Volume One, Chapter Ninety-Five: The Mist.

Inside the vehicle, Jiang Chen was still brooding in silence, while Luo Ying wore an expression of utter indifference. She rather liked this model of car; after all, until now there had never been a vehicle whose power rivaled a sports car, whose off-road ability rivaled a rugged all-terrain machine, and whose capacity rivaled a tank. This Wuling had fulfilled every one of her wishes.

The two chatted idly for a while. After some time, Luo Ying noticed something was wrong.

“Don’t you think... it’s starting to get foggy?” she asked, studying the thickening mist with some unease.

Soon, Jiang Chen also sensed it.

“This fog is wrong.”

Although Qingcheng’s air was only average in cleanliness, fog like this was not common throughout the year, and this mist was growing denser by the second; it did not seem at all like something caused by ordinary weather.

“Pull over,” Jiang Chen said.

With a screech, Luo Ying reacted quickly and braked at the roadside.

The two got out. Jiang Chen looked up at the sky, his expression inscrutable.

“Call your relatives and friends. Anyone in Qingcheng should stay home and not come out. Remember, absolutely do not come out.”

As soon as he finished speaking, he took out his phone and began calling people one by one.

All of them answered except Su Yike.

Watching the mist grow heavier and heavier, Jiang Chen said, “No matter what happens later, stay close to me. I can keep you safe.”

This was the first time he had ever encountered such a thing. His first suspicion had actually fallen on certain demonic cultivators, but a demonic cultivator capable of causing such a commotion would never dare openly oppose the state in Qingcheng. It had to be something else.

Standing atop the Ning Group building, Ning Rou had just hung up the phone. By now, the mist had completely shrouded the skies over Qingcheng, sealing off both heaven and earth from the world beyond.

“Another great upheaval,” Ning Rou murmured. All she could do now was pray that Jiang Chen would be all right, for the place he had gone was not far from where the mist had begun to spread.

At the same time, Li Changsheng, who had been eating skewers nearby, was still puzzled by why everything around him had suddenly become so strange.

The cats and dogs that had been waiting for leftovers were now standing upright on two legs, hopping wildly about the street. The street vendor grilling skewers had also stopped working and was dancing with his arms and legs flailing, while muttering something no one could understand.

Sensing that something was terribly wrong, Li Changsheng immediately stood up and rushed straight into Lin Mo’s home.

Inside, Lin Ning was lying in bed, talking in her sleep, while Lin Mo had already dressed and was standing by the door.

“What happened?” Li Changsheng asked upon entering and, seeing that Lin Mo was fine, immediately let out a breath of relief.

“I don’t know either. I was sleeping in the other room just now, and then my sister suddenly screamed, and after that she started rambling nonsense,” Lin Mo said, equally baffled.

Li Changsheng said, “Everyone outside has gone strange. Stay here, lock the doors and windows, and I’ll go find someone.”

Lin Mo shook his head. “Come out with me.”

Li Changsheng did not understand what he meant, but Lin Mo had already walked out. When he reached the doorway, before Li Changsheng could make sense of it, Lin Mo had already extended his hand to touch the drifting wisps of fog.

“The humidity is very low. We must be very far from the source. Help me get my sister to a safe place. I think I know where the problem lies.” As soon as he finished speaking, blood suddenly streamed from his nose, though he had clearly prepared for this and promptly stuffed tissue into his nostrils.

“You... figured it out?” Li Changsheng asked.

Lin Mo nodded lightly. “Yes. The weakness of the Chosen is that they do not live long, right? It’s fine. I don’t care.”

Li Changsheng had not expected this youngster to be so bold. The Chosen had many advantages, but their one obvious flaw was also a fatal one: a short life. Someone who might have lived to eighty could die by forty instead.

This was no secret. When the Chosen used their powers, they were borrowing strength from the heavens. Though it was only a figure of speech, those favored by heaven had to be prepared to die at any moment.

When they were first selected, they had the right to refuse. So long as they never used their powers, they would not become short-lived wretches. But many could not resist temptation, and more often than not, they simply did not want to spend their whole lives as ordinary people.

Yet Lin Mo was clearly different. He wanted a peaceful life, and in order to make his life peaceful, he had no choice but to use this method.

“You wait here. I’ll take your sister to headquarters, then I’ll come find you.”

Li Changsheng casually summoned a long sword. This was a special time; under normal circumstances, sword cultivators like him were not allowed to fly on their swords, because if ordinary people saw it, it would cause endless trouble. But emergencies called for extraordinary measures, and he had no choice but to do it. After all, nothing was faster than flying.

Lin Mo watched Li Changsheng soar away on his sword, his face calm and unreadable.

On the Wuling Hongguang, Jiang Chen crouched by the roadside, studying what exactly was happening.

He wanted to act, but had no clue where to begin. Or rather, he did not even know how to proceed. He had tried divination, he had tried deduction, yet there was no result at all. His readings were in complete disarray; the entire magnetic field of Qingcheng was thrown into chaos, and nothing could be divined.

At that moment, Luo Ying looked somewhat dazed. She came before Jiang Chen, and before he could even react, the woman threw her arms around him.

“Marry me! I want to marry you!”

Her eyes grew increasingly unfocused.

Looking at the city around them, which was already descending into chaos, Jiang Chen understood the fog’s peculiar effect. It was probably meant to make people lose their minds.

“Closer!”

Luo Ying pressed her face straight toward his. She was already one point seven six meters tall, so reaching him was not difficult, but Jiang Chen simply raised a hand and firmly kept their faces apart.

He had pretty much figured it out: the fog’s purpose was likely to plunge people into confusion and delirium.

Denied her attempt at closeness, Luo Ying sat down on the ground and began babbling about all sorts of nonsense.

In short, the woman who had been a boss only half an hour ago had now turned into a little girl who liked to act spoiled.

As the night deepened, Qingcheng had become a city of chaos: people running wildly, hopping about, dancing in graceful spins, almost every absurd sight imaginable appearing before the eye.

Most ridiculous of all, there were even a few people continuously doing somersaults.

Jiang Chen put Luo Ying back into the car and locked the door. He knew the general direction from which the fog had come, but not its exact location. And with the fog now so dense, if he left recklessly, he might gain nothing at all.

He had called several times as well, but aside from no signal, the calls either could not get through or came in broken and intermittent, and he could even hear the sound of Li Jingshou singing on the other end.

“Brother Jiang Chen, I’m here to help you.”

A motorcycle stopped some distance away from Jiang Chen. Lin Mo took off his helmet and walked over.