Another Wave Rises

Bai Yi and the Man in the Mist fell into a standoff, neither side making a move.

He glanced at the candle on the ground. There was still more than half left. Bai Yi had no intention of dragging things out here; if he did, the only one who would die was himself.

The moment he bent down, the Man in the Mist suddenly appeared before Bai Yi, then retreated again as he straightened up.

The candle he had placed on the ground to end the battle quickly had now become shackles binding Bai Yi.

In the end, it was still due to a lack of information. With this treasure chest refresh, all kinds of aberrant demons had appeared within the black mist, which would undoubtedly cause enormous casualties among players exploring it.

Time ticked by, yet Bai Yi still did not dare deactivate Boiling Blood.

He was extremely weak right now, barely holding on with Boiling Blood. Once he turned it off, he would likely become a lamb waiting for slaughter.

[Sanity: 50/200]

In just over half a minute, Bai Yi's sanity had already dropped by 50.

[I can't drag this out any longer...]

He suddenly bent down, grabbed Faint Candlelight with his left hand, and rolled forward the instant he got hold of it.

The sound of bone spikes piercing the dirt rang out behind him. Bai Yi did not rush to get up. Instead, relying on memory and deduction, he predicted the Man in the Mist's position and swept out with his lower leg like a sickle.

The fingers that had already pierced the skin on Bai Yi's back suddenly lost their balance. Bai Yi's sweeping kick had successfully anticipated the attack, disrupting the Man in the Mist's footing.

He flexed his arm. His charred skin split apart, exposing tender pink flesh beneath, and his bone blade streaked toward the core at its waist like a flash of light.

Unfortunately, halfway through the slash, the Man in the Mist's body turned into black mist again.

Bai Yi was not frustrated. He had gained another piece of information: the Man in the Mist's core could also turn into mist.

Though he had expected it already, having it confirmed still placed even greater pressure on Bai Yi. This was undoubtedly the strangest aberrant demon he had ever encountered—bar none!

Without understanding the Man in the Mist's traits, it would be easy to be killed upon their first encounter. But with proper precautions, it was not actually that dangerous.

Though he had failed to kill it, the exchange had allowed Bai Yi to retrieve the candle. The initiative was now back in his hands.

Bai Yi began moving cautiously. No matter what, he had to keep moving, because he could already sense other aberrant demons wandering nearby.

The Man in the Mist had not appeared since that strike, but the intense sensation of being watched reminded Bai Yi that it had always been by his side, never leaving.

Several minutes had passed by then, and Bai Yi's sanity had once again fallen to 1.

[Warning! Your sanity is below 10. You have fallen into permanent madness. You have fallen into cognitive distortion.]

[Steel Spine Will has activated. Sanity locked at 1/200.]

[Immune.]

Bai Yi instinctively reached for his ring, but he had already smoked his last cigarette earlier. He could only lower his hand dejectedly and continue forward, while remaining alert for the Man in the Mist's sneak attacks.

Although Bai Yi's face remained calm and unruffled, his gradually quickening pace exposed his true thoughts.

Faint Candlelight was down to half its length, yet he had not even covered one kilometer. At this rate, he would not need the Man in the Mist to kill him; he would die from the black mist's corrosion on his own.

It was as though the aberrant demon had seen through Bai Yi's thoughts. Whenever he picked up speed, it would launch a sneak attack from his blind spot.

Bai Yi wanted to stop and deal with the Man in the Mist first, but its seamless switching between black mist and solid form left him helpless. He could only defend passively.

He had tried using the same trick again—luring the Man in the Mist into attacking, then counterattacking.

But the Man in the Mist refused to take the bait. It no longer sought to kill him in one blow. Instead, like boiling a frog in warm water, it wanted to wear Bai Yi down to death.

Each attack only took a small piece of flesh from Bai Yi. Whenever Bai Yi showed any sign of counterattacking, it would immediately turn into black mist. Sometimes, it did not even attack at all, dispersing back into black mist the moment it condensed into solid form.

This disgusting method of attack made Bai Yi grit his teeth in fury, but he did not act rashly. He continued calmly analyzing his options.

By then, Faint Candlelight had only one quarter left, while the shelter was still two kilometers away.

[Fifteen minutes left.]

Bai Yi started running.

The instant he accelerated, the Man in the Mist condensed once more, only to disperse into black mist the next second. Bai Yi had merely twisted his body slightly and raised his bone blade a little.

That was right—Bai Yi truly did not have enough time. Once he realized the Man in the Mist was cautious to the point of paranoia, this plan had surfaced in his mind.

He ran while sensing and avoiding the aberrant demons in the black mist, all while constantly making feints to deceive the Man in the Mist.

After being fooled seven or eight times in a row, the Man in the Mist began to grow bolder. When Bai Yi turned back, it did not turn to mist, instead continuing to carve away his flesh.

When Bai Yi saw that his scheme had been seen through so quickly, he did not slow down at all. Instead, he accelerated again, as though he wanted to shake off the Man in the Mist through sheer speed.

It was destined to be futile. Though he occasionally managed to frighten the Man in the Mist by chance, the number of times he successfully drove it away grew fewer with time, while less and less charred skin remained on Bai Yi's body.

His body endured the torment of burning and being sliced to pieces; his mind suffered from the impact of critically low sanity; yet his thoughts remained exceptionally clear.

This extreme pain had left Bai Yi unable to clearly sense the rhythms of the surrounding aberrant demons since a while ago.

His talent began cutting in and out, so Bai Yi could only run. While hurrying onward as quickly as possible, he could also use his intermittent talent to gather more information.

[It hurts so much. Maybe I should just die. If I die, it won't hurt anymore.

No. I can't die. I have to survive!

I've already lived for so many days. It's not a loss. Stop forcing yourself.

No. There are still too many things I haven't done. They're still waiting for me to go back and save them!

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You can't save anyone. You're about to die yourself.]

Bai Yi's speed increased once more. His entire body was pink and raw, his muscles exposed, and the organs inside his abdomen could vaguely be seen.

He forced his mouth open, tearing apart his fused lips. Dark golden flames burned in his eyes, as though lions lurked within them.

He charged headlong into four rotting corpses.

"I won't die!"

He cleaved the rotting corpse lunging at him in two.

"I still have so many things left to do!"

He cut down another one.

Bai Yi was tackled by two rotting corpses. The Man in the Mist took physical form. Its eyes glowed an eerie green, and paired with its strange smile, it seemed both mocking and proud.

"I haven't revived Tang Zheng yet!"

He shoved one rotting corpse away, swiftly twisted off the other's head, then picked up his bone blade and cut down the rotting corpse that pounced again. Afterward, he finished off the rotting corpses on the ground that had not yet completely died.

"I haven't revived Zhang Zhen yet!"

The Man in the Mist appeared before him, watching Bai Yi—who looked even more like a mutant than a mutant itself—with satisfaction. It then stretched out a hand, intending to kill Bai Yi, who could barely remain standing.

His voice had already grown very weak.

"I still haven't... revived Wang Ziyi..."

Before it could strike, Bai Yi seemed unable to hold on any longer and toppled forward.

The instant he fell, Bai Yi sprang back to life. He had been faking it!

Don't forget, Bai Yi had never turned off Boiling Blood!

Before the Man in the Mist could react at all, the bone blade finally cleanly severed its waist.

The Man in the Mist died!

"I still haven't... found my family..."

Bai Yi staggered two steps, a smile not yet having time to appear on his face.

Splat—

The smile froze on his face. Bai Yi turned around, and as his knife-wielding right arm fell to the ground, that face split all the way to the corners of his mouth looked even more grotesque.

The Man in the Mist extended a finger and easily pierced Bai Yi's abdomen, lifting him up and drawing him close. Black crystals emerged from the mutant's body, roaming freely across its surface before settling in its abdomen.

Bai Yi's left hand hung limply at his side. He had lost.

The Man in the Mist's core could shift locations at will!

Because he did not know that, he had no way to counter it. Bai Yi had already done everything he possibly could: luring, deceiving, setting traps, feigning weakness. Yet he had still failed to kill the Man in the Mist.

He lowered his head helplessly and completely gave up resisting.

The Man in the Mist lifted Bai Yi higher, wanting to admire the despair in his eyes.

As its gaze rose, it saw—

Dark golden pupils glowing with light!

The left hand hidden behind Bai Yi's back fired. The tremendous recoil instantly shattered the wrist of his left hand, which had only two tendons and bones left holding it together.

This was what Bai Yi had concealed until now—

His final killing move!

After settling in its abdomen, the Man in the Mist's core had not moved again. The reason Bai Yi had lowered his head was to focus entirely on the core, aiming at it while ensuring it did not suddenly shift away.

With his last bit of strength, he set one more trap for the Man in the Mist!

The Man in the Mist was completely dead!

As the core shattered with a crisp crack, Bai Yi also fell to the ground.

Yet he wore a smile as he struggled to speak:

"Thank them..."

The candle had already burned out. Black mist crept in, but Bai Yi's lips curled upward. He was not worried at all that he would die here.

"...for taking care of me these past ten years!"

A gentle light dispersed the black mist once more. A figure came running wildly toward him, carrying a fog lamp.

[I... won't... die...]

A voice as faint as a thread of breath sounded in his mind.

Hearing those words, the newcomer let out a sigh of relief. A familiar smile appeared on his lips.

"Dog Bro, of course you won't die.

I told you, I would find you.

For sure!"