Chapter 279 Asahi's "Return" 1

A thin white mist appeared around us, just like morning fog. However, it was neither morning nor high enough for the mountainside of Moonlit Mountain to be high enough to enter the clouds. The "fireflies," who had been searching for this place for a long time, had not noticed any signs of fog in advance.

The strange clues that had been impossible to find before suddenly appeared in sight without warning.

While I have faith in Asahisa's power to attract calamities, this time there's no time limit, and we'll be back tomorrow. I knew that as long as Asahisa was there, even tonight we should be able to gain something, but the results were so immediate; even being prepared, it's hard not to feel a sense of awe. This scene is almost as if Asahisa, while unable to banish strange things at will, can summon them at will.

However, the main entity doesn't seem to intend to appear before us immediately. This white mist is probably not the source of the anomaly in Moonshadow Mountain, but rather a manifestation of its power, a phenomenon that has spread outwards.

Is it possible that the source has already noticed us, and the white mist is a card they played to test our hand? Or have we simply been unwittingly drawn into this situation?

What is the other party's true form? Could it be the Silver Moon hiding in the shadows? Or is it some other monster with its own consciousness and intelligence, or some kind of unclassifiable anomaly dwelling in Moon Hidden Mountain?

While harboring suspicions, I observed the white mist closely and quickly analyzed it. The feeling this white mist gave me was the same as the strange, hidden entity I had sensed before climbing the mountain. Although it might not be the core of that entity, it wasn't something new that had just appeared. In other words, this white mist had already existed long before Asahi and I climbed the mountain. It had simply moved around us unnoticed and then sealed us off.

If that's the case, why didn't I discover my "fireflies" before?

It's highly likely that "Firefly" has been deceived. This isn't the first time this has happened; when Lu Youxun attempted to kidnap Ma Zao, his demon hunters intervened with "Firefly" using illusion magic. Ultimately, "Firefly" is merely a tiny fragment of my consciousness. Overcoming this weakness is simple: I just need to infuse "Firefly" with more flame. The more flame I infuse, the stronger its resistance to mental magic.

Actually, I've been using this method for a while now. The "fireflies" I placed near the Zhu family, as well as the "fireflies" I usually keep next to Mazao, are all enhanced. I'm confident that even a fully-fledged demon hunter wouldn't be immediately bewitched, let alone a fully-fledged or intermediate-level demon hunter.

The "fireflies" responsible for investigating the Moon Hidden Mountain area are also of this enhanced type. Their initial purpose was not to combat the possible illusions, but to prevent them from being destroyed before they could report back to me when they encountered danger on the road.

Even this type of "firefly" has an irreparable weakness: structurally, the "firefly" is ultimately just my tentacles. No matter how strong its mental resistance, it cannot compare to my main body, which is the center of my consciousness. That being said, the fact that the "fireflies" here can be deceived on a mental level is enough to show that the deceptive ability of this mist exceeds that of ordinary Great Completion level cultivators.

As Mr. Zhu once said, Silver Moon's understanding of illusion magic rivals that of the historically renowned illusion master, Great Impermanence...

My suspicion of Yin Yue rose sharply.

However, the Lord of the Divine Seal also emphasized that I could only find Chang'an's soul at Moonshadow Mountain tomorrow. That means that Silver Moon should not be at Moonshadow Mountain right now. So what's with this white mist? Could it be that although Silver Moon is here, she hasn't kept Chang'an's soul with her? Or is she currently in a state where she is at Moonshadow Mountain, but I can't find her no matter what?

Ma Zao was also silently observing the white mist. After a moment, she said, "This mist doesn't seem to be poisonous, nor does it pose any direct danger... Zhuang Cheng, what's the next step?"

Since I'm not alone now, I want to test the waters first to find a way out.

I first tried to sense the "fireflies" outside Moonshadow Mountain—just in case, I left a few "fireflies" in the inn before going up the mountain for any eventuality.

Right now, I can no longer sense the exact location of those "fireflies." It's not that the "fireflies" have been eliminated; I'm certain they're still there, just unable to connect. It seems this white mist not only makes me invisible to the "fireflies," but it can also sever the invisible "channel" between me and them.

This severing force is even greater than the barrier between the independent reality space and the real world. It's not that the white mist is stronger than the latter, but the latter isn't very effective for those who also possess fragments of the divine seal, while I don't enjoy the same convenience here with the white mist. Although I don't intend to leave this place alone, the flame transfer is definitely useless now.

"Ma Zao, can you use spatial teleportation to get out of here? Let's try it first," I said.

Upon hearing this, Ma Zao immediately emitted a surge of magical power, causing the space around her to briefly blur and distort.

Then, the space returned to calm, but she remained standing in the same spot.

“…I can’t do it.” She was taken aback.

"Is this situation rare?" I asked.

"Although my power of return is not specifically designed for spatial teleportation, even when the Great Demon of Calamity forcibly locked onto me with its fire magic, it couldn't directly stop my spatial teleportation..."

Despite giving such an example, the reason why the Great Demon of Calamity was unable to stop her back then might also be due to the fact that Xiao Wan used the power of prayer enhanced by the fragments of the Divine Seal to strengthen her power of return.

"Then let's try going back the way we came and see if we can get out of this fog." I wanted to study the properties of the white fog.

She nodded, still somewhat resigned, and then we moved back the way we came.

My memory is incredibly sharp now; I remember exactly which route I took. Once I've walked a path, there's absolutely no possibility of getting lost again. However, this is just a judgment based on common sense. When faced with a strange phenomenon, the first thing to discard is common sense. In reality, I eventually had to admit that I was indeed lost.

This result is quite in line with my expectations. Even fire teleportation and spatial transfer are blocked, so it would be truly surprising if we could leave the fog's area through normal physical movement.

This experience of being lost in the fog reminded me of my time in the Virtual Realm. Only in the Virtual Realm, the fog was gray and thick. Only in the rock seating area would the fog thin slightly, allowing us to see the figures of everyone in the seats. Here, the fog is thin, and with the firelight I provided, we could easily see scenes thirty or forty meters away.

As much as I can imagine, I don't believe in the slightest that there's any real connection between the white mist here and the gray fog of the illusory realm. Even if both possess the property of causing disorientation, it won't change my judgment.

Because in the traditional culture of any country, "fog" symbolizes "being lost." In any folk tale or supernatural story, once a place is shrouded in fog, it is impossible to simply escape from it.

Sure enough, after walking for quite a while, we still hadn't escaped the white mist. The reason wasn't that the area shrouded in the mist had become much larger. I was clearly moving along the route I'd come from, yet the scenery ahead seemed unfamiliar. Either I'd unknowingly strayed from the path, or the terrain had been subtly altered.

Regardless of the possibility, it's enough to show that this white mist can even affect my consciousness to some extent. The last time my consciousness was invaded by someone—by a strange entity—using illusion magic was when I was fighting Silver Moon.

If I were to travel through time now and fight Silvermoon again, I'm confident I wouldn't fall into her illusions again. But to say I'd be completely unaffected by her illusions would be an overstatement.

"We can't get out by walking," I concluded. "We'll have to explore further first. Is that alright, Ma Zao?"

"No problem..." Mazao seemed to still be hesitating.

Are you still bothered by the fact that you can't transfer your money out?

Perhaps she saw herself as a last resort, thinking that if any strange entities appeared that neither of us could handle, she could use her power of return to escape with me. This was definitely not an overestimation of her abilities. Last time, it was she who seized the opportunity to escape the apocalyptic dream with me, allowing us to luckily avoid an premature confrontation with the murky forces of fate. Her survival skills are unparalleled.

“Although I do mind it a little, it’s not because of that right now,” she said.

"Is that because?" I asked.

She said uncertainly, "I think... I think I know how to get out of here?"

"You know?" I asked, puzzled.

"Can I lead the way?" she asked.

I was sure she wasn't just saying it casually, so I slowed my pace. She walked ahead of me. I followed closely behind, and she would occasionally glance back at me to make sure I hadn't lost her.

Can we really leave so easily? I feel like this is the beginning of a horror movie plot, just entering the stage of "discovering that I can't escape the story's setting." If we could really come and go as we pleased, wouldn't the tone of a horror movie be completely ruined?

But as I walked, I noticed that the fog around me was getting thinner and thinner.

Finally, the white mist completely disappeared.

(End of this chapter)