Shen Hao began to run. Not a casual jog or a quick dash. No. He sprinted like his very life depended on it.
Because, truth be told, it really did.
Behind him, there were sounds. Deep growls, sharp roars, the kind of snarls that made the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end. Somewhere mixed in was a bark, loud and desperate. Shen Hao didn't pause to identify which creature it belonged to, he was far too focused on one thing: putting as much distance as possible between himself and the terrifying chorus behind him.
His breath came out in ragged bursts, his chest heaving as he pushed his legs to move faster.
"WHY DO I HEAR SO MANY FOOTSTEPS?!" he shouted, voice cracking with panic, "SOMEONE TELL ME IF ANY OF THEM ARE MINE!"
Beside him, barely managing to keep pace, Lingfeng hovered, his form flickering faintly in the dim forest light.
"Just keep running!" he urged, voice breathless too. "Right foot! Left foot! Breathing… optional!"
Branches whipped across Shen Hao's face. Gnarled roots snatched at his ankles. One vine seemed to stretch out deliberately, as if it held a personal grudge against him.
He ducked sharply under a low-hanging branch.
Then, without hesitation, leapt over a fallen log.
His foot caught on something, and he stumbled, face-planting straight into a prickly bush.
Muffled under the leaves, he grumbled, "I hate nature. I hate it so much."
Pushing himself upright, his eyes wide and wild, arms flailing as if warding off invisible attackers, Shen Hao burst free from the bush's grasp. The forest around him blurred into streaks of green and brown, and, wait, was that tree… showing teeth?
"Left!" Lingfeng's voice cut through the chaos.
"WHY?" Shen Hao yelled back.
"I don't know! It just felt dramatic!"
He swerved left, and immediately realized it was a mistake.
A creature with far too many legs lunged from the shadows, missing him by mere inches.
"YOU HAVE SIXTEEN LEGS!" Shen Hao screamed. "WHY DO YOU NEED ME?!"
Calm and collected, Mo Han's voice rang in his ear, "Maintain directional awareness. Don't zig-zag too hard. You're wasting Qi."
"Master, with respect… SHUT UUUUP!" Shen Hao yelled in desperation.
He vaulted over a fallen log, only to crash face-first into a massive spider web stretching like a sail.
"Nope. Nope. Nope---!" he wailed.
He flailed wildly, spun, tripped, and screamed. Emerging covered in sticky webs, leaves, and something that felt suspiciously like a caterpillar trying to steal his lunch money.
Somewhere in the chaos, a bird squawked and dive-bombed his head.
"I HAVE OFFENDED THIS ENTIRE ECOSYSTEM," Shen Hao declared as he kept running.
The monsters chased him like a pack of angry creditors. One howled. Another meowed? He didn't look. He just kept running with the kind of technique that could only be described as "screaming chicken kung fu."
Eventually, a light broke through the trees.
Shen Hao burst into a clearing, tripped, slid, and crashed face-first into a small patch of moss with all the grace of a dropped melon.
He gasped for air.
He coughed.
He coughed again, dramatically, like a dying man in a tragic play.
"...I think I've aged five years," Shen Hao wheezed.
Lingfeng hovered above him, snorting. "I've seen better escapes from potatoes. And they don't even have legs."
"They stopped chasing," Mo Han said calmly.
Shen Hao blinked.
Sat up slowly.
Looked back.
The treeline stood still. The monsters… weren't coming out.
In fact, they were backing up.
"Wait… what? Why aren't they---" Shen Hao began.
PLOP.
A giant finger tapped his shoulder.
Soft. Wet. The size of a tree trunk.
Tap. Tap.
Shen Hao didn't move.
Didn't breathe.
Then, slowly, like a horror movie protagonist who knew he'd made poor life choices…
He turned.
Behind him stood a creature that made all the other monsters look like toddlers in Halloween costumes.
It was tall.
Humanoid.
Dripping wet.
Its skin shimmered like water, its legs planted like stone columns in the pond Shen Hao had just now realized he was standing next to.
The beast grinned.
Waved.
"…This is how I die," Shen Hao whispered.
"Don't scream…" Lingfeng whispered.
Shen Hao took a deep breath.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA---!!"
And the chase resumed.
Shen Hao ran.
Again.
From another monster.
Again.
Except this one had legs the size of wagons, a body made of swamp goo and nightmares, and somehow, somehow, was keeping up with him without making a sound.
"WHY IS IT SO FAST?! IT'S MADE OF WATER! WATER ISN'T FAST, IT'S WET!" Shen Hao shouted, sprinting and flailing.
Lingfeng hovered beside him, both amazed and concerned. "I think it's… gliding? Running? Flowing? I don't even know what verb to use anymore!"
Mo Han remained utterly calm. "Don't let it hit you. One swipe will turn your bones into vapor."
Shen Hao leapt over a boulder. "WHAT KIND OF ADVICE IS THAT?!"
BOOM.
A massive splash exploded behind him as the creature stomped across the terrain, chasing Shen Hao like it was jogging after a stolen snack.
It didn't growl. It didn't scream.
It just smiled.
And ran.
And smiled harder.
Shen Hao zig-zagged through trees, bounced off a rock, ducked under a hanging vine, and immediately got smacked in the face by a second vine.
"I SWEAR THIS FOREST IS SENTIENT," Shen Hao grumbled mid-sprint.
WHOOSH.
A massive splash exploded beside him as the creature swung its arm, missing by inches.
Water sprayed across Shen Hao's robe.
"Well, on the bright side, you don't need a shower now," Lingfeng snorted.
"IF I DIE, I'M HAUNTING YOU FIRST!" Shen Hao yelled.
They crashed through a gully. Shen Hao jumped over a log, skidded down a slope, and slipped on mud, nearly performing a mid-air spin worthy of an ice dancer, if the dancer had no grace and screamed the whole time.
He tumbled down the hill and hit the bottom with a soft thump, face buried in wet leaves.
The giant monster reached the top of the slope behind him, paused… and then, with terrifying calmness, walked sideways down the hill like it was casually descending stairs made of evil.
Shen Hao's soul briefly tried to leave his body.
He scrambled up and kept running.
Three Minutes Later
Shen Hao, still running, voice hoarse, said, "I… pant… can't believe… pant… this is my life."
"You should. This is like… your fifth monster-chase this month," Lingfeng remarked.
Mo Han quietly added, "You're nearing your destination. One more kilometer."
Shen Hao wheezed, "One… one more what? I CAN'T EVEN FEEL MY LEGS!"
They burst through the trees, and the forest ended.
Just like that.
Before them was a barren, cracked plain of old stone, and in the distance, a massive wall, blackened and worn, with glowing glyphs etched across its face.
A giant gate loomed at the center.
No guards.
No lights.
No monsters.
Just wind.
And silence.
Shen Hao staggered toward it like a survivor of a culinary apocalypse.
"Why did the big guy stop chasing?" Lingfeng whispered.
Shen Hao turned slowly.
The giant swamp beast stood at the treeline… watching.
It didn't step forward.
Didn't growl.
Didn't wave this time.
It just stared.
Then slowly backed away.
Melted into the trees.
Gone.
"...Is this city protected by some kind of spiritual barrier?" Shen Hao asked.
"No. Not a barrier. A reputation," Mo Han said, examining the gate's runes.
"...Worse," Shen Hao muttered.
He approached the gate.
An alien language was carved into the archway.
"What's it say?" Shen Hao asked.
Mo Han calmly answered, "'Welcome to Hollow City.'"
"Why do I feel like that's less of a greeting and more of a warning?" Lingfeng remarked.
Shen Hao stared up at the dark walls.
The air here was heavy. Old. Watching.
Even the wind felt like it was holding its breath.
No monsters followed.
No birds sang.
No sound except the crunch of his boots on cracked stone.
"…Even monsters won't come here," Shen Hao said quietly.
He stepped forward.
One foot past the gate.
Then the second.
"And so begins the bad idea of the day…" Lingfeng whispered.
The city swallowed him whole.
And the gate stood silent behind.
The moment Shen Hao stepped through the gates of Hollow City, he felt it.
The air was thick. Not with smoke, not with Qi, with something older.
Like silence that had been waiting.
He walked slowly. The streets were cracked, the buildings tall and hollow. Strange glyphs decorated stone arches, long faded by time. No wind. No monsters. No life.
It felt less like a city and more like a memory.
"So, uh… nice place. Love what they've done with the complete absence of sound and hope," Lingfeng said quietly.
"Stop talking," Shen Hao snapped.
"This place... is not abandoned. It's resting," Mo Han said softly.
"Okay. That's worse," Shen Hao muttered.
He reached the center of the street, paused near a fountain filled with dust, and looked up.
And that's when it happened.
CRACK.
A thunderclap split the air.
SSSSHHHHHRIP.
The sky tore open like fabric, an actual tear in the clouds, vertical and hissing with energy. Purple lightning crackled along the edges. A shadow floated down, descending slowly with the weight of doom.
The temperature dropped.
The wind finally returned, but only to panic.
"…So uh… did the city come with a dramatic villain DLC or is this a live performance?" Lingfeng asked nervously.
"Let's find out," Shen Hao replied calmly, watching.
The figure descended slowly, tall, cloaked, but not human. Its body was wrapped in dark metallic robes, pulsing with faint blue lines of energy. It had no visible face. Only a long, narrow jaw and glowing violet eyes. Four floating rings of silver light hovered behind its back like a crown.
Its aura hit the ground before it did, slamming the city square with invisible pressure.
Shen Hao's shoulders tensed.
Still, he didn't move.
The figure landed softly, without sound, its feet not even touching the dust.
It stood still.
Then lifted its head.
And looked directly at Shen Hao.
Mo Han's voice echoed in Shen Hao's mind, voice like stone: "Demi-Conqueror Realm… Level 4."
Shen Hao thought internally: "Oh."
"Well, this is fun. I've always wanted to see what getting vaporized looks like… from inside," Lingfeng whispered.
The figure took one step forward, the ground didn't crack, but the buildings around them shivered.
Still, Shen Hao stood tall.
Then, without hesitation, he brought his right fist to his left palm and performed the proper salute, clean, respectful, sharp.
"Greetings, cultivator. I am Shen Hao, traveler through this realm," Shen Hao projected calmly.
"Nice. Formal. Polite. Totally hiding the fact that you're one heartbeat away from bolting," Lingfeng whispered.
The being didn't reply.
Instead, it took another step.
Then another.
Then stopped a few meters away, tilting its head slightly.
Its voice echoed, deep, metallic, layered like three people speaking at once.
"Look me… in the eye."
Shen Hao blinked.
His smile froze halfway.
"NOPE," Lingfeng instantly said.
"...This is going to be one of those days, isn't it?" Shen Hao said quietly.
He looked up.
Right into those glowing, violet eyes.
And the city seemed to hold its breath.