Mist of Doubt (Part 1) (Thanks to Alliance Leader Xie Liuzhilang)

Thick fog enveloped the canyon, with dark green stone walls covered in vines on both sides.

The sound of flowing water drifted from ahead, its intensity varying with the wind.

Zhang Rongfang stood in the center of the group, took out a tinderbox, opened the lid, and gently blew on it.

The tinderbox ignited a flame, lighting an oil torch.

"Everyone, light your torches in advance," he ordered in a deep voice.

Xu Siyi and Zhong Wang, who were leading the way, entered together.

Then Zhang Rongfang himself, along with fifteen skilled hunters adept at mountain raids.

This time, the main focus is on exploration, and brute force alone is not advantageous in this environment.

Therefore, the people Zhang Rongfang brought were also hunters skilled in other areas.

Enveloped in thick fog, only the blurry Shadow of their group could be seen slowly moving forward in the canyon.

The faint chirping of birds could be heard from time to time, most of them hoarse and unpleasant.

"Have you taken all the medicine in advance?" Zhang Rongfang asked.

"I've taken it." The hunter leader in charge of the team was named Song Xinye. He originally planned to study literature and martial arts, but his family fell into poverty and he could only make a living by hunting. Unexpectedly, he had a fortuitous encounter in the mountains and learned a set of light-body skills in the mountains, making him extremely fast.

He was also the overall leader in charge of coordinating the exploration team in the last operation.

This time, I personally accompanied Zhang Rongfang into the canyon.

"My lord, the Crimson Forest Entrance is just ahead. There's nothing wrong here; it's just an ordinary canyon entrance. But once you go in, you'll encounter quite a few poisonous bees, so please be careful," Song Xinye warned in advance.

"It's alright, just be careful." Zhang Rongfang nodded.

The group said no more and continued to silently carry their torches forward.

The ground was covered with uneven rocks and hard soil, and occasionally there were the bones of some unknown wild animals that would be kicked and make a clattering sound.

We walked forward for about ten minutes.

Finally, the terrain changed.

The sound of the stream grew closer and clearer.

But the fog was getting thicker and thicker.

Even more strangely, the wind in the canyon suddenly picked up.

"Something's not right!" Zhang Rongfang said in a deep voice. "Normally, strong winds shouldn't make the fog thicker. The two can't coexist!"

"My lord." Song Xinye was about to speak when suddenly his pupils contracted and he looked ahead.

"Wait a minute! Where are the two people who led the way!?"

Everyone was startled and looked ahead.

But Xu Siyi and Zhong Wang, who had been leading the way, were nowhere to be seen!

Zhang Rongfang was also shocked; he hadn't even sensed anything amiss with the disappearance of the two women.

He took a few steps forward, straining his eyes to look ahead.

Even with the best Dark Light Vision, it's still impossible to see clearly what's in front of you.

"No! You guys..."

He suddenly turned around and looked at Song Xinye and the others.

But behind him was nothing but a deep, gray fog.

The dozen or so people who were just two meters behind him had all vanished without a sound! Zhang Rongfang looked around, but there was no one there except himself.

"Impressive! They isolated me without a sound. Even with my current senses, I didn't detect it at all."

He didn't panic. Instead, he calmly held his breath, blinked, and looked at the Intuition Warning in the Attribute Panel.

Unfortunately, there were no warnings mentioned above.

Perhaps the other party wasn't targeting him personally, but rather the people around him.

As long as it's not directed at him, there won't be any problems.

"Song Xinye!" Zhang Rongfang shouted, holding up a torch.

The sound echoed and drifted away amidst the birdsong and the sound of the stream, faintly fading back in the echoes.

No one responded.

Zhang Rongfang snorted coldly and strode forward, taking large steps.

Without the burden of others, he could now move with incredible speed, covering more than ten meters in a single step.

With a swift movement, they soon arrived at the bank of a flowing stream.

The stream flows Jingying, with green aquatic plants floating on both sides.

"This should be the bottom of the valley."

Zhang Rongfang looked around and Kong Wu there.

I checked the Attribute Panel again, but the Intuition Warning still hadn't changed.

Follow the stream downstream and walk along the edge.

He soon saw a small wooden house standing among the rocks on the bank downstream.

The wooden house is entirely brown, with two round windows and a chimney on top.

"A wooden house!?" Zhang Rongfang instantly recalled the elements mentioned in the previous rumors.

'Am I dreaming?'

Legend has it that many people fall asleep in this canyon and dream of a wooden house where they can make a wish.

If you make a wish here, your wish will come true.

Now it seems Zhang Rongfang has a guess in his mind.

He approached the wooden house step by step.

Despite the surrounding fog, nothing could be seen clearly from a few meters away.

But between him and the wooden house, there seemed to be an invisible pipe that separated all the fog, allowing him to see straight through.

"You've arrived?"

Suddenly, a gentle and quiet female voice drifted out from the wooden house.

The wooden door of the house opened slowly and silently, revealing a somewhat dark and gloomy interior.

A round, black wooden table that seemed to have grown out of the ground. Several high-backed, rough wooden chairs.

There was another person sitting on one of the chairs.

A tall woman with her back to him, wearing a white dress and with her hair neatly combed.

The woman had very fair skin, and her dress was also very white.

The two were almost mixed together, and it was impossible to tell them apart.

"Did you deliberately lure me here?" Zhang Rongfang stopped ten meters away from the wooden house.

He remained extremely wary of the unpredictable nature of the other party.

"I had been silent for many years. But now, you have given me hope," the White Dress Woman said softly.

"Who are you?" Zhang Rongfang asked, frowning.

"Now, you have arrived at the Wish Cabin." The woman slowly stood up, still with her back to him.

"Speak your wish, whatever it may be, and it will come true. This is the reward you deserve for your good fortune."

"First, answer me who you are?" Zhang Rongfang repeated his question in a deep voice.

"Tell me your wish."

The woman repeated, seemingly not having heard his question at all.

"Answer my question." Zhang Rongfang bent down and picked up a stone.

"Tell me your wish," the woman repeated.

Thud! A flying stone hit her right on the forehead.

Caught completely off guard, the woman suffered a head injury that caused her to bleed profusely and collapse to the ground.

"Bullshit wish! My wish is to kill you!!"

However, after venting his anger, Zhang Rongfang was also slightly taken aback. He had considered many scenarios, but was this death too easy? He tried to move closer.

Suddenly, my vision blurred, and my surroundings changed drastically.

He blinked and looked around again.

"My lord!? My lord, are you alright!?" Song Xinye's trembling voice came from behind.

The fog was still very thick, and you could not see people clearly from a few meters away; you could only see a faint shadow.

"I'm fine!" Zhang Rongfang raised his hand and looked at the smear of white ash in his palm.

It was from when he was picking up stones. As he looked ahead, he vaguely smelled a faint scent of blood, and his heart skipped a beat.

Zhang Rongfang didn't have time to think and quickly rushed forward.

Before they had walked a hundred meters, they saw Zhong Wang, who had led the way before. The woman who had survived last time was now lying on the ground, her head smashed by a rock, bleeding profusely.

"How did she die just now?" Zhang Rongfang asked after a moment of silence.

"It was you, sir. You suddenly picked up a stone and threw it forward," Song Xinye replied cautiously from behind.

"We've been traveling the whole time?" Zhang Rongfang sensed something was wrong.

"Yes, sir, you were so focused on your journey that you didn't even acknowledge us when we greeted you," Song Xinye and the other dozen or so people looked pale.

The leader of the group suddenly picked up a stone without saying a word and killed one of the guides.

It all seemed like a sudden onset of illness. "What about the other Xu Siyi?" Zhang Rongfang paused for a moment, then asked again.

"They ran away," Song Xinye replied.

Yes, seeing her companion who was leading the way suddenly killed, she must have been so frightened that she turned and ran away.

Zhang Rongfang's mood was somewhat somber.

"What happened to Zhong Wang was my fault. I will definitely treat her family well when I get back!"

He hated this feeling of not being able to even determine his goals.

"Where are we now?"

"According to the map, we should have reached the bottom of the valley," Song Xinye replied.

"Let's get out of here first!" Zhang Rongfang made a quick decision.

"Back off! Get out of here!" He didn't plan to explore this place again until he could crack the ability that suddenly pulled people into illusions.

He had expected his Intuition Warning, and that there would be some reaction, but to his surprise, there was no reaction at all this time.

Immediately, Song Xinye and his group turned around and headed back the way they came, while Zhang Rongfang became the rearguard.

The group quickened their pace and headed towards the entrance of the canyon they had come from.

But soon, Zhang Rongfang's worst fears came true.

They traveled briskly for more than half an hour, but the mountain road ahead was still shrouded in mist, just like always.

Both sides were dark green canyon walls.

The V-shaped road in the middle stretched forward, extending into the deepest part of the fog, with no end in sight.

A group of people ran wildly, and according to the route they came in, they should have reached the entrance of the canyon long ago. But now, ***, they are at the entrance of Crimson Flame Gorge.

Qing Su was leading a group of men to guard the place. They were fully armed with Crossbow, crossbows, armor, and shields, waiting for Zhang Rongfang to return from inside.

"How long has the master been inside?" Qing Su asked in a deep voice.

The woman beside him took out her pocket watch, checked the time, and answered.

"It's been half an hour."

"We should have a result by now. If nothing unexpected happens, there will be Signal Flare in the sky. Everyone keep an eye on it," Qing Su said in a deep voice.

"Yes!" the group responded in unison.

Qing Su nodded in satisfaction and was about to go around to check the vigilance of the others.

Suddenly, a familiar voice drifted out from the misty canyon ahead.

"Qing Su, bring some men over here quickly, there's a situation here!"

It was Zhang Rongfang's voice, deep and serious, with a hint of gravity in his tone, clearly indicating that he had encountered trouble.

Qing Su paused abruptly, then recognized the person emerging from the mist as none other than Master Zhang Ying. She immediately roused herself, gathered about ten people, and quickly headed into the canyon.