Chapter Four: The Mystery of the Master, the Shocking Change in the Crimson Mist!

The remaining mice were even more terrified, desperate to scatter and escape. In the blink of an eye, An Miaoyi surged forward once more; as if she had Doraemon’s magic pocket, a fishing net suddenly appeared in her hand. With ease, she swept the net over the ground, trapping the seven surviving mice—none could break free from its mesh.

After completing this task, An Miaoyi let out a breath of relief. She glanced at the struggling mice, the foul stench filling her nostrils, making her complexion pale and leaving her on the verge of retching.

“Hurry up and leave. Do not speak of what happened today—pretend nothing occurred. Go, quickly.”

With An Miaoyi’s urging, Lin Yi said nothing more. He feigned continued fear, picked up his backpack, and rapidly departed.

Only a minute or so had passed when two figures hurried toward the scene.

One was an elderly man, dressed in traditional attire, his hair and beard snowy white, his face radiating benevolence. In his hand, he gripped a sword that gleamed coldly, its edge sharp and exuding murderous intent.

Beside him was a middle-aged man, clad in military uniform, a star emblazoned on his shoulder. He carried himself with an aura forged in iron and blood; standing there, he seemed to command his own presence, as though surrounded by the clangor of arms and warhorses.

Yet compared to the old man, he was far outmatched.

The elder, seeing An Miaoyi unharmed, sighed in relief. Then his gaze fell upon the dead mice on the ground, his brows knitting in surprise.

“What about the weasel? That shouldn’t be... That weasel, Miaoyi, you shouldn’t have been able to defeat it. Its strength is considerable, especially its illusion magic. Don’t be fooled by its small size—it’s lived for a hundred years...”

As he spoke, the old man’s expression suddenly changed. He sniffed sharply at the air.

“Hmm, something’s off. There’s a medicinal aroma in the air... What kind of pill is this? Just smelling it makes me feel refreshed and clear-headed. Could it be that some master passed by?”

Hearing this, the middle-aged man’s fierce eyes widened.

An Miaoyi listened, her beautiful eyes flickering, nodding.

She looked at the elder and said, “Grandpa, it was just me and my classmate earlier. The weasel vanished with a puff—no idea if it died or escaped... But you’re right, Grandpa, surely some master intervened around here, otherwise it makes no sense. Yes, that's it, a master must have acted. No wonder what happened earlier was so strange.”

The old man nodded, though his expression darkened.

“Masters can sometimes be even more troublesome.”

He turned to the middle-aged man. “Spread the word; find out which master intervened. If they aren’t registered, we’ll need to investigate.”

“By the way, Miaoyi, leave here at once. I’ll speak with your principal soon and have the courtyard wall rebuilt. Alas, born in troubled times, lives are as fragile as grass. To survive, one must tread carefully! That Huang Jiu Lady, rumor has it she... In any case, she’s no benign soul. We need to increase our manpower!”

...

Lin Yi, already some distance away, had no idea what transpired behind him. Had he known, he might have smiled—for he had become the “master” spoken of by all.

Eager to study the “Divine Severing Sutra,” Lin Yi arrived at a barbecue stall, intending to buy some skewers and take them back to his inn for a good meal.

And to finally try the Body Tempering Pill whose taste he could only guess at.

But Lin Yi soon realized that tonight’s horrors went far beyond what had happened earlier.

Everything had changed, starting from the “petition for sealing.”

At the barbecue stall, beside the skewers master’s table, a solar-powered TV was set up for watching football matches.

On screen, the match was in full swing.

Suddenly, static snowed across the screen.

The football game stopped, replaced by an emergency news broadcast!

A beautiful woman appeared—Jiang Bingbing.

Clad in her uniform, Bingbing stood before the camera, her figure exquisitely alluring, her long, pale legs radiating endless temptation.

The night owls at the barbecue stall, ready to curse the interruption, quickly suppressed their outrage, transforming into awestruck admirers.

Those with girlfriends nearby earned countless eye rolls.

“This is a report from our correspondent Jiang Bingbing. Moments ago, out of ninety-nine mist-covered locations, thirty-three have begun to reveal their high mountain outlines—the peaks are becoming clearer!”

“Zoom out... We can see that, upon those mountains, there is much red mist, within which seem to be some kind of structures!”

“According to experts, those red mists... Wait, what is that, what is that... My god... The red mist is expanding, turning into... turning into... all the mist is changing... Are we... is there any hope left...?”

Jiang Bingbing, who had been methodically explaining the changes at thirty-three mountain sites, now stood stunned, her eyes wide with disbelief. The microphone nearly slipped from her grasp.

The cameraman was even more shaken—the camera trembled wildly, the footage unstable.

Soon, the live broadcast signal disappeared, replaced by various advertisements—health supplements, cheerful slogans.

No one cared about these; all attention was fixed on the images before the broadcast ended.

Countless swathes of red mist, encircling the thirty-three mountain sites, rose rapidly from the peaks, transforming into monstrous, clawed apparitions that swiftly spread, flooding through the white mist zones in the blink of an eye.

The white mist turned red!

Then it spilled outward.

Ten years—ten full years—the peripheries of these ninety-nine mist sites had never changed!

Even half a year ago, when thirty-three mist sites began to reveal hazy mountain shapes, nothing had ever emerged from within, no creatures, no phenomena.

Now, those thirty-three sites with mountain shadows underwent violent change. The red mist inside overflowed, transforming the white mist and twisting outward, spreading relentlessly. Was the world about to change?

At the barbecue stall, just as Lin Yi was about to order skewers, he noticed an eerie hush. Turning, he saw someone shivering, pointing at the sky.

Lin Yi’s gaze followed upward.

What he saw was even more terrifying.

Once clear and starry, the night sky was suddenly layered with red mist.

It was the red mist spilling from the mist zones!

Dense red fog spread across the entire sky.

In an instant, it blotted out the moon and stars!

Someone shouted loudly.

“Yes, yes, yes... it’s the red mist from the mountains—something extraordinary must have happened at those thirty-three mist sites...”

“The red mist... it’s the red mist... I remember clearly, just before the broadcast cut, all the white mist turned red. Something’s wrong, something’s wrong, aliens must have come out from the mountains!”

...

Faces twisted in terror.

The sky had turned crimson!

All light was blocked by the red mist.

The dense fog rolled, blotting out sun and moon, the world bathed in blood-red, like a hellscape of corpses and rivers of blood, an arena of carnage reborn.

It seemed as if countless drops of blood fell ceaselessly from the heavens, the entire world wrapped tightly in crimson, not a breath of wind breaking through.

Some panicked, shouting incessantly; others abandoned their skewers, crawling beneath the tables.

In the distance, the terror caused many vehicles to collide, screams rose, and scenes of large-scale traffic accidents unfolded, with multiple casualties.

It was utter chaos.

At that moment, everyone heard a series of sounds, like electromagnetic interference—hissing and crackling.

The red mist in the sky, which had been spreading wildly, was suddenly hindered by something.

A multicolored light seemed to burst forth among the mist, causing the red fog to retreat rapidly, dissipating in the blink of an eye.

That rainbow light grew ever brighter, so dazzling that people could barely open their eyes, brighter than the sun itself.

Some feared their eyes would be damaged, and squeezed them shut.

Lin Yi was not among them.

He felt no discomfort from the light.

Instead, he found the multicolored radiance eerily familiar.

Just moments ago, when he had used his backpack—or, more precisely, the “Divine Severing Sutra”—to slay the weasel, the creature’s body had transformed into this very rainbow light, absorbed by the Sutra.

Could it be that the red mist was connected to the Sutra? Lin Yi could not help but speculate.

...

The red mist had come swiftly, and departed just as quickly.

The rainbow light exploded with it, vanishing in an instant.

Once both had faded, normalcy returned.

The crowd gradually calmed.

Yet many still felt that tonight, a great upheaval had occurred.

Those fearful gathered together, clinging to one another for comfort.

At that moment, the advertisements ended, and the goddess Bingbing reappeared on screen, face pale as death, supplementing her earlier news.

“The red mist... The other sixty-six mist locations remain unchanged, but... but for the thirty-three sites where mountains have appeared, the white mist is gone—only red mist remains!”

“The red mist... its scope has expanded! Some peripheral areas have been swallowed and covered... The nation, countries around the world, have dispatched exploration teams to some mist zones, hoping to uncover the mystery. The government now issues a message: please avoid the mist sites for the time being, stay at home... go out less at night... darkness...”

After repeating her warning several times, the news ended, and the football match resumed.

All around, there were many gasps.

“The red mist is expanding... Could it be that one day, it will cover the whole world?”