Chapter 287: Chapter 285: Voice in the Mist
"It’s so noisy."
Mo Ling couldn’t imagine what the little person was feeling. He’d never experienced what it was like for an entire race to share a single body, but he could sense the helplessness in his voice.
The little person’s movements were jerky and intermittent, as if he were constantly being interrupted.
A short while later, he froze up again several times, remaining stiff and unresponsive for long periods.
"Are you all right?" Mo Ling asked with concern.
Hearing Mo Ling’s question, the little person was about to reply but abruptly froze again. Only after a moment did he manage to answer.
"They’re too noisy. They keep asking me questions," the little person said, sounding utterly helpless.
At this, Mo Ling began to understand the little person’s current predicament.
The Chali who were regaining consciousness would naturally ask the first person they saw what had happened.
And the little person was the first companion each of his clansmen met upon waking.
Therefore, he had to tirelessly answer every one of their questions.
Since their questions were all bound to be the same, the little person had to explain the whole story from start to finish over and over. It was no wonder he kept freezing up.
Having figured all this out, Mo Ling didn’t press the matter, letting the little person handle things on his end first.
After some time, the little person finally seemed to be back to normal.
"I told them to ask someone else. They were so annoying," the little person said, scratching his head in exasperation.
"Now for the final step. I need to find you a faster boat, so we can escape the mist’s pursuit."
The little person grew pensive, apparently pondering how to procure a boat for Mo Ling.
"There’s no need for that," Mo Ling interrupted.
And so, under the little person’s confused gaze, Mo Ling slowly began to float into the air.
"We can just fly out. We don’t need a boat."
At the sight, the little person’s confusion slowly turned to shock.
"The Square Race can fly?"
Mo Ling had never displayed his ability to fly before, so of course, the little person had no idea.
"This will be much faster! The mist will never be able to catch us," the little person said excitedly. "Just get me outside the mist’s range. We can handle things ourselves after that."
"Alright." Mo Ling agreed and flew out, away from the island.
The moment he took flight, Mo Ling felt the mist around him grow denser.
It was as if the mist was aware of the little person’s escape plan; it began to coil around Mo Ling.
Although Mo Ling himself was immune to the mist’s influence, the environmental changes still affected him. Shortly after leaving the coastline, his surroundings plunged into darkness, a blackness so profound it was unsettling.
"Can you still see?" the little person asked, worried.
"It’s fine."
Mo Ling didn’t really need to see, anyway. All he had to do was keep flying straight ahead, and he was sure to eventually get out.
...
The wind howled past him as the thick mist rushed by. Mo Ling had no idea how long he’d been flying, but the mist was so dense that he didn’t dare pick up too much speed.
The little person in Mo Ling’s hand had been silent for a long time. He didn’t seem to be doing well.
Mo Ling didn’t know what other tricks the mist had up its sleeve, but he was certain it couldn’t affect him.
However, things were not as simple as he had imagined.
As he flew, the howling wind around him suddenly died down, replaced by an unexplainable whimpering that began to circle nearby.
At first, Mo Ling mistook it for the wind, but the sound grew increasingly strange.
’It sounds like someone is crying.’
Once the thought took root, he couldn’t shake it.
Faint whimpers began to swirl within the mist, sounding like countless people weeping all around him.
Mo Ling’s heart sank.
’Can this mist actually affect me?’
The eerie scene reminded Mo Ling of what Bai Zhou had encountered during his first attempt to leave the island.
’This time, it’s not Bai Zhou leading the Chali Race away from the island, it’s me. Is it possible the mist can use that to affect me?’
Mo Ling once again began to question how the mist operated.
The sounds of weeping around him grew more distinct, but Mo Ling ignored them and continued flying forward.
Until a sob echoed directly in front of him.
At the same time, Mo Ling felt as if someone had just breathed on his face.
This time, he couldn’t remain calm. Startled, he stopped dead in his tracks.
His heart hammered in his chest, the sound unnervingly loud in the boundless mist.
Though he had stopped, Mo Ling forced himself to focus and reorient himself.
He reached out and grabbed at the space in front of him. It was empty. Just as he thought, there was nothing there.
After calming himself slightly, Mo Ling flew forward once more.
The strange sob sounded again, but having been startled once, Mo Ling was no longer affected. He charged straight ahead, paying it no mind.
When he once again felt a puff of air on his face, he ignored that as well.
He knew it wasn’t difficult for the mist to create such phenomena.
Moving air could create strange sounds, and it would be a simple matter for the mist to cause some localized atmospheric disturbances. Besides slightly delaying him, these physical phenomena were ultimately useless.
Sure enough, after repeating a few more times, the strange phenomena ceased.
Perhaps the mist, knowing such methods couldn’t affect Mo Ling, had given up.
’What else have you got?’
Mo Ling picked up his pace, letting the wind howl past him.
He powered through the thick mist, scattering it in his wake.
Whimpers, sobs... he treated them as nonexistent.
The moment he put it all out of his mind, Mo Ling felt his progress become incredibly smooth.
Though the path ahead seemed endless, Mo Ling knew that as long as he kept flying straight, he would eventually see sunlight.
Mo Ling relentlessly parted the thick mist, tossing it behind him.
But just then, another unexpected event occurred.
"They cannot leave. Please, stay."
A faint, pleading voice drifted from within the mist.
A little girl materialized in the mist ahead—it was the very one who always used to follow Bai Zhou.
Without a second glance, Mo Ling charged right through her, scattering the misty illusion.
However, the little girl appeared before him again.
"You can’t leave..."
Before she could finish, Mo Ling charged through her once more, dispersing the image.
"And why can’t they leave?" Mo Ling shouted into the mist.
The little girl appeared again, this time keeping her distance from Mo Ling.
"They will release immortality into the world. When that happens, the entire Abyss will be overrun with it. When immortality becomes commonplace, eternal death will follow. Everything will fall into stillness—an eternal stillness."
The little girl’s voice was ephemeral, seeming to come from all directions at once.
’It actually managed to come up with a reason?’
Mo Ling was surprised. ’Does the mist really have its own consciousness?’
’Is this little girl not just an illusion?’
Though bewildered, Mo Ling didn’t stop. He charged toward the little girl once more without hesitation.
"I don’t understand!"
"I don’t know anything about immortality!"
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