Chapter 315
High above, the blue-black seawater had split into four massive waterfalls. They cascaded from the sky, sliding down the giant, multicolored barrier enclosing Black Cloud City's peak before merging into the Jade Sea below.
The roaring deluge produced a steady, deafening white noise that made ears ring and heads swim, quietly dragging the mind toward a heavy, dangerous drowsiness.
Smack.
Inside a cellar beneath a collapsed house in the Outer City, a little girl viciously slapped the boy beside her across the face.
"Don't sleep! Fall asleep now, and you'll end up like Mom and Dad—polluted!"
"Plug your ears! Stop listening to the water!" Caked in dirt, she had stuffed two wads of rag into her own ears to muffle the faint, unrelenting roar from outside.
The boy jolted awake. He swayed, blinking up at his older sister.
"Sis… I'm hungry."
"There should be food left in the kitchen. I'll look—just hold on, and don't you dare fall asleep again." The little girl gritted her teeth, pushed herself up, and leaned against an overturned wardrobe for support before stumbling toward the kitchen.