Murim Recurve

Burkurel City; one of the three cities of the state of Burlong, housing a staggering population of around 600,000 people. The city walls were huge, equivalent to the height of 10 grown men. The walls were thick, equal to the height of three grown men, boasting tremendous toughness that couldn't be destroyed that easily.

Usually, the fortress walls would deter any wandering beast from even approaching the place. But now, large parts of the wall had caved in, strewn on the ground like rubble. The moat surrounding the city was polluted, filled to the brim with the carcasses of numerous animals and beasts alike.

Workers went about, harvesting the beast carcasses from the moat while not bothering to care about the rest for the time being. Another batch of workers worked on removing the animal carcasses, dumping them in a massive hole they had dug in a different place, intending to burn them completely.

After all, leaving them buried would cause the negative emotions they had harboured before death to linger and seep into the soil for long durations, churning in the place. And if a Kalki were to die on the piece of land, he/she would become the catalyst that triggers all the negative emotions, birthing a Sha.

So, the best way to dispose of them was to burn them completely and wash the ashes in a river so that no trace of it remains. So, work was proceeding in full swing.

But, as the carriage went past them, Re'Kha noticed their fearful expressions and jittery body language. It seemed something even more horrifying had happened. And after hearing the statement by Re'Bah, she was even more confused, feeling her heart thump in anxiety.

"Sit tight now," Re'Bah said all of a sudden as their carriage passed over the north-eastern bridge and entered the city. The city was shrouded in a gloom all over as sounds of cries resounded from time to time.

And, the passer-by held their heads low as they walked past in hurry, unwilling to stay out for long. Upon seeing the atmosphere, Re'Kha was perplexed, wondering just what caused them to become this way.

After all, even when their city had been attacked by the Treka once, the atmosphere wasn't this bad. The carriage soon arrived on the northern main road, heading towards the centre of the city. After all, their destination was the Burkurel Re Clan that was situated in the south of the city.

And, as the carriage approached closer and closer to the centre of the city, Re'Kha could feel fear in the air. Normally, she wouldn't have been able to sense something like this. After all, it wasn't a power Harmonisers possessed.

But for whatever reasons, most probably attributed to her eyes that had been refined by the Blinded Ghost, Re'Kha could feel the fear circulating in the air. As there wasn't any Sha in the place, the fear hadn't been turned into Fear Qi yet.

Though, considering the sheer scale of fear in the place, it was only time before a Sha was birthed. It was nighttime when the carriage arrived at the central plaza, situated in the city centre, positioned near the Ki Clan's residence.

The moment the carriage arrived at the place, Re'Kha could hear the horses neigh in fear, trembling as they moved slower than before. As for her, she finally understood the reason why, looking at the scene outside as her body trembled.

Lodged on the ground were metal spikes, each spanning twice a man's length. They were forcibly lodged into the ground with a lot of strength, evident by the cracks surrounding the place of insertion.

But, the gruesome scene was the corpses hung in them. They weren't hung but rather had been forcibly made to stand while the metal pike was inserted through their mouths and pulled out from their anus.

The tips of the metal spikes were then lodged into the ground, causing the corpse of the person to remain in place, bereft of any clothing. Rather, they didn't even have an ounce of skin on their bodies.

The scene was too much for her to handle, causing Re'Kha to turn away when Re'Bah held her neck, whispering, "Don't turn away. I warned you before. Do as I tell you, for now."

Even though she didn't wish to do so, considering the emotions she noticed in her mother's eyes that were trembling, Re'Kha barely managed to nod and looked out through the window. Pale-faced, she noticed the metal spikes numbered in the hundreds.

And, when she looked at their Tikka jewellery, she barely managed to rein in her scream. For, even though it was nighttime, plenty of lanterns were hung in the central plaza, enough to keep the place fairly bright.

And, this light allowed her to see the colour on their gem. Black, a shiny black, the symbol of Harmonisers wielding Metal Qi.

Burkurel Ju Clan!

As she looked at them, even if she didn't wish to believe it, her mother's whisper echoed in her ears, "The Burkurel Ju Clan had already gone overboard by experimenting on the Rhipa. And, after inspecting their settlements and even their Clan, it came to light that they had been conducting numerous experiments, most of which went against Imperial Regulations."

"And finally, during the war with the Kalhas, they had revolted and sneak attacked the Royal Clan, causing them severe casualties. And among the deaths were the City Lord and three Elders, severely crippling Burkurel Ki Clan." Re'Bah said, barely managing to prevent her voice from trembling.

"But, no one knows what happened after that. Burkurel City was shrouded by a fog soon after. The Kalhas retreated in fear while all of us remained paralysed. And, when the fog cleared, this scene happened. Even now, we cannot even get near the metal spikes." Re'Bah closed her eyes, "If you approach them, you'll feel like your body will get impaled. So, they haven't been removed yet. And for some reason, the impaled bodies haven't rotted, even though it's been almost a month since that incident happened."

The carriage passed through the central plaza that was littered with bodies impaled by the metal spikes. Eventually, they reached Burkurel Re Clan.