Chapter 34: The Four-Directional Eternal Fire Lanterns

As the mist gathered, the creatures lingering in Chen Family Village revealed their true forms. It was a stretched human skin, or rather, a mass of mist holding a human skin. The skin within the mist was pale blue, fully extended and translucent like a piece of soft ice, possessing an eerie beauty. A neat slash ran across the chest of the skin, with edges stained in a vivid red grudge.

Wu Chang originally thought it was the resentment of the villagers who had been slain, but upon closer observation, he realized that the grudge belonged to the mist demon itself. In the vision of this resentment, the mist demon was still human. On the night of the attack, the village chief of Chen Family Village had decided to hold the quarterly trade fair, and the entire village was immersed in celebratory joy.

The mist demon, when human, climbed the watchtower carrying two jars of specially brewed wine, serving the villagers on guard duty one by one. After eliminating all the villagers on the tower, he drew out a brass short knife and plunged it into his own chest, slicing his skin vertically. His flesh and blood transformed into mist, gushing from the wound and spreading to envelop Chen Family Village.

The peeled skin “stood” on the tower, watching the massacre unfold. Eventually, the human will within slowly dissipated, becoming a crimson grudge. “Though great vengeance is achieved, I regret the ringleader escaped; unable to sever his head and feast on his flesh, I find no peace.”

[Locate the ringleader Chen Peng, behead him to comfort countless lost souls.]

After viewing the mist demon’s grudge, Wu Chang roughly understood what had transpired. The mist demon, when human, bore a blood feud with the bandits of Chen Family Village. To exact revenge, he infiltrated the village, even willing to ally with monsters and sacrifice his own form to become a demon. A ruthless man indeed.

Unfortunately, the grudge manifested on the skin signified the complete death of the demon’s human side. Otherwise, negotiation might have averted the battle. Now, left only with basic instincts, the mist demon had lost all control and could not communicate.

The mist upheld the skin, twisting the facial flesh to express emotions—its trembling face revealing rage. The howling wind carried its voice: “Trespassers, die!”

With that, cold wind surged from behind the skin, whipping up the surrounding snow and thickening the fog shrouding the village.

By examining the grudges of the dead villagers, Wu Chang had gained a basic understanding of the mist demon’s powers. As recorded in the merchant’s grudge, the dense fog obscuring vision and the numbing cold wind were merely to dull senses and instill unease.

Illusion was the mist demon’s true killer move.

Though not the strongest among the attacking monsters, nearly a third of the village’s deaths were caused by the mist demon’s illusions. Once dragged into the icy fog’s hallucinations, one would see the most terrifying scenes of their life.

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