The silent forbidden zone turned eerie as the haunting melody drifted through.
The ethereal voice brought with it a chilling sensation, freezing the ground in its wake. Blades of grass turned into frosty needles, and towering trees transformed into icy sculptures.
The song seemed to be an intrinsic part of the night, so its presence didn't shatter the silence of this place; instead, it deepened the aura of the forbidden zone.
Xu Qing stood there and listened silently. Some waves rose in his heart as his memories from seven years ago surfaced.
This was the second time he had heard the song.
To scavengers, the singing voice in the forbidden zone was the source of their fear. Those who heard it were basically dead.
However, the current Xu Qing was different from back then.
Back then, he didn't have much strength to protect himself. He could only shiver in the cold and wait for death to arrive.
Now, even though he was standing on land that wasn't Fenghai County, he could still sense the fortune gathering from Fenghai County.
Only that terrifying bizarre entity could breach this aura of fortune.
Not to mention the sky above, where the great wing was faintly visible, and higher up, where Qingqin was gazing from.
Hence, Xu Qing didn't feel fear because of the singing voice. Instead, his eyes revealed anticipation as he stared in the direction of the footsteps.
He was waiting for a figure to appear there.
The shadow had already spread to a range of 1,000 feet, as if it had become a special forbidden zone. Within this 1,000 feet, all the vegetation transformed into eyes and all the large trees into coffins.
Countless eyes opened at this moment, surrounding Xu Qing and staring at him together.
The bizarre aura from the shadow also erupted at this moment, revealing cruelty, hunger, and fear.
At that moment, if one looked at the forbidden zone from a high altitude, they would be able to see that it was filled with thick fog. Only the 1000-foot-long area where Xu Qing was at was the only clear place.
As for the singing voice in the fog, it was gradually becoming clearer. The sound of footsteps was getting closer and closer.
When it was a thousand feet away from Xu Qing, the singing continued but the footsteps stopped.
One could vaguely see a pair of straw sandals dyed red with blood at the edge of the fog.
This pair of sandals didn't exist in Xu Qing's memories. He had never seen them before.
On the straw sandals, fog churned and gradually formed a figure. This was also a stranger. It was a woman wearing a black robe.
The robe was very large, as though it covered the forbidden zone behind her. As she arrived, the vegetation in the surroundings bent down and the large trees distorted, as though they were also worshiping her.
There were also anomalous substances that spread out and fused into the fog, causing the fog to surge even more, forming a pressure that enveloped the surroundings.
Her eyes were even more special. One was red and the other was white.
Countless souls could be seen in the red eyes, and in the white eyeball were endless skeletons.
At that moment, these eyes were staring at Xu Qing and also at Xu Qing's shadow.
"Food!"
A hoarse voice rang out from her mouth. It came from the fog, from the vegetation, and from the entire forbidden zone. It continued to echo, forming lingering sounds.
The eyes of the shadow within a thousand feet revealed a dark glint. As they locked onto this woman, the fear it felt was incomparably intense.
"Forbidden zone's… master…"
The emotions from the shadow rapidly entered Xu Qing's mind.
Xu Qing's gaze was cold and this black-robed woman was about to step within a thousand feet of Xu Qing. However, she stopped in her tracks and suddenly lifted her head to look at the sky, falling silent.
A long time later, the voice rang out again.
"Leave!"
This sound transformed into rejection that rose from the entire forbidden zone.
Xu Qing's expression was calm. He cupped his fists and bowed to the master of the forbidden zone as he calmly spoke.
"Sorry to disturb you."
The fog churned and was gradually about to drown the woman's figure. The repulsive force also became even more intense at this moment. There was also a hint of malice in it, as though it was looking for an opportunity.
However, the pressure from the sky clearly made it feel some fear. Hence, it didn't turn this malice into action.
Seeing that the figure of the master of the forbidden zone continued to blur, Xu Qing politely spoke.
"Have you forgotten some things?"
The foggy figure turned a deaf ear.
Xu Qing's expression was still polite as he spoke softly.
"This forbidden zone will give a gift to those who hear the singing voice for the second time. It will allow them to see the figure they want to see the most."
"Today is the second time I've heard the singing."
The foggy figure coldly swept its gaze across Xu Qing but didn't bother with him. It turned and walked into the fog. As it became increasingly blurry, the coldness in the surroundings became even denser. The lingering sound still echoed in the world, forming an even denser drive.
Xu Qing's expression darkened and his gaze turned cold. He stopped being polite and slowly spoke.
"Great wing!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the sky rumbled and a thousand-foot-long great wing instantly descended. It emitted a terrifying pressure. There was also Daoist Sima and the thousand Sword Holders. Their auras spread out one after another and suppressed the forbidden zone.
The forbidden zone trembled and the fog churned intensely. The figure who was about to leave stopped in its tracks. When it turned around, its body emitted dangerous fluctuations as it stared at Xu Qing with a sinister expression.
"My request isn't unreasonable."
Xu Qing looked into the eyes of the master of the forbidden zone and slowly spoke.
"Senior Qingqin."
In the sky, there was a cracking sound that could pierce through metal and rocks. It was as though it had waited for a long time before it was finally summoned by Xu Qing. It echoed in all directions with excitement. There was also a powerful wind that slapped the forbidden zone like an invisible hand.
Qingqin's body descended.
The ground trembled and the fog collapsed on a large scale. The intensity of the churning reached the extreme.
