The dense surrounding mist crept into his nostrils, with no adverse reaction as if poisoned, nor was it suffocating like smoke. It was like the light mist of the morning, simply existing there, imbuing the air with moisture.
But the terrifying part was that the man couldn't even sense the moisture.
His face ashen white, he followed Tang Sui slowly, the severe pain in his abdomen and the continuously flowing blood making him paler with each step, his pupils beginning to dilate.
Tang Sui estimated the distance and general direction, stopping outside a blue sedan with its doors wide open.
In front of the wide-open driver's side door was a man who had met a gruesome end.
Though it was unknown how much time had passed in the dense fog, the man's bruised and swollen corpse already emitted the stench of decay. The bloody hole on the side of his neck no longer spurted fresh blood, but had turned a murky black, as if infested with countless tiny black particles clinging to the flesh, draining every last bit of value from this dead shell.
This man was the middle-aged man who, as the dense fog descended, had squeezed through the crowd from the convenience store, attempting to reach his car, only to lose his life.
An overwhelming stench, nauseating even to the gendarmes, assailed the nostrils. It was as if the middle-aged man had been dead for a long time; not to mention the corpse spots on his body, just looking at it made the gendarme feel waves of nausea, his vision blurring even further.
Tang Sui crouched down, carefully examining the fatal wounds on the horribly deceased corpse.
It looked like a conical, sharp object had deeply pierced the man's flesh, creating a row of bloody holes, and then he had lost his life to the potent poison accompanying the weapon.
And that circle of tiny black particles, it resembled...
"Ugh—"
The gendarme couldn't help but retch to the side, but nothing came out.
As he bent over, the wound in his abdomen tore open, intensifying the pain and nearly causing him to lose his balance.
"At your limit?" Tang Sui glanced at the gendarme, in a critical state and looking like he might kick the bucket at any moment. She reached out and took the car keys that the middle-aged man had been clutching tightly with his fingers even in death. Simultaneously, a deep purple halo of light appeared beneath her feet.
The outlines of four masks flickered in the dense white mist, but due to their similar colors, they would have been completely concealed within the fog if not for the golden or red patterns etched onto them.
"Second Soul Skill, Benevolent Face."
With the activation of a second soul skill, Tang Sui, who had never used this skill on ordinary people before, witnessed its effects firsthand.
The torn wound in the gendarme's abdomen visibly grew and healed. Apart from a tear in his clothes, stained with blood, there was no trace of any injury.
A healthy flush returned to his ashen face, a miracle akin to withered trees regaining life, manifesting upon the gendarme, leaving him in utter disbelief.
"My, my wound..."
The pain was gone. He numbly clutched his abdomen, where he had been stabbed earlier, his face filled with daze, thinking he might have been in the white fog for too long and was hallucinating.
So, he paused his action of touching his abdomen and raised his right hand, pinching the skin of his face.
"Hiss!"
The real pain told him that none of this was a dream.
The soul rings dissipated, and Tang Sui stood up, tossing a bottle of mineral water, which she had taken from the convenience store, to the gendarme.
The gendarme instinctively reached out to catch it. He looked at the bottle, which instantly became dirty after his hand, covered in sticky fresh blood, touched it, and then looked up at Tang Sui, bewildered.
"You, you are..."
He was somewhat speechless, even resorting to honorifics.
"Wash your hands. Prepare for the road ahead."
Tang Sui hooked the car key ring with her index finger, a look of distaste on her face. "Fresh blood will attract certain things. And besides, I don't want you fumbling all over the steering wheel with those bloody claws of yours while you're driving."
The gendarme: "..."
It sounded like something a pampered girl would say.
But hadn't this girl been well-behaved and sensible earlier?
Realizing that Tang Sui's personality might differ somewhat from the "angelic" persona he had imagined, the gendarme lowered his head, unscrewed the cap, poured out the cool mineral water, and rinsed the bloodstains from his hands.
The bottle of water was soon empty.
Tang Sui tossed the car keys to the gendarme and said:
"Drive. You should know where the wilderness survival gear shop in town is, right? Go see if you can restock on some ammunition, and then... tell me on the way how you were driven out."
As she spoke, Tang Sui walked to the outside of the passenger door, waiting for the gendarme to open it for her after starting the car.
The gendarme looked at the car keys in his hand, then at Tang Sui, who showed no fear of him running away. He thought of her miraculous powers and unknown combat strength, and silently stepped over the middle-aged man's tragic corpse, inheriting his legacy, taking on the role of driver and guide.
The blue sedan started, drove into the dense fog, carefully avoiding the haphazardly parked vehicles, and finally exited the parking lot to enter the main road.
"What do you want to know?"
Having finally departed the area he considered dangerous, the gendarme, while paying attention to the road ahead, cautiously glanced at Tang Sui's profile.
Tang Sui thought for a moment and said, "Start from when I left."
The gendarme nodded, then began to recount, "I... my name is Billy. I am the lowest rank, a private, in the gendarmerie... After you left the convenience store, the lady who had requested our help in vain also left, but it seems you didn't encounter her?"
Otherwise, she wouldn't still be lingering outside instead of returning to the inn.
Tang Sui hummed in affirmation. "This fog is a bit strange. The longer you stay in it, not only does your sense of direction get lost, but the passage of time also becomes blurred."
She generously shared the information she knew with Billy.
Billy understood, recognizing this as a friendly gesture from Tang Sui. He continued, recounting how after Tang Sui left, a swarm of large insects, resembling a cross between locusts and hornets, attacked them at night, along with other unidentified flying creatures that preyed on these large insects. Initially, everyone was curious and shone their flashlights to examine them. However, upon discovering that these strange creatures began to attack them, panic ensued, and a fierce battle broke out.
Tang Sui paused for a second, then turned to look at Billy with a peculiar expression. "Didn't you guys ever hear that insects and other animals that come out at night are more or less attracted to light?" Sudan Novel Network
Billy pursed his lips. His face, stained with blood, should have been terrifying, but Tang Sui somehow saw a hint of wrongedness and shyness. While he was rather good-looking, it was still quite... a jarring sight.
"I... I only went to junior high, but I didn't finish before I enlisted..."
Billy, with his delicate features, stammered. Tang Sui's expression shifted for a moment.
Understood. So he was a rebellious one.
Couldn't tell from your appearance, you big-browed, fair-skinned fellow, that you used to be the type of mischievous kid who didn't listen to teachers.
Feeling Tang Sui's gaze, Billy immediately averted his eyes and awkwardly changed the subject, continuing to narrate what happened next.