The undead have descended upon the world? I possess a sword that can cleave the heavens once more!

Yunshang Province, Dayun City, Outpost A114-3, an interrogation room.

The room was still lit by a cool white light, which shone on the gray floor tiles and clearly illuminated the dust particles that were still slowly floating in the air.

After issuing the corresponding alarm, Qin Tian stood up from his chair.

His movements were quick, but not chaotic—the chair leg creaked softly on the ground, and then he had switched from a sitting to a standing position.

He walked to the door of the interrogation room, leaned against the door panel, and grabbed the doorknob with one hand behind his back.

In case of any unforeseen circumstances, he was prepared to evacuate immediately and then rejoin the main force of torchbearers outside.

Of course, it wasn't that he was afraid; it was just that the cramped interrogation room wasn't suitable for fighting.

He leaned against the door, watching the bespectacled man sitting in front of him, shaking his head and muttering something like "empty...empty ritual..." in a strange state.

Qin Tian didn't understand why this ordinary ability user, who was originally perfectly normal and had even chatted with him for a while, would change like this when the "Void Ritual" was mentioned.

Moreover, the investigation bureau's records show that he had already been questioned once before, and this empty ritual was mentioned. Why didn't anything happen that time?

Today, I didn't do anything special; I just followed the normal procedure and asked questions—without further questioning or verification of the content of the questions, and I also calmed the other party down.

As it turned out, the other person simply started reminiscing, and then, while reminiscing, entered this strange trance state?

Is it just that I'm having a bad day?

Qin Tian looked at the bespectacled man in front of him, whose body was emitting ritual fluctuations but without any further changes, and who was just muttering to himself. He felt very uncertain.

This was his first time in charge of an inquiry task, and this happened, leaving him feeling helpless.

"Calm down first."

"Try to clear your mind and stop thinking!"

"Feed, feed, feed—"

Can you hear me?

Qin Tian was still trying to communicate with the bespectacled man, but no matter what he said to the man in front of him, the other man just kept muttering:

"Hollow"

"Ritual procedures..."

"Empty ritual..."

"Empty ritual..."

It sounded like he was talking in his sleep.

After confirming that the bespectacled man in front of him was no longer able to respond to the outside world, Qin Tian gritted his teeth and stepped forward slightly.

Article 56 of the Interrogation Manual Regulations states that after determining that the person being questioned is unable to communicate effectively, necessary coercive measures such as physical restraint and knocking out may be taken.

Qin Tian silently recited the regulation in his mind.

Then, he suddenly attacked.

His palm, accompanied by a slight whooshing sound, struck the back of the bespectacled man's neck with lightning speed and precision, aiming precisely at the side of the cervical spine—a spot capable of causing temporary loss of consciousness.

next moment.

The muttering from the bespectacled man stopped.

However, Qin Tian's expression remained unchanged, and he remained extremely vigilant.

Because although the other person stopped speaking, their body did not sway at all!

That shouldn't be the case. A person hit on the back of the neck should immediately lose control of their body and go limp.

But the bespectacled man only stopped muttering; he remained seated, like a machine that had been muted but was still running.

"That's not right, the other party is only a second-tier ability user."

"My opponent didn't resist at all; they should have been knocked unconscious immediately."

"But why is it that the other person is completely unharmed, without even a sway?"

Qin Tian thought to himself unconsciously, his hand still in the striking posture, his fingers curling slightly in the air, as if to confirm that his attack had indeed hit the opponent.

next moment.

Qin Tian suddenly took two steps back.

The man wearing glasses turned his head slowly, looking at Qin Tian with an empty gaze.

As his neck turned, it made a slight cracking sound. Then, he looked at Qin Tian and slowly uttered a sentence:

"A void is about to form."

"Everyone."

"Everyone will die."

A void is about to form? Everyone will die? What does this mean?

Looking at the bespectacled man's blank expression and empty eyes, coupled with what he had just said, Qin Tian couldn't help but feel a chill.

At the same time, his hand gripped the doorknob of the interrogation room again, his knuckles turning slightly white from the force.

Just after the bespectacled man finished saying that incomprehensible sentence, he suddenly closed his eyes, slumped uncontrollably to the side, and slid limply off the chair, like a puppet stripped of all its support, collapsing limply onto the cold ground.

His head was tilted to one side, his mouth was slightly open, and his breathing was shallow, so shallow that it seemed he might stop breathing at any moment.

Seeing that the other person looked like they had fainted, Qin Tian's expression remained completely unperturbed.

Because the peculiar fluctuation emanating from the other party, representing the operation of some kind of ritual, has not yet disappeared!

The fluctuations did not diminish as the bespectacled man fainted; instead, they became even clearer, as if something had surfaced from the depths of his consciousness and taken over his unconscious body.

Looking at the figure lying on the ground, Qin Tian couldn't help but recall how the other person had been talking so eloquently with him earlier. He then compared this with the blank expression on the other person's face just now and the way the other person suddenly collapsed to the ground, as well as the mysterious ritual that was completely out of control and continued to run automatically even after the other person had fainted.

His heart suddenly started racing, and he had a very bad feeling.

Add to that the other person's inexplicable statement: "A void is about to form, and then everyone will die?"

Could it be that something big is about to happen?

Just as Qin Tian was thinking, he felt the doorknob in his hand move.

Qin Tian immediately realized: the Investigation Bureau's support had arrived!

He immediately took two steps back, clearing the doorway.

The next moment, the door to the interrogation room opened, and a torchbearer with a bronze torch badge, wearing a black trench coat and thick eyebrows walked in.

His gaze swept across the entire space the moment he entered the room: the empty chair, the bespectacled man lying on the floor, and Qin Tian, ​​who was standing to the side wearing a black trench coat but looked somewhat immature.

Upon seeing the newcomer, Qin Tian's eyes immediately lit up:

"Brother Chung!"

When those two words slipped out of Qin Tian's throat, he felt a sense of relief.

The man with thick eyebrows who was called Brother Zhong nodded without saying anything. He simply walked over to the bespectacled man lying on the ground, squatted down, and reached out to check the man's carotid artery.

. . . . . .

Meanwhile, in a deep, dark area of ​​Yunshang Province, in a danger zone completely covered by a thick, surging fog.

Wu You, who was rapidly moving through the thick fog, was also frowning deeply.

"Such a thick fog."

"It seems the Dark Mist Tide has indeed erupted ahead of schedule!"

"But why is that?"

"The Dark Fog Tide has never occurred so many hours earlier than before."

Thinking this, the distance between Wu You's figure and the location of the talisman sword he sensed was rapidly decreasing.

. . .

Meanwhile, in a place shrouded in swirling dark fog, Wang Qi, with a cigarette dangling from his mouth, was helping Gongsun Baizhan as they tried to determine their surroundings.

Wang Qi used a flashlight-shaped resonator to illuminate a short distance ahead. The beam of light, which should have been extremely penetrating, was like a blunt knife in the now thick, almost solidified fog, barely cutting through a visibility range of less than two meters.

He then carefully examined the surrounding scenery by referring to the local topographic map on his mobile device.

A moment later, his brow furrowed deeply: "No, this direction is wrong."

He immediately changed direction again, turning the beam of the resonator to the left.

He looked at the topographic map again, and then at the outlines that were faintly visible in the fog.

A moment later: "This direction is wrong too."

After some exploration, identification, and comparison, Wang Qi finally found the right direction—a direction completely different from his initial memory.

He breathed a sigh of relief: "Finally, it's right!"

Just then, Gongsun Baizhan, whom he was supporting, spoke up.

His voice was slightly stronger than before, but his tone was calmer: "Old Wang, you can go first."

Wang Qi frowned, and tightened his grip on Gongsun Baizhan's hand: ?

Gongsun Baizhan simply shook his head slightly and analyzed, "Although we don't know what caused it, the Dark Fog Tide has arrived ahead of schedule, making visibility extremely poor and directions difficult to discern."

"Given this situation, even if the two of us were at our peak, we probably wouldn't be able to leave."

"Besides, I can't run anymore now."

His voice was calm, so calm that it sounded like he was talking about something that had nothing to do with him.

"You know what's chasing us closely."

"They should be here in a few minutes."

"Taking me along will only make it impossible for either of us to survive."

"But if you're alone, you still have a slight chance."

Upon hearing this, Wang Qi frowned even more deeply.

Although Gongsun Baizhan's words were very direct and cruel.

But that's the reality now.

Wang Qi understood that if he took the other person with him, there was a high probability that neither of them would survive.

If he were alone, he would not only be faster and more maneuverable, but he would actually have a real chance of survival.

But the next moment, Wang Qi shook his head. The shaking motion was small, but very certain.

He didn't speak, but tightened his grip on Gongsun Baizhan's hand and quickened his pace again.

His shoes made a rapid sound as they hit the gray-black earth, as if answering that question in another way.

I understand it, but how to choose is another matter entirely.

"Just hang in there a little longer!"

"Perhaps reinforcements will arrive from the outpost?"

Support for the outpost?

Even if there were reinforcements, it would be difficult to even find them in this situation of dark fog tide eruption!

After all, all communication, including location tracking, has been cut off!

To put it another way, if we really want to find them, we'll have to use a thorough, exhaustive search.

But even if a thorough, comprehensive search were truly employed...

Gongsun Baizhan couldn't help but recall the strange scene he and Wang Qi had witnessed together during their mission:

Groups of densely packed, all-encompassing corpses had already formed ranks and were now converging in an orderly fashion in a certain direction!

That was not formed naturally, nor was it random wandering; it was organized!

Those zombies resembled an army on the march, with forwards, flanks, rearguards, and a formation.

Just as they witnessed that scene, they were already quite close to the zombies, so unsurprisingly, they were discovered and hunted down.

This was also the main reason why the two of them ran away at breakneck speed.

Given the current accumulation of negative factors, by the time support arrives, they'll probably both be completely finished.

Therefore, Gongsun Baizhan naturally understood that Wang Qi's offer of support was merely a consolation.

While dragging Gongsun Baizhan along, Wang Qi continued, "Little Sun, we can't give up on Xi—"

His voice was interrupted by Gongsun Baizhan's actions halfway through his speech.

Gongsun Baizhan resolutely pushed Wang Qi's hand away.

He stopped, leaning on his sword: "Old Wang, let's split up and run."

Upon hearing his words, Wang Qi immediately understood what he meant.

There's only one direction leading to the base, should we split up? Which way should we split up?

He's staying here to cover his retreat!

Wang Qi knew without even guessing that once he left, Gongsun Baizhan would definitely charge towards the rear alone.

For some reason, when Wang Qi looked back at Gongsun Baizhan leaning on his sword, clearly on the verge of exhaustion but still managing to steady himself, he inexplicably thought of the figure in Lanhe, burning with white flames, rushing headlong towards the Thousand-Faced God's descending form.

Wang Qi couldn't help but spit out, "Damn, how come these swordsmen look so alike!"

He then stopped in his tracks.

They abandoned their comrades and went off to pursue those slim chances of survival that they might not even have.

How is this any different from deserting?

How can this be?

He sighed, then stepped forward and continued to support Gongsun Baizhan.

Just as Gongsun Baizhan was about to say something, Wang Qi waved his hand and said, "Forget it, don't say anything. Save your energy for later."

"To survive under these circumstances, we can only hope for a miracle."

"But you know, so-called miracles are nothing more than self-deception—"

Suddenly, Wang Qi stopped what he was saying.

He felt something burning hot in his trench coat pocket.

He immediately reached into the pocket and pulled out a small, gleaming silver sword.

The small sword gleamed in his palm, its silvery-white light shining like a star suddenly ignited in the thick, dark fog.

Then, as if sensing something, he looked up and glanced in a direction to his left.

In the sky in that direction, a dazzling silver light pierced through layers of thick dark fog and was rapidly flowing towards them.