"Strange. This old man has already given chase with all his might, so how can I still not see that person's shadow?"
Chen Li, who was pursuing him, was puzzled.
The moment he chased into the Black House Wasteland, he had instantly lost track of that black shadow.
Just then.
A black shadow flashed past. Chen Li, still running, felt a chill at his neck, and then he lost consciousness.
The dense fog on both sides of the road suddenly morphed into numerous tentacles, dragging Chen Li's corpse into the fog until it vanished without a trace.
After Chen Li's body was dragged into the fog, the main road fell deathly silent, as if nothing had happened.
But soon, the same eerie incidents began unfolding one after another.
—The first to die was a lone Rogue Cultivator.
Relying on his swift movement technique, the man boldly broke away from the crowd and dashed forward alone.
But when he had run about a hundred meters, the dense fog on both sides of the road suddenly churned, and a black shadow swept past him.
"Pfft!"
Blood sprayed as the Rogue Cultivator's head flew high into the air.
His body maintained its running posture, charging several more steps before crashing to the ground.
It was then dragged into the fog by the fog's tentacles.
Everything that happened nearby seemed completely invisible to Qin Shuang and the others.
—The second to die was a disciple of the Blazing Sun Sect.
That disciple had originally been following behind Liu Yulong, casually surveying his surroundings.
But the instant he fell a few steps behind, a pitch-black tentacle suddenly extended from the fog and coiled around his ankle like a venomous snake.
Before he could even let out a scream, his entire body was violently yanked into the fog, leaving behind only a blurry bloodstain that slowly spread across the ground.
"Hm?" Liu Yulong seemed to sense something. He abruptly turned around, only to discover that one person was missing from the group.
"Where's Li Yue?" he asked with a frown.
The guards beside him looked at one another in dismay. Not one of them had noticed their companion's disappearance.
—The third to die was a disciple of the Mystic Maiden Palace.
Upon hearing this, Nangong Ruyan suddenly stopped. Her pitch-black eyes narrowed slightly.
"Miss?" the maid beside her asked in confusion.
"Where's Zhou Bing?" Nangong Ruyan asked in a cold voice.
The four maids instantly grew alert, but they soon discovered that the female disciple who had been standing on the outermost edge had vanished without a sound.
On the ground, only a broken jade hairpin remained.
Only then did everyone realize that something was wrong.
They hurriedly looked at the people beside them.
"My senior sister is missing too."
"Junior brother, where are you?"
"Big brother..."
After a quick inspection, everyone discovered that thirteen disciples from various sects and factions had gone missing without a trace.
Qin Shuang stopped walking.
He stood in the middle of the main road and slowly drew the Blood Drinking Saber from his back.
The instant the blade left its sheath, the surrounding fog actually retreated several feet as if it were alive.
"Come out," he said coldly.
No one answered.
But in the next second, the dense fog on both sides of the road suddenly roiled, and dozens of pitch-black tentacles shot toward him like arrows!
Qin Shuang's eyes were icy cold. His blade flashed like blood, severing several tentacles in an instant.
Black liquid splattered onto the ground, corroding it like strong acid and eating out one charred-black pit after another.
"Hmph. Playing tricks and pretending to be ghosts!"
He snorted coldly. His saber momentum did not diminish as he suddenly hacked toward the depths of the fog.
"Boom—!"
Wherever the saber aura passed, the dense fog was forcibly cleaved open, revealing the vague outline of a twisted black shadow within.
The black shadow was humanoid, yet seemed to have been condensed from countless wisps of fog. It had no features, only a pair of scarlet eyes that stared fixedly at Chu Qin Shuang.
"Hehehe..."
After a shrill laugh, the black shadow vanished again.
"Junior Sect Master, this fog... something's wrong!" an elder of the Qingyang Sect said in a low voice.
Liu Yulong looked toward Nangong Ruyan.
The latter raised a crystal ball and quietly recited an incantation.
The clouds and mist within the ball churned violently, reflecting the black shadow stealthily moving through the fog at high speed.
The dense fog on both sides of the road suddenly surged. Countless tentacles attacked from every direction, like a gigantic black spiderweb descending over the crowd.
"Courting death!"
Qin Shuang's eyes were icy cold. The Blood Drinking Saber spun violently in his hand, and blood-colored saber light swept out like a storm, severing the tentacles one after another.
Liu Yulong flicked open his jade-bone fan with a sharp whoosh. Hidden silver needles shot through the air, pinning more than ten tentacles brutally to the ground.
Seeing this, the disciples of the other sects also brought out their signature skills—
"Mystic Ice Talisman, freeze!"
A female cultivator flung out three ice-blue talismans. Frost exploded outward, freezing several tentacles into ice.
"Blazing Flame Slash!"
Song Yuanming roared as he hacked out a crimson saber aura. Wherever the flames passed, the black fog emitted a sizzling sound as it burned.
However, the black shadows in the fog were far more bizarre than they had imagined.
The severed tentacles writhed rapidly after falling to the ground, then melted back into the fog as if they were immortal and indestructible.
"Whoosh!"
A black shadow suddenly sprang from the ground and coiled around a disciple's leg like a venomous snake, violently dragging him into the fog.
"Ah—!"
The scream abruptly ceased.
"Damn it!" A flash of anger passed through Liu Yulong's eyes. He suddenly raised his right hand, and a streak of azure light shot out like an arrow, instantly piercing through the black shadow.
"Pfft!"
After being struck by the azure light, the black shadow let out a pained howl before transforming into black smoke and retreating into the dense fog.
"Hmph. Nothing special."
Liu Yulong sneered, but his smile soon froze.
Because deeper in the fog, more scarlet eyes began to light up...
—There was more than one black shadow!
At the same time, Wei Qing and the other three, who were at the rear of the group, were attacked as well.
"Fuck... What the hell was that just now?"
Jun Wushang stood in front of Zhang Xue with his saber raised protectively. Viscous black liquid still dripped from the blade as he warily scanned the dense fog around them.
Zhang Xue's small hand clutched a corner of Jun Wushang's clothes tightly, her face showing the relief of someone who had narrowly escaped death.
Three breaths earlier, a pitch-black tentacle had shot from the fog, making straight for her throat.
If Jun Wushang had not reacted quickly and severed it with one slash, she might have been buried here today.
Tantai Yue frowned as she watched the tentacle she had severed. It seemed to still be alive; after writhing rapidly, it once again melted into the dense fog.
Wei Qing said nothing. He merely stepped half a pace forward and silently shielded the other three behind him.
"Rustle, rustle, rustle..."
Fine scraping sounds suddenly arose from the dense fog all around them, like countless snakes slithering through the grass.
Jun Wushang tightened his grip on the saber and said in a low voice, "We're surrounded."
Before his voice had even faded, more than ten tentacles shot out of the fog at once!
True Essence surged within Wei Qing's body as Profound Meaning—Lotus Radiance suddenly activated!
Nine lotus blossoms exploded into existence. Primal Energy surged, and a thirty-foot-tall blood-colored phantom condensed.
As the phantom followed Wei Qing's saber strike, more than ten tentacles were severed and instantly transformed into wisps of azure smoke, vanishing completely.
"Roar..."
A shrill scream rang out from within the dense fog.
In an instant, the dense fog seemed to have been enraged. It churned violently like boiling black water, while countless tentacles attacked simultaneously from every direction.