Dense Fog Permeates the Air

Liu Bo's voice boomed loudly, causing everyone sitting on the ground to turn their heads toward him.

"What's going on? Why the sudden outburst?"

Zhang Ziming stood up, his face full of confusion, and jogged over.

"Look for yourself. There's fog appearing out of nowhere ahead."

"Huh? What the hell? What's happening?"

Ji Bo, standing nearby, also widened his eyes in shock. He swallowed hard and looked at Su Yang. "Yang-ge, this isn't normal, right?"

Su Yang's expression turned serious. "Fog appearing out of thin air… something's off. Everyone, stop resting. Let's move out now and get out of this forest first."

As he spoke, he waved at the others and called out to them.

Seeing this, the group quickly got to their feet. But just as they stood up, Ye Wan suddenly shouted, "Look behind us!"

Hearing her, everyone turned around. About seven or eight meters away, translucent mist had begun materializing in midair.

Su Yang immediately frowned and yelled, "Stop looking! Let's go, now!"

"Right, right, got it!"

"Avoid touching the fog if you can! Go around it!" Su Yang warned loudly.

The sudden appearance of the fog instantly turned the previously relaxed atmosphere tense.

The ten of them hurried toward the northeast direction of the forest. But after only a few steps, another thick patch of fog emerged ahead, dense enough to block their vision.

At first, the mist had been translucent, but now it had turned completely white—like the sudden fog banks that appear on highways.

Before they could react, the white mist erupted from all directions at an alarming speed, swallowing the entire visible area in an instant.

The process was frighteningly fast. In less than five seconds, the fog had obscured everything.

At that moment, Su Yang felt a wave of dizziness wash over him, but it vanished as quickly as it came.

"Damn it!" Su Yang shouted, "Stay calm, everyone! Don’t panic, and don’t get separated!"

But by the time he spoke, he could no longer see anyone around him—nor did anyone respond.

Even Liu Bo and Pan Ning, who had been standing close to him just moments ago, were now silent.

"Goddammit!" Su Yang cursed under his breath before yelling again, "Pan Pan! Fatty! Little Lu!"

"Yang-ge! Where are you?!" Liu Bo's voice came from a few meters away.

Hearing him, Su Yang felt a surge of relief. "Fatty, you okay? Stay where you are—I’m coming to you."

He moved toward the direction of Liu Bo’s voice.

Only when he got close enough to touch Liu Bo’s shoulder could Su Yang barely make out the figure in front of him.

The visibility in this fog was terrifyingly low—anything beyond twenty centimeters was completely invisible.

Liu Bo swallowed nervously. "What the hell, Yang-ge? One second everything was fine, the next, I can’t see a thing. Where are the others?"

"No idea. You alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Let’s call for them!"

"Got it!" Liu Bo agreed, and the two began shouting for the rest of the group.

"Pan Pan! Little Lu! Little Tang! Ji Bo!"

They called out every name, but still, no one answered.

"Shit! Did they just… vanish into thin air?"

"No way. If they disappeared, why are we still here?"

"But we can’t see anything, and we can’t just wander around blindly. What do we do?"

"Stay put for now. Let’s wait."

With visibility this bad, moving around was too risky, so they stayed where they were.

If even Su Yang could barely see, Liu Bo stood no chance.

"I swear, how did this fog come out of nowhere like this?" Liu Bo muttered in frustration.

Su Yang shook his head. "First time I’ve seen anything like it. You got any signal on your phone?"

Hearing this, Liu Bo quickly pulled out his phone and squinted at the screen. "Damn it—no service!"

"Same here. Fuck!"

Just then, a faint voice reached Su Yang’s ears.

"Wait!" Su Yang cut Liu Bo off.

"What?"

"I heard something. Pan Pan! Little Lu! Is that you?" Su Yang tilted his head, trying to see who it was.

But it was useless—he still couldn’t make out anything.

"Su… Su Yang-ge?" A soft female voice responded from nearby.

"Qianyu?!" Su Yang recognized her voice.

"Yeah, it’s me. Where are you?"

"Don’t move—I’m coming to you!" Su Yang called out.

"Okay~"

"Yang-ge, I’ll go with you!" Liu Bo said.

"Alright, stick together. Who knows what else might happen? Sounded like she was about ten meters to our left."

"Hold onto me. Watch your step."

"Got it!"

Liu Bo grabbed Su Yang’s arm, and the two slowly made their way toward Meng Qianyu’s location.

"Qianyu! Keep talking!"

"I’m here, still in the same spot!"

"Okay!"

After a moment, they finally reached her. She was sitting in the thick fog, hugging her knees.

"Su Yang-ge! Fatty, you’re here too?"

"Yeah, I’m here. Where are the others? Why didn’t you answer when we were shouting earlier?"

"I don’t know… I passed out. Just woke up and heard your voice."

"Passed out?" Su Yang and Liu Bo crouched down.

"Yeah. The moment the fog appeared, everything went black, and I lost consciousness."

"You think the fog’s poisonous?" Liu Bo guessed.

Su Yang turned to him. "Did you pass out?"

"No, just felt dizzy for a second."

"That’s so damn weird. The others probably fainted where they were too. You two stay here—I’ll go check."

"Su Yang-ge!" Meng Qianyu grabbed his sleeve anxiously. "Don’t… don’t leave yet. I’m scared."

Su Yang gave her a reassuring smile. "It’s okay. Fatty will stay with you. If the others just fainted, they’re still nearby. I won’t go far."

"Alright…"

"Fatty, keep an eye on Qianyu. Call out if anything happens."

"Don’t worry, Yang-ge. We’ll be fine."

"Good." Su Yang nodded, stood up, and stepped back into the fog.

The moment he took that step, Liu Bo lost sight of him completely.

"Jesus, what kind of freaky fog is this? It’s so thick!"

......