Global Fog Survival

“Well, that’s good…”

Colin nodded. He felt something was slightly off, but couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was.

The surroundings seemed fine.

He glanced back, and as expected, the white fog had completely vanished.

After taking a deep breath, Colin looked again at the light hidden behind the mountains, illuminating half of the sky.

【There are many paths leading there, but besides the one you’re on, the other paths are either too far or may have hidden obstacles that can’t be traversed.】

“Start moving.”

Retracting his gaze, Colin held up his lantern and led the team forward, step by step.

At this point, they were walking on relatively flat ground, scattered with condensed light stones of varying sizes.

The surrounding area was dark and deep, with large, withered trees stretching out their bare branches, looking menacing and strange, but offering no cover.

The ground was covered with layers of decayed leaves, accumulated over the years, feeling soft and making a rustling sound when stepped on.

The path was long.

Longer than Colin had expected.

After nearly an hour, they were still in the forest, occasionally spotting ruined houses in the distance from some hills.

However, this was only visible through the hints; the naked eye couldn’t see that far.

Despite seeing it, Colin had no intention of investigating further.

What was certain now was that they were making progress and had not encountered a wall of ghostly trees as before.

“Let’s hope we encounter some mutants to fight.”

An ominous silence enveloped the entire area. After nearly two hours of walking with no anomalies, Colin found himself hoping to encounter some mutants.

It would be best to fight a few normal mutants to adjust the team’s mood.

Unfortunately, there was nothing here.

After nearly another hour, the team remained vigilant, but conversation began to emerge from within the group to ease the monotony and unease.

In this environment, they even started talking about mundane topics, past events, and minor hobbies.

Of course, this was also Colin’s suggestion; without chatting, the tension might become unbearable.

Silence and peace.

The sky remained dark and empty. After walking for over three hours, Colin and his team finally emerged from the forest.

They entered a wide dirt road, with trees still lining both sides.

This tree-lined path was dark and quiet, with the ground still mostly covered in fallen leaves, appearing quite disordered.

However, through the dead branches and leaves, there seemed to be numerous traces on the dirt road.

【You’re curious about these traces. Upon closer observation, you find they include tracks from horses and carts, humans, beasts, and other things…】

【Ahead might be an ancient town.】

【There should be quite a bit of old-world history remaining there, and it doesn’t seem too dangerous.】

Colin dismissed the hints from his mind.

He already knew there was a town ahead and that it wasn’t particularly dangerous…

Yet, he still felt uneasy, sensing that something terrifying and dangerous was brewing with time.

Colin felt he might have overlooked something, but couldn’t make any connections or find a direction…

It was a bit like forgetfulness—one moment clearly remembering something, and the next moment forgetting it…

…I’m probably overthinking it. Colin shook his head, his feet pressing on the leaf-covered path, and spoke in a low voice:

“Keep moving, stay alert, and report any issues immediately.”

The team resumed their advance.

However, no one noticed that in the lantern’s light, which carried the rare tainted blood, the shadows walking alongside them had grown to twenty-eight…

…

After another half hour of walking, Colin finally saw the town mentioned in the hints, a few hundred meters away.

To be more precise, it was a ruin.

The ruins were not large; it might have been a town as the hint suggested, but it had now settled into silence.

“Wonder what kind of monsters might be there…”

Although the hint mentioned no significant danger, Colin wasn’t taking any chances.

The ruins’ outer perimeter reflected in his eyes was a collapsed city wall, seemingly smashed by some force. Through the breach, the inner scene was vaguely visible.

Desolate and dark.

【You realize that a massive creature seems to have burst through here, following this ancient cobblestone road deep into the town.】

“Could it be something the ‘Mourning Watcher’ did when leaving the High Court?”

Colin immediately thought of this creature, but it didn’t seem like it, as there were no large footprints on the ground.

The monster that breached the city wall appeared to be a beast, given the remaining tracks of a four-legged animal.

“Let’s go in and check.”

Colin hesitated briefly but decided to proceed without bypassing the area.

The main reason was that this was his first time seeing a town, and such a “complete” one at that.

There might be a lot of historical information to gather here.

However, just as Colin and his team were about to cross the city wall and enter the desolate town, the shadow at the edge of the lantern’s light began to move…

In an instant, a shadow seemed to split off from its back and silently joined the team.

Now, there were twenty-nine shadows.

Colin, walking in the middle of the team, suddenly looked back…

【You feel like something might be following you, but after observing the surrounding forest, you find it still quiet with no anomalies.】

“An illusion?”

Colin frowned, feeling increasingly uneasy, as if an invisible pressure was slowly intensifying.

It was becoming harder to breathe.

However, the hint’s description seemed accurate…

“Lord Colin, do you feel like something is off around here…”

Sanna furrowed her brow, seemingly sensing something but finding no clear evidence…

“Yes, but I haven’t noticed anything…” Colin shook his head.

“Anything? I don’t really feel much…” Li Chou interjected in surprise.

All along, he had seen Colin seemingly on high alert, but he hadn’t felt anything himself.

In fact, for him, there was no safe place here.

Everything looked eerie, making him feel creeped out, as if unknown horrors could leap out at any moment.

Without special means, this was the biggest difference between ordinary survivors and Colin.

They couldn’t distinguish safe from dangerous…

To them, everything here looked incredibly dangerous!

Especially having to leave markers to avoid getting lost, if it weren’t for the two servants at the start, their goosebumps would be dancing by now.