Mu Daxian’s mouth twitched fiercely, and he pursed his lips without replying.
Seeing this, Mao Feiyang knew he had guessed correctly; Mu Daxian indeed had a habit of blowing up streetlamps...
Mao Feiyang sensed the atmosphere was off, so to prevent Mu Daxian from picking up parts of Pseudo-Human Art Students and using them on him, he quickly changed the subject, "Brother Xian... do you think they play tricks? Can we really trust the Pseudo-Human Art Students?"
Unexpectedly, Mu Daxian spoke, "Actually... they can be trusted to some extent."
"The only difference between us and them is ’faith’."
"They firmly believe that becoming their kind of life form is an evolution and hope to make all of us ’evolve’... But we are still more ’human’."
"Simply put, their stance is not ’human,’ but yet not anti-human. They are like a group of self-appointed pioneers who think they have completed evolution,"
Mao Feiyang pursed his lips, "But they seem to want to kill you?"
Mu Daxian shrugged, "That’s inevitable, I actually understand them quite well."
"Just like how some Pseudo-Human Art Students are absolutely impossible to convert back, and I would mercilessly strike them down, I, to them, am also completely beyond redemption."
"Because... I have an ironclad invincible will!"
"Brother Xian, if you don’t compliment yourself, I feel it wouldn’t do justice to the atmosphere..." Mao Feiyang cheekily said.
"I’m just telling the truth," Mu Daxian pressed his forehead, thinking that after pretending so much, even speaking the truth seems pretentious, "Actually, my only worry now isn’t that they can’t come back, but that we might not have enough time."
"What do we do then?"
Mu Daxian shook his head, "Let’s just wait. I set a deadline for them just to give them a sense of crisis; after all, we just need to obtain the light bulb with Supernatural Traits before the Sneering Angel appears."
"Oh..." Mao Feiyang replied, nodding with some understanding.
So the two of them just waited and waited...
Slowly, the remnants of the sunset were swallowed by the mountains, and the lingering orange mingled with the deep blue. Between the interlacing light and shadow, a thin layer of mist began to rise from the depths of the forest. Like ghosts, it silently seeped out from between the trees and the crevices of rocks, stealthily spreading out.
The mist was initially faint, almost transparent, but as time passed, it became thicker, as if alive, roaming through the forest, seeking objects to cling to.
The ash of the sunset, through this layer of mist, became mottled, the light beams refracting within the mist, creating dream-like columns of light that illuminated the heaps of dried leaves in the forest only to be swallowed up by the mist in the blink of an eye, disappearing without a trace.
"It’s getting foggy..." Mao Feiyang murmured to himself but then paused, "Wait, isn’t there always mist?"
"It’s ’Grey Mist’..." Mu Daxian said somberly, "Today’s invasion begins."
He looked around, noting that the original mist in the mountains seemed to become livelier with the integration of the grey mist. It rolled and coiled through the forest, occasionally even emitting faint whispering sounds, as if the mountain spirits and ghosts were whispering amongst themselves.
This eerie atmosphere made Mao Feiyang involuntarily feel a chill, as if some unknown force was observing everything from the shadows, waiting for nightfall to invade this world...
"Is it... ’Angels’?" Mao Feiyang swallowed hard.
Mu Daxian comforted him, "Don’t be nervous... He won’t appear before the grey mist engulfs this world, so we still have plenty of time."
"You can stay here for a long time, provided that..."
Just as he was speaking, Mao Feiyang suddenly felt uneasy, as if something was targeting him.
He instinctively turned around, and directly locked eyes with a Human Sculpture.
"Holy shit!" Mao Feiyang exclaimed, falling on his butt, staring in horror at the Human Sculpture.
"Brother Xian, is it, is it, is it starting to move?!"
Mu Daxian stepped over Mao Feiyang and pressed the face of the Human Sculpture, flinging it away, then patted his hands and continued nonchalantly, "The condition is... don’t treat yourself as an enemy of these Pseudo-Human Sculptures."
"They are heavily ’Contaminated,’ but their Supernatural Traits are of a lower rank than ours, chasing us like the Angel Sculptures chase Him... Stand tall and confident, you are now a shepherd, no no, a shepherd of sculptures."
"Really?" He cautiously looked around, and indeed noticed that the Pseudo-Human Art Students were tentatively hovering nearby, wanting to approach but not daring to, like moths flitting around the edge of a fire.
Mu Daxian shrugged, "Really, though it does have its downsides."
"I knew it..." Mao Feiyang murmured softly.
"As the grey mist rises and nightfall approaches, their home court will come into play. Once they start absorbing the supernatural power from the grey mist, they’ll gradually regain their strength. Some of those who have captured Identity Credentials will step into the Teaching Building and be transformed into Pseudo-Human Experience Students by the light’s Purification, joining the night study session..."
"They will exude malice, but ordinary people will not feel it."
"They... also attend the night study?" Mao Feiyang was a bit puzzled, "Wait, do they even have brains? Why would they attend a night study?"