Stronger with Crimson Modifier

Chapter 128: Gray Fog (5)

The villa Hu Qi bought wasn’t far from Zhu Xi Mansion, only about three kilometers away.

For an ordinary person, covering such a distance would take over ten minutes, even at a run.

But it only took Hu Qi a minute or two to arrive in the villa’s courtyard.

He moved like a flash of lightning, landing and quickly entering a room to strap the three blades to his back.

Next, he went to the backyard, where the Camphor Tea Duck was still swimming cheerfully in the pond, seemingly unaffected by everything.

"Come!"

Hu Qi called out, and a series of quacks followed.

Hearing the call, the Camphor Tea Duck flapped its wings and leaped from the water, spreading them mid-air to glide in an arc before landing swiftly on the bank.

It then obediently scrambled into the backpack Hu Qi held open.

Without lingering, Hu Qi chose a direction toward the suburbs. His figure blurred into an afterimage as he sped toward the outskirts of Anshan City.

He didn’t bring anything else.

To him, the so-called valuables of ordinary people were worthless—not even as useful as half a Camphor Tea Duck.

After all, as long as he was alive, with his strength as a member of a Martial Arts Family, obtaining such mundane possessions would be an effortless task.

The wind howled violently past his ears. Running at full tilt, his speed rivaled an express train, and a light leap could send him soaring dozens of meters into the air.

Hu Qi ran in a straight line, his speed pushed to the absolute limit.

If he encountered Secret Martial Artists along the way, he went around them;

if he encountered Blood Slaves, he cut them down with a single slash.

Before long, the tall buildings around him grew sparse.

He arrived at a gas station.

The gas station was deserted, with no people or cars in sight. There was only a thick, scorched smell and the wrecked, burnt-out frame of a car, clearly the result of a crash caused by the fog’s descent.

Hu Qi glanced at the scene without stopping and continued to run forward.

He remembered this gas station clearly. It was on the road he had taken from Qirong City.

Another two or three kilometers past this gas station, and he would be outside the Anshan City limits.

He figured that no matter how bizarre this gray fog was, it couldn’t possibly envelop the entire Surface World.

Things were just as he had expected.

Soon, he saw what looked like a divided road in the distance. On one side, the gray fog was so dense you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face; on the other, everything was normal.

He immediately quickened his pace. The dividing line was only a few hundred meters away—a distance he could cross in seconds.

But then, something bizarre happened.

Two minutes passed, yet he hadn’t gotten any closer. In fact, the line seemed to be getting farther away.

Seeing the gas station reappear beside him, Hu Qi stopped in his tracks.

His clothes were completely soaked from the gray fog.

However, he circulated his Qi Blood True Strength, and they were instantly dried.

’Am I caught in some kind of maze-like illusion?’

Hu Qi frowned. The feeling was unmistakable.

He tried a few more times, but the result was the same.

The dividing line was clearly right there in the distance, but no matter how he tried, he couldn’t get any closer.

’Something must be clouding my senses.’

At this thought, Hu Qi closed his eyes and activated the Three-Eyed Primordial Snake Spirit Devouring Map with all his might, amplifying his senses to their absolute limit.

Instantly, every movement, image, and object around him flooded his mind, but unfortunately, he still came up with nothing.

While in the gray fog, his senses felt as if they were covered by a light veil, preventing him from perceiving things clearly.

He frowned slightly at this discovery.

Just then, a car approached an intersection up ahead. But as it neared the gray fog, it suddenly U-turned and drove back down the deserted road.

Hu Qi stood there for a moment and watched at least four or five other cars do the exact same thing.

It was as if everyone was trapped in the same kind of maze-like illusion, as if some unknown force was interfering with everything.

It was twisting everyone’s perception.

People outside couldn’t learn what was happening in Anshan City, and people inside couldn’t leave or get any messages out.

And that was indeed the case. Just as Hu Qi had surmised, Anshan City and the surrounding sea, shrouded in gray fog, had been cut off from the real world, becoming a realm unto itself.

This measure would significantly delay the Xia Federation’s high command from discovering the situation here.

’If that’s the case, then there’s only one path left for me to take!’

Hu Qi’s expression darkened, but he didn’t hesitate.

He found a safe place and settled the Camphor Tea Duck, which had been shaken into a daze, in its cage. He then headed for the center of Anshan City, expanding his senses to search for any potential Lower-Rank Black Blood Species.

Hu Qi’s reasoning was simple: since he couldn’t get out of Anshan City, he had to stay.

Faced with dangers that could appear at any moment, his only option was to increase his own strength as much as possible.

And what faster way was there to do that than by harvesting Lower-Rank Black Blood Species?

His only worry was that they might be hidden too well, and that there wouldn’t be enough of them.

...

「Meanwhile.」

Above the sea, Li Xia and Chu Feng, both Qi Dao Grandmasters, traveled from Zhu Xi Mansion to the patch of sea where the vortex had appeared in a mere moment.

Unlike ordinary Secret Martial Artists, their strength was such that while the gray fog was obscuring, it couldn’t block their senses.

Not only that, but a soft glow emanated from within them, forming an oval shield of light that held the surrounding gray fog at bay.

Now, as they drew closer to the vortex and arrived directly above it, Du Wang, who was encased in the giant cocoon, immediately sensed their presence.

"I am Du Wang, a disciple of the Shexin Sect! Are you the masters from the Federation out there? Please, help me break free!"

Hearing this, Chu Feng’s expression flickered.

"Of course!"

As he spoke, he raised his hand and thrust out his palm.

Instantly, the air currents condensed, and a massive golden palm, dozens of meters wide, materialized from thin air, the lines on it clearly visible.

The moment it appeared, a powerful, hurricane-like force blasted out from the palm.

The surrounding fog, as thick and dark as ink, churned violently under this ferocious force, roiling and scattering to the sides.

CRACK! The floating cocoon shattered, revealing Du Wang’s figure.

"Thank you for your assistance!"

Du Wang looked rather disheveled. After quickly steadying his breath, he cupped his fist to Chu Feng in gratitude.

"It was nothing. We came here specifically to help you."

Chu Feng waved dismissively.

He looked down below, his expression growing serious.

"This gray fog isn’t normal. Our priority should be finding a way to eliminate it as quickly as possible."

"I feel like I’ve seen this stuff somewhere before..."

At that moment, Li Xia, who wore silver-rimmed glasses and had been silent the entire time, suddenly spoke up.

Her voice was slightly raspy, with a lazy, languid quality to it.

As she spoke, both Du Wang and Chu Feng turned to look at her, their gazes questioning.