Chapter 172 The Name That Shouldn’t Appear

Chapter 172: The Name That Shouldn’t Be Spoken

"Help me, I don’t feel well."

On his way back to the Mist Shop, Su Bai noticed several figures, wreathed in crimson mist, collapsed by the roadside. The patrollers, following orders, didn't directly eliminate "infected" Fog City residents on the streets. Instead, they took them away one by one, striving to shield the bewildered and confused citizens from the brutal reality.

A Fog City resident, whose arm was already crisscrossed with cracks like dried clay, reached out to Su Bai in panic and supplication. The face seemed familiar to Su Bai, perhaps a frequent customer of the Mist Shop. But as the customer extended their hand, the cracks on their exposed arm spread relentlessly, and the crimson mist around them snaked outwards along the limb, as if seeking a new host.

Perhaps most patrollers were occupied sealing off the dense mist zone. Even though these patrollers were merely mass-produced, relatively simple automatons devoid of "souls," and despite their swift efforts to clear the streets of the infected, Su Bai saw none nearby.

Clearly, manpower was stretched thin.

"Stay back!"

Just as the infected individual drew closer to Su Bai, a young man rushed forward, shielding him.

The young man kicked the infected person to the ground, then glanced back at Su Bai, whom he had protected. His eyes first brightened with recognition, then grew puzzled as he observed Su Bai’s attire and neck, before his confused gaze returned to Su Bai’s face.

"A man... but you look somewhat familiar."

Su Bai carefully observed the young man, who was decent-looking but unremarkable. He confirmed that he had no memory of him, neither in this life nor the last.

Lately, many seemed to find Su Bai familiar. At the Rainbow Locust Ghost School, one player had made a similar remark, despite not being from Rainbow Locust City nor having visited its real-world counterpart.

"This might sound strange, but you really do look familiar—both recognizable and unfamiliar, and it gives me an unsettling feeling. I can’t quite place it." Perhaps receiving no response from Su Bai, the young man continued talking to himself, then tentatively asked, "Are you a player? Or a local?"

"I run a general store on Fifth Street," Su Bai replied, sidestepping the question.

"If you're a local, you should go home now, lock your doors and windows, and hide. Stay far away from these strange-looking people. Or better yet, avoid all contact with anyone—the farther from crowds, the better!" The young man, without overthinking, kindly advised Su Bai.

"Jin Zheng, what are you doing? We need to find An An quickly!" Another younger man, carrying a bulging backpack of unknown contents, rushed over. His face, bearing a resemblance to Jin Zheng’s, was etched with anxiety.

"Jin Yi."

Jin Zheng called out the other’s name, suggesting a close familial bond, and both were likely players.

"Nothing, just ran into someone who looks a bit familiar." Jin Zheng gestured towards Su Bai with his eyes. "Though I can’t recall where I’ve seen him, there’s just an uncomfortable feeling about him."

Hearing his brother Jin Zheng’s words, Jin Yi, who had just arrived with the large backpack, also glanced at Su Bai.

Unlike Jin Zheng, Jin Yi quickly frowned and said, "He does look a bit familiar. Don’t you think he resembles that bastard Su Xuan? But Su Xuan, that consumptive, is far less handsome—just similar in some facial features."

"Right, that Su Xuan!" Jin Zheng’s face lit up with sudden realization. "But this guy is from Fog City, and he’s definitely much better-looking than Su Xuan. There’s no way he could be related to that guy. We still need to find An An first!"

Jin Zheng and Jin Yi continued their conversation as if in casual banter, completely oblivious to what the name "Su Xuan" meant to Su Bai, who stood before them.

Just as the two brothers prepared to turn and leave, the infected individual Jin Zheng had kicked to the ground underwent a sudden grotesque transformation. As it rose behind Jin Zheng and Jin Yi, its fired clay shell had completely shattered. But what emerged from within was neither a blood ghost nor a starving ghost—instead, it was a white, viscous mass with only a humanoid outline.

The thoroughly weathered and fragmented clay shards clung to the surface of the white slime as the bizarre entity elongated its body, striking out at the unsuspecting Jin Zheng and Jin Yi, seemingly intent on devouring the two brothers whole.

"Boom—!"

Harnessing Qing Lan’s power, Su Bai appeared directly in front of the entity before it could reach the Jin brothers.

"I see it." Su Bai’s gaze fixed on a specific point on the ghost’s sticky white body. His legs, "blessed" by the red moon, moved swiftly. Su Bai kicked, splitting the ghost’s form, then reached into the fissure and pulled out a black "heart."

The nightmare world indeed harbored many amorphous aberrations, but even if their bodies were composed entirely of liquid or gas, they invariably possessed some form of "core."

The moment Su Bai seized the white entity’s "heart," its elongating body instantly froze, and even its previously slimy white form began to crack as if turning to stone.

Su Bai unhesitatingly threw the black "heart" to the ground and stomped on it.

The instant the "heart" was utterly destroyed, the petrified body of the white ghost, along with the attached clay fragments, gradually weathered away, soon vanishing before Su Bai and the Jin brothers.

After dispatching the entity that had attempted to ambush the brothers, Su Bai turned to Jin Zheng and Jin Yi, his expression grim and eyes icy. Under their incredulous gazes, he asked—

"I need to know more about this Su Xuan you mentioned."

Even when facing Mayor Bai, who possessed the power to create and destroy cities, Su Bai had always maintained a smile. But upon hearing the name Su Xuan, many memories, darker in Su Bai’s mind than the nightmare world itself, began to surface.