Nightmare Light

Chapter 61 Mist
The people of the Mist Clan continued talking.

"When the Mist Clan members began to transform into mist, choosing to enter the mist and assimilate with it... all members of the Mist Clan received the mist's blessing."

"Everyone from the Mist Clan has gained at least one power."

"This allows the Mist Clan to use various abilities to strengthen themselves without becoming lay masters."

"And more importantly, from that moment on, the minds of all the Mist Clan members became connected into a network."

"We can sense the presence of all our tribesmen at all times."

Having said that, the Mist Clan member's gaze lingered on the map for a few seconds.

"I wanted to invite you here before, but the reason was... since then, I've sensed that something wasn't right with the people there," the Mist Tribe member whispered. "I'm very worried about them."

"So you tricked us into investigating there?" Old Joe's tone was filled with anger.

"No, it's not a lie. It's a request." The Mist Tribe member lowered his head and spoke sincerely, "I beg you to help my people."

The soldiers were silent for a moment.

Lin Wang suddenly asked him a question: "What about the word 'go home' that you wrote in the notebook earlier?"

The Mist Tribe member thought for a moment and looked confused: "This is a very strange thing."

"Strange?"

"Yes, it's very strange." The Mist Tribe member nodded. "For the past few decades, there's been a rumor circulating among my people: deep within the fog lies our true homeland."

"Only when we find that place and return there will we truly find home. Only when we return to our promised land will our race truly become one with the mist and complete 'eternal ascension'... our final evolution."

"This story has a strong smell of deception." Lin Wang suddenly frowned and said.

"Ah? Why is it a scam?" Old Joe was puzzled.

"Because it is too specific. If it were a legend, it would not have such clear and accurate conclusions and purposes," said Lin Wang.

"In myths and legends, conclusions and outcomes are often wrapped in ambiguous phrases, such as 'stars and earth,' 'reincarnation and chaos,' and so on. When later generations study them, it's impossible to come up with a unified viewpoint that the entire community can agree on."

Lin Wang finished speaking and slowly narrowed his eyes: "So, I think there must be some conspiracy behind this story..."

"Yes, it does look like a scam." The Mist Tribe member nodded, then changed the subject, "But the strange thing is... in the past few decades, not a single one of my people has been able to detect this scam!"

The soldiers all frowned - a vague sense of unease lingered in their hearts, and they realized that something terrible was happening deep in the fog.

After a moment of silence, a soldier asked the Mist Tribe member, "Since all of you can sense each other, why did so many of you suddenly disappear, and you were the only one who noticed?"

"Northerner." The Mist Tribe member looked up at Lin Wang, "Because of you."

"Me?" Not only Lin Wang was confused, but everyone else at the scene was also confused. "What does this have to do with me?"

"I had a fight with you in prison before," the Mist Tribe member said. "Since then, I've regained my...correct perception of my people."

"You used the word 'correctly'." Lin Wang narrowed his eyes.

"Yes, that's correct." The Mist Tribe member nodded. "Before fighting you, I also had the ability to sense my fellow tribesmen. But... it wasn't until I was done fighting and fully awake that I realized there was something wrong with my perception."

After fighting with me...your cognition has recovered?

A flash of inspiration came to Lin Wang’s mind.

He felt that there was a subtle connection between this incident and the resistance he encountered when he was burning the clay Buddha before.

This conversation continued for a while. Unable to extract any new information from the Mist Tribe members, Old Joe glanced at his watch and said, "It's almost time. Let's get ready to go."

The soldiers packed up their equipment, packed their bags, and set off again.

The Light Chasers' soldiers advanced silently in the fog.

The mist condensed into air currents, wrapping around everyone's bodies as if they had life. Every step forward seemed to break through a layer of sticky spider web.

In the fog, they could faintly hear some kind of mumbling whispers, and it seemed as if there were some malicious gazes staring at them through the fog. The soldiers could even feel their heartbeats accelerating.

Deeper than the line of sight, in a place that only Lin Wang could see, one could see some indescribable shapes, flowing liquids, pale body fragments, and these things would twist into other shapes, or even completely different objects, in a very short time.

A normal person would go crazy in less than an hour in such fog. But no one present was normal.

The worst were all veterans with several years of service, except for Lin Wang. But Lin Wang felt that he was much more abnormal than them.

So they marched in the fog for five hours. During a short break, Lao Zhou frowned and spoke.

“…It’s a bit strange.”

"What's wrong?" Lin Wang looked around and found that not only Lao Zhou, but all the other soldiers had become extremely solemn. Some soldiers even took out worldly objects and took a defensive posture.

"We've been walking in the fog for most of the day, and we haven't encountered a single attack."

"Isn't this a good thing?"

"This is not a question of whether it's good or not, it's a question of whether it's unreasonable." Old Joe had taken out the terrifyingly large shield at some point and held it in front of him.

"Among the mist spirits, some are extremely powerful and possess physical form, like your cat... most of them appear out of thin air."

"Out of thin air?" Lin Wang frowned.

"The exact reason is unknown, but it seems like they appeared out of nowhere. The monsters broke through the fog, appeared in front of us, and attacked our brothers."

"They appear at any time, with strange skills and various forms." "More importantly... the frequency is very high."

Old Joe said, "Based on our previous experience, the longest interval between attacks was two hours."

Lin Wang frowned: "That is to say..."

"From entering the fog, to resting, and then getting back on the road after resting, it took more than ten hours in total, and I didn't encounter a single attack from the fog spirit." Old Joe looked into the depths of the fog, his brows gradually furrowed.

"So, either the fog spirit suddenly became extinct, but the possibility is close to zero." Lin Wang squinted his eyes. In his field of vision, fog rolled, and various indescribable shapes of objects continued to reorganize, take shape, and then collapse and shatter, repeating this process.

"Or something really happened in this area."

Lin Wang asked the Wu people, "We've come so far, we should have arrived... Where is the village you mentioned?"

Old Qiao took out a map. The Mist Tribe member examined the map for a moment, pointed to the spot, and squinted his eyes to look around, a look of confusion on his face. "That village is called Yecaotuozi. Strange, logically... it should be around here."

"Are you mistaken? There is no village here?" said a soldier.

"No, how could I be wrong?" The Mist Tribe member pointed around. "There's a tree here, a mound, this ditch... they all match up."

"What about the village you mentioned?"

"It should be here... It should be here!" The Mist Tribe member's tone became more and more urgent. "Where is the village? Why is it gone?"

He took a few steps towards where the village should have been, staring blankly at the empty wasteland. "It's gone... How could it be?"

"If you ask me, you've made a mistake." Old Joe shook his head. "The visibility is poor in the fog, and there are many similarities."

The Mist Tribe member was stunned for a moment, then finally shook his head, his tone no longer so confident: "Maybe you are right... maybe I am wrong."

Old Joe waved his hand: "Keep going and find that village!"

The soldiers responded loudly and were about to set off when Lao Zhou's pupils suddenly shrank and he shouted at the soldiers.

"Enemy attack!"

The fog was torn apart.

In the thick fog, countless strange figures suddenly emerged. In an instant, countless strange and indistinguishable sounds came from the depths of the fog, like the cries of some monster, or the howling of some indescribable monster.

"Eleven o'clock!" "No! Two...three o'clock!"

"At six o'clock too!" "They're everywhere!"

"We're surrounded!"

"Engage the enemy!" "Engage the enemy!"

The monsters howled and ran in the fog, crashing into the mist, and the water vapor was rolling. Until the roar was close enough to the soldiers, they finally revealed their true appearance in the fog.

A soldier standing in the front widened his eyes.

He suddenly yelled into the channel: "It's not Wu Ling! Pay attention, it's not Wu Ling!"

"It's the Mist Clan!"

boom!
The Mist Clan members, endless numbers of them, rushed out of the mist.

They roared, glared, staggered, and rotted, smashing the fog, and new fog surged out of their bodies, rushing towards the Light Chasers with endless anger and resentment.

The soldiers trembled - in their minds, the Mist Tribe were also part of the Federation.

Soldiers, you may not attack federal citizens.

"I'm warning you! Don't be impulsive!"

"Warning! Fall back!"

"Warning... Damn it, these Mist Tribe people don't understand the Federation language!"

But "they" also cannot understand the Mist language.

The imprisoned Mist people kept shouting loudly in the Mist language, trying to communicate with the newcomers, but the other party just roared, broke through the fog and rushed towards the soldiers.

A strong man with mist around his neck, his eyes bloodshot and his pupils invisible, raised a hoe and chopped at the young soldier.

A middle-aged woman with a missing chin held a bunch of vegetables high in her hand and hit Old Joe with them.

In front of Lao Zhou was a little boy who was only seven or eight years old. He had a swollen and blue face and a longevity lock hanging around his neck.

These people surrounded the soldiers and pounced on them. Mist continued to spread from their twisted and proliferating wounds. They opened their mouths, revealing bloody mouths with tentacles, and bit the soldiers.

Old Joe was hugged by a woman of the same size as him. The woman was struggling with him and raising her hand to bite his neck.

At this moment, Old Qiao turned his head and saw Lin Wang with a calm expression. He raised his fist without any psychological burden and punched a villager away.

"Lin Wang! What are you doing! They are federal citizens!" Old Joe shouted.

"Northerners! Don't hurt my people!" the Mist people also shouted.

"Who told you these were from the Mist Tribe?" Lin Wang threw another punch, knocking the burly man with the mist on his neck away and freeing the soldiers beside him. "These are the echoes left behind by the Mist Tribe villagers."

(End of this chapter)