Dad!

So far, Xiao Fan had no idea what this bizarre fog actually was. But one thing was clear: the longer one stayed within this sinister white mist, the lower the chances of survival.

I need to find Father and get out of here—fast!

Along the way, he ran into another two corpse ghouls, both of which Xiao Fan dealt with on the spot.

Yet the eerie growls rising and falling all around him did not diminish in the slightest. It was obvious that the entire area covered by the white fog was already packed with corpse ghouls—countless and inexhaustible, impossible to wipe out!

At this rate, no amount of blood would be enough to spill. This Blood-Burning Flame was useful, sure, but it consumed far too much blood...

"Strange. Where did all these corpse ghouls even come from?" Xiao Fan muttered to himself as he searched for a way through.

Corpse ghouls were usually created when evil entities possessed corpses, causing the bodies to reanimate.

That also meant that behind so many corpse ghouls, how many lives must have been lost?

The thought made his scalp tingle.

The fog was dense, severely obstructing his vision. Coupled with the altered terrain, it was like being trapped in a maze!

Before long, low growls and strange cries rang endlessly through the mist as innumerable corpse ghouls completely surrounded him.

Xiao Fan's heart sank. With the landscape utterly changed and visibility in the white fog reduced to less than ten meters, he did not even know which direction to run...

"This way!"

Xiao Wu's voice came from the white fog to his right!

"Father?!"

Xiao Fan instinctively looked to the right, but there was nothing there except boundless white mist.

Countless questions swirled through Xiao Fan's mind, but in such a critical moment, there was no time to think.

Without bothering with anything else, he broke into a run toward the right.

Before long, after pushing through layers of dense mist, he finally found his heavily wounded father!

Xiao Wu threw out both fists at once, the powerful force of his punches blasting five corpse ghouls apart on the spot.

A seventh-rank martial artist truly was terrifying!

However, he too was already at the end of his rope. He was covered in blood and grime, limping with every step.

"Father!"

Xiao Fan hurried forward, drove back several corpse ghouls attacking from all sides, and caught his father, who was about to collapse.

"You're badly hurt!" Xiao Fan quickly examined his father's wounds. They were all blade wounds!

Worse still, the flow of qi within Xiao Wu's body had scattered and could no longer gather. Otherwise, with the abilities of a seventh-rank martial artist, such blade wounds could never have left him this weak.

"That dog Shi Ping took favors from that Qin bastard... and... and actually ambushed me... cough!"

Before Xiao Wu could finish speaking, he spat out a mouthful of old blood and broke into a violent coughing fit.

"That ungrateful dog Shi Ping—if not for you back then..." Xiao Fan hoisted his father onto his back and urgently circulated the qi within his body, slowing the rate at which his father's qi dispersed.

Xiao Fan was no stranger to that name. In fact, he knew it quite well.

Shi Ping had originally been Xiao Wu's fellow townsman. Five years ago, the sacred flame in their township had gone out, and Night Erosion had swallowed the entirety of Deercry Township. He was the only one to escape.

Later, when that fellow heard that Xiao Wu was doing fairly well in the capital, he came running over to seek refuge with him.

Out of consideration for their shared hometown, and seeing how lonely and pitiful he was, Xiao Wu went to great lengths to secure him a position in Great Liang's Armament Hall.

Come to think of it, if not for Xiao Wu's help back then, that bastard would probably have starved to death on the streets long ago.

Who would have thought that this shameless wretch would repay kindness with betrayal, accepting benefits to stab his benefactor in the back? It was enough to infuriate anyone.

Xiao Fan secretly vowed that once they got back, he would definitely deal with that scoundrel Shi Ping.

But the pressing matter now was finding a way to get his father out of this place!

"Fan'er, you shouldn't have come... cough!" Xiao Wu had completely run out of strength. Even speaking seemed difficult.

Relying on his memory, Xiao Fan carried his father and raced desperately along the path they had taken in. "Father, don't talk for now."

He did not know whether it was an illusion, but Xiao Fan felt that the corpse ghouls around them seemed to have grown fewer, as though they were deliberately avoiding this area.

A faint creaking sound came from within the layers of white mist. Almost at the same moment, a black shadow flickered past, vanishing again in the blink of an eye.

Xiao Fan immediately stopped, going on alert. What kind of ghostly thing is it this time? Whatever emerges from this damned place, it definitely means no good!

Like a phantom within the fog, the black shadow kept flitting past Xiao Fan from all directions, yet never revealed itself.

Xiao Fan took a deep breath and forced himself to remain calm. Holding his breath and focusing his mind, he gently laid his already unconscious father on the ground, then gripped his short sword tightly and readied himself.

Almost at the same moment, the black shadow swept past behind Xiao Fan again. Every time he turned around, all he saw was endless white fog.

This thing is trying to wear down my willpower... Xiao Fan realized the strange black shadow's intention.

Clearly, the thing he had encountered this time was far smarter than the corpse ghouls from before. It possessed a certain degree of intelligence—or perhaps hunting instinct. Like a cunning hunter, it was steadily wearing down and toying with its prey.

Xiao Fan forced himself to calm down as his thoughts raced, analyzing possible ways to respond.

Right now, he was in the open while the enemy lurked in the dark. The surrounding white mist was thick, and visibility did not even extend a zhang away.

He could not see the enemy, yet the enemy could track his movements within the white fog. He was at a terrible disadvantage.

With that thought, Xiao Fan slowly crouched down, lightly touched the ground with his fingertips, and pretended to collapse onto the ground in exhaustion.

Since he could not catch it, he would make it reveal itself!

Sure enough, when the shadow within the white fog saw Xiao Fan showing weakness, it could no longer hold back.

A bear monster nearly thirty feet long sprang out from behind, its face savage and its body covered in burn marks, baring its fangs and opening its bloody maw!

Xiao Fan reacted with lightning speed, dodging the pounce as he whipped his leg around and slammed the bear monster onto its back.

Aside from the stench of corpses, this bear monster also carried demon qi...

"Just as I thought—it's no ordinary evil spirit, but a bear demon possessed by one!"

Awooo!

The bear monster possessed boundless strength. With a roar, it was about to rise to its feet.

Even exerting all his strength, Xiao Fan could not hold it down and was violently thrown away.

In the instant his thoughts raced, the two were less than three feet apart, and a suffocating corpse stench washed over him.

Xiao Fan nearly vomited. He could only hold his breath sharply, seize his short sword, and slash toward the rotten-skinned bear's neck.

In an instant, black blood sprayed everywhere!

Aoo!!! The bear monster split open its bloody maw and let out an unending, ghostly wail of agony.

Yet for some reason, the bear monster's neck bone seemed extraordinarily hard; the blade could not cut through it.

Worse still, the blade was caught in its neck by the bear monster's rapidly regrowing flesh and could not be pulled free.

Seeing that he could neither sever the bear monster's head nor pull out his blade, Xiao Fan had no choice but to release the hilt and leap several great steps backward, widening the distance.

When he looked closely, he could not help but shudder.

The bear monster's flesh was rotten, and nearly half of its massive head had been reduced to white bone. Its bloodshot eyes looked as though they were about to bulge from their sockets, while even its lips had fallen away, leaving only two rows of blackened fangs. It was grotesquely hateful and twisted.

In the blink of an eye, the bear monster let out an earth-shaking roar and pounced at him head-on once more.

The roar thundered in his ears. Xiao Fan inwardly cried that things were bad, and without time to think, he twisted and weaved through the charred wood and scattered rocks, luring the bear demon away from his father so he would not be caught in it.

In his panic, with the white fog thick and his vision obstructed, his steps became disordered. Unable to see the path beneath his feet, his right foot caught on a tree root, and he tumbled to the ground.

Just then, the bear monster behind him came snapping and roaring as it tried to bite him. Had the charred wood and jagged rocks along the way not blocked it, he would likely have long since fallen into that bloody maw.

Xiao Fan had used a great deal of blood fighting corpse ghouls along the way. Now he had suffered moderate blood loss, his entire body weak and limp, making it difficult to rise. His heart sank as he inwardly cried, This is bad!

A shrill howl echoed through the valley floor. The bear monster bit down like a mad beast, its blade-sharp canine teeth plunging into Xiao Fan's left leg and violently grinding. Blood splashed everywhere, and the piercing pain was beyond endurance.

"Ah!!!"

He let out a miserable scream and nearly fainted on the spot.