smashed to pieces.

As soon as Qianzhou got up, a giant claw had already landed in front of him.

"Boom" A cloud of dim yellow flames hit the monster's hand through the rain curtain, and the flames rolled away and forced the three-headed monster back.

Qianzhou turned her head to look, only to see Aurora holding on to the wall, gasping for breath, the rain across her pale face like a delicate lotus.

Needless to say, Qianzhou picked up the girl and ran outside.

At this time, the monster had recovered its strength, and picked up a stone the size of a human head and came with a strong wind.

Qianzhou was about to push the girl away, but I don't know where the girl got the strength to push Qianzhou away first.

In Qianzhou's stunned gaze, the stone fell on the girl, and the girl fell to the ground, and it was difficult to get up for a while.

Communicate without words, through the girl's gaze, Qianzhou understood what she meant.

"That's a friend, isn't it?"

Qianzhou wiped his face, and his face was wet and couldn't tell whether it was rain or tears.

Qianzhou turned around, and the blood soul mark on his left arm became hotter and hotter. Blood rushed like a river, and wisps of white steam rose from his clothes.

The intense pain spread all over his body, but Qian Zhou didn't realize it, he just said to the devil on his left arm, "Take it! Take it!"

The devil gladly promised that in response to the pain, the blood and essentia would be rudely thrown into the furnace!

Qianzhou raised his head and whispered to the rushing monster, "Second round, begin." ”