Psychological Barriers

Rui felt a profound depth of apprehension as they traveled across the Gu.

His expression was crumpled with disgust.

Each step he took was upon a dead body.

The few instances his feet hit actual land was when he set foot on marshy mud dyed black with rotten mud. They had very quickly decided to hover over the land with sky-walking, a solution they had avoided prior to ensure that they didn't draw attention in the air.

Black skies.

Black land.

Darkness in all directions.

Every hundred meters, they would run into an enormous group of people drowned in absolute bloodshed and violence. Somehow, despite all the chaos, the only constant was an even distribution of violence in groups of precisely ten people.