157: Chapter 158 Reassembly, Spatial Distortion

Afterward, under Lin Ye's guidance, the two of them traversed through the gray mist.

However, the sense of distance within the gray mist was completely distorted.

Sometimes Lin Ye felt a certain point of light was only a dozen yards away, but walking there took almost double the time.

And sometimes, something that clearly looked very far away took only a few steps to reach.

It was as if some kind of will existed within this mist, intentionally playing tricks on them.

Or perhaps, this space itself had already become abnormal.

Old Man Shen was the third person to be found.

When they found him, he was half-crouching behind a large rock, his long saber already unsheathed, its blade glinting with a cold light amidst the gray mist.

Old Man Shen's perception was not weak either; he clearly sensed someone approaching and was on full alert.

However, when he saw that the person coming was Lin Ye, he was momentarily stunned.

“Good lad, I didn't expect you to have this kind of ability.” After understanding the general situation, Old Man Shen leaned in and whispered to Lin Ye, his tone carrying a hint of admiration.

The young man who had once haggled with him at his stall had now grown to a point where even he couldn't see through him.

Truly, the waves of the Yangtze behind push those in front; the student surpasses the master!

Soon, everyone was reunited. They immediately formed a circle and expanded their Blood-Qi shields to keep the gray mist at bay.

The Commandant spoke first, his voice low and clear: “There is a high probability that we have been pulled into an anomaly. This gray mist is not ordinary mist or miasma, but an extension of a Domain.

In other words, the place we are in might no longer be where we were before, but a separate, independent space.”

“Therefore, it is basically impossible to walk out using conventional methods.”

Captain Yang frowned upon hearing this: “Sir, do you mean...”

“My meaning is simple: the one who tied the knot must untie it.” The Commandant's gaze swept across their faces, finally landing deep within the gray mist, as if he could pierce through it to see something.

“To leave this place, we must find the source of the anomaly and deal with it.

If we can't find it, then we will be trapped here until...”

He didn't finish his sentence, but everyone understood the consequences of being trapped here.

Perhaps they would be consumed by the gray mist after their Blood-Qi was exhausted, or perhaps their sanity would be slowly dismantled until they eventually became some kind of monstrous existence, neither human nor ghost.

Thinking of this, everyone fell into silence.

They hadn't expected that just coming over to scout for information would result in getting themselves trapped.

But regret was useless now.

Old Man Shen coughed at this moment, breaking the brief silence: “Everyone, since things have come to this, thinking about escaping is of no use.

Since conventional means won't get us out, we can only find life in a death trap!”

He paused and added: “Furthermore, this gray mist is surging out from the center of those ruins. If I'm not mistaken, the source of the anomaly should be in that village.

So regardless of what's inside, we have to make the trip.”

The Commandant nodded in agreement, then looked at Lin Ye: “Can that Secret Technique of yours perceive the location of that village?”

Lin Ye shook his head and answered truthfully: “My Secret Technique can only perceive living people; it cannot perceive inanimate objects.

Unless there is something living inside, I won't be able to sense it.”

“Is that so...” The Commandant's brow furrowed slightly, and after a brief thought, it smoothed out again.

“In that case, we will split up.

The seven of us will head in different directions. If anyone finds the village, stay where you are and don't move. Then Lin Ye will lead the others to rendezvous with you.”

His plan was simple and direct: utilize Lin Ye's ability to perceive life signatures to re-locate everyone.

As long as someone found the target, Lin Ye could perceive the positions of the other five and lead them there one by one.

This way, everyone would assemble at the target location in the shortest amount of time.

“But what if the person who finds the village is Lin Ye?” Old Man Shen asked.

“That's also simple. Have him take the person closest to him first, and then use the other five as references to re-locate his previous position. It will just take a bit more time.”

The other Captains nodded one after another, feeling that this plan was feasible.

“Good, since no one has any objections, let's begin the operation.

Everyone must be careful; there might be other things in this gray mist.”

“Yes!”

The six of them responded in unison.

Afterward, everyone chose a direction and stepped away.

Their figures were soon swallowed by the gray mist, like a few drops of water falling into the ocean, vanishing without a trace in an instant.

However, it didn't take long for Lin Ye to notice something was wrong.

In his Slaughter Vision, the directions everyone initially took were fairly normal.

But gradually, those red light points representing everyone's life signatures began to shift, as if being nudged by an invisible hand, all converging toward the same direction.

In other words, no matter which direction everyone walked, they would eventually head toward the same destination.

The only possible exception was himself.

Because he could force a change in his own path by using the others' positions as references.

But Lin Ye didn't do that.

According to his deduction, the destination everyone was heading toward should be that Qishan Village.

The purpose of this gray mist was to herd all intruders into that village.

Since that was the case, why bother resisting?

Since they were going to that village anyway, instead of wasting time here, it was better to arrive early and see what exactly was causing trouble in the shadows.

Lin Ye followed the direction the others were moving. After walking for about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the gray mist ahead suddenly thinned, and the outlines of buildings became faintly visible.

After walking a few more steps, the scene before him suddenly opened up.

A village appeared abruptly before Lin Ye's eyes.

A pair of red lanterns hung in front of every household, the candlelight within them swaying gently in the darkness.

The image was indescribably eerie.

Lin Ye subconsciously looked behind him.

At some point, the gray mist had vanished.

Not only that, but the light points in his Slaughter Vision had also disappeared.

“Is this... spatial distortion?”

Lin Ye was startled.

Clearly, the moment he stepped into the village, he was no longer in the same space as the others; otherwise, there was no reason for him to lose his vision of them.

Lin Ye forced himself to calm down and began to think about what to do next.

He tried walking back, but just as Lin Dong had said, whenever he walked a certain distance, he would mysteriously return to his original spot, as if an invisible wall was preventing him from leaving.

Seeing this, Lin Ye stopped trying and turned his gaze back to the village before him.

He activated his Qi Observation Technique—no evil qi, no Spiritual Qi, and certainly no qi of life.

In the vision of his Qi Observation Technique, the entire village was incredibly clean, as clean as a blank sheet of paper.

But it was precisely because it was so clean that it was even more unsettling.

It was as if everything he saw was just a phantom bubble, not something that truly existed.

The red lanterns at the village entrance still swayed gently in the night wind, making a faint “creaking” sound.

Lin Ye chose not to enter the village to investigate, but instead found a hidden corner to sit down.

As the saying goes, respond to all changes by remaining unchanged.

With his individual strength, it was impossible for him to resolve this anomaly.

Since that was the case, why bother exerting himself? He might as well just wait honestly for the others to arrive.

However, half an hour passed, and Lin Ye still hadn't seen any sign of the others.

This was clearly not normal.

Either they were lost in the gray mist, or they had been teleported to other locations in the village.

Activating Slaughter Vision again, it was still empty, as if he were the only living person in the entire village.

“Forget it, I'll log off first.”

Faced with such an eerie situation, Lin Ye decided to slip away for now.

He would wait until dawn before doing anything else.

According to what Lin Dong had said, this village also had a day-night cycle.

Although he didn't know if there would be a turn for the better after dawn, it at least gave him a new perspective for observation.

Furthermore, he wanted to know exactly what the difference was between day and night in Qishan Village.

With a thought from Lin Ye, his figure vanished instantly.

Opening his eyes, he subconsciously picked up his phone nearby and was then stunned.

He clearly remembered that when he logged on last time, the real-world time was 8:00 AM.

He had stayed in the game for about 20 hours. According to the two-to-one time flow ratio, 10 hours should have passed in reality, so it should be 6:00 PM now.

But the time displayed on the phone was...

4:00 PM!

In other words, he had actually only spent 16 hours in the game?