Chapter 141: The Despair of Zhang Ya

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“Even if we can’t hold it back, we still have to…”

Just as Chu Ping was about to say that they had to defend themselves even if they could not hold the darkness at bay, he suddenly realized, to his astonishment…

The courtyard had vanished.

The buildings within it had vanished as well.

All around them…

There was nothing left but boundless black mist.

“Is it too late?” Zhang Ya clenched the torch in her hand so tightly that even her knuckles had gone faintly white.

They had still underestimated the terror of night in the Misty World!

“I dragged you into this.” Chu Ping lowered his head, filled with guilt.

But in truth…

This was not entirely Chu Ping’s fault.

His extraordinary loyalty had affected his thoughts. At this moment, his mind held only the desire to wait for the Lord’s return and protect him. He would recognize his own existence only when he himself was in danger.

“Now is not the time to talk about that.” Zhang Ya interrupted him. “Try to stay as close to me as possible. I’m afraid the light from this torch may barely be enough to protect the two of us…”

“Ah!”

Before Zhang Ya could finish speaking, Chu Ping let out a scream.

By the time Zhang Ya turned around, Chu Ping had already disappeared. Only a shadow was rapidly retreating into the distance, accompanied by the fading sound of his screams.

“Chu Ping!”

Zhang Ya shouted.

But Chu Ping’s voice had vanished completely, leaving only endless dense fog surrounding her.

If she had not still been able to reach out and touch the doorframe, she might even have suspected that she, too, had become lost in this boundless black mist, just like Chu Ping.

“Calm down! I have to calm down!”

Zhang Ya gripped the doorframe with all her strength and raised the torch high, trying to determine whether she was standing inside or outside the doorway.

She desperately wanted to rescue Chu Ping, but she knew that if she rushed recklessly into the mist now, she would not only fail to save him—she would probably be seized as well.

So…

After gradually calming herself, Zhang Ya decided to return to the house first.

Then she would bring out enough firewood and torches, light a massive bonfire in the courtyard, and slowly extend the fire outward. It might take a little longer this way…

But it would be safer.

And with such a great blaze, both Chu Ping and the Lord would be able to see it from far away!

As long as they were not trapped, they would be able to find their way home!

“All right. That’s what I’ll do!”

Zhang Ya’s plan sounded perfect.

But ideals were always plump, while reality was painfully thin.

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After spending a long while orienting herself, Zhang Ya raised the torch and walked toward what she believed was the stone house. It never occurred to her that the direction she was taking had already been altered by an illusion.

She was not heading toward the stone house at all.

She was walking out of the courtyard and into the mist!

The farther she went, the thicker the mist became.

“Something’s wrong!”

After walking for several minutes, Zhang Ya’s expression grew increasingly grim. “The courtyard isn’t that large. I should have reached the house by now. Why am I still in the mist?”

“Could it be…”

The moment Zhang Ya thought of a certain possibility, her heart began pounding violently.

And just then…

A voice called out beside her ear.

“Zhang Ya!”

It was Chu Ping’s voice. “Where are you? It’s so dark here!”

“Chu Ping?”

Zhang Ya’s eyes lit up, thinking that Chu Ping had seen the light of her torch.

But she quickly realized that something was wrong.

No. If Chu Ping had seen her, he would have hurried toward her instead of asking where she was.

He knew that she was standing by the courtyard gate!

That meant…

This voice belonged to some entity within the mist!

Zhang Ya sucked in a sharp breath.

A chill immediately rose from her spine, raising gooseflesh across her back.

Fog surrounded her on every side. The torch illuminated no more than three feet ahead; beyond that lay thick black mist. Even stirring it with her hand, she could feel its viscous, flowing horror.

And when Zhang Ya stretched her hand beyond the torchlight…

She could actually feel something within the mist tugging at her.

The farther she reached, the stronger the pull became.

She even had the premonition that the instant the torch in her hand went out, the entity within the black mist would drag her inside, where she would never be reborn.

Zhang Ya glanced up at the torch. She had made it casually in order to rescue Chu Ping—a crude beginner’s torch.

She had simply picked up a dead branch from the bonfire and rolled it through a bowl of black resin that had been sitting beside the fire.

It was the simplest kind of torch, but also the least durable.

The thin, withered branch had only a careless coating of resin. It would be fortunate if it burned for fifteen minutes.

Watching the flames gradually dim, Zhang Ya knew that this resin would never last the full fifteen minutes. It might not even make it to ten.

If she could not find the way home before the light went out…

What awaited her went without saying.

“I’m done for!”

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Zhang Ya groped through the darkness, but as the torchlight slowly vanished, she still found nothing.

Even after retreating in the direction from which she had come and walking for several more minutes, she still found nothing—not a single thing to touch.

It was as though she had fallen into an enormous mud pit. No matter how hard she tried, she could not find a way out.

There was no way out at all.

“Ah…”

The torchlight shifted from orange-red to blue-orange, then dwindled into a tiny blue point. Zhang Ya watched as the flame shrank little by little, then little by little more, until it disappeared completely.

Her hope seemed to vanish with it.

Zhang Ya sighed. “Am I destined to die here today?”

“I thought following a strong person would let me survive a little longer in this place.”

“I really was too careless.”

Boom.

At the instant the torch went out completely, Zhang Ya suddenly felt a hand pat her shoulder.

Every hair on her body stood on end.

Although…

She had already prepared herself for this moment, her body’s instincts still compelled her to let out a scream.

“Ah—”

But the moment the cry escaped her lips, another hand clamped over her mouth.

The hand was cold and rough, carrying a strong smell of damp earth.

“Crunch!”

Zhang Ya opened her mouth and bit down.

Yet it felt as though she had bitten into stone. Her teeth nearly cracked from the impact, and pain brought tears to her eyes.

I’m finished!

The torch had gone out, and she had been seized by a monster within the mist!

At that moment, Zhang Ya fell into complete despair.

And yet, the thought that appeared in her mind was strangely this…

Was Chu Ping unable to answer her because his mouth had been covered?

Then…

Had the Lord also been captured by the monster in the black mist?

Would the Lord be as frightened as she was when he was taken?

All sorts of strange thoughts flickered through Zhang Ya’s mind in rapid succession.

People said that, before death, one saw all kinds of chaotic and nonsensical things.

It seemed she really was about to die.

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