Shifting the Blame East

As Bai Yi fled at top speed, the surrounding terrain began to change.

The trees around him grew fewer and fewer, replaced by dry, scorched brown earth and scattered deadwood littering the ground.

But the aberration's hatred for Bai Yi made it utterly unconcerned with anything around it. It did not care why the environment had changed, nor did it care why Bai Yi had returned to running on the ground.

It had only one thought: stuff Bai Yi into its mouth, then grind him to pieces!

Closer!

Even closer!

The Pulse-Wheel Albatross skimmed low over the ground. Tilting its head, it opened its beak sideways and closed in on Bai Yi.

The moment Bai Yi was completely within the range of its beak, it snapped shut with all its strength.

"Now!"

Bai Yi's speed abruptly surged. His earlier exhaustion and weakness had merely been a ruse to deceive the aberration.

At the same time, a gigantic sword stele wrapped in chains suddenly swung down from above the black mist.

All three events happened at once. Bai Yi's acceleration caught both attackers off guard. Their attacks missed—or rather, its attacks missed.

The Pulse-Wheel Albatross's beak snapped shut, its sharp teeth crashing together with a thunderous sound. Its attack had missed.

But the black giant sword stele did not miss. Though Bai Yi had originally been its target as well, he had suddenly sped away!

Thus, carrying a heaven-destroying momentum, the sword stele smashed the Pulse-Wheel Albatross's beak straight into the ground.

The tremendous collision produced tangible sound waves, leaving Bai Yi's ears temporarily deafened.

He turned to look. The wielder of the sword stele stepped out from the black mist and into the fog lantern's light, revealing its true form.

It was a gigantic humanoid clad in molten iron armor, nearly ten meters tall. Curse-blood like lava occasionally seeped from the cracks in its armor.

The gigantic chain-wrapped sword stele was held easily in one hand. The earlier strike had left black flames burning continuously on both the ground and the Pulse-Wheel Albatross's beak.

[You see the Molten Iron Curse-Binder. Sanity -5]

[Sanity locked at 1/200]

With a raise of the armored giant's hand, the chain-wrapped sword stele lifted off the beak.

Bai Yi saw it clearly. That immensely powerful slash had not severed the Pulse-Wheel Albatross's beak. It had only carved a massive dent into it.

The Molten Iron Curse-Binder paid no further attention to the giant bird lying in the pit. After locking onto Bai Yi's position, it casually hurled the sword stele.

The sword stele, wreathed in black flames, came hurtling toward him with overwhelming force. Bai Yi no longer dared to look around and immediately dodged to the side.

His body barely avoided the giant sword stele, but the fog lantern in his hand accidentally grazed it. The immense kinetic force shattered the lantern on the spot, reducing its durability to zero.

Now it was Bai Yi's turn to be dumbfounded. Without the fog lantern driving it away, the surrounding black mist immediately swarmed over him.

Bai Yi did not even have time to light a candle. He quickly continued fleeing into the distance.

After rushing into the black mist, he felt his body losing sensation at an alarming speed. Xie Xu's words still echoed in his ears: players could survive in the black mist for at most one minute.

Fortunately, the black mist had no effect on Bai Yi's perception. He could still use it to judge his surroundings.

At the giant pit, the Pulse-Wheel Albatross slowly raised its dizzy head. When its single eye saw the enormous dent in its beak, rage completely overwhelmed its already chaotic mind.

"Caw—"

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The highest-frequency pulse brewed in the aberration's mouth before shooting fiercely toward the Molten Iron Curse-Binder.

The latter had just recalled the sword stele it had thrown and was preparing to throw it again when the pulse from behind arrived.

In Bai Yi's perception, the rhythm that had originally been far away suddenly raced toward him at high speed—and there was more than one!

He hurriedly stopped short. The next second, violent tremors erupted ahead. The Molten Iron Curse-Binder had been blasted here by one of the Pulse-Wheel Albatross's pulses.

But Bai Yi did not know that. He could not see anything. He thought the Molten Iron Curse-Binder had used some long-range leap to cut him off.

The next second, he sensed the Pulse-Wheel Albatross's rhythm rapidly approaching from behind.

With one in front and one behind, Bai Yi knew his journey through the mist was likely about to end here.

[Though it's a little frustrating, getting to live again was already a huge gain.]

With that thought, Bai Yi felt completely at peace.

Boom—

The shockwave from the massive collision sent Bai Yi flying while he was still sighing to himself.

After snapping several dead trees along the way, he rolled across the ground several times before finally coming to a stop.

A mouthful of blood surged up his throat. Taking advantage of the moment, Bai Yi pulled a candle from his ring and quickly lit it. Faint candlelight appeared, forcing back the black mist that had invaded him once more.

What's going on?

Before Bai Yi could rejoice at having survived, he quickly calmed himself and focused on sensing his surroundings.

In his perception, the two powerful rhythms of the Pulse-Wheel Albatross and the Molten Iron Curse-Binder were continuously colliding. Combined with the tremendous noises that occasionally rang out from the black mist, an answer surfaced in Bai Yi's mind.

The two aberrations were fighting!

Bai Yi's face lit up with the joy of surviving a disaster. His plan to shift the calamity onto someone else had succeeded!

[Talent Effect Remaining: 2 minutes 01 second]

While the two aberrant demons were fighting each other, he had to get out of here fast.

Filled with hope, Bai Yi fled once more. He planned to make a wide detour around their battlefield and find the route he had taken when he came.

After his earlier desperate sprint, Bai Yi had no idea where he was now.

And this was outside Wang Ziyi's shelter, so Bai Yi could not sense the location of his own shelter. Naturally, he could not sense Wang Ziyi's either.

So, the best way to return to the shelter was to go back the way he had come.

While detouring, Bai Yi unexpectedly discovered a massive iron throne wrapped in chains. Beneath it, tiny points of light shimmered.

Since the glow happened to lie directly along Bai Yi's route, he went over to take a look.

That single look nearly blinded him. The instant he raised his candle above it, the black mist was dispersed. Bai Yi saw only a flash of white, then could no longer see anything. (The black mist could also erode light.)

In that brief glimpse, Bai Yi immediately realized what the glowing orb was—it was the treasure chest that had refreshed not long ago.

But the golden light was far too dazzling. Without hesitation, Bai Yi put it into his ring and immediately fled.

If his guess was correct, this treasure chest had been guarded by the aberrant demon, the Molten Iron Curse-Binder.

Under normal circumstances, he would have had to kill the Molten Iron Curse-Binder to obtain this treasure chest. But thanks to the Pulse-Wheel Albatross, Bai Yi had gotten it easily without ever fighting the Molten Iron Curse-Binder.

Even after obtaining the treasure chest, Bai Yi was not overwhelmed by joy. He was still in danger, after all. Only by returning to the shelter could he truly be safe.

After confirming the route he had taken here, Bai Yi officially set off on the road back to the shelter!

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