Chapter 114: Ash Corridor
The Metal Books slowly closed, the scenes sketched in rust disappearing like smoke and dust. The Headless Knight retracted the arm entwined with chains, the Metal Books levitating in its palm. Thin wisps of grey fog seeped from between the pages, like the breath of some living creature.
“The end of the Grey Fog…” the books rasped, “lies east of the settlement… through the Ash Corridor…”
Li Wen glanced towards the east side of the plaza, where a collapsed archway stood. Cracked stone pillars were overgrown with Glowing Vines, and unfathomable darkness peeked through the gaps between them.
“Thanks,” she said, turning to leave. Suddenly, the Metal Books began to tremble violently.
“Wait…” the hoarse voice said with an eerie urgency, “the story… isn’t over…”
Li Wen stopped, her right hand subtly reaching for her dagger. “What do you mean?”
“Your story… has a sequel…” The books flipped open to a new page, copper rust-colored liquid gathering on the paper to form words. “Death… rebirth… fighting the apocalypse… we need the complete story…”
The Headless Knights suddenly turned in unison, their twelve rusted weapons all pointing at Li Wen. The Grey Fog spewing from the seams of their armor interwove into a net in the air. Sir Guinea Pig darted out from some corner, hiding behind a broken wall and poking out half its head. “Agree to it quickly! These headless fellows hate unfinished stories the most!”
Li Wen squinted, her Emerald Star Cloak fluttering without a breeze. “And if I don’t agree?”
“Breachers of contract…” the voice of the Metal Books suddenly sharpened, “will become the story itself…”
Before the words had even finished, the three closest Headless Knights lunged. They charged with a speed completely incongruous with their bulky forms, their broken swords tearing through the air with a shriek. Li Wen leaned back, dodging a horizontal slash. Her dagger spun in her palm, its cold glint precisely piercing the gap in the armor.
“Clang!”
Amidst the clang of metal on metal, the dagger felt strangely heavy. The knight it struck showed no reaction, as Grey Fog seeped from the armor’s cracks and coiled around Li Wen’s wrist. She decisively retreated but found that the Grey Fog had already left a visible mark on her and her Emerald Star Cloak. She glanced at her status bar and saw that her life had already dropped by over 30%.
Sir Guinea Pig’s scream came from a distance: “Don’t touch their fog!”
Li Wen didn’t need the guinea pig’s warning; she could see the danger of these Headless Knights. She immediately entered Witch Form, a dark candle appearing in her hand.
Darkness descended instantly, and the knights all lost their target, milling about restlessly in place. When the darkness dissipated, Li Wen’s figure was long gone.
*
In Witch Form, Li Wen flew past the archway, still dragging Sir Guinea Pig. The creature Thrashed about comically, its struggles out of proportion to its plump form.
“I’m asking you, what kind of place is the Ash Corridor?”
Li Wen, feeling no guilt about this, tossed the guinea pig down and canceled Witch Form.
Sir Guinea Pig rolled twice on the ground before stabilizing itself. It furiously brushed dust off its fur, its purple eyes wide. “Rude! So rude! I am the chief scholar of the Kingdom of Lafatia, not some—”
“Answer my question,” Li Wen’s dagger twirled at her fingertip, its cold glint dancing on Sir Guinea Pig’s whiskers.
Sir Grendel’s whiskers immediately drooped. It shrunk its neck, its voice noticeably lower. “The Ash Corridor… is one of the most dangerous places in the settlement.”
“Be more specific,” Li Wen’s dagger stopped.
It nervously twisted its short claws on its bowtie, its voice lowered considerably. “Legend has it that it’s where the Grey Fog first appeared. All living beings that step into it will gradually turn into ashes and become part of the corridor. No one has ever returned after entering… not even the Headless Army… You should be able to tell from their ability to command the Grey Fog. Their existence is indeed inseparable from the Grey Fog, but that means nothing in the Ash Corridor.”
Li Wen squinted. The path ahead had been reclaimed by the Grey Fog, and faint, subtle sounds like the grinding of lips and teeth could be heard. The Grey Fog here was more viscous than in other parts of the settlement, almost solid. Occasionally, tiny specks of ash drifted out of the fog, landing on the Glowing Vines, causing them to immediately wither and curl, and their light to dim.
“Listen, the Ash Corridor is no place for games,” Sir Guinea Pig exclaimed, waving its forepaws excitedly. “The corridor will inexorably devour you. Although you can’t truly die here, the pain is far more terrifying than death! It’s eternal torment!”
Li Wen sheathed her dagger. Her Emerald Star Cloak emitted a faint glow in the Grey Fog. She looked into the depths of the corridor, where the fog took on a sickly leaden hue. Occasionally, tiny sparks flickered in the fog, like the dying breaths of a person.
“You might as well go back and let those headless fellows kill you a few times to vent your anger,” Sir Guinea Pig said, mistaking Li Wen’s actions as him being swayed. He continued his劝说, his voice becoming thin and sharp with urgency. “In any case, death never truly arrives here, so why go to such a dreadful place to suffer?”
“If you’re scared, you can leave on your own,” Li Wen said, her expression unchanged. “I won’t drag you to your death.”
Hearing this, Sir Guinea Pig’s ears drooped. He sighed, but quickly returned to his usual demeanor, as if resigned or perhaps numb.
Sir Guinea Pig walked backward, preparing to return the way he came. But after only a few steps, he suddenly lowered his voice. “One last piece of advice—time in the Grey Fog is chaotic and disordered. Within it, you might encounter all sorts of unexpected things… or people. But remember, no one can ever be sure if those are real or fake.”
His figure was gradually swallowed by the darkness, his last words drifting as if an illusion. “Good luck, human friend. I hope we can meet again at the end of this world…”
Time is chaotic and disordered?
Li Wen mused. Without hesitation, she stepped into the Grey Fog.
A chilling coldness, like the point of freezing, descended again. The Grey Fog surged past her ankles like a tide. Faint cracking sounds came from the soles of Li Wen’s boots. Looking down, she saw the ground covered in a pale gray powder. Every step kicked up tiny dust motes. These ashes didn’t seem inanimate; they clung to the edges of her cloak as if alive, leaving faint gray marks on the fabric woven from Emerald Star Sand.
Li Wen raised her hand to brush the ashes off her cloak, and her fingertips stung. The seemingly harmless powder was corrosive. She squinted, seeing the Grey Fog in her vision with a strange sense of layering—close by was the dense leaden-gray fog, a little further it gradually transitioned to a murky dark yellow, and the deepest parts were completely consumed by darkness.
Sir Guinea Pig’s mention of “chaotic time” began to manifest. Li Wen noticed that three meters to her left, the Grey Fog suddenly thinned, revealing half a broken stone tablet. The inscriptions were in some ancient script, but as she drew closer, the tablet dissolved like an illusion. Immediately after, a metallic clanging sound came from the front right, and a blurry figure ran past from within the fog, its footsteps growing closer and then suddenly disappearing.
“An illusion?” Li Wen murmured to herself, her voice sounding unusually muffled in the Grey Fog.
No, this was not an illusion.
This feeling was indeed extremely familiar. Li Wen couldn’t believe she’d encounter such a phenomenon here. It shouldn’t have appeared at this time, in this place.
“This is a tide…” she whispered.
