It wasn't Guo Yujie's imagination. Fog had really rolled in.
It wasn't gathering around us, but in front of Wu Ling, where Iron Alley lay.
Since it was a residential area and my attention was on You Qiqi, I hadn't noticed at first. After Guo Yujie pointed it out, I saw the thin mist and the figures that appeared and disappeared within it.
I widened my eyes, trying to make out what was happening in the fog.
Were those really ghostly figures, or just ripples in the mist as the wind stirred it?
You Qiqi's expression turned terrified. The fog spread to where she stood, blurring her figure.
Wu Ling slowly backed away, both hands held against her chest. Since she had her back to me, I couldn't tell whether she was using some kind of spell to defend herself.
Gu Mo and Nangong Yao reacted too. They both took a step back; one covered his ears, while the other adjusted his glasses.
I couldn't make out what was happening in the fog, and I couldn't hear any wind.
The only thing I knew for certain was that the fog was growing thicker and spreading.
The mist drifted toward us, and only then did I realize that it seemed to be some kind of yin energy.
"Qiqi..."
A startled little girl's voice drifted over with the fog.
I froze.
You Qiqi, her figure mostly blurred by the mist, suddenly let out a terrified scream. She seemed to want to back away, but only managed to lean backward.
Through the drifting, swirling mist, I saw You Qiqi's face changing.
Her mature face, that of a woman in her late twenties, rapidly aged until she looked fifty.
But that fifty-year-old face didn't last long either.
Blisters sprang up on her skin. When