Finally, before darkness completely fell, we saw the outline of Desheng Gate.

At the city gate, just as the game guide had predicted, an eerie silence had fallen. Several rebel groups with different banners stood in a standoff for control of the gate, but none dared make the first move.


*Now's our chance!*

I pulled them along, keeping low and inching through the shadows of the city wall toward the gate opening.

If we could just get through, we'd be halfway to safety.


Just as we were about to enter the gate, a sharp eagle's screech split the air.

I snapped my head up.


A giant eagle with a wingspan exceeding five meters, covered in black scales and bearing three heads, circled above Desheng Gate. Each head had a blood-red, ominous eye.

[Encountered "Abyssal Hunter"]

A high-level reconnaissance unit from the game! How could it be here?

The giant eagle's blood-red eyes instantly locked onto us—or more specifically, onto Chongzhen.

"Found you... remnant... of the old gods..."

A grand, genderless voice resonated directly in my mind.

*This is bad.* This was the highest level alarm.

We... had been exposed.

The giant eagle let out a second screech, this time carrying a special frequency. The groups of rebels who had been confronting each other simultaneously stopped their disputes. A blood-red light flashed in their eyes, and they all turned toward our position.

[Mental Control: Mass Hypnosis]

[High-Level Command Unit Detected]

"Quick, through the gate!" I shouted, grabbing Wang Cheng'en and charging forward.

But it was already too late.

Dozens of rebels roared like beasts as they lunged toward us. Their movements had lost all human rationality, becoming savage and unrestrained, yet terrifyingly fast.

Even more deadly, the three-headed giant eagle dove toward us. Its talons were half a meter long, glinting with cold, deadly light in the moonlight.

"Your Majesty!" Wang Cheng'en, seeing our desperate situation, finally had his last shred of rational thought collapse. He fell to his knees, kowtowing frantically to Emperor Chongzhen. "Your Majesty, save me! This servant doesn't want to die! This servant still wishes to serve Your Majesty!"

And Chongzhen, facing this overwhelming killing intent, finally moved.

He slowly raised his head toward the giant eagle, and on that expressionless face appeared, for the first time, a trace of... excitement.

"Interesting... you dare... to act so... recklessly... before me..."

His voice began to change from its original hoarseness to a layering of multiple tones, as if countless people were speaking simultaneously.

Then, he opened his mouth.

That was no longer a human mouth.

A massive abyss over two meters in diameter, filled with razor-sharp teeth, tore open across his face. From the abyss gushed viscous black liquid that reeked of decay.

[Warning: Witnessing "True Form of the Abyss"]

[Sanity Check: Critical Failure]

[You have fallen into a state of "Deep Panic"]

My vision blurred, my brain feeling as if pierced by countless steel needles. Yet through the haze, I witnessed the most terrifying scene of my life.

The moment those black liquids touched the ground, they frantically writhed and grew, forming dozens of tentacle-like appendages. They grabbed several rebels charging at the front, and then...

Then came a spine-chilling sound of *chewing*.

In less than ten seconds, those living, breathing people were completely "digested," without even a fragment of bone remaining.

And those tentacles, after devouring flesh and blood, grew even thicker and more violent.

The three-headed giant eagle let out an angry shriek. It tried to escape, but the tentacles had already extended into mid-air, wrapping around its wings with snake-like flexibility.

The giant eagle struggled desperately, all three mouths spitting corrosive green liquid, but to no avail. The tentacles constricted tighter and tighter, eventually dragging the high-level reconnaissance unit alive toward the "Mouth of the Abyss."

*Crack!*

After a crisp bone-breaking sound, the world returned to silence.

The remaining rebels, terrified beyond reason, screamed as they fled in all directions.

The "Abyss" on Chongzhen's face slowly closed, returning to human form. He licked his lips, a hint of satisfaction flashing in those pitch-black eye sockets.

"It's been... a long time... since I've... feasted like this..." he said in a low voice, then turned to me. "Now... we can... go."

I knelt on the ground, trembling uncontrollably, completely unable to stand.

That scene had thoroughly redefined my understanding of "horror."

Was this Chongzhen's true power? Was this the... true face of a deeply corrupted emperor?

I suddenly realized all my previous calculations and deductions were based on a false premise.

I thought I could "use" him.

But in reality, from the very beginning, he had been... using me.

He needed a "guide," a "strategy expert" with sufficient knowledge of this world to help him achieve his ultimate goal.

And I was the... tool he had chosen.

Wang Cheng'en had completely passed out. I struggled to my feet, leaning against the wall, following Chongzhen step by step toward the city gate tunnel.

Behind us, on the open ground outside Desheng Gate, only black sticky fluid and scattered weapons remained.

We... had successfully escaped from Beijing.

But was this truly a victory?

I looked back at the city gate, where torches on the city wall flickered in the night wind like countless watchful eyes.

This ancient capital of a thousand years would, from tonight onward, forever belong to the abyss.

And we—three insignificant fugitives—were about to embark on an even more perilous journey of no return.

At the end of that road awaited not light, but an even deeper... darkness.