Chapter 36 Courting Death

Chapter 36: Chapter 35: Courting Death

Meanwhile.

Less than a hundred meters away from the murky waters where Han Ning was, inside a crooked hotel building, two figures faintly appeared behind a cracked window.

"Looks like another Awakened drawn here by the ships at Bailu Port. His abilities... seem somewhat interesting," said a young man with mid-length hair, wearing a dark jacket. He stood sideways, peering cautiously out through a gap in the broken window, his gaze locked in Han Ning’s direction.

"Do you think he can shake off the white mist’s influence?" the man in the jacket asked casually.

"Hard to say," said the person standing close to him. He was much stockier, clad in a dusty gray hooded windbreaker with the hood pulled low, partially obscuring his eyes. Gripping heavily scratched military binoculars, he carefully observed Han Ning. "Even you and I can’t resist the influence of these monsters. To break free from them, one can only rely on special Awakened. I don’t think he has those kinds of methods."

"How about we make a bet?" The man in the jacket smiled faintly.

"A bet on what? Don’t tell me you think he can get out?" the stocky man asked in confusion.

"No, no, no. I share your opinion. Let’s bet on how long he struggles." The man in the jacket glanced at the mechanical watch on his wrist and chuckled. "Ten minutes. I bet he can’t last ten minutes. If it’s under ten minutes, I win. The stakes are that carton of Furongwang cigarettes you’ve been hoarding."

"Fuck! I knew you were after my Furongwangs," the stocky man cursed under his breath. He then muttered to himself, "His ability is very special. He can move freely in the water and control a Crocodile Lizard. Maybe he can hold out for more than ten minutes...

"Alright, I’ll take that bet. If he lasts more than ten minutes or successfully breaks free from the monster’s control, I win. If you lose, I want five of your live chickens."

"It’s the apocalypse now. A carton of Furongwang isn’t worth five live chickens. Three at most," the man in the jacket said, shaking his head.

"Deal!"

Han Ning ignored the woman calling for help from the neighboring shop. He called for Snow Cake and continued swimming back in the direction they had come from.

"Save me... Please save me..."

However, as he distanced himself from the shop, the voice didn’t disappear. Instead, it grew clearer and clearer. It was as if someone were whispering right against the back of his neck.

"Save me..." The woman’s voice suddenly spiked in pitch.

"Ugh..." Han Ning’s vision went black, and he nearly collapsed. The sound felt like countless icy, fine needles piercing his skull from all directions, rampaging through his cranial cavity and leaving him dizzy and disoriented.

"Damn it!" Han Ning had to stop swimming. He floated in place, gasping heavily for air.

Something was wrong! Too wrong. This wasn’t an issue of speed. He realized that no matter how hard he paddled, whenever he looked up, the silhouette of the shop crushed under the massive concrete block still loomed faintly in the murky water mist. He had been swimming in circles.

"I might be trapped in a ghost wall," he thought. Han Ning stopped struggling and floated in place, his expression tense as he observed his surroundings. Only the legendary ghost wall could explain this phenomenon that defied the laws of physics. He was trapped in this area of water by some invisible force.

At this moment, Snow Cake was in an even worse state.

"ROAR!"

As if possessed, it continuously bit, lunged, and whipped its tail at an empty spot in the water. Its sharp claws slashed through the murky currents, striking absolutely nothing. It looked as though it were locked in a life-and-death struggle with an invisible enemy. Through their Spiritual Link, Snow Cake’s chaotic emotions vaguely transmitted over.

"Calm down, Snow Cake!"

"ROAR! ROAR!"

Snow Cake remained completely unfazed by his command, continuing to thrash at the water’s surface.

"Save... save me..."

Even though Han Ning had stopped struggling, the eerie female voice did not fade. Instead, it became even more unbridled. This time, the voice no longer rang by his ears. It echoed faintly directly inside his brain.

"Why... won’t you save me?"

"It’s so cold here... so dark..."

The voice carried a peculiar power.

"Hiss..." Han Ning couldn’t help but groan as his vision began to twist and spin. The murky floodwaters, the rolling white mist, and the ruined buildings in the distance—everything around him was kneaded and deformed by an invisible giant hand, turning bizarre and grotesque. Beneath his feet, the firm buoyancy of the water vanished, replaced by freezing mud dragging him downward. Countless pairs of deathly pale hands reached out from the sludge, clawing at his ankles. Even Snow Cake’s frantic roaring became blurry and distorted.

"This is clearly a Spirit Attack. It’s affecting my Spirit," Han Ning thought. He was incredibly dizzy, realizing that this was something meddling with his mental state.

In his daze, he remembered the description of Natural Blessing on his interface. This Skill didn’t just help creatures evolve; it also had a Spirit Purification effect.

In this critical moment, he didn’t overthink it. Han Ning pinched his thigh ruthlessly, the sharp pain bringing a shred of clarity. He forcefully suppressed the dizzying sensation of the world spinning and attempted to cast Natural Blessing.

SWISH!

In an instant, a restrained, emerald-green halo brimming with the aura of life suddenly enveloped his body.

[Spiritual Power: 15/25 → 12/25]

[Natural Blessing (Basic Level) Skill Level +1, Current: 21/200]

The pure and clear radiance cleansed every corner of his Sea of Consciousness.

BUZZ!

It was as if a layer of viscous, filthy oil had been instantly washed away by this emerald-green stream of light. Han Ning’s expression twitched slightly. The distorted visions and the resentful shrieks inside his mind scattered entirely, vanishing into nothingness. The rolling white mist continued to silently swallow everything ahead. Dense raindrops smashed against the water’s surface, splashing fine droplets. The world had returned to its true form.

Just less than a meter in front of him, beneath the murky water, an ugly monster was floating right up against him in a bizarre posture. Its skin was a grayish-white, like the belly of a dead fish, covered in festering pustules and slippery slime. Large patches of skin had peeled off, exposing the dark red muscle fibers underneath. It wore a tattered white dress that had practically fused with its rotting flesh. Its limbs were twisted and deformed, currently clawing at the mud and gravel on the bottom, supporting its entire body in a spider-like stance.

Its head bore the deathly pale, bleeding face of the woman from the illusion just now. Tilted upward at an angle that completely defied anatomical structure, the rotting face featured only a single pair of eyes. They had no whites; the eyeballs were pure black, staring dead at Han Ning’s throat.

"GAH... GAH..."

The monster parted its rotting lips, emitting a sticky, hissing sound. A foul stench, a mix of rotting corpse and the fishy reek of mud, hit his face.

"You have a death wish!"

The moment he clearly saw the true form of this thing, Han Ning wasted no words and violently swung his right arm forward. Now that it had revealed its "health bar," what was there to be afraid of?