One should know that only the criminals who were above the age of 14 were the only ones who were eligible to be punished but those who were below the age of 14 were exempted until they reached the needed age of punishment.
Moreover, one should know that even if a criminal could not take many things with them to the purgatory, a weapon was always a must have item and a criminal was only required to mark their weapons with a specific sigil so that their weapons could appear with them in the purgatory.
Anyway, all the criminals were confused at what was now happening. They all looked in horror and anticipation as the barrier which was hindering the beasts started to fracture.
"It's about to start, we only have 90hrs to finish this. I can't wait to go back home... Oooh how hopeful I am to think that I will come out of this place safe and sound?" Li Yi said to herself in an indistinct sound. She stared at Shi Chang who was beside her and she che could see that he was staring at her with a frown.
Averting his gaze from her, Shi Chang opened his palm and stretched his arms. A few droplets of the rain collected in his palm which made him to frown even more.
Clearly, this environment was against them, the terrain, the drizzle, the darkness, their fellows... Surely, most of them were going to die.
While Shi Chang was still absentminded while thinking of their problems, his fellow criminals brushed past Li Yi and Shi Chang. Everyone was scared as they watched the barrier fracture. They didn't knew what was going to happen next. They had all came here with their heads high and their chests out but what they were seeing was not something that they could put a brave front for. This was totally scary.
The vision of the criminals was blurred by darkness and they could only see a little distance ahead of them. But this didn't mean that their ears were impaired, other that the voice of the drizzle and their fellows, they could hear the growling and snarling of the hungry breasts which wanted nothing but to chew their flesh and drink their blood.
Li Yi was scared and too, she started to move back but Shi Chang was quick to hold her firmly in place.
"I can't, I am scared." Li Yi said. Her chest moving up and down. She was sweating but because of the drizzle, no one could see that. She turned to look at Shi Chang who had not answered her and she could see that he was calm as if he had been here before. There was no hesitation or fear. Shi Chang gripped his glaive tightly and looked beyond the barrier. He didn't even stare at Li Yi but for some reasons, Li Yi felt protected and safe when Shi Chang held her hand.
On Shi Chang's pink jacket, the number one could be seen while on Li Yi's jacket, the number ten could be seen. Just like Shi Chang, Li Yi had tied her hair to a ponytail so that it could not get in the way of her vision.
Without even knowing, Shi Chang was now releasing the presence of a mighty warrior who had been battling since the beginning of time. There was no fear or hesitation, he didn't falter because what he was about to fight was nothing but something that was not worth to be afraid of.
Just like Shi Chang, there were also other criminals like Zhen Hai and brave fronts from other cities who chose to stand their ground than to chicken in the face of what was coming. Most of these courageous criminals were in groups.
However, Shi Chang saw some of the cripples who were struggling to escape. Some of them were stepped upon and Shi Chang could already tell that most of them had already been killed just from the trampling alone. Shi Chang frowned but he was suddenly taken aback when he saw a certain lame person. This person was an age mate to Shi Chang and he was gripping his knife with his right hand. He was standing on his single leg with the help of a makeshift crutches. It seemed this lame person had quickly taken his time to make this crutches when he got here because a person could only come with a single item to the purgatory and that was a weapon. The lame criminal was standing his ground while shouting and cursing other cowardly criminals who were passing by him.
Shi Chang's eyes gleamed for some reasons when he saw this person.
Rip!
Finally,the barrier came down. Fumay was once again back to how it used to be but on this day, there were countless alien beings who had just joined Fumay's ecosystem and the denizens of Fumay wanted so much to eliminate these alien beings.
There was a rotting stench in the air and Shi Chang saw something that no one else saw - it was the rain water. Even if there was a valley which was collecting the falling rain drops, it seemed this valley was not an enough drainage as it was just about time before the waters flood it and stretch to the lands. This would either drown the players and denied them a chance to kill these beasts or it would deny them a chance to reach to the origin.
Shi Chang didn't say anything, he calmed down, concentrated his eyes and ears at his surroundings.
Just like Shi Chang, everyone had stopped running about as they waited to see what was going to happen next. Everyone was alert.
Shi Chang could feel that Li Yi was now calm. He didn't knew what had made her calm but he didn't think about it as he turned to what was coming next.
Other criminals had already drew their weapons and they were ready to stab at anything that would come at them with ill intent even if it was their fellows.
Time ticked. At last, all criminals could hear it.
There was growling, snarling and the pitter patter sound of the drizzling rain but there was also a suffocating presence heading all around them.
"Just stab at anything that comes to you. Don't think too much about it because these things are here to finish us so, it is either we are the ones to die or it is them." Shi Chang said in a flat voice without looking at Li Yi. He brandished his glaive and stood in front of her in a protective manner.
After all, to Shi Chang, Li Yi was the only person that he knew among all these criminals and he had vowed that he would protect her until this trial came to an end: that is if they were lucky enough to survive.
"You know... You don't have to do this. To finish this trial, I will also need to kill these beasts for their blood essence. I will try as hard as possible to do this." Li Yi was touched by Shi Chang's gesture but either way, she needed to stand up for herself. After all, even if Shi Chang was able to provide the blood essence for her, she still needed the lives and revivals which could only be gotten by the player killing the beasts themselves.
On the other hand, there was no change in Shi Chang's expression as if what Li Yi was planning or what she had said didn't concern him.
In the next moment, the snarling sounds neared and everyone could hear it clearly as it drowned the pitter patter sound of the rain.
Thick mud was disturbed and splattered towards to the criminals which blinded and dirtied their claddings.
Other than the growling, there was some buzzing sounds which Shi Chang concluded that they might be coming from a flying beast. The problem with Fumay was that it was dark and a player could only see a little distance ahead of them.
Aaarggh!
Screams and cries could be heard and even more criminals chose to abandon their heavy weapons and run past Shi Chang.
What these beasts were killing were the most vulnerable criminals like those who were blinded and the cripples who couldn't run quickly.
The number of the criminals dwindled very fast and Shi Chang didn't have to wait for a long time to see his nemesis.
Lighting flash struck for once and in a spur of that moment, everyone could see clearly for themselves.
Only bones protruding from the mud could be seen with a few corpses of their fellow criminals who had died in anguish.
Shi Chang watched hopelessly as a criminal with no hands who was crying for help was teared to shreds and his essence was quickly drawn away by those hungry beasts before they threw down his corpse. The corpse of that criminal quickly rot away leaving behind only bones.
"A fly." Li Yi murmured in a trembling voice. Her whole body was trembling and it was not just her as almost all the players were trembling at the gruesome sight that they had just witnessed.
Apparently, there were not many variety of beasts that had come at them but it was simply a fly. These flies were as large as a car and their numbers were in the uncountable.
For a second that the lightning had flashed, Shi Chang had seen the savage look in the eyes of those flies. Those flies were looking at them with exited looks while growling. They showed off their wormy tongue and flew towards the criminals.
"There is something wrong with these flies." Shi Chang murmured in his mind. While, the screams and cries intensified under the light shower, Shi Chang closed his eyes and meditated. All the noises died down and it was only the buzzing and the growling of the flies that could be heard. When Shi Chang entered into this state, his disposition changed which made Li Yi to feel like he was standing close to a different person. There was a certain difference that Shi Chang underwent but Li Yi could not tell clearly what this change was. All the criminals around them turned to Shi Chang and they could not help but feel this change.
[Congratulations player number one for unlocking the mind eye.]
This was the only notification that popped up in Shi Chang's mind but his attention was not about the notification or what it entailed because he didn't even see it. This notification was short without any explanation.
Deep in his mind, Shi Chang could see himself reaching close to this fly. He stared at it closely and he could see its appearance clearly. The lower part of its abdomen was soft but the entirety of it's thorax was as hard as steel. The whole of its thorax and most of its head was covered in steel-like chitin segments. It's wings were sharp like razor blades and it would cause turbulence every time it flapped them. However, Shi Chang realized that the eye or the eyes of this fly covered a bigger part of its head but reaching those eyes wouldn't be possible as reaching for the soft abdomen. Finally, the legs of this fly were long and full of sharp spikes. Shi Chang also noticed a soft spot that connected the head of this fly to it's thorax but reaching this spot was even harder that the eyes.
Suddenly, Shi Chang felt threatened. His hair stood on ends but he didn't falter. With his eyes closed, he swung his glaive and he could feel that he had slashed something
[Obtained three drops of blood essence. ]
[ Obtained one revival chance.]