Chen Leike was atop a horse. The grass swayed, pressed flat with the gusting winds. The valley was vast and Xinlie stood like a tiny dark jewel in the distance, calm and eerie. The demon city was flanked by two tall cliffs and a thickness of foul energy that could be scented at even a great distance. His horse neighed, muscles twitching in protest but Chen Leike urged it on.
He alone was brave enough to venture out to get a closer look at the ominous city, where rumored that no decent man had stepped foot within in centuries. From a safer distance, it was difficult to glimmer any evidence of defensive arrays around it.
It had been Peng Zhugen who eventually talked them into caution and Chen Leike was the first to throw it out the window. The wind howled as he approached, prickling his skin with a chill that did not belong in summer.
