Glazed Fire

If the previous hellish scene of rampaging demons was enough to drive one to madness, then now, with numerous monsters prostrate on the ground, and only a pure shrine maiden dancing in an absolutely filthy world, there is indeed a certain charm to it.

This priestess was different from the somewhat desolate and bleak appearance Lu Ban had seen before. She seemed more like a projection from the past, spotless, standing barefoot in the filthy and messy courtyard. Red and white versus black, purity versus filth, madness versus reason, life versus death, formed a strong contrast at this moment.

The song echoed across the entire island, and all people, all creatures, and all buildings fell silent, listening to the song that seemed to come from nowhere and from nowhere.

Even Lu Ban felt his mood calm down.

No, that's not right.

This calm state of mind is not normal.

Lu Ban felt his blood cooling down, all his obsessions about to dissipate, and only death was his final destination.

He saw the mist spreading from the witch's body, engulfing the monsters.

The monster underwent further mutation.

Several monsters gathered together and transformed into a giant, six-legged worm that walked with a limp gait. The worm's mouthparts were filled with sharp teeth, layer upon layer, like the mouth of a hagfish.

The bird soaring in the sky let out a sharp cry, and then its head split open. The wound healed rapidly, and it became two heads. The two new heads seemed to have a disagreement and began to peck at each other. In the blink of an eye, they fell into the sea and were swallowed by a huge monster.

The trees began to sway, and the leaves quickly withered and turned black. From the branches grew heavy, plump fruits, which, when turned over, turned out to be human heads.

In the sky, the enormous, eerie Jingliureng Humanoid Doll also changed. Its abdomen split open, and dark green pus fell like rain. The green rain poured down on the earth, and wherever it touched, smooth, mushroom-shaped plants grew. The monsters swam in the small lakes formed by the pus, looking very content.

Even the buildings began to age and decay, with human faces appearing on the walls, as if struggling or enjoying themselves.

The mist spread towards Lu Ban, and all the Island Magistrate prostrated themselves on the ground, worshipping the priestess.

Without a doubt, this is the Calamity Priestess, the culprit behind everything that happened on the Song Island.

Lu Ban wasn't sure whether she was brought by the Uncertainty Fog or whether she created the Uncertainty Fog.

But he probably knows that the island itself is part of a ritual, Calamity Priestess is the core of the ritual. He doesn't know who is in charge of the ritual, and now he is just waiting for everything to develop naturally.

As for what the ritual could ultimately create, Lu Ban guessed it would probably be something that could fight against the Divine Child.

"Now that things have come to this, this farce of the Poetry Festival should come to an end."

Lu Ban muttered to himself as he saw Momiji help Wan Ye up and walk out.

He didn't know when or if the Divine Child's purifying fire would come; Lu Ban only knew that he had to stop the thick fog from spreading.

The white, sun-obscuring fog spread extremely quickly, suddenly enveloping him.

The air, even more gritty than the one he felt at the shrine the night before, rushed into Lu Ban's nose and mouth. The intense pain, beyond description, tore through Lu Ban's lungs and respiratory tract in an instant, along with his stomach, liver, and kidneys. If he stayed in this fog for another three minutes, Lu Ban would die in the most distorted form.

Different patterns appeared on his arms. Lu Ban could see that a third hand was sprouting from his elbow, a keratin layer appeared on his palm, and bones were growing wildly inside his body, trying to break out.

Lu Ban had almost lost all his sight. He could only sense that the Momiji in front of him had opened up a faintly glowing dome, enveloping Wan Ye and himself within it.

The tearing sensation from the fog eased somewhat, but an even more intense pain surged up, almost overwhelming Lu Ban's entire consciousness.

He saw that he was no longer human, and even though wild grass was constantly emerging from his body, it was difficult to resist the erosion of the fog that exceeded the limits of human beings.

[Item obtained: Sigh of the Unfixed Mist]

Even the system's cold and indifferent words gave Lu Ban a strange sense of familiarity. He struggled to sit up, grabbed the tattered bag with his third hand, and pulled out a bottle from it.

The bottle was filled with a black flame, which contained orange-red, light yellow, dark green and azure colors, like a flowing rainbow or a swirling galaxy. The points of light within it were like stars, dazzling and radiant.

[Glazed Fire]

Upon seeing this, Momiji's expression changed noticeably. She seemed to realize something, yet also felt a pang of regret, but Momiji remained silent.

Lu Ban threw the object forcefully in the direction from which the mist was coming. Despite his body being riddled with holes, he felt an endless power within him.

Something ethereal covered Lu Ban's body, and like a puppet on strings, Lu Ban's tattered body was forcibly driven, and the bottle was thrown out, landing with a thud about fifty meters away from him.

In the thick fog, Lu Ban couldn't see how the bottle shattered. He could only hear a faint sound coming from the silent mist, followed by a dazzling light.

Some say that fire existed first in the world, and then humankind came into being. Fire is a symbol of civilization, a sword of reason that triumphed over the savagery of beasts.

Now, not far away, a nascent flame is rising.

Multicolored light leaped across the flames, and incredibly, the fuel for these flames was the fog itself.

Like a hot knife slicing through butter, like a wildfire igniting a grassland, the flames spread in an instant.

The thick fog that blanketed the entire island was like a frightened wild beast, suddenly beginning to shrink back.

Lu Ban vaguely saw the faint light around Momiji flickering continuously. The surrounding mist was no longer an airflow, but a sandstorm with a physical form, gradually pounding against Momiji's fragile defenses.

The mist seemed to be trying to suppress the pure flame by constricting itself.

But that would only make you burn out faster.

All the monsters, the mutated animals, the dilapidated buildings, and the gloomy world were burned by flames.

As far as Lu Ban knew, this flame would burn eternally, burning the entire island to ashes, dyeing the sea with its fiery hue, and eventually engulfing the entire Harmony Island in a sea of fire, just like the purifying fires in other places.

Lu Ban seemed to understand why this place was an "island".

It is likely that a war between humans and Corrupted Ones once took place on the earth, which ultimately led to the purifying fire covering all the land where humans could live, thus creating the islands we see today.

Everywhere you look, there is pure fire.

"You did it."

Surrounded by flames that intertwined Pale and pitch-black light, Momiji looked at Lu Ban and revealed a smile he had never seen before.

Imagine it's a warm spring afternoon. You're reading a novel you've been longing for in a sunlit Library, and just as you finish an exciting passage, you look up and see a girl sitting opposite you with the same novel. She looks up at you too, and after you confirm that you're holding the same book, a barely suppressed, joyful smile spreads across your face.

"You have successfully dispelled this Uncertainty Fog. There is one more thing to do: everything concerning Song Island and the Poetry Festival will come to an end."

Momiji pursed her lips, her voice resolute.

"That is to completely purify the obsession left by the Calamity Priestess."

"That is, me."