The streets were silent, with faint lights falling from the sky. The entire Fog City was tinged with gray, with occasional glimmers of light, as if wild beasts were lurking in the darkness.
Zhang Shi and the others remained silent. Ever since the unusual activity on the street, everyone had tacitly kept quiet until they heard Zhao Feng's breathing beside them. Zhang Shi turned his head and looked over; even the usually carefree Zhang Shi seemed quite nervous, his eyes constantly darting around.
Suddenly, a rustling sound came from behind them.
Zhao Feng reacted with the speed of a cheetah, slashing his axe towards the source of the sound. The giant axe fell with a whooshing sound, but was blocked by a wall of water.
Zhao Feng then realized that the voice came from Chen Beipan. He had somehow hidden at the back of the group, his hands tightly gripping a steel knife. He was clearly terrified by the commotion in the street, and his whole body was trembling like a leaf.
At that moment, Zhao Feng swung his axe at him without warning. He thought Zhang Shi and the others were going to kill him, and he was so frightened that he burst into tears.
The crying seemed to have attracted some unknown entity. Although everyone was standing still, footsteps could be heard nearby.
Footsteps echoed around the group, seemingly pacing nearby, but always maintaining an ambiguous distance.
Realizing danger was approaching, Ge Dalong kicked Chen Beipan and hissed in a low voice.
"Keep your voice down!"
Chen Beipan covered his mouth, trying his best not to make a sound, but his pale face still betrayed his fear.
"Stone……"
Zhao Feng wanted to say something, so he called out softly. The next moment, an echoing voice suddenly came from the middle of the group: "Stone..."
The group was startled; the sudden sound made their nerves nearly explode.
The continuous footsteps around them suddenly stopped.
Zhang Shi's eyes were serious. He gripped Lao Duan tightly, put his finger to his lips in a "shh" gesture, and frantically examined everything around him with his Focusing Power, but found nothing.
There are only two explanations for this situation: one is that they are trapped in an illusion, and everything in front of them is not real; the other is that the existence of the other party is beyond the range of their ability to recognize reality.
However, both situations were extremely dangerous for them. Zhang Shi knew that a stalemate here was not a solution, so he placed Lao Duan in front of him and carefully walked towards the street corner. Zhang Dazhuang followed closely behind, and the rest of the group followed slowly and tacitly, taking each step with great care, afraid of making too much noise.
At the end of the street, Zhang Shi suddenly stopped, and everyone else stopped as well, looking ahead in confusion. What they saw made everyone's scalp tingle.
A dark figure stood silently at the street corner, seemingly blending into the darkness. Only its eyes, gleaming in the shadows, revealed an indescribable aura. It was tall and slender, wearing a tattered cloak whose hem swayed gently in the wind, obscuring its face.
What is this?
Zhao Feng lowered his voice, his tone carrying an undisguised fear. The thing in front of him was clearly different from a spirit; the aura emanating from it was significantly more dangerous, and it was visibly like some kind of evil demon.
Zhang Shi did not answer; his attention was entirely focused on the dark figure. He slowly raised Lao Duan, the tip of the knife trembling slightly, not out of fear, but because he had concentrated all his strength, preparing to deal with any unexpected situation that might arise.
The shadowy figure seemed to sense Zhang Shi's hostility, slowly raising its head. Its eyes, as deep as an abyss, stared directly at everyone. A tense and oppressive atmosphere filled the air, making even breathing unusually heavy.
"So, shall we take action?"
Ge Dalong's voice trembled slightly. He sensed the threat posed by the shadowy figure, whose strength far surpassed that of the previous low-level monsters.
Zhang Shi nodded, his eyes resolute.
Then, Zhang Shi took a deep breath, gestured to the others, and prepared to take a step. Just then, the dark figure suddenly moved, moving so fast that it almost became a black shadow, rushing straight at Zhang Shi.
Zhang Shi reacted quickly. With a wave of his hand, Lao Duan unleashed a sword light as swift as a dragon, and a dark sword aura slashed out, colliding with the black shadow in mid-air.
However, what was shocking was that the shadowy figure seemed to have no physical form; as the blade flashed, it left only a faint afterimage.
"Is it a spirit? Or some kind of special ability user?"
Zhang Shi pondered to himself, while instead of retreating, he advanced and swung his sword again, trying to force his opponent back and buy time for himself and his teammates.
Seeing this, Wu Qing and Ge Dalong no longer hesitated, taking out their weapons and forming a defensive formation around Zhang Shi, preparing to fight against this unknown enemy together. Zhao Feng had already circled around to the side, charging towards the dark figure with his battle axe, but the figure reacted quickly and leaped onto the roof of a building on the side of the street.
Zhang Shi used the Shadow Step to appear behind the shadowy figure in an instant, but the shadowy figure seemed to be able to sense Zhang Shi's movements and once again dodged Lao Duan's blade.
The battle unfolded on the narrow streets, each clash accompanied by the sound of air being torn apart, but the dark figure always managed to evade a fatal blow at the crucial moment, as if toying with them.
"This can't go on, we have to find its weakness!" Zhang Shi shouted as he fought, his forehead already beaded with sweat.
At the same time, the eerie footsteps reappeared around them. Ge Dalong reacted immediately, unleashing a blizzard in the middle of the street. Countless ice spikes rained down, and within the area covered, a series of mournful cries echoed, clearly indicating that something had been hit.
A moment later, a deafening roar came from beneath everyone's feet, and the ground deformed again. This time, the entire street trembled violently, and the ground undulated continuously.
This time, the disturbance was directed at Zhang Shi and the others. Except for Zhang Shi and the mysterious black figure who were standing on the roof, everyone else's legs were stuck in the ground. The originally solid ground suddenly became like the silt of the Yellow River beach, and no matter how hard they tried, they couldn't pull themselves out.
The group tried to attack the ground, but whether it was weapons or magical energy, it was like throwing mud into the sea. The entire earth was like a puddle of mud, and even if it was broken, it could quickly heal. The situation did not improve at all.
On the other side, the dark figure stared intently at Zhang Shi, dodging most of Zhang Shi's attacks as it moved nimbly. After several rounds, Zhang Shi hadn't managed to touch a single hair on its head. But what was puzzling was that the dark figure didn't attack either, it just dodged, as if it was toying with Zhang Shi.
"Stone, help me!"
Zhao Feng's calves had already sunk into the ground. Wu Qing, standing beside him, placed the Ancestral Staff between her legs and pressed her entire body against it, trying to pull her legs out. However, no matter how hard she tried, she only sank deeper and deeper.
Even worse, the faint footsteps seemed unaffected, the clattering sounds growing ever closer. The group could only frantically unleash their skills in the general direction to slow the enemy down.
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