Forty-nine rules of the end times

Chapter 151 The Nightmare in the Mist

At the foot of Mingdao Mountain.

Yu Hong and Zhao Yu, who had originally set up camp here, saw the thick fog after the ninth rule was announced and immediately jumped into a jeep, locking the doors and windows.

They wouldn't be foolish enough to hide in a tent; that canvas material would be no match for the monster.

But the vehicles don't seem to be in much better condition either...

Zhao Yu stared wide-eyed, looking around nervously: "Sister Yu, what should we do? Hiding in the car like this definitely won't work..."

The rules state that a monster called the "Nightmare" exists in the fog, and its ability to hunt humans demonstrates its extreme danger.

"Why don't we go to the nearest city to take refuge?" Yu Hong suggested.

"I'll listen to you, Sister Yu."

Zhao Yu was completely at a loss and couldn't come up with any ideas.

Yu Hong started the car and took out her phone to try to navigate to a map, but the function completely failed.

She thought there was something wrong with her phone, so she asked Zhao Yu to try it with his phone, but it didn't work either.

"Oh no, it looks like we can't use navigation in the fog."

"so what should I do now?"

"With such thick fog, you can't see any roads, and it's very difficult to tell which way to go. Without navigation, you can't get to the city at all."

Yu Hong and Zhao Yu had little knowledge of the surrounding roads, making it impossible for them to drive to the city in the dense fog without navigation. Even if they didn't die from a monster attack along the way, they would most likely lose their way and meet a violent end.

"Sister Yu, I don't want to die... Can you think of something?" Zhao Yu said, his voice trembling. He was weak-willed by nature, and since he wasn't an Ascended Being, he had no abilities or tools, making him even more powerless in the face of the rules of the apocalypse.

Seeing Zhao Yu's state, Yu Hong knew he would definitely break down if this continued. Gritting her teeth, she said, "It seems we have no choice but to go up the mountain and ask the camp there for help."

Yu Hong has never seen what the campsite on the mountain looks like, but from her several interactions with the people on the mountain, she has a general impression: the campsite on the mountain has both strong and young people, is powerful and rich in resources.

But Yu Hong also knew that the mountain camp was somewhat hostile to outsiders.

That's why, apart from once asking for food, she and Zhao Yu never went up the mountain or bothered anyone there. They were worried about upsetting the mountain camp and getting them kicked out.

But now that their lives are at stake, Yu Hong has no choice but to hope that the campsite on the mountain can help the two of them survive.

“That’s right!” Zhao Yu’s eyes lit up with excitement when he heard Yu Hong say that. “I had forgotten that there is a powerful base on the mountain. The people there are so capable, they can definitely help us! Sister Yu, let’s go up there now.”

Yu Hong nodded, glanced outside, and said, "After we get off the car, follow me. Watch your step; in this thick fog, you could easily slip and fall to your death, understand?"

“I know Sister Yu.”

The car door opened, and the two people got out of the car, their bodies immediately enveloped in mist.

In an instant, both of them felt a stinging pain on their exposed skin.

It's February now, and the weather is cold. Both of them are wearing thick winter clothes, with only their hands and faces exposed, from which the pain is coming.

"It hurts!" Zhao Yu looked down at his palm and saw that faint red marks, like burn marks, had appeared on the skin of the back of his hand.

"The fog is toxic! Put on your gloves and don't expose your skin!" Yu Hong immediately shouted a reminder, and quickly put on gloves herself, then wrapped her face tightly with a hat and scarf.

Zhao Yu followed suit, and the two quickly headed towards the mountainside. With visibility limited to just a few meters, even though Mingdao Mountain was not far away, they could only see the outline of the foot of the mountain nearby.

Yu Hong walked ahead, taking each step with extreme caution. Mingdao Mountain was difficult to climb as it had no trails, and in winter the mountain was frozen and slippery; a slip and fall would be no laughing matter.

Zhao Yu followed behind her, and the two walked uphill step by step, praying that they would not be attacked by monsters before finding the mountain camp.

It seemed that the fire-stealers heard the two men's prayers, and the two men, during their arduous climb up the mountain, were indeed not attacked and successfully reached the mountainside.

"Zhao Yu, look!" Yu Hong suddenly noticed something and her face lit up with surprise. "These trees in front are just stumps now. Someone must have cut down the trunks to make things. This means the camp is not far from us!"

After Yu Hong finished speaking, she didn't hear a response from Zhao Yu, and her heart sank. She turned her head sharply and saw Zhao Yu standing motionless two or three meters away from her.

"Zhao Yu, what's wrong?"

Yu Hong walked over and heard Zhao Yu muttering to himself.

"Home, home isn't that way. It's...it's on the other side. The other side is where home is..."

Zhao Yu muttered to himself, then suddenly turned and walked to the other side, but there was no home there, only a cliff.

Seeing this, Yu Hong quickly stopped him, grabbing Zhao Yu's arm: "Are you crazy? That's a cliff over there!"

"The direction home is over there..."

Zhao Yu's eyes were resolute, which instilled an indescribable fear in Yu Hong's heart.

The next moment, Zhao Yu shoved her away abruptly: "Don't stop me from going home!"

Caught off guard by his push, Yu Hong stumbled and almost fell. When she regained her balance and looked up, she saw that Zhao Yu had already run to the edge of the cliff.

"Zhao Yu!!!"

"I'm home..."

Zhao Yu leaped off the cliff, and Yu Hong, who had rushed to catch up, was unable to stop him, watching helplessly as he fell and was quickly swallowed by the mist.

"No, no... this... Zhao Yu must be crazy... or he's hallucinating..." Yu Hong took a few steps back in horror, trying her best to calm herself down.

She didn't know why Zhao Yu would jump off a cliff and commit suicide like a madman. If it was the influence of the fog, how come she was alright and how could she still stay conscious?

Yu Hong shook her head vigorously; she knew this wasn't the time to think. She was still trapped in the fog, constantly vulnerable to attacks from ferocious beasts. Zhao Yu was dead; she couldn't just give up!
She turned around and continued walking in the original direction. Since she had found trees that had been cut down by humans, it meant that the campsite on the mountain was nearby. Finding it would give her hope of survival.

Yu Hong jogged along and found that the road was becoming smoother and smoother. Soon she found a yard surrounded by a wooden fence, which looked like a campsite!

As she approached the courtyard, she saw another house inside, which looked like a stone structure, perfectly fitted together.

She was completely stunned, wondering how such stone houses could be built on the mountain. Building a house with stones might be easy, but to achieve a seamless connection between the stones requires various professional polishing and construction equipment. How could there be such things on the mountain?

Is the house built using some kind of psychic artifact or special ability?
In the blink of an eye, she ran quickly to the stone house and pounded on the door.

"Boom boom boom!"

"Help! I'm Yu Hong from the camp at the foot of the mountain, please help me!"

Guan Tong was studying the fog in her room when she suddenly heard a knock on the door and Yu Hong's voice for help. She looked up at the door in surprise.

Because he kept the shelter tightly closed to prevent the dense fog from entering, the shadow surveillance cameras he had set up on the mountain were all ineffective, so he did not notice that Yu Hong had actually gone up the mountain.

He originally thought that Yu Hong and Zhao Yu wouldn't risk coming up in the thick fog, cold weather, and slippery mountains, but he didn't expect them to actually come.

However, judging from the voices, it seems that only Yu Hong came.

"Boom boom boom!"

The knocking on the door started again.

Guan Tong hesitated for a second, then got up and walked towards the door.

"Please help me open the door! My friend Zhao Yu is already—"

Just as Guan Tong's hand was on the doorknob, Yu Hong's voice outside the door abruptly stopped.

Guan Tong stopped turning the doorknob.

"Yu Hong?" he asked.

There was complete silence outside the door.

Guan Tong took two steps back.

One second, three seconds, five seconds... Yu Hong's voice could no longer be heard from outside the door.

……

"Team A is fully equipped."

At an armed base on the outskirts of Yong'an, in the indoor preparation area, more than eighty fully armed soldiers are ready to go.

They were wearing specially designed full-body combat suits, and mobile armed vehicles such as armored vehicles and tanks were parked around them.

Upon hearing the captain's report, the commander said, "Our A-Team is made up of soldiers who have been on the battlefield, tested by iron and blood, possessing experience that other Class B combat units do not have. This time, the enemy we face is not human, but a monster known as the 'Dark Beast.' But whatever the enemy may be, we will achieve victory. Victory is certain!"

"Victory is certain!" the crowd shouted in unison.

"Get into the vehicle!"

At the commander's order, everyone entered the enclosed armored vehicles, tanks, and other similar structures.

Immediately afterwards, the maintenance area gate opened, and the outside fog immediately seeped in.

"Mission: Proceed along the designated route to area K31, conduct reconnaissance with firepower along the way, engage in fierce combat with the enemy lurking in the fog, and gather useful information about the enemy. Move out!"

A convoy of more than twenty armored vehicles and tanks drove out of the maintenance depot and into the thick fog, where they were quickly swallowed up.

The formation was in battle formation, with all machine guns and artillery ready to fire at any moment. Combat was inevitable, a fact every soldier knew, because one of their tasks was to conduct reconnaissance and ascertain the combat capabilities of the monsters.

After the convoy entered the fog, all navigation equipment quickly failed, but radio communication remained unaffected. The commander monitored the situation in real time, and about ten minutes later, the lead unit reported back.

"Report! Squad 1 has been attacked by a monster! We are currently fighting it!"

Da da da da da da da da!
Boom boom boom!
Gunfire erupted in rapid succession, accompanied by booming sounds like armored vehicles being overturned. Although those behind the convoy were unaware of the type of attack on the vanguard, they followed orders and immediately flanked the convoy from both sides.

A light armored vehicle quickly approached the front convoy from the left flank. As it came into view, the armed personnel on board immediately saw some indescribable, strange creatures attacking the vehicles in front.

These creatures vary in shape; some have streamlined bodies, while others have multiple segments like centipedes. But these monsters, which are called "Nightmare Beasts" in the rules, have in common that their entire bodies are covered with a carapace-like exoskeleton, the same color as the pale purple-green of the mist, allowing them to hide themselves well in the fog.

What makes humans most uneasy is that these monsters have no "eyes," "mouths," or "nose," making them completely different from creatures on Earth. As mentioned in the rules, they are definitely alien creatures.

These monsters vary in size, but most are very robust. They are not fast, but they are very strong, enough to overturn tanks weighing over ten tons.

"Fire! Fire!"

Humanity's counterattack was unleashed in the form of firearms. A barrage of bullets, artillery fire, and even intense flames struck the beasts, causing their carapace-like hides to crack and their deaths to occur as if they were balloons bursting open and dissipating into the mist.

This discovery immediately filled the soldiers with ecstasy!

Unlike the previous "Sound Hunters," the monsters in this set of rules cannot be destroyed by human firearms!
This means that, for the first time in the post-apocalyptic world, weapons developed over many years have found a sufficient purpose. This time, the rules don't require powerful ascendants, or elaborate psychic artifacts or skills; humanity's own creations alone can slaughter these monsters shrouded in mist!

(End of this chapter)