Chapter Eighty-Seven: The One with Black Hair and Black Eyes...

The map of the Frost and Snowwood was vast beyond measure. Zhao Nan only knew that the area they were currently in was the region of the Twin-Blade Frost Mantis, one of the larger subregions within the monster zones of Frost and Snowwood.

The surrounding fog still hung thick and unmoving. It was not merely a case of not being able to see one's hand before one's face; if he were not holding tightly to Finina's hand, the two of them would likely lose each other in the very next instant. The mist here was especially adept at swallowing sound. Even a slightly muffled voice would probably vanish without a trace.

What was worse, within the fog, all means of communication were rendered useless. In other words, they had already been cut off from the outside world. In such loneliness, the only thing that could bring them the slightest comfort was the bond between them.

Finina and Little Ice Phoenix shared a connection. Olicis and Zhao Nan shared a connection. And between the two of them as well, there existed something similar.

"Try not to make any noise. I'll lead you by the hand. Our sight is blocked, but so is theirs." Zhao Nan pressed his lips close to Finina's ear.

At that moment, he fumbled from his pack and drew out a massive cloak, wrapping both of their bodies within it.

The chameleon cloak.

This was a secret treasure that had once dropped from the final boss of a level-ten standard dungeon. It had not a shred of offensive power, nor any enhancement effect. Its only virtue was that it required no mana. So long as one wore it, one could become, in the eyes of monsters, a thing without existence at all. A stone. Gravel. A tree.

With their strength, they could have roamed freely across an open map. Yet now, trapped in a level-forty-five zone, that seemingly useless treasure had become a lifesaving rope.

Zhao Nan felt Finina nod, let out a breath, and began to grope his way forward through the fog with utmost care.

He understood now that in this mist, because vision was obstructed, the reason the mantises had been able to attack them was probably Olicis's dragon might. Due to the level gap, that might could not suppress level-forty-five monsters; instead, it only provoked the Twin-Blade Frost Mantises. For that reason, Olicis had already been recalled by Zhao Nan into the pet space.

After they landed, the two of them lay flat on the ground for quite a while before finally escaping the mantises' pursuit. Zhao Nan hurriedly activated Wind of Swiftness and Wind of Listening as a precaution.

Alas, the fog here blocked all sight; otherwise, the priest crystal would have been extremely convenient to use.

At present, Zhao Nan could only rely on his memory of Frost and Snowwood to flee the mantis territory.

The most dangerous thing about being trapped in a fogbound area was that one could never know where the next step would carry them. The lucky might stumble into some lower-level, unopened monster zone. The unlucky were in the same plight as Zhao Nan now.

The two could only suppress their breathing as much as possible, advancing by sound and by the faint sense of their skills.

Zhao Nan felt that his luck in this life had perhaps finally run out. After using the chameleon cloak to feel his way out of the mantis region, the next second he had actually stepped into an even more terrifying level-fifty monster zone—a place of monsters he had never once encountered before.

"Do you think that if we die here, then one day when this region's map finally opens, the players who come to hunt monsters will discover our corpses and mistake us for adventurers from long ago?"

Under the cloak, Finina held Zhao Nan from behind and whispered softly at the back of his head. "If that happens, then before I die, I hope you'll dig a pit and bury us together. Don't write anything on the headstone. Just our names will do..."

"Don't talk nonsense..." Zhao Nan clutched the hand of the girl behind him and gritted his teeth. "I won't let you die. And of course, I won't let myself die."

"But..."

"No buts!!"

Zhao Nan bit hard into the tip of his tongue.

It was already the sixth day since they had fallen into the fog. They had been helping their two pets level up, and because they possessed teleportation crystals, they had not even brought dry rations with them. If both of their bodies had not been far stronger than those of players of the same level, they would have long since been facing death from lack of water and food.

Even in such straits, their life force continued to drain away. Healing potions could restore health, but hunger and dehydration would relentlessly whittle away the recovered vitality at every moment.

And that was not all. In such a silent, fear-ridden environment, pressing onward without purpose only deepened the crushing pressure on the mind, like a venomous serpent gnawing at the soul as time passed.

Even if food and supplies could be guaranteed, a person would probably go mad sooner or later.

Eight days.

"Nan... I can't go on. Leave me behind."

Nine days.

"Nan... what is this... I won't drink it... It's your blood!"

"Be good... there is still hope..."

Ten days.

Eleven days.

Twelve days.

Finina had already fallen into a deep coma. If it were not for the faintness of her breathing, Zhao Nan would have been unable to stop himself from using the resurrection crystal hanging from his neck.

Suddenly, Zhao Nan felt an unprecedented madness surge through him, as though reason had completely collapsed in that instant... He had an urge to devour.

That impulse had already appeared not long before. Whenever it did, he would fiercely bite through his own lip and suck on his own blood to suppress it—a kind of mental corpse-worm brought on by extreme hunger.

"Beep! Warning, warning. Player Zhao Nan is in critical condition. Please ingest nutrients as soon as possible!"

"Warning, warning!"

The system had begun issuing alerts, like a signal of death.

"Warning... Player Zhao Nan is being attacked by a level-twenty-one monster, the horned mountain goat..."

A level-twenty-one monster? Had he, because his mind had scattered, accidentally stumbled into something nearby...

If not for this condition, even a dozen such creatures would not have made Zhao Nan blink!

Now...

He no longer even had the strength to raise an arm.

"Olicis..."

Roar!

The sky dragon burst forth from the pet space, roaring as it coiled through the fog. Zhao Nan felt a warm liquid suddenly spatter across his face.

It was blood from the monster Olicis had bitten open in the midst of battle. The shriek of a horned mountain goat rang out, and beneath that cry, Zhao Nan's consciousness suddenly cleared a little.

At this time, Olicis was locked in fierce combat with a herd of horned mountain goats, dragon roars resounding without pause.

The blood had spread to his lips, carrying a fishy sweetness. Unthinkingly, he stuck out his tongue and licked it away.

Monster flesh was inedible.

He suddenly recalled this truth. The flesh of all monsters carried terrifying toxins.

"Beep! Player Zhao Nan is poisoned!"

What little health remained began to drain continuously... one hundred... fifty... twenty... one!

Zhao Nan's consciousness had already sunk into darkness.

The amount ingested was not much. The poison state finally ceased once his life fell to a single point... Yet his hunger remained. He might well die in the very next second.

A dull thud.

Zhao Nan's body went light, then fell to the ground.

At that moment, a powerful heartbeat suddenly sounded... It beat with an utterly strange rhythm, and Olicis, who had been fighting, abruptly stopped.

The horned mountain goats surrounding Olicis also stopped at once. Trembling all over, their legs gave way and they collapsed onto the ground, letting out cries of terror.

Even Olicis, at this moment, turned toward the source of the heartbeat and gave an uneasy growl.

Before their eyes, it seemed as though an invisible force were pushing the fog aside. In the blink of an eye, the mist within a hundred meters had been completely cleared away, revealing the place as it truly was.

Lush green grass. Several hundred horned mountain goats that had been wandering all around were now all kneeling to the ground in an instant.

Finina slowly rose from the ground, her long hair lifting without any wind. In that instant, it turned completely jet black, and even her eyes became a deep, shadowed black.

Olicis watched Finina's transformation, and his unease only grew stronger.

Finina suddenly glanced at Olicis. That one look alone made Olicis, a sky dragon by blood, tremble from head to toe.

She smiled faintly, then abruptly lifted her hand, holding it suspended in the air as her eyes swept over the horned mountain goats before her one by one. Then her pitch-black gaze suddenly flashed, her arm turning in an instant, one finger pointing.

Bang!

At that moment, one of the horned mountain goats exploded outright! Not cracked apart like ordinary destruction, but transformed directly into a cloud of blood mist!

Within that blood mist, an object suddenly flew out and landed in Finina's hand. It was a tiny healing potion.

Finina uncapped the potion, swallowed it in one gulp, then knelt down and gently fed it into Zhao Nan's mouth.

She fed him very slowly, while all the monsters around them, including Olicis, remained motionless, as if time itself had frozen.

No one knew how long passed before Finina lifted her head, reached out, and lightly smoothed Zhao Nan's face, straightening his disheveled hair a little before letting out a quiet breath.

"Olicis, come here."

Her voice was still the same familiar voice, but Olicis instinctively resisted approaching the one who spoke it.

"Come here."

The call sounded again, carrying a strange power. Olicis gave a low growl, his wings spreading unconsciously, before finally descending to their side.

Finina lifted Zhao Nan into her arms and mounted Olicis's back before speaking softly. "Let's go."

The sky dragon shuddered all over, then roared and shot straight into the air. Ahead, a vast swath of fog had already parted of its own accord.

Olicis raced through the opened path. No one knew how long he flew, but ahead, not a trace of fog could be seen any longer...

A later chapter will follow.