The Deadly Martial Arts of Online Games

“Shoot the arrows!”

“Save them!”

“What are those things?”

“Why are the Armor-Piercing Arrows useless against them?!”

On the rooftops, three to four hundred Martial Artists stood with pale faces.

Everyone was certain that at least some of the arrows in that earlier volley must have hit their targets.

Yet such a fierce rain of arrows had failed to suppress the enemy at all. They could only watch helplessly as their comrades were dragged into the blood fog one after another.

From the dock to the Branch Helm was about seventy to eighty paces.

As more and more tung oil torches were crushed and extinguished, the firelight on the dock vanished completely.

The blood fog surged over the dock and continued advancing toward the Sanjiang Branch Helm.

Yang Feiyue looked at Wangchuan and said in a low voice,

“Call for reinforcements?”

It was obvious that this situation was far beyond their ability to handle.

Ever since Chen Ergou realized that his Armor-Piercing Arrows could not repel the enemies within the fog, he had already taken out a signal rocket.

At a single command from the Helm Leader, he would fire it immediately to summon aid from the prefectural city.

Wangchuan stared at the blood fog approaching the Branch Helm and took a deep breath.

“In this kind of blood fog environment, let alone whether the Caobang’s signal rocket can even be seen by the prefectural city… do you think anyone would dare sail out in this fog to rescue us?”

“….”

Yang Feiyue fell silent.

Chen Ergou slowly lowered the signal rocket.

A terrifying silence fell over the surroundings.

The enemies had once again disappeared into the fog.

The blood mist rolled forward, inch by inch, toward the Branch Helm.

The gates of the Branch Helm slammed shut with a loud boom. Wang Yuehui had personally ordered the gates closed after witnessing the disciples outside being completely wiped out.

“Helm Leader.”

“What should we do next?”

Everyone waited for the Helm Leader’s decision.

Wangchuan forced himself to calm down. Recalling the way the enemies had destroyed the torches—and how they had avoided leaving the fog prematurely—his eyes suddenly lit up.

“Ergou! Take people and bring out all the tung oil from the storehouse! Quickly!”

“The things inside the fog fear fire and light! Smash the oil jars out there and light up the dock! Let’s see how they extinguish that!”

“Yes!”

The disciples’ spirits lifted.

One tung oil jar after another was hurled from the rooftop.

SMASH!!!

CRASH!

Dozens of oil jars shattered across the dock plaza, the smell of oil instantly spreading everywhere.

Zhao Heiniu, Chen Ergou, and the others tied burning cloth to arrows and shot them into the oil-soaked ground.

WHOOM!

Flames erupted everywhere.

Fire spread rapidly across the dock, lighting the entire area once again.

Within the blood fog, shadowy figures quickly retreated, disappearing back into the mist.

Cold, sinister eyes watched the blazing firelight from within the fog.

“Great!”

“They retreated!”

“They really fear light!”

“The Helm Leader is incredible!”

Under the roaring flames, the blood fog began to evaporate, unable to advance any further.

But Wangchuan noticed something else.

Along the edge of the dock were long trails of blood, dragged across the ground.

More than a dozen disciples had met their fate.

Among them was Hong Biao.

Wangchuan stared into the depths of the blood fog.

He could sense it clearly—pairs of eyes were staring back from within the mist, watching him and the brightly lit Branch Helm.

“Yuhui, go back and inform Supervisor Su. Tell her we have encountered some trouble here. She should make preparations as well.”

“Understood!”

Bai Yuhui knew this was meant as a warning to the studio—and to his cousin.

He leapt over the wall and left.

Wangchuan continued staring at the temporarily quiet blood fog, not daring to relax in the slightest.

…

Warring States Building.

Su Wan stood before the floor-to-ceiling window, looking at the neon-lit skyscrapers outside.

Under the Blood Moon, the city was covered by a crimson shadow, though it looked somewhat different from the world inside 《spirit realm》.

At that moment, her phone suddenly rang.

Su Wan answered almost instantly.

Bai Yuhui’s voice came through the phone.

“Supervisor Su.”

“Wangchuan asked me to inform you that after the Blood Moon appeared, unmanned pleasure boats and blood-red fog emerged on the river outside Hejiang Town. Something inside the fog attacked our Branch Helm. More than a dozen disciples have been killed or gone missing. But we cannot see what exactly is inside the fog. We only know that they move extremely fast, fear light, and are not afraid of fire.”

“Extremely fast… afraid of light… not afraid of fire…”

Su Wan’s eyes suddenly brightened as she looked out over the city, as if she had suddenly realized something.

“Alright.”

“I understand.”

“I’ll notify Captain Bai and Lin Xun immediately.”

She hung up the phone.

…

“Captain Bai.”

“Supervisor Su just called. Wangchuan’s side has already encountered the Blood Moon Incident. Something inside the blood fog on the river attacked them. It moves extremely fast, fears light, and kills mercilessly.”

The message quickly reached Bai Jingtang.

She paused slightly and murmured,

“Afraid of light…”

“The danger is coming from the blood fog on the river?”

Bai Jingtang vaulted out the window and leapt onto the roof of the tallest nearby restaurant. From there, she looked down toward the river dock.

Her eyesight was exceptional.

She immediately spotted a massive cloud of fog moving toward the Caobang Main Helm.

The Caobang clearly had not realized that danger was approaching. They paid little attention to the fog on the river.

Soon, people began to disappear within it.

Bai Jingtang’s expression grew serious.

“This is bad.”

“The Caobang is in big trouble.”

She immediately activated her movement technique and dashed toward the dock.

Now that she knew the danger lay within the blood fog, she intended to observe it at close range and see what kind of monsters were hiding within it.

She leapt from rooftop to rooftop, rapidly approaching the prefectural dock.

Within only a few breaths, more than a dozen Caobang disciples had vanished.

There was no sound.

Black shadows seemed to move within the fog.

Bai Jingtang’s feet moved like the wind.

Reaching a nearby restaurant, she crouched low and stopped advancing.

The dock lay less than fifty meters ahead.

The blood fog had already rolled up from the river and swallowed nearly one-third of the plaza.

Caobang disciples waved their hands impatiently through the thickening mist.

“Why is there fog at this time? Strange…”

“Yeah…”

The blood fog continued to spread.

The two men speaking were quickly swallowed by it.

A black shadow flashed.

A faint whistle through the air was followed by the sound of something being dragged away.

The Caobang disciples still failed to notice the approaching danger.

Only when more than half the dock had been engulfed did someone come running out from the Main Helm building and shout loudly:

“Hey!”

“The Helm Leader said that any abnormal situation must be reported immediately! Are you deaf or something?!”

“With fog this thick and you didn’t even say a word!”

The disciple shouting clearly possessed First-Rank Martial Artist cultivation.

After scolding them, he realized that no one in the fog was responding.

His brows tightened.

Something was wrong.

“Xiao Wu!”

“Chunzi!”

“Erniu!”

“Damn it!”

After calling several names with no response, he finally realized something had happened and turned to run back toward the Main Helm.

At that moment—

A sharp whistling sound cut through the air.

A white object shot out of the blood fog like lightning and struck him squarely in the back.

The First-Rank Martial Artist looked down.

A sharp white bone had pierced through his chest.

PUFF!

He dropped to his knees on the steps of the Main Helm.

A mouthful of blood gushed from his mouth, bubbling as it poured down his chest.

“Something’s wrong…”

“Enemy attack!”

“Enemy attack!!!”

The shout instantly alerted everyone.

But by the time people rushed toward the entrance to investigate, the blood fog had already surged forward to the base of the steps.

Outside the gate, the large red lantern hanging above the entrance was struck down.

The light dimmed.

The blood fog seized the opportunity, rolling over the steps and entering the Main Helm.

At that moment—

Bai Jingtang saw clearly.

The fog poured over the front gate from above and flooded into the courtyard.

A group of Caobang disciples who had rushed out were already standing inside the blood fog.

Seeing this, Bai Jingtang muttered inwardly,

It’s over.

The Main Helm under Sanhe Commandery… was finished.