Poison Fog Alley

Poison Fog Alley lay in the dampest part of the Old City District.

The walls on either side never saw the sun. Moss grew from the cracks between the bricks, darkened by rain. A crooked wooden sign stood at the alley entrance; whatever had once been written on it had long since become illegible beneath a wet layer of green.

Bai Jin smelled something bitter as soon as he reached the entrance.

Before he could speak, Tang San raised a hand to stop Xiao Wu. "Don't breathe too deeply."

Xiao Wu immediately held her breath.

The mist in the alley was thin. At first glance, it looked like ordinary rain haze, but the tips of the Blue Silver Grass leaves turned faintly purple as soon as they probed inside. Tang San took several pills from the Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridges and handed them around.

"Keep one in your mouth. Don't swallow it. This poison doesn't hurt you right away; it slows the flow of Soul Power."

Ma Hongjun took a pill and mumbled around it, "Poison again? Is this how people in Heaven Dou City live?"

A cold snort came from the rooftop.

Dugu Bo stood on the eaves, his dark green robe snapping in the rain. His expression was even uglier than the mist in the alley.

"Fatty, blame this wretched poison on me again, and I'll make sure you can't speak for three days."

Ma Hongjun shut his mouth at once.

Bai Jin looked up. "You got here fast."

Dugu Bo said coldly, "Someone's using my name for this filthy trick. If I didn't come, should I wait for them to put up a memorial stone for me?"

Bai Jin considered it seriously. "That could work. I can write the inscription for you."

Dugu Bo's eye twitched. He ignored him and turned to Tang San. "Boy, figured out how to deal with it?"

Tang San crouched at the alley entrance and touched a little water on the wall. Instead of answering at once, he checked the wind inside the alley, then spotted several dead insects floating at the edge of a puddle.

"There are three layers of poison in the mist," Tang San said. "The outer layer numbs the soul, the middle corrodes the blood, and the innermost contains residual snake venom. Forcing a path through with Soul Power would carry that innermost poison into the meridians."

Dugu Bo's eyes brightened slightly.

"How do we break it?"

"Seal off the air first, channel the water next, then cut off the source," Tang San said. "We can't burn it."

Ma Hongjun silently lowered his hand again.

Bai Jin laughed so hard his shoulders shook. "Fatty, fire just isn't in the cards for you today."

They entered the alley.

Dai Mubai led the way with his White Tiger Protection Barrier raised. Oscar followed in the middle, handing out sausages. Xiao Wu guarded Ning Rongrong, while Zhu Zhuqing kept close to the wall and watched their rear. Her shoulder wound had been bandaged, but it had not slowed her movements in the slightest.

Halfway down the alley, the mist suddenly thickened.

A door set into the wall exploded outward, and three Ghost Mask Soul Masters lunged out together. One tied down Dai Mubai head-on; the other two circled behind them, aiming straight for Ning Rongrong. Zhu Zhuqing's gaze turned cold. She flashed forward with Hell Stab and stopped both of them dead.

She did not call for help.

In a narrow alley, a cry for help would only throw their formation into disarray.

She knew exactly where she stood. Dai Mubai was up front, Tang San was searching for the poison's source, Ning Rongrong and Oscar could not let anyone get close, and Xiao Wu had to watch both sides. Zhu Zhuqing was the only one who could hold the rear. An injury, poison mist, a narrow alley—none of these were reasons to retreat. They were reasons she had to nail herself to this spot.

Zhu Zhuqing breathed softly.

With every step, she avoided the green-tinged patches in the puddles. With every strike, she aimed only for wrists and the sides of knees. She did not chase a kill or trade wounds recklessly. Bai Jin had told her that the finest victory for an Agility Attack System Soul Master was not to smash herself into a broken blade, but to keep the enemy from touching its edge even as they died.

The first Soul Master pressed her with a Short Blade, while the second cast a black net from the side. Zhu Zhuqing tapped a toe against the wall and flipped past the blade. Her claws tore through the net, but the moment she landed, a third dark flash forced her back into a dead corner.

Ning Rongrong tried to boost her, but Bai Jin raised a hand and held back the light of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda.

"Watch her first," he said.

Ning Rongrong grew anxious. "She's hurt!"

"That's why you need to watch."

Zhu Zhuqing heard them, but did not let it distract her.

She knew what Bai Jin meant. During training, he had said that an Agility Attack System Soul Master could not rely on speed alone. The narrower the alley, the thicker the poison mist, the tighter the encirclement, the more important it was to judge where the real blade lay. Two Soul Masters had her pinned down, but the killing blow was not in front of her.

It was above.

Zhu Zhuqing snapped her head up.

From beneath the eaves, a poisoned crossbow bolt dropped soundlessly toward her. In that instant, something seemed to give her Soul Power a push. The phantom of the Hell Spirit Cat suddenly sharpened, and the shadow of her claws sliced through the rain ahead of the bolt.

The bolt broke in two.

Zhu Zhuqing's aura surged.

Level twenty-nine.

The breakthrough did not burst out with a roar. It was more like a cord stretched to its limit suddenly slipping free. The fatigue, pursuit, patience, and judgment that had built up inside her all became quicker footwork. The alley remained narrow in her eyes, but every brick she could push off from and every drop of rain that might make her slip came into focus.

She did not stop. Riding the rush of Soul Power that came with the breakthrough, she turned into a black shadow and slipped between the two Soul Masters. Her claws flashed. Blood appeared on both their wrists, and their Short Blades fell to the ground, where Tang San's Blue Silver Grass swiftly bound them.

Ning Rongrong's eyes lit up. "Zhu Zhuqing!"

Zhu Zhuqing merely nodded. There was little joy on her face, as though breaking through were just something she had done in passing during the chase.

Only then did Bai Jin release his hand.

"Now boost her."

Light from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda fell over Zhu Zhuqing. Her speed climbed again, and in the blink of an eye she kicked the crossbowman off the eaves.

Meanwhile, Tang San had found the source of the poison.

At the end of the alley stood an abandoned well, with three green Poison Sacs pressed against its rim. Rainwater slowly seeped through them, carrying poison mist out along the alley. Tang San wrapped his Blue Silver Grass around the well's rim, sealed its opening, then sprinkled medicinal powder into the flowing water.

Dugu Bo watched from beside him. He gave a dismissive snort, but his eyes had grown more intent.

"You really aren't just talking theory, boy."

Tang San let the praise pass. "We can't destroy the Poison Sacs directly. There's poison-drawing powder inside them too."

"What a bother."

Bai Jin raised a hand.

Azure light rose from his fingertips. The poison mist throughout the alley was pulled into a single strand, like a snake seized by the neck, and rapidly collapsed toward his palm. Poison gas, rainwater, and gray powder mingled, finally condensing into a small blue-black pearl.

He held the pearl out to Dugu Bo.

"A gift. No need to thank me."

Dugu Bo stared at the Poison Pearl, his expression torn between wanting to curse Bai Jin and wanting to take it away for study.

In the end, he took it.

"Setting Sun Wharf." The captured crossbowman suddenly coughed up blood. "The ship changes at midnight. The real contact is aboard. You'll be too late even if you go."

Bai Jin turned to look at him.

"You don't get to decide whether we're too late."

Rainwater flowed past the alley entrance. With the poison mist gone, the Old City District's original smell of damp decay finally emerged.

Zhu Zhuqing stood beneath the alley wall, her breathing still a little unsteady.

Dai Mubai glanced at her and said quietly, "Congratulations."

Zhu Zhuqing was silent for a moment. "It's still not enough."

Bai Jin heard her and smiled.

"Good," he said. "Knowing it's not enough is far more useful than thinking you're strong enough."

Tang San put away the fragments of the Poison Sacs and gazed into the distance.

In the direction of Setting Sun Wharf, the rain clouds hung lower, like a black hand pressing down on the edge of the city.