NOVPUB57: Chapter 57: Black Mist (Please Favorite, Follow, and Vote)
57: Chapter 57: Black Mist (Please Favorite, Follow, and Vote)
The creature hovering behind Liu Nan at this moment was none other than the first mammal specimen they had seen—a black cat.
The black cat was now leaping towards Liu Nan, pawing along the uneven wall.
When it saw He Ao, it violently arched its back, attempting to spring to the side.
At the same time, a bull, its body flushed red, also charged at He Ao.
He Ao did not take out the bull directly.
If he had finished the fight quickly, the black cat would not have been easily lured out.
But after such a long battle, He Ao had already constructed a complete combat model of the bull in his mind, so he was actually leading the entire fight.
During the combat, he always maintained the right distance, misled the bull into missing its attack, and broke away from the combat to appear behind Liu Nan the moment the black cat emerged.
However, this opportunity was extremely brief; the bull, having missed its target, quickly recovered and charged at He Ao once more.
If He Ao were to be tied down by the bull, the black cat would have had the chance to escape completely.
In response, He Ao reached out and grabbed the black cat.
As the bull’s fist was about to crash down on him, he immediately turned and delivered a punch straight to the bull’s face.
The bull stiffened and fell straight down.
The principle behind knocking out by striking the face is similar to hitting the jaw but is more painful and requires more force, often leading to a broken nasal bridge.
The bull wasn’t dead.
The feeling He Ao had while fighting it was consistent with when the bull went berserk as they entered the door, very different from those of the other specimens.
Therefore, He Ao believed that it must have been under some kind of psychic control by the entity in the house, but unlike the other specimens, its body wasn’t controlled, so it lost its combat ability after being knocked out.
After dealing with the bull, He Ao turned his attention to the black cat that was still struggling in his grasp.
This black cat, too, was a specimen, lacking the aura of a living thing, but its struggling strength far exceeded what should be expected of a cat.
“You must be sentient, right?” He Ao looked at it.
“Let us out, and I’ll let you go.
We’ll call it even.”
The black cat stopped and glanced at He Ao, then at the room in disarray, and bared its teeth fiercely at He Ao.
Then it pushed off with its four legs, and a vague, shapeless, semi-transparent shadow slowly emerged from its body.
He Ao reached out to grab it, but his hand passed right through the shadow.
He was slightly taken aback.
What in the world was this thing, a ghost?
“He Ao, this fog…”
Suddenly, Liu Nan spoke from the side.
He Ao looked up only to find the thick fog throughout the courtyard stirring, gradually converging toward that phantom shadow.
Without hesitation, he grabbed Liu Nan and dashed to the side.
During this process, Liu Nan caught a glimpse of He Ao’s profile.
She had actually guessed that He Ao had used her as bait.
While she might be weak, she wasn’t foolish; He Ao, a person so meticulous and cautious, had suddenly left her out of his line of sight, which clearly indicated something was amiss.
She had figured out He Ao’s intention, but she didn’t raise any objections.
Instead, she obediently stood there, serving as bait.
If He Ao had been a moment later, she might have died right there.
She was, in fact, terrified inside, her heart pounding like a drum.
But He Ao arrived at the critical moment.
There was no strange reason for this; it was simply mutual trust between two people fighting side by side.
When she stood there motionless, He Ao also knew she had made the choice to serve as bait.
Liu Nan was smart.
Although weak, she was keenly aware of her own position and understood He Ao’s plan.
He Ao liked to work with smart people.
“What’s next?”
Liu Nan looked at He Ao.
As the two distanced themselves from the Phantom Shadow, the swirling fog around them fully entered the illusory figure, and a shapeless, distorted mass of pitch-black fog appeared before them, suspended in mid-air.
An intense sense of oppression spread from the fog, a feeling He Ao had never experienced from the youth or Zhang Ansha.
But he was familiar with this oppressive sensation, as Mu Xiu also exuded such a presence.
He Ao looked back; they had now reached the red gate.
The fog had dissipated.
He Ao kicked open the gate, and as it swung open, the scene outside the courtyard was revealed.
He turned off Super Memory, picked up a stone, and threw it with ease.
“You go out first.”
He Ao turned his head back towards the mass of pitch-black fog and casually handed the hunting shotgun he had just picked up to Liu Nan.
Although the weapon was useless, it could still intimidate.
Cracks slowly emerged from the pitch-black fog, like countless eyes staring at him.
“Can you beat it?”
“If I can’t beat it, should I just not fight?”
“…” Liu Nan opened her mouth, but she knew this wasn’t the time for argument.
Staying would only cause trouble for He Ao, so she took her taser from her sleeve and handed it to him, “This can only be used once, be careful.”
With that, she dashed out.
He Ao concentrated his gaze on the body of the black fog.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to run; it’s just that all of the entity’s malice seemed to be focused on him.
All of the ‘eyes’ were trained solely on him.
Liu Nan could run and escape, but if he ran, he would likely be chased relentlessly.
The black fog had an oppressive feel to it, but it wasn’t very strong, certainly much weaker than Mu Xiu.
He Ao guessed that it was also Level D, but just barely, and most of its abilities seemed to be mental.
Most importantly, this entity was non-human.
Killing people was against the law, but killing monsters was not.
Level D, worth a try.
He Ao slipped the taser Liu Nan had given him into his pocket, then took out his phone, peeled off the back cover, and prised out the battery, holding it in his palm.
Just then, a stone table nearby suddenly rose into the air and flew towards him.
An ability to move objects through the void?
He Ao glanced at the stone table, leaped up, stepped on it, and charged towards the black fog.
Super Memory, explode!
Countless details recombined in He Ao’s mind; this was his first time battling an opponent with an unconventional form.
The black fog did not dodge, instead, its myriad of ‘eyes’ curled up as if mocking He Ao.
He Ao’s fist smashed into the fog body, and then it passed straight through.
It seemed the fog did not possess a physical form.
The ‘eyes’ on the fog twisted more pronouncedly, the mockery intensifying.
It could control objects to attack He Ao, while He Ao could not hit it back—this was why it dared to reveal its true form and pursue He Ao.
It was at this moment that He Ao’s tightly clenched hand opened, revealing the battery inside.
A spark of electric fire flashed by, and the dense black fog suddenly contracted, revealing a slowly emerging dark sphere.
Shortly after, the black fog rapidly retreated, creating a distance between it and He Ao.
All of its ‘eyes’ were wide open in apparent disbelief.
Effective, but the power seems insufficient to control the black fog in one go.
He Ao glanced at the battery in his hand and then put it back in his pocket.
Finding the black fog’s weakness wasn’t difficult.
