Buddhist player

With the constant stream of strange occurrences, there seem to be very few people left in the town... or perhaps they are simply hiding at home and too afraid to come out.

Bai Chen, Dao Jie, and Qing Shiyi talked for a long time at the intersection, but they couldn't see a single person. If it weren't for the occasional faint human-shaped shadows walking in the fog in the distance, Bai Chen would have almost thought it was a dead town.

...Although they look pretty much the same overall.

Although the plan was to set fire to the lord's manor in an attempt to force the hidden lord out, the timing was not now. Although the number of people was small, there were still some guards at the lord's manor.

Setting fires during the day is too brazen, and there is still some valuable intelligence inside the lord's manor. It would be such a waste to burn it all down.

"...Okay, Qingyi knows where the archives are. We can have her take you there."

With a slightly ambiguous expression, Sister Dao glanced at the table in front of her and nodded.

They were no longer on the street, but had moved to a restaurant on the side of the street. The owner seemed to have been on the run for quite some time. The tables and chairs in the shop were covered in dust, and the shop was in a mess. Some traces of their escape could still be vaguely seen.

As for how they got in with the door locked... Bai Chen could only say that sometimes it's very necessary to have an extra survival skill.

"Okay, let's settle on that then."

Bai Chen plugged in the plug, closed the cover, and clapped his hands.

"Please wait a moment, no rush, it should be ready to eat in about ten minutes."

"...I don't think now is the time to eat hot pot."

After a brief silence, Qingyi spoke.

"What, you want to eat rice?"

Bai Chen looked up and glanced at the other person.

"Sure, I brought rice and a rice cooker, but you'll have to wash and rinse the rice yourself."

As he spoke, Bai Chen readily took out a bag of rice and a rice cooker and placed them in front of the other person.

—He has always been a man of action.

He had been on a bus for several hours and then got soaked in the rain for several hours. Even though his physical condition was not what it used to be, it shouldn't have been this bad.

Qing Dynasty ritual: "..."

"Ahem... there are some things I feel I should tell you beforehand."

With a cough, Sister Dao broke the silence.

"Although according to your approach, we don't need to pay attention to the strange things that are running rampant in the town and can just trace them back to their source, some of these strange things themselves pose a certain threat to us."

"The kind where monsters siege?"

Bai Chen glanced at the misty streets outside and raised an eyebrow.

"For example, what about fog monsters that suddenly appear in the fog? And do the appearance of these monsters cause the color of the fog to change?"

"You know?"

This time, Sister Dao was genuinely surprised.

"Because I saw it."

Bai Chen turned his gaze away from the window and nodded with a serious expression.

At some unknown time, the fog outside silently changed from its original white to a red tinged with blood. The entire town was already gloomy because of the continuous fog, and now, as the fog changed from white to red, it added a touch of bloody ferocity to the gloom.

"Since we've arrived so early today... it seems our luck isn't so good."

Looking at the blood-red mist outside, Sister Dao's expression was somewhat unpleasant.

"As I said before, we have three strange things to solve. The first is the Midnight Reorganization, the second is the Loop Bus, and the third is this Blood Mist Monster in front of us."

"What type of monster?"

While carefully observing the changes in the outside environment, Bai Chen asked a question.

"A deformed and morbid humanoid monster, somewhat similar to a zombie, but fundamentally different... Also, these things are indestructible."

Taking a deep breath, Sister Dao stood up from her seat.

"We have nowhere to hide. Let's prepare for battle. Based on previous experience, these things usually don't last more than an hour."

"How strong are they in combat?"

With a hint of regret, Bai Chen glanced at the boiling hot pot on the table and stood up as well.

"They're not particularly strong, but firstly, they're incredibly difficult to kill, and secondly, their sheer numbers give them a numerical advantage. Once surrounded, it'll be a tough battle."

As she spoke, Dao Jie pulled out a staff from somewhere and held it in her hand. She and Qing Shiyi seemed to have had experience fighting that thing many times. Not only her, but Qing Shiyi was also preparing for battle at this moment.

—She pulled out a spiked club.

Although the combination of a cute girl and a spiked club looks a bit bizarre, the cold red light emanating from the club clearly indicates that the chair being held tightly in someone's hand is a weapon of considerable quality.

After looking around, Bai Chen simply picked up a chair from the ground to defend himself.

Dao Jie/Qing Yi Shi: "..."

"...Didn't you prepare any other weapons?"

Seeing the chair that someone was tightly gripping in their hand, Sister Dao's lips twitched slightly.

"Even if you can't get your hands on finished weapons and equipment, keeping a few steel pipes in your backpack is a good option."

"I do have some, but it's not suitable to take them out. Don't worry, I can protect myself."

Bai Chen tossed the chair in his hand and shrugged.

Although he is quite intelligent, combat is indeed his weakness. To compensate for this weakness, he has prepared a considerable number of trap cards.

However, those things are basically disposable, so it's not appropriate to show them off.

"...Let's go, before the fog monster takes shape, let's leave this place first."

She opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, but in the end she held back.

"Leave? Can't we just stay here and guard the place?"

Bai Chen glanced at the restaurant behind him and raised an eyebrow.

"Since you just said that those fog monsters appear randomly in the fog, wouldn't it be very likely that they would spawn right in front of us once we go out?"

"It can't be held."

Reaching out to open the door, Sister Dao shook her head.

"Yesterday, the four of us tried to hold out once, but after holding out for 20 minutes, the apartment building we were hiding in was submerged by a tide of thousands of fog monsters. You can't even imagine how crazy they were..."

"The only way to avoid these things is to hide in a pre-designed safe house from the very beginning, remain completely still and make no sound."

"Otherwise, you'll be found sooner or later."