This time, the voice was calm and normal, like that of a true friend. ’What the...’ When Grey still refused to open his eyes, a strange, harrowing sound filled the air—a symphony of multiple sighs and eerie laughter, all at once. The next moment, a sudden, complete silence fell, broken only by the sound of retreating footsteps. Grey was so terrified that he stayed with his eyes shut, his hands clamped over them, shaking uncontrollably from both cold and extreme fear.
After two long hours, he finally lowered his hands and opened his eyes. The entire room was covered in a thin blanket of snow, and a countless number of footprints circled the space where he had been crouching. They weren’t shoe prints; they were actual, bare footprints. "That was... a bizarre existence!" Grey whispered, a mix of fear and awe in his voice. He had been so close to death, a hair’s breadth from an unimaginable end, yet he had survived an encounter with an existence he had only known about from his memories.
He shrugged off the thin layer of snow that had settled on him. The reason for the intense chill was now obvious. "But what suddenly attracted a bizarre existence here?" he pondered, then shook his head in frustration. This was the second time in one day he had encountered such a terrifying being. "Am I a magnet for strong opponents?"
He quickly forgot his questions, however, when he noticed the full extent of the damage. The door, once barricaded, was shattered into splinters, and the broken pieces of wood were embedded in the wall opposite it. A sharp, stinging pain shot through his wrist. He looked down to see the decay point on his hand emitting a faint sizzling sound, as if his flesh were melting.
’The decay point!’ Grey thought. He wanted to rush out and get as far away as possible, but the thought that the bizarre existence might still be lurking nearby stopped him cold in his tracks. He decided to wait. With a being that powerful in the immediate area, any wandering mutated beasts would likely be taken care of.
Time stretched on, but after only a few minutes, the pain in his wrist became unbearable. The medicinal pills he had taken earlier were no longer effective; the presence of the bizarre existence must have caused the corrosive substance within him to spike dramatically. He was running out of time.
By the time he had assembled his belongings, the thin layer of snow had melted. With a brown rucksack on his back, Grey stealthily left the broken building. His wariness, however, was for naught. The bizarre existence’s presence had cleared the area, keeping all the mutated beasts at bay, at least for now.
Despite the urge to flee, he headed deeper into the corroded zone. His goal was to find a strange plant that grew only here. This herb had the power to neutralize the corrosive substance and was the main ingredient for the pills he so desperately needed. Eating the herb raw would reduce its potency and could cause complications, but Grey had no other choice.
’It will have to suffice for now,’ he said to himself. He soon reached the place where the plant was said to grow, stopping at the base of a towering tree. Hanging from the branches were the withered corpses of both mutated creatures and bizarre existences. Their blood dripped onto the ground, nourishing the very herbs he was looking for. Anything that grew and survived in this place was far from normal.
The flowers themselves were a shocking, vibrant red, dancing lightly in the cold wind. The air was thick with a nauseating smell, a mix of decay and something else he couldn’t identify. With an indifferent expression, he carefully plucked five of the bright red flowers, leaving the stalks and stems intact. He crushed them in his hand; the petals crumbled like dead leaves into a fine, red powder. Without hesitation, he put the dust in his mouth.
A strange, hot sensation permeated his body, as if he had swallowed fire. His throat burned, but he immediately noticed the subtle change at the decay point on his wrist. The piercing pain was now merely a dull ache. He crushed more petals and consumed the powder. After doing this seven times, the pain became a manageable irritation.
He quietly left the blood tree, moving silently and swiftly. His long, dark hair covered his left eye, and his overcoat nearly dragged on the floor. A black shadow swiftly passed overhead, and he looked up at the red sky, but the creature was gone as quickly as it came, leaving only a disturbed gust of wind.
Grey let out a soft silent sigh as he finally reached the edge of the corroded zone. He looked back at the desolate landscape, hesitating for a moment before stepping into the world beyond. In less than two hours, he had finally exited the zone for the first time. The air felt warmer, and the tension he had carried in his body for weeks began to subside. The oppressive atmosphere was gone, replaced by a quiet freedom. He finally felt as if he could relax.
"Ah, so this is what the outside world looks like," he murmured. "It’s so desolate and barren..." The world beyond the zone was still affected by the corrosive substance, and he could see how it had scarred the land. "What was I expecting? Do I really have to look at the dark clouds and God’s hand every time I look up?" He asked himself, his voice filled with weariness.
He rubbed the dirt from his face and pulled a map from his pouch. He was safe for now, but he knew dangerous beings still lurked on the outskirts. He still had to remain vigilant. He pulled out the multitude of coins he had collected from abandoned buildings and from the scavenger he had killed. ’Was he really the brother of the scavenger camp leader?’ he wondered briefly before shrugging it off.
He had about thirty silver coins, enough to buy ten to twelve of the medicinal pills, according to his inherited memories. This would be enough to supplement his breakthrough to the fourth level of Qi Accumulation. The map showed that the scavenger camp wasn’t far. If he ran without stopping, he could get there before dusk, buy the pills, and maybe sell the remaining materials he had collected. He could also use some of the money to rent a place to cultivate.
After taking a moment to bask in the subtle but noticeable warmth, his gaze turned serious. His body swayed as he faced a new direction, and his speed suddenly erupted. He ran toward the scavenger camp, the new sensation of freedom and hope filling him with a determination he hadn’t felt since he arrived in this brutal world.
**☺️😉**