Zhang Yuanqing subconsciously pulled Guan Ya close, his tone serious, "Don't stray far from me."
The tall, mixed-race milf staggered at his pull. Through the fog, Guan Ya saw Yuan Shi's face was grave and tense, like a child protecting a beloved toy. That tense, cautious emotion was written all over his face.
His reaction was the most authentic, instinctive reaction. In a moment, he would realize that I have a suit of armor for protection. According to Yuan Shi's character, he will immediately go to check the cause of death of that poor girl, and change the subject. "Sister Guan Ya, be careful. I'll go see what happened," Zhang Yuanqing said in a deep voice. Sure enough… Guan Ya thought, I saw through you, kid, long ago.
She followed Zhang Yuanqing to the corpse. At this moment, the team members had already surrounded the girl's body and completed the preliminary "autopsy", discussing with grievous expressions. "She was beheaded by a sharp weapon. Ai Ai didn't have any chance to react," said Peony Fairy sadly. She seemed to know this girl named "Ai Ai".
"I was right next to her just now. I didn't feel any movement, the sound of a knife, or the sound of the fog surging. Nothing at all," said Ox Mountain Little Fairy, her hair tied in a bun, frowning.
No movement. That's a bit terrifying.
The unknown enemy is the most frightening. The Way of the Extraordinary members quietly tensed up, took out their respective props, to prevent accidents. Tianxia Guihuo squatted on the ground, examining the head and body, while observing and stating his analysis:
"The attack should have come from the front, an instant beheading. Strange, the distance between the team members wasn't large. There wasn't space for the 'murderer' to swing a blade. But looking at the cut, the 'murderer' had to swing in a semicircle to achieve this effect."
"How can you tell the attack came from the front?" Jiang Jingwei asked, puzzled.
Guan Ya explained in a low voice: "If the attack came from behind, the body would fall forward due to inertia when walking. But now the body is lying on its back. This shows that the throat was attacked, and the body instinctively leaned backward."
Except for the Fire Master who nodded repeatedly, the other Way of the Extraordinary members were all at the captain level. These simple on-site investigations didn't need someone else's explanation at all. Jiang Jingwei understood, and frowned her little eyebrows:
"Everyone was so close just now. If someone swung a knife from the front, a large number of people would have died. How could only she die?" Tianxia Guihuo exhaled and said, "That's what I can't figure out."
Not hearing the enemy, not even knowing how they attacked, yet being able to instantly kill a Level 3 Wood Imp, that's a bit terrifying. Zhang Yuanqing hesitated for a moment, and a dark tide surged in his eyes. In front of everyone, he summoned the spiritual body remaining in the corpse and swallowed it in one gulp. He planned to directly ask the spirit to see if there were any clues. The official members watched silently, without stopping him.
In this copy full of dangers, surviving is the first task. As long as the method works, there can be a flexible moral bottom line. After a dozen seconds, Zhang Yuanqing opened his eyes and shook his head.
Ai Ai didn't know how she died either. She just lost consciousness and life in an instant. "Even asking the spirit can't find the murderer." Asano Ryo's face changed.
At this time, the fog was getting "thicker" and the visibility was getting lower and lower. Even with a torch, the people around him became blurred. An invisible fear was brewing in everyone's hearts, and the team had a dispute.
"This fog is strange. The longer we stay, the more dangerous it is. Leave quickly. It will be safe once we get through the fog."
"No, we must find out the reason and solve the problem. The fog covers a wide area, which affects our exploration of the maze. Moreover, if someone dies again on the way, the map will be missing even more severely."
The two sides stuck to their own views. Finally, someone shouted:
"Yuanshi Tianzun, where are you? Say something. You decide this matter." Zhang Yuanqing pondered for a moment, and said:
"First of all, we don't know the frequency of the crisis. If this frequency is very short, and the area covered by the fog is very wide, then before we can get out, most of the members will be lost. If we act like ostriches, we won't be able to solve the problem. My suggestion is to deal with the crisis before continuing forward." At this time, the benefits of prestige are highlighted. If the same words were said by someone else, the team members would not be convinced. But if Yuanshi Tianzun speaks, everyone is willing to obey.
Seeing that no one objected, Zhang Yuanqing, relying on his feeling, looked at the twenty-three or four-year-old girl with her hair tied in a bun, and said, "Little Fairy, you were by Ai Ai's side before. Did she do anything before she died?" He wanted to know if Ai Ai's death was purely bad luck, or if she accidentally triggered some "mechanism". Ox Mountain Little Fairy frowned, thought for a while, and shook her head. "Probably not. I didn't pay attention to her on purpose."
Zhang Yuanqing nodded, and then looked at Tianxia Guihuo, Jiang Jingwei and other Fire Masters, and said, "Try to create an explosion to see if it can dispel the flames."
Hearing this, the Fire Masters showed extremely strong execution. Each of them rubbed out a ball of fire in their hands and threw it into the distance. "Boom!"
Explosions rang out one after another, and the shock waves swept the crimson flames in all directions. The fog fluctuated violently, like stirred water.
But the visibility did not become clear. The fog here was too thick. The shock wave generated by the explosion only made the slowly floating fog become chaotic and disordered. If you want to disperse the fog, you must have fresh air coming in.
I remember that Rain Master has the ability to make it rain and windy. If I could have this method, I could blow away the fog. No, if I had the Rain Master's ability, I wouldn't need to be afraid of the strange fog... Zhang Yuanqing then tried several other methods, but none of them could dispel the mountain fog. "Yuanshi, the fog is getting bigger and bigger. We can't stay any longer."
Guan Ya looked around and found that the fog had become so "thick" that she could barely see the people around her. Zhang Yuanqing nodded silently and said loudly:
"Everyone, hold hands and move forward. From now on, keep counting off to make sure that no one is lost or dies... Who is behind Ai Ai? Report the route."
The crowd quickly took action, holding hands and moving forward, led by Zhang Yuanqing. The team moved forward along the route while counting off. "1, 2, ... 13, 14."
After the death of one person, the total number of people in the team was fourteen. The second round of counting off began: "1, 2, 3... 12, 13..." The counting off stopped abruptly, and 14 didn't sound for a long time.
Everyone's heart sank, and then they heard a trembling voice from the end of the team, "I, I am number 14. I was attacked."
The one speaking was Yunu Wugua, a young man in his thirties, a Level 3 Water Ghost.
The crowd quickly surrounded him. Several Fire Masters lit torches, trying to gather the light and increase visibility. Zhang Yuanqing asked, "What's going on?"
Yunu Wugua's face was terrified. "Just now, I was suddenly attacked. Something cut my neck and triggered my passive skill." The Water Ghost's passive skill ignores physical attacks. If there was no passive skill, Yunu Wugua would have been dead.
"Did you see the attacker? What was the attack method?" Everyone asked hurriedly. Yunu Wugua touched his neck and recalled,
"I didn't see the attacker's figure at all, and I didn't feel anything unusual. My neck just hurt, and then I found that the passive skill was activated... However, I sensed that a foreign object had invaded my body. After it turned into water in my head, its trajectory of extraction was upward." Upward?
The official members instantly raised their heads, but all they saw was thick fog. Zhang Yuanqing shook open the Yin-Yang magic robe and draped it over his shoulders. His spiritual body left his body and floated towards the canopy. When he approached the canopy, he was blocked again and couldn't continue to rise.
Zhang Yuanqing stuck to the barrier and floated back and forth under the canopy, looking for the crisis hidden in the dense branches and leaves. Yunu Wugua's experience showed that a spiritual body without a physical body could also be immune to the attacker's damage. Zhang Yuanqing quickly patrolled around and found nothing unusual. He immediately sank his spiritual body and returned to his physical body. "I didn't find anything."
His answer disappointed everyone immensely, and then some people broke down.
This kind of invisible enemy is more troublesome than facing the Tree King. At least the latter is visible and tangible, and the danger is clearly in front of you. "This won't work. We don't have the Water Ghost's passive skill. If we are targeted, we will surely die." Baihu Wansui frowned. Tianxia Guihuo pondered,
"I've calculated the time. The interval between Ai Ai's death and Yunu Wugua's attack is five minutes. If this is the frequency of the danger, then the next attack will be in five minutes." All the official members were silent. They were like lambs waiting to be slaughtered, silently waiting for death to come. The next one might be themselves.
It can only be said that the official members have high quality and strong discipline, and can hold their breath. If it were independent cultivators, they would probably have disputes and fall into mental exhaustion by now. Zhang Yuanqing leaned close to Guan Ya beside him and whispered in her ear, "Is Yunu Wugua telling the truth?" Guan Ya's earlobes burned, and she frowned, saying:
"Judging from his tone, it should be true, but I can't see his face clearly, so I can't observe him." At this time, Peony Fairy took a deep breath:
"Yuanshi Tianzun, what should we do now? I will listen to whatever you say." Everyone silently looked at the captain, who was only a silhouette in the fog. There is no clear captain position in the copy, but Yuanshi Tianzun is the recognized captain.
They are handing their lives over to me. Zhang Yuanqing felt a lot of pressure. He looked around, "Keep moving forward!"
Keep moving forward... Everyone sighed in their hearts. Continuing forward means doing nothing. It seems that Yuanshi Tianzun has no choice.
The team walked heavily and slowly through the maze forest. The fog obscured their vision. They couldn't see the road, let alone the forks in the road. In order not to go wrong, Zhang Yuanqing let the Earth Spirit colleagues walk in front.
They can effectively distinguish how many roads there are at a fork in the road. "Two minutes have passed," someone in the team suddenly said.
Three minutes left... Zhang Yuanqing muttered to himself and actively used his brain to think about countermeasures.
After Ai Ai died, the first thing Zhang Yuanqing thought of was that the crisis came from the copy, but after several unsuccessful investigations, he turned his suspicion to the traitors of the Dark Night Rose.
Could it be that the fog is simply obscuring the field of vision and increasing the difficulty of the maze? Is the traitor using the copy as a cover to kill people in secret? That's why he suggested holding hands and counting off, all to restrict the possible traitors. But now it seems that the possibility of a traitor killing people is not high. "Three minutes have passed," someone else said. Zhang Yuanqing's mind was racing:
"At present, we can only conclude that the attacker's attack frequency is once every five minutes. To find more patterns, we have to continue to observe. Each observation is a life, and we can't afford to consume it like this..."
"The danger comes from the canopy, but I didn't find anything unusual. It is also impossible to judge whether Yunu Wugua is lying. The fog is too thick, and Guan Ya can't see his face clearly..." "How exactly is the attacker hiding? The attack method is also unclear, but one thing is certain, that is, it is related to the strange fog. The danger from the fog..." Thinking of this, a face suddenly jumped out of Zhang Yuanqing's mind - Li Xianzong!
The fog at this moment evoked an unpleasant memory for him. Back in his little aunt's hospital, he was also trapped in the fog, suffered a great loss, and almost became autistic. This is a typical stress disorder. Wait!
Zhang Yuanqing had a flash of inspiration and suddenly realized what was going on with the fog in the maze forest. The side quest introduction mentioned that the power of the evil cultivator had penetrated the forest, and the road leading to the top of the mountain was full of dangers. Mountain God is the name after the Earth Spirit's job transfer, so what is the profession of the evil cultivator? It's Bewitching Imp! Because the name of the Bewitching Imp after the first job transfer, that is, the Sage Realm, is Mist Lord!
"Four minutes have passed..."
The voice of the person reporting the time became low.
The mood of everyone in the team also became heavy, and their muscles were tense in a state of alertness and tension. There is still one minute left, and the attacker hidden in the dark will strike. But Zhang Yuanqing was excited.
After figuring out the details of the crisis, it is much easier to think about countermeasures.
I remember when I fought Li Xianzong in the hospital, he judged my position based on the flow of fog, and the attacker must be doing the same. So, as long as we stay still, can we avoid the crisis? Let's try it... Zhang Yuanqing stopped and said loudly, "Stop, everyone stop." The team stopped accordingly.
Zhang Yuanqing didn't give them a chance to ask and said, "From now on, don't move, slow down your breathing, it's best not to breathe, no noise can be made, don't ask why, believe what I say, just do it."
If people still die, then the attacker is related to the copy, and is a traitor. In this case, use Guan Ya's mask to investigate.
The team members really didn't ask, held their breath, and didn't move. They silently counted the time, and every second was extremely difficult. Finally, five minutes passed. The team remained still. After half a minute, they heard Yuanshi Tianzun say, "Start counting off." "1, 2, ... 13, 14." This round, no one died.
The Lawful faction's Way of the Extraordinary members are divided into three teams, each heading to a mountain road.
The team led by Zhao Chenghuang, with 23 members, was silently walking through the dark forest.
The paths under their feet are intricate and crisscross. Going wrong at any fork in the road would trap this team, composed of official members and independent cultivators, to death in the maze forest. The method they used was the same as Zhang Yuanqing's team. Each person remembers a part of the route, and twenty-three brains jointly memorize the maze route. And because of the advantage in numbers, some people remember duplicate routes, which can well prevent the route from being missing due to someone's accidental death.
The messy footsteps echoed in the quiet forest. The layers of canopy occasionally made a "rustling" sound due to the night wind. It became even more quiet and eerie.
Several Fire Masters held up "torches", selflessly contributing and bringing light to everyone. As they walked, Sun Miaomiao frowned and said in a low voice, "The Yin energy nearby is getting heavier."
Zhao Chenghuang "hmm" a sound, "It seems that there are other dangers in the maze. If it is a Wraith, it is simple." There are eight Night Watchers here. Even a Wraith in the Sage Realm can be made to lose its soul.
Just as Sun Miaomiao was about to speak, she suddenly saw a black shadow hanging on the treetops in front of her.
Looking intently, it was a hanging corpse, wearing a gray climbing suit, hanging straight in the air, having been dead for a long time. The corpse's face was covered with corpse spots, its flesh was gray-green, its eyes were closed, and it looked extremely terrifying. "Eh, there seems to be a corpse there."
The Lawful faction members behind, using the light of the torches, saw the hanged ghost hanging in the air. "It seems to be a climber. Uh, I saw a climber on the outer layer. I didn't expect there to be one in the maze too." "Be careful, the climbers are not from our Mountain God camp." Everyone cautiously and slowly approached.
Suddenly, the corpse hanging on the treetops opened its eyes. A pair of scarlet eyes, with twisted and strange runes printed in the pupils.
Sun Miaomiao only felt a "boom" in her brain, as if she had been hit on the head with a stick, losing all consciousness. The next moment, her scattered pupils regained their light, breaking free from the dizziness. At a critical moment, she transferred all the negative effects to her spiritual servant.
Is it the bewitching eye? Was this corpse affected by the power of the evil cultivator? As Sun Miaomiao's thoughts turned, she heard heavy breathing coming from beside her and behind her. Her heart trembled, and she looked back.
She saw the Lawful faction members behind her, each with twisted expressions and heavy breathing, their scarlet eyes flashing with the desire to kill. And beside her, apart from the Maoshan Taoist, Yuan Ting and Zhao Chenghuang, who had completed the ultimate operation (letting the spiritual servant take the blame), the other Night Watchers had all been tricked. "These guys have been bewitched."
"Sword Coming"
Guo Hezu walked over with a solemn expression. Apart from Sun Miaomiao and the other three, he was the only one who was awake.
As Little Qingyang, no one can launch a sneak attack under his nose, who is an expert in Insight, not even a corpse. "What should we do?" The Maoshan Taoist said.
Zhao Chenghuang's expression was stern, "Try to control them and try not to kill them." "With just the five of us?" The Maoshan Taoist glared at him. Zhao Chenghuang glanced at him, "You have no choice." "Hmm." Fourteen people.
After hearing the count, the team members almost didn't react.
They had been mentally prepared for the sacrifice of their colleagues, but they didn't expect it to be a calm "Silent Night?" An excited mood spread through the crowd, the heavy mood receded, and joy was back on their faces.
"No, no one died... This time no one died."
A smooth sailing
Peony Fairy personally counted the number of people, confirming that there were fourteen people, and confirming that everyone was still alive. Asano Ryo also counted it again.
The island country JK and the young woman Peony had faces full of surprise, "How did you know that standing still would prevent you from being attacked?" Guan Ya and Tianxia Guihuo were thoughtful.
The official members all looked at Yuanshi Tianzun, with expectations in their eyes.
Yuanshi Tianzun must have conquered the fog crisis. In this case, no one will have to die anymore.
ps: The wrong words will be corrected later. Happy birthday to President Cai, and may your business prosper.