Chapter Nine: Liu Hu

Feeling the surge of strength coursing through his body, Cui Xiu stood up at once, sword in hand, and looked around in every direction.

Though he had never truly let his guard down in this place, his weakened body had dulled his senses, dragging down his spirits as well, and there were inevitably things he might have missed. Now that he was restored in body and mind, a newfound calm settled over him.

He scanned his surroundings; nothing had changed. Apart from the drifting fog, the world within his sight remained deathly still.

He did not hurry away. First, he carefully gathered the human bones that had aided him so greatly and stowed them in his bundle. After absorbing the gray mist from these bones, their color had faded to a yellowish hue, tinged with black, looking as though they were on the verge of decay.

It was not hard for Cui Xiu to deduce that the gray mist within the bones was why they had not decayed until now.

As he considered the bones, a sudden flash of insight darted through his mind, yet it slipped away before he could grasp it—he had forgotten something crucial. The feeling was deeply unsettling, and he could not help but furrow his brow.

What was it? That fleeting inspiration must have had something to do with the bones.

Human bones. Gray mist. The strange power of the fog?

No, that wasn't it!

What was it, then? Frustrated, Cui Xiu instinctively looked back along the path where he had gathered the bones…

Wait! The path!

In that instant, Cui Xiu remembered.

The bones he had collected were not all found in one spot, but rather along the route he had traveled, forming a line.

He even suspected that if he kept going, he might find more bones like these.

At this realization, Cui Xiu felt an impulse to press onward and continue exploring. Even setting aside the possibility that the bones might hold the secret to escaping, the gray mist alone was enough to captivate his attention.

Yet, with his mind now clear, he resisted the urge to act rashly. He tightened his bundle on his back and instead retraced his steps along the path he had come.

...

“So it’s all just tricks, and you dare mess with me, Liu Hu? Hah!” ‘Brother Tiger’—that is, Liu Hu—relaxed his expression and let out a cold chuckle as the ‘person’ before him dissolved with a single swing of his blade.

When he’d first seen the crowd of ‘people’ emerge from the mist, he’d felt a flicker of worry and hesitation, but after that one strike, every shred of fear had turned to savagery.

“All of you, die!”

With a sweep of his body, Liu Hu’s long blade whistled through the air, and with the force behind it, he could dispel a ‘shadow’ with the slightest contact.

The frustration that had plagued him since entering this place was swept away with each ‘kill,’ replaced by a rush of exhilaration.

But what Liu Hu did not see was that every time he ‘killed’ a ‘shadow,’ a faint wisp of gray mist seeped into his body. The more he ‘killed,’ the more intense the invading mist became.

In the end, a dusky hue crept over Liu Hu’s skin, and his eyes grew ever more wildly red…

…

Cui Xiu, of course, was unaware of Liu Hu’s situation. With the passage of time, the sense of urgency brought by ‘Brother Tiger’ had largely dissipated.

After all, in this place, he had no way out for the time being, and it would not be easy for the other man to find him either.

Moreover, his basic swordsmanship had improved, his strength restored and even further enhanced.

He doubted that ‘Brother Tiger’ would be so lucky as to gain a power like his own.

As the saying goes, when one rises, the other falls.

Now that his strength was at its peak and his skills improved, Cui Xiu felt confident that, even if his opponent had some uncommon ability, he would not be easily defeated by someone exhausted from a long pursuit.

With this in mind, though he remained vigilant, he was no longer so preoccupied with the threat.

Instead, most of his thoughts were consumed by the search for an escape.

“It’s a pity,” Cui Xiu mused, “that when I left this place before, I didn’t pay more attention to my surroundings. After what happened last night, I just rode away as fast as I could. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be so lost now.”

He regretted that, after spending a night here at the old woman’s invitation, he’d been too shaken to observe the environment carefully, and couldn’t even remember the road he’d taken out. It was unfortunate.

Still, he vaguely suspected that his successful departure might have had something to do with that old woman and her family.

Of course, it was also possible that the old horse he’d ridden was somehow immune to the effects of the mist.

After all, as the saying goes, an old horse knows the way.

But he had no way to test these theories now. He could neither reach the old woman’s family nor did he trust them. And his old horse he’d been forced to give away after the events at Liu Village.

Shaking his head to dispel his wandering thoughts, Cui Xiu reminded himself that finding a way out was what mattered most.

It had been some time since he used the source energy to elevate his swordsmanship. Following the path he’d taken before, he retraced his steps with little trouble, and the mist seemed to hinder him less than expected, for reasons unknown.

When he reached the spot where he’d found the child’s skull, Cui Xiu pondered the patterns he might discover.

He had made a point of memorizing his route, hoping to discern a pattern and perhaps find a way out.

And indeed, though he could not be entirely certain, he did notice a connection.

The path between these bones seemed to form an arc, like part of a circle—irregular, but clear enough in his mind.

He even used his knowledge of geometry to sketch out the whole circle in his imagination.

It was a feat few locals could have managed; they would have had to guess, unable to map it so precisely.

Gazing at the imperfect circle, Cui Xiu felt his deduction might well be right.

Perhaps the entire mist-shrouded forest was one vast circle.

If so, then the way out must lie beyond its edge.

With that thought, Cui Xiu’s mind stirred. He pointed his sword at the center of the circle.

If his reasoning was correct, then by drawing a straight line from the center of the circle through his current position and continuing outward, he ought to find the exit.

The prospect filled him with hope. It was not a certainty, but at least it was something to try.

Even the slimmest chance was worth seizing, wasn’t it?