Chapter 599: Drunk on the Starry Night (1)
Blades, axes, crescent halberds.
To the common folk of the Demon Realm, these were more familiar than pickaxes.
Unlike in the southern lands, they made no effort to fortify gates; sharp rooftops angled toward the sky were their way of keeping monstrous birds at bay. It was simply their way of life.
Every pavilion stood like a sword.
And nowhere in the Demon Realm held more swords than its capital, Black City.
From Gubeikou at the Great Wall north of Beijing, travel northeast for three thousand li and you’ll find a vast city, its silhouette dark as smoke.
Just as distant as it was, it brimmed with exotic customs and strange climates.
Yet the ruler’s palace alone bore the refined octagonal rooftops of Ming architecture, and the darkness within was as ink-black as the southern night.
Heukdo Old Palace.
The fortress of the Northern Emperor—the mightiest man in the north.
“The ritual array has been completed, Southern Emperor.”
A voice that brazenly pierced the very chamber meant for the next emperor of Qing. The tone, distorted through internal energy, was hoarse—yet if you listened closely, unmistakably a woman’s.