The sky is not "bright".
The whole world was shrouded in a strange light.
The light diffused from the western sky. It was not dazzling and could even be said to be soft, but it made the hairs on Pei Xinzhi's body stand on end. It was a "color" that he had never seen before and could not describe - neither green nor white. It was as if the fish belly white before dawn, the pale white at noon, and the cold light remaining after the moon were all crushed and mixed together, and all the warmth was removed.
There is no sound.
This is the scariest thing. At this moment, the camp was already full of cursing refugees, scolding guards, camels snorting impatiently, and pots and pans clinking. But now, everything is silent. No, it's not silence, it's the sound being "swallowed" by the light. He could see the mouth of the guard not far away moving, but could not hear a sound; he could see the camel kicking in fear, but the dust raised seemed to be slowed down.
Then, he saw "the one."
In the west, where heaven and earth meet, a "pillar" stands.
No, not a pillar. It was more like a... Solidified, huge, continuous "ash mark". It has no entity and blurred edges, like a drop of thick off-white pulp dripping onto the rice paper of heaven and earth, and then solidifies there. Inside the slurry is a deeper, completely opaque gray, swallowing up all the scenery behind - the Gobi, distant mountains, and even the sky beyond.
