The wrath hunter and the familiar face.

Another city had met its end at the hands of Liang Chen, and it wasn't just any city, it was a city that housed one of the Nine Wraths. But even so, even with all that death, the fourth drop that Purgatory's Cradle had prepared for Liang Chen had yet to fill. Killing the Sky-Piercing Sparrow's avatar had filled three and a half drops so his view of how quickly a reward was granted had been skewed from the start, the cradle was actually extremely stingy with handing out rewards.

But when you just gave it some thought you would quickly understand why that was the case. Liang Chen had only picked up one of his three rewards so far, the other two were deeper still, yet that lone reward had been of tremendous help to him. His poison had reached a completely new level, it just hadn't gotten a chance to truly show itself yet, he didn't think it would have a great effect when faced with Song Zhao's brown flames.

With just one reward providing such a benefit, how much assistance would the last two provide? That third reward was one he was especially curious about. He had arrived so deeply into the cradle that he had encountered the Ninth Wrath, the Wyvern's Wrath, yet the sensation that the third reward gave him was that there was still quite a way to go before he could reach it.

But step by step he approached it, the second reward awaiting him somewhere beyond the horizon. But if he had to guess then Liang Chen would say that the second and third rewards were probably located within the cities that housed one of the Nine Wraths. They had existed for so many years already that they had definitely gathered up unimaginable wealth, much like the bloodline storage of the Wyvern's Wrath sect.

But before he could bother with any of that he would have to deal with the obstacle that laid ahead of him. The Nine Wraths sect had seven subordinate sects that represented their wraths, Wyvern's, Man's, Haunting, Abandoned, Land's, Ocean's, and Sky's, from Ninth to Third. The Second Wrath was rumoured to be the headquarters of the Nine Wrath's sect, but there was no record of the First Wrath ever showing themselves so Liang Chen had no clues about it. And right now, the city that descended into the earth ahead of him housed one of those wraths, the Eighth Wrath, the Wrath of Man.

"Sheng Lian, Yumao, don't let its appearance deceive you, this place is every bit as dangerous as the previous city, probably more so. Don't let down your guard."

Liang Chen gave his two companions another warning as they followed the trodden path that meandered towards the city, Lan Yun once again forced to take refuge inside his interspatial ring since they were approaching a city again. The city ahead of them had a slightly peculiar appearance, it was built inside a large basin with rather steep edges, it almost resembled an inverted tower.

Thanks to this, the state of the city wasn't the best, the buildings showed clear signs of wear thanks to not just the running water they had to resist whenever it rained but also due to the increased strain brought about from their tilted positions. It was such an unwieldy place to build a city that it was astounding that anyone had gone through the trouble, just the fact that anyone was living there was strange enough.

Yumao was rather lax about the warning, he and Liang Chen had been through enough together that his confidence had already been built up properly. Sheng Lian was a bit tenser about it, this would probably be the first time she got to show her father that she could be of use, or that she could at least listen to warnings, so she didn't want to make any mistakes.

But as they got closer to the descending city they slowly noticed that things were rather strange. The streets were practically completely abandoned. Its unique construction meant that he could see a good portion of the city even if he just stood at the very edge, but even so, he could only see around five people move about on the streets. Even if the city was unwieldy and strange, it still housed one of the Nine Wraths so there was no way it would be this empty and barren.

There were a few signs of battle scattered about across the city, but all the cities here saw frequent battles and murders so it was hardly something to be surprised about. But what was surprising about these marks was that several of them were actually present on and around the star-shaped building that served as the headquarters of the Wrath of Man sect. And the few people he did see out and about made sure to give all these battle scars great berth, their spines tense and their steps unnaturally quick as they rushed away.

"Father, I sense a great deal of warm blood within the buildings, they may try to ambush us by using a strange scene to lower our guards."

Sheng Lian spoke somewhat quietly, carefully prodding Liang Chen's elbow with her finger. Looking at her actions, he was once again hit by the fact that she really was much younger than she looked, she seemed like a little girl trying to get her father's attention without annoying him. But her words were based on Liang Chen's earlier warning, this was a dangerous place where they couldn't afford to drop their guard.

"Warm blood, huh. Let's take a look then."

Liang Chen didn't disregard Sheng Lian's warning, his energy quickly seeping out from his body and spreading into the surroundings. Some smaller insects and the like were quickly hit by it, white fuzz growing on their bodies as they rushed deeper into the city, spreading poisonous spores wherever they went.

The propagation of the poison was far faster than normal thanks to this so it didn't take long before Liang Chen's senses could seep into a good portion of the houses within the city. Thanks to this it was beyond easy for him to observe the sources of that warm blood, one of his eyebrows involuntarily rising in surprise.

"Oh? That's... Unexpected. Follow me, there's actually a familiar face here."

Having said that, Liang Chen started descending into the city in a calm manner, clearly not worried about any ambushes or the like. Yumao and Sheng Lian quickly followed him down the road, and at the very least Yumao was confident that the thing that had made Liang Chen say Unexpected hadn't been the familiar face.

Liang Chen made his way through the city, not bothering with any of the houses they passed, each one sealed up so tight that it seemed like they were trying to keep the very air out. But he eventually stopped in front of a simple house that was so small that it looked like it couldn't hold more than two rooms at most, it was practically just a wooden square.

"It's me, are you going to open or am I going to have to break in?"

Liang Chen knocked on the door, or perhaps more accurately, he knocked on the outer shell formed by the array that sealed up this house. It was a rather strong array to be protecting such a small house, but Liang Chen had shattered stronger arrays in the past so he wasn't joking about breaking in.

Luckily, the transparent shell that surrounded the house dissolved after he spoke up, allowing him to push open the door and enter. As was to be expected from a city as tilted as this one, the layout of the house was quite different from normal buildings. Everything was skewed slightly, the lone bed and two couches that served as furniture in the room was standing on what should be the wall of the house, they were only a bit away from being on the ceiling. But what had caught Liang Chen's attention here wasn't the strange layout, it was the man laying somewhat weakly on the bed.

"You said that we'd meet again within the cradle since you looked forward to the chaos I'd cause, but I wasn't expecting to find you like this."

Liang Chen looked down at the familiar face that wore a somewhat wry smile. A delicate frame enhanced by sharp features, dark pink hair that hung down to his shoulders, a few strands of it kept away from his face by a tiger-shaped pin and a dragon-shaped pin. But contrary to when they had first met, the youth's gleaming yellow eyes had turned a touch deeper, it was as if they were trying to tug on your soul.

Shen Fei, given the title of Prince of Dreamy Lust by the Bloodwind Code, the one who had been granted the Authority of Dreams by his universe. He and Liang Chen had first met in Moonset City not long after Liang Chen reached this Dominion and had later engaged in a small fight after Shen Fei insisted. Back then, Shen Fei had been at the early stage of the Primordial Immortal realm in soul and Qi cultivation, but now he seemed to have reached the middle stage in both systems so his strength had likely lept forward considerably.

But even so, he was currently laying on the bed almost covered in bandages. Liang Chen could tell that five of his ribs were still broken, as were his left leg and left shoulder, parts of his skull also seemed to be cracked from blunt force. He had clearly been beaten so badly that just moving would be hard for him, otherwise he wouldn't have holed up in this small house.

But it wasn't just Shen Fei, Liang Chen had seen the same in the other houses he investigated, battered and bruised people who couldn't leave their beds. And that was what had made him say unexpected, it simply didn't make much sense. Anyone who could batter them to this extent could also kill them, yet they were all still alive, why?

"What can I say, playing the part of the clown occasionally means you have to look ridiculous. But hey, it seems like you found yourself a woman on the way here, good on you, you were acting rather uptight back during our first meeting."

Shen Fei waved his right arm somewhat wearily, his gaze momentarily drifting towards Sheng Lian. He was the clown, that was why he was born and why he had been granted power. As such, even if he was in pain like right now he would have to fulfil that duty, otherwise he'd have no reason to exist.

"She's not my woman, she's my daughter, my wife is currently out on her own adventure."

Shen Fei's eyebrows couldn't help but shoot up at Liang Chen's statement, once again sweeping over Sheng Lian and him in a somewhat incredulous fashion. Liang Chen could guess what he was thinking, but he didn't see a reason to give more details so he simply moved on to the actual subject they should be talking about.

"So, I take it that it's not a coincidence that you, and just about everyone else in this city, are bed-ridden with injuries like this? You're still alive, so I'm assuming that it wasn't the Wrath of Man sect that did it?"

The Nine Wraths and their subordinate sects all sought to nurture Purgatory through their bloodshed, there was no way any of them would just leave people in a state like this when they could kill them. Someone else had to have acted, someone with different goals. Shen Fei spat out a breath at Liang Chen's straightforward manner, he really wasn't going to let him save any face.

"Come on man, at least try to beat around the bush a little before you rush onto the main topic like that, at least try to think about my feelings. But yeah, it wasn't the Wrath of Man that did this. Honestly, they're probably as messed up as I am right now, their sect-defending formation hasn't lowered once in the last five weeks after all."

Shen Fei spat out the words with a minor touch of glee and self-satisfaction, if even the Wrath of Man sect got beaten like that then it really couldn't be helped that he also got beaten, right? But he also knew that this wasn't the complete answer that Liang Chen was looking for so he kept talking.

"Honestly, I can't really tell you who messed us up like this. Mind you, it's not because I don't want to, it's just that I don't know her name. She had long white hair and piercing crimson pupils, she looked to be in her early twenties and fought using mainly martial arts. Does she have a weapon, a name? Fucked if I know, I at least wasn't able to make her reveal anything like that. But she used gravity and ice, I could at least make out that while she was wailing on me. But yeah, that was about it, she even had the gall to click her tongue and call this a boring place as she left me and headed for the Wrath of Man. Well, that was five or so weeks ago, that demoness has probably headed deeper into the cradle by now, she's hopefully picking on some other people now."

Shen Fei clicked his tongue as he spoke, maintaining a rather jovial expression but revealing a slight shade of the bitterness he felt deep within. Liang Chen had received an answer, if it could be called one, it didn't really reveal much. But it did tell him one interesting fact.

"So, what you're saying is that the Wrath of Man sect is currently weakened and recuperating after their battle?"

Shen Fei was strong, he was someone who could fight above his realm and truly deserved the rank he had received on the Multiverse Bloodwind List. But even he was left like this, seemingly without much chance to resist, so the Wrath of Man sect was probably also in a pretty wretched state. The corners of Shen Fei's lips twitched a few times as he understood the meaning behind Liang Chen's question, a burst of slightly disjointed laughter trickling out.

"Hehe, fuck me, heh. Yeah, she may have shown mercy to those she beat down, but ain't no way in hell you will, is there? Now that's a sad fate, what a bunch of unlucky sods."