*Whoosh!* Hurled out alongside the tattered overcoat was an exquisite robe—black at its base, adorned with flame patterns along the hem and sleeves, and an ocean wave embroidered across the chest.
Both garments flew through the air, converging toward each other.
Beside Zhang Yuanqing, the yin corpse Blood Rose came to an abrupt halt before leaping into the air. Catching the Yinyang Robe, she draped it over her shoulders. The instant her feet touched the ground, she shook open the tattered overcoat, finishing her attire.
Then, clad in two wearable items, she resembled a sleek, muscular leopard charging in reverse, racing straight toward the surging thick mist.
During this, two faint crimson glimmers emerged from before Zhang Yuanqing, spiraling through the air in pursuit of the voluptuous Blood Rose. After looping around her feet, they adhered to her soles, turning into a brand-new pair of dancing shoes.
*Yuanshi Tianzun is going to sacrifice his yin corpse to stall the monster? Can that even work?* Looking at Abalone Through a Tube felt a surge of warmth in his chest, unexpectedly touched.
He knew a yin corpse was a Night Walker's right-hand man, carrying immense significance. Losing one was tantamount to losing an arm.
In a trial fraught with perils like this, at a critical juncture where everyone thought only of fleeing for their lives, Yuanshi Tianzun had "sacrificed" his own yin corpse to resolve the crisis for everyone. He truly bore the responsibility of a leader.
As an unaffiliated traveler, Looking at Abalone Through a Tube felt a sense of approval and admiration toward this official legend for the first time.
Once Blood Rose plunged into the thick mist, Zhang Yuanqing immediately communicated with the imprint in his sea of consciousness, dividing half his awareness to inhabit the yin corpse and seize control of the body.
The moment he dashed into the mist, he felt his sense of direction vanish, accompanied by an unspeakable dread that instinctively made him halt, not daring to run blindly.
Dense mist roiled all around, as if some terrifying monster lurked within.
Blood Rose looked around blankly, her dull expression showing a vivid display of "vigilance."
Suddenly, Zhang Yuanqing sank his hips and split his legs uncontrollably, dropping into a full split.
Immediately after, the Red Dancing Shoes propelled her upward, bounding forward several meters like a startled fawn.
*I was attacked...* Zhang Yuanqing turned around. Through the parting mist, a tall silhouette faintly emerged.
The figure stood about two meters tall. Its body was shriveled and withered like dry wood, messy hair draped behind its head like straw, cheeks sunken, and crimson eyeballs bulging outward.
It was a desiccated corpse.
Yet unlike an ordinary dried corpse, those bulging crimson eyes held violence and bloodlust without being chaotic or dull; they possessed a distinct, lucid glimmer.
Seeing its ambush fail, the dried corpse gave him a "dull" stare and actually turned away without hesitation.
*As a Bewitching Demon, did it recognize that this is a fellow kin with no blood worth draining?* Seeing this, Zhang Yuanqing conjured a fireball and hurled it straight at the back of the monster's head.
*Boom!*
Flames burst open. The dry, straw-like hair behind the monster's head instantly caught fire, blazing like a torch.
Yet the monster paid it no mind, continuing forward as the thick mist converged, on the verge of swallowing it whole.
*Luring the tiger away won't work...* Zhang Yuanqing felt a surge of urgency. His thoughts raced, and he quickly hit upon an idea. He shouted:
"You useless piece of trash! You deserved to be beaten to death by the Mountain God! You deserved to end up a walking corpse!"
Since the monster possessed high intelligence, taunting was bound to work. Striking a sore spot and thoroughly humiliating it was something no powerhouse with any temper could simply take lying down.
Ahead, the mist remained still, without a ripple.
*No reaction?* Zhang Yuanqing considered it, raised his voice, and cursed:
"Trash! Failure! A class at the pinnacle of combat prowess, yet you lost to a Mountain God! You've utterly humiliated every Bewitching Demon!"
The sluggishly creeping mist shuddered violently. In the next instant, a black shadow charged at extreme speed, so fast it tore out a piercing sonic screech like a fighter jet.
*Clang!*
A yellow light flared behind him, ringing out like a heavy blow striking tempered glass.
*Even the Red Dancing Shoes couldn't react in time?* Struck as if by a battering ram, Zhang Yuanqing was hurled through the air.
The Red Dancing Shoes' evasion was not a rule-based ability; it had its limits. Beyond a certain threshold, it would fail to react.
As he flew backward, the shadow clung to him like a specter, raining down close-quarters attacks—punches, kicks, elbow strikes... The tattered overcoat lasted merely two or three seconds before its thick yellow light shattered with a resounding blast, and the coat ripped apart into shreds.
*Holy crap, it's that strong?!* Zhang Yuanqing nearly yelled: *I'm sorry to have bothered you, please forgive me...*
The moment the defensive item shattered, he hit the ground. Just as he was about to leverage a Bewitching Demon's prized agility and speed to make a run for it, two twisted, bizarre runes suddenly surfaced in the monster's scarlet pupils beside him.
Zhang Yuanqing's mind roared with a boom. His consciousness felt torn to shreds, robbed of the ability to think.
Yet he did not become a lamb awaiting slaughter. Instead, through an elegant spin, another spin, and a sidestep under the Red Dancing Shoes' manipulation, he deftly evaded the monster's tempestuous onslaught.
*Bang!*
Seizing an opening, the Red Dancing Shoes planted a kick on the monster's chest. Using the recoil, it carried its useless master's useless yin corpse plunging into the depths of the mist, fleeing in a panic.
By now, Zhang Yuanqing regained his senses. Without a second thought, he condensed a fireball and flung it to the left.
Almost simultaneously, the fighter-jet-like roar of a sonic boom tore through the air behind him once more.
*Boom!*
The fireball detonated in the distance, dyeing the surrounding mist a magnificent orange-red.
Zhang Yuanqing's figure was swallowed by crimson currents of fire, vanishing on the spot and reappearing inside the blaze dozens of meters to the left.
Fire Traveling!
*Thump, thump, thump...*
Upon landing, Zhang Yuanqing sprinted frantically on the Red Dancing Shoes. He reclaimed control from the shoes, as their running speed was slower than Blood Rose's Bewitching Demon body.
Before Zhang Yuanqing had even covered a hundred meters, the mist ahead trembled, revealing a two-meter-tall figure with a withered frame, sunken cheeks, and bulging eyeballs.
*It can teleport inside the mist?!* Zhang Yuanqing's pupils shrank. Gritting his teeth, instead of slowing down, he accelerated straight toward the monster.
*Splash!*
Amid a fierce crash of water, Zhang Yuanqing slammed into the monster, scattering himself into a surge of frothing white waves.
A Water Ghost's passive ability!
The splashing waves immediately reformed behind the monster, returning to normal human shape. Zhang Yuanqing kept fleeing. At the same time, using the Yinyang Robe's fire manipulation skill, he hurled balls of fire in all directions.
*Boom, boom, boom!*
Fireballs continually detonated, their roars making the area sound like an active war zone. Using the glare of these explosions, he repeatedly executed Fire Traveling, achieving an effect comparable to teleportation while relentlessly hurling insults:
"Trash! Failure!"
"Disgrace of the Bewitching Demons!"
Outside the thick mist, the Spirit Realm walkers of the Mountain God faction gradually slowed down before finally stopping.
To their delight, they watched the mist recede, spreading toward a different direction at a speed even faster and more violent than when it had pursued them.
Who would have thought Yuanshi Tianzun's yin corpse held such an intense attraction for the monster?
"W-we're saved..."
Looking at Abalone Through a Tube's knees gave out, and he collapsed to the ground, panting heavily. His physical stamina hadn't been depleted too much, but the emotional strain left him completely drained.
He caught his breath, looked toward Yuanshi Tianzun ahead, and grinned. "You're really something... I owe you a life. Thanks."
*I have to find a chance to slip away, or my losses are going to be catastrophic...* Watching the receding mist, Zhang Yuanqing prayed silently.
"Abalone, that item of yours is ruined."
Looking at Abalone Through a Tube had a pained look. "Expected..."
He stubbornly corrected him, "My name is Looking at Abalone Through a Tube, not Abalone."
*If you pick such an embarrassing handle, you should be mentally prepared for this...* Zhang Yuanqing nodded solemnly. "Understood, Abalone!"
"..."
By now, the Wood Demons and Fire Masters who had run ahead came trotting back one after another.
"Leave it to you, Yuanshi Tianzun! I was scared to death just now!" Jiang Jingwei bounded over and slapped Zhang Yuanqing on the shoulder.
*Get lost, you fake Fire Master. Everyone behind you is a damn fake Fire Master too.* Zhang Yuanqing nodded expressionlessly. "Next time we run for our lives, remember to carry me on your back. Now scram out of my way."
He turned to face the crowd gathering around him. Seeing the lingering dread on their faces, he said in a heavy voice, "My apologies. That was a misjudgment in my command earlier, costing two colleagues their lives."
"Bullshit!" Looking at Abalone Through a Tube was the first to object. "If we had fought that monster, a lot more than two people would've died."
Looking displeased, Zhao Chenghuang asked, "How strong is that monster? Did you gather any new intelligence?"
Taiyi Sect's eight Night Walkers who entered the killing trial had finally suffered their first casualty, weighing heavily on Zhao Chenghuang's mind.
The crowd immediately turned toward Yuanshi Tianzun, waiting solemn-faced for his answer.
Zhang Yuanqing said in a low voice, "The monster possesses high intelligence. It isn't a yin creature fighting on pure instinct. Furthermore, beyond the mist, it retains bewitchment abilities, and its speed and strength are also at the Saint stage. Controlling the yin corpse, I threw everything I had into it just to barely escape with my life. Standing and fighting is virtually impossible."
Hearing this, the Spirit Realm walkers' faces darkened, the memory of being chased by the mist stirring up fresh fear. At the same time, their gratitude toward Yuanshi Tianzun for sacrificing his yin corpse to draw the monster away deepened.
The Night Walkers of the Taiyi Sect exchanged glances, forced to swallow their sorrow and anger.
Zhang Yuanqing said, "We shouldn't linger here. We still have a lot to discuss..."
Next, guided by the map, the group moved closer to the city center and located the four seals restraining the Blood Pool:
A dilapidated bank high-rise, an expansive abandoned park, a large shopping mall, and an abandoned subway station.
Regrettably, none of the four places could be entered.
The trial prompt stated that quest items were required to enter the formations.
During their exploration, Zhang Yuanqing divided his focus, guiding Blood Rose through one hair-raising escape after another until she slipped into a sewer. Utilizing a Water Ghost's water-manipulation ability, she successfully evaded the monster's hunt in the subterranean world flooded with sewage.
The crisscrossing, wastewater-filled sewer was a Water Ghost's home turf.
Even if the monster spread its thick mist down into the sewer, Blood Rose could dive underwater and perform water escapes.
However, the instant she left the sewer, mist would converge upon her from all directions.
From this, Zhang Yuanqing deduced another conclusion—the monster possessed a Bewitching Demon's Mark ability.
"Mark" was a Bewitching Demon's passive skill and one of the class's most troublesome, terrifying abilities.
Any prey marked would be sensed by the Bewitching Demon and tracked down no matter where they fled.
A top-tier hunting skill.
When Zhang Yuanqing shared the intel with his companions, Yuan Ting gasped in astonishment, "From the sound of it, that monster is a bona fide Mist Lord retaining all the skills it had in life. At most, its level dropped, but its skillset is completely intact..."
The danger factor skyrocketed in an instant.
"Furthermore, it seems to have a trait where it locks onto a target and never lets go," Zhang Yuanqing added.
Of course, he wasn't sure whether the monster was fixated on Blood Rose because of his foul mouth or because of an actual trait.
"Wait, that's not right," Crossing-River Pawn keenly detected the flaw in his reasoning. "Then how did the Mountain Ghost faction escape?"
Inside the abandoned factory.
The Spirit Realm walkers of the Mountain Ghost faction had a cloak as broad as an awning draped over their heads, standing in place for four or five hours.
Kou Beiyue yelled, "No way, I'm heading out. I can't stand here anymore."
The chubby fellow quickly soothed his boss: "Hold on a little longer, boss, just a little longer..."
Kou Beiyue cursed, "Even if I can endure it, my bladder can't take it anymore!"
The item's price was immobility. Having held his urine for an hour, he truly couldn't hold it in any longer, his legs going numb from squeezing together.
The members of the Mountain Ghost faction were thoroughly disappointed.
Their plan to shift misfortune to their rivals had failed. Initially, when they saw the headcount on the leaderboard drop and realized two members of the Mountain God faction had died, they were quite thrilled, waiting for the Mountain God faction and the monster to fight each other to mutual destruction before stepping out to clean up the mess.
Yet before they could celebrate for long, the numbers on the leaderboard stopped changing. This meant that after losing two people, the Mountain God faction had successfully shaken off the monster.
According to their experience, the monster possessed a tracking mark. Once it locked onto its prey, it clung like a maggot in the bone; unless killed or counter-killed, it was almost impossible to shake off.
Evidently, just like them, the Mountain God faction possessed an item similar to the Night Walker Cloak that masked presence and aura.
I Alone Am Supreme said coldly, "Piss if you want to piss. No one's stopping you. I'll take care of shifting your foul water away."
The moment he finished, a Witch Doctor whispered:
"...I can barely hold it either. Count me in."
"Uh, can you transfer number two as well?"
Several other evil classes chimed in, saying they needed to attend to nature's call.
I Alone Am Supreme: "..."
Hongwei (My Fate Is Mine, Not Heaven's), one of the few female walkers in the group, said, "This can't go on. We can stand for five hours, but not necessarily ten. Besides, we don't know how the Mountain God faction is masking their presence. If this continues, we'll definitely be the ones at a disadvantage."
Nothing Is Taboo listened carefully to her input and asked, "Then what do you think we should do?"
Hongwei pondered for a moment before voicing her idea: "Form an alliance with the Mountain God faction and deal with the boss first. I imagine they want to advance the quest just as much."
All Under Heaven Is White sneered, "It's a good idea, but who goes?"
Nothing Is Taboo considered it and said, "I recall Wood Demons can control animals to pass messages. Can that be done?"
From the other side, Dropout Fish shook his head. "This cloak functions like a Night Walker's invisibility. While invisible, a Night Walker cannot use skills or attack without breaking stealth. This item outright blocks skills. As long as a Wood Demon hides under it, they can't control animals."
Hongwei thought for a moment and said, "We need to send someone out to contact the people in the Mountain God faction."
Everyone fell silent.
Setting aside the risk of being targeted by the monster once outside, what if those official folks refused the alliance?
That would be like throwing a meat bun at a dog—a one-way trip, handing over points to the other side for nothing.
Right then, someone stepped forward and said, "I'll go contact the Mountain God faction!"
*Which brave soul is so selfless?* the evil classes wondered.
Looking toward the voice, the speaker turned out to be the chubby fellow A Good Official Chooses His Lord and Slays Him's new boss.
*Well, that explains it.*
None of the chubby guy's bosses ever lived long.
Chapter 268