Chapter 177 The Real World in the Dense Fog

Chapter 177: The Real World in the Dense Fog

Su Bai's eyes were Qing Lan's eyes.

Life in Fog City was usually quiet and peaceful, but Su Bai never forgot he was trapped in a nightmare game. Rather than letting the seemingly happy and tranquil Fog City deceive him, Su Bai preferred to continuously use Qing Lan's eyes to see the true Fog City.

In Qing Lan's eyes, the true Fog City was nothing but a jumble of ruins in various styles.

Even in the most expansive central square, there stood a fountain of headless angels. Their limbs were incomplete, and from the severed necks of the heads they clutched, blood continuously gushed forth, as if narrating the endless sorrow and grief of this city.

The flower beds scattered across the square were filled with vibrant and beautiful blooms, but in Qing Lan's eyes, the petals of those flowers resembled the arms of dolls. Those arms twisted and deformed as they stretched out from the flower beds, as if struggling and pleading, yet utterly unable to escape the fate of Fog City.

The clean and elegant marble pavement was not only etched with metal wire maps but also crisscrossed with deep fissures. These cracks were so profound they seemed capable of swallowing all who passed. Though no sound emanated from their depths, Su Bai, who could "see" all this, sensed that those fissures buried far more than ordinary people could ever imagine.

On the streets Su Bai traversed, his eyes perceived remnants of abandoned buildings—European, Chinese, and even Japanese in style—piled and stacked together. It was as if different architectural assets in a game had been overlapped or even fused in a strange glitch. Amidst these fused ruins were also scattered doll parts.

It was easy to infer that this sight resulted from Fog City being repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt.

Mayor Bai, the legendary Lord of Fog City, would rebuild Fog City each time into a completely different style. So, although the city was repeatedly annihilated, some remnants, invisible to the naked eye, were left behind each time, eventually accumulating into the bizarre and truly authentic Fog City that Qing Lan saw.

After learning the truth about the people of Fog City, Su Bai finally understood the occasional doll bodies in the ruins, the strange arms among the flowers, and the clock tower in the central square, pieced together from doll parts.

At first, Su Bai thought it was merely the Fog City Lord's twisted taste. But now it seemed that, besides architectural ruins, some "people" who hadn't dissipated with the destruction of Fog City might have been left behind from the city's past iterations.

Over the past three months, Su Bai had consistently used Qing Lan's eyes to observe this absurd and terrifying city. Coupled with the semi-transparent layer of false scenery floating on the surface, this contradictory and bizarre vision had constantly reminded Su Bai to remain vigilant.

This situation changed once again after Su Bai entered the dense fog with the Jin brothers.

Su Bai didn't know what the dense fog looked like to the Jin brothers, but after he adapted for a while, the fog in his eyes cleared significantly. Though it was like looking through a thin veil, he could still discern the general surroundings.

Unlike before entering the foggy area, the false layer of the peaceful city was gone from Su Bai's vision. Through Qing Lan's eyes, what he saw through the dense fog was a city enveloped in mist, eerie and grotesque like ruins.

So yes, Su Bai could see the white wall in front of Jin Yi, and he could also see several figures moving oddly, like dolls with broken joints, lingering near the three of them. Though these figures didn't approach, they never left either.

"We haven't asked for your name yet, have we?" Jin Zheng said, supporting his still-staggering brother while looking at Su Bai. "If you can really see things in the dense fog..."

"Impossible," Jin Yi denied his brother's guess. "If he could really see things in the dense fog, he'd have gotten out of this damned place long ago."

It had to be said that Jin Yi's denial was partly correct.

Although Su Bai could indeed see things in the dense fog, he truly couldn't leave this fog-filled space. Because shortly after they stepped into the fog—right after Su Bai adapted to the fog in his vision—he discovered that their location had shifted!

Su Bai had always used Qing Lan's eyes to observe this city. The sole advantage was that even when the city reverted to its ruin-like true form, Su Bai could still discern the locations of these streets and ruined buildings.

Thus, Su Bai could confirm that the moment they entered the dense fog, an unknown force had transported them to a random location within the foggy area. Even if Su Bai were to lead the Jin brothers out by relying on what he saw, it might take half an hour.

This meant that in this dense fog, aside from the fog itself, there were other unknown forces causing people to lose their sense of direction.

"True," Su Bai agreed with Jin Yi. "If I could see things in the dense fog, I would have left the two of you behind without a second thought. Unfortunately, due to my innate talent, my intuition is slightly sharper than others. I can't help find the exit of the fog, nor can I know where Miss Xia Anan is now. However, using this intuition to help us avoid some dangers in the fog should still be possible."

Su Bai carefully scanned his surroundings again and found that although they were deep in the dense fog, the area wasn't entirely desolate wasteland. On both sides, they could still see buildings stacked from ruins and... many doors with handles.

This was good news.

"As for my name... until the final settlement of rewards, just call me Su Xuan." As Su Bai said this, he noticed the Jin brothers' expressions turn slightly strange for a moment. It seemed the name "Su Xuan" didn't bring them many good memories.

"So what should we do now?" Jin Yi bypassed the name issue, trying to calm himself down from his anxiety. "Can your intuition tell us which direction Anan is in..."

"No, the most important thing is to find the exit," Jin Zheng countered, stopping his love-struck brother. "Our top priority right now is to get out of here alive."

"Follow me," Su Bai said without further ado, setting off in a certain direction.

Su Bai quickly adapted to the much "clearer" ruined streets in his vision and soon pinpointed their approximate location. If his memory served correctly, they were still far from the exit of the foggy area. However, they were very close to an intersection of the streets—specifically, the location of one of the Eternal Lamps in Fog City.

If Miss Xia Anan had unfortunately been the one to light that Eternal Lamp, they might just find her before locating the exit of the foggy area.