Chapter 177 - The Thickening Mist and the Flesh Fragment
Outpost No. 3 did not remain peaceful for long. Outside the boundary, the Ashen-Blood Miasma was thickening again.
Layer by layer, it deepened beyond the Boundary Pillar’s protection, until the broken ruins outside the safe zone became vague silhouettes.
Lin Weiyang’s bronze mechanisms reacted first. Several small discs hovering near the outer watch points turned at the same time.
Lin Weiyang’s expression changed slightly.
"The mist flow has shifted."
The words were not loud, but many people heard them.
Outpost No. 3 became alert at once.
Zhuge Jing opened his fan slowly.
"If the mist is strengthening again," he said, "then the enemy may already be moving."
"Or preparing to move," Lin Weiyang added. "The mechanisms are detecting directional pressure. Something is disturbing the miasma flow from outside."
Su Bai looked toward the red haze beyond the outpost.
"Then we should organize what we know before it arrives."
The others quieted.
They had fought many strange things in the Fallen-Star Sanctuary already.
Until now, many people understood parts of the danger, but not the whole shape of it.
That confusion was dangerous. Confusion made people hesitate when they should restrain. It also made people kill when they should not.
Su Bai pointed at the first section of Lin Weiyang’s sketch.
"The first kind of enemy we met was the false body."
Several expressions changed.
Su Bai continued, "The ones we saw were born from the reversed formation under the Treatment-and-Containment Hall. The original structure should have been meant to stabilize wounded cultivators and contain corruption. But this opening, it was reversed. Instead of protecting the wounded, it produced false bodies from the cocooned victims."
Chen Feng frowned. "We entered the Sanctuary not long ago when we saw them. Those false bodies were already active. Can they truly be made that quickly?"
"That is the problem," Su Bai said. "The reversed altar can create them quickly if victims are already trapped and supplied. But I do not know if it is the only method."
Lin Weiyang nodded. "There may be deeper production sites."
The outpost became quieter.
That explanation was not comforting.
It meant the altar was not necessarily the source. It might only be a branch.
Zhuge Jing tapped his closed fan against his palm. "The second kind should be corrupted cultivators."
Bai Zhi’s expression grew solemn.
The injured area behind them was proof of that category.
Zhuge Jing continued, "Most of the cases we encountered came from those who were splashed by the bloom of those human-shaped enemies. The red mist entered wounds, meridians, and spiritual senses. The transformation was not always immediate. Some resisted. Some collapsed. Some became unstable. A few..." His eyes lowered slightly. "A few stopped acting according to their own will."
The faces of several Outpost No. 3 cultivators turned ugly.
They had seen it.
A companion who still looked like himself, still remembered his sect, still called his senior brother by the right title, yet somehow began walking toward the mist when no one ordered him to move.
That was worse than a monster.
A monster could be killed without hesitation. A companion who might still be saved made every sword heavier.
Bai Zhi said softly, "The corruption is not only poison. It carries intent. If it sinks deeply enough, it does not merely injure the person. It tries to make the person answer something else."
The words made several people shiver.
Su Bai nodded. "Compared with false bodies, corrupted cultivators are harder to classify. Some may still be saved. Some may have already become enemies. Do not treat every corrupted person as a monster at once, but do not trust them blindly either."
This was not a comforting order, but it was a necessary one.
Qin Baoshan said in a deep voice, "Then restrain first if possible."
"Yes," Su Bai said. "Restrain. Separate. Stabilize. Confirm."
Tang Ziyan’s gaze shifted.
"And the third?"
No one needed to ask what she meant. The third kind was the reason they had not dared to kill certain enemies recklessly.
Su Bai was silent for a breath.
Then he said, "Soul-Bloom Returnees."
The name made the air colder again.
"When killed carelessly, they bloom. The bloom releases red mist, broken soul fragments, voices, and corruption. Anyone nearby may be affected."
Zhuge Jing’s fan stopped moving.
"They are likely the highest tier we have confirmed so far."
"Confirmed?" Zhuge Jing noticed the word.
Su Bai looked at the mist.
"Yes. Confirmed."
No one asked what remained unconfirmed. They were afraid the answer would make the current problem feel small.
Lin Weiyang slowly adjusted one of her formation sketches. "False bodies imitate individuals. Corrupted cultivators are victims being overwritten. Soul-Bloom Returnees are compressed disasters wearing human form."
"That sounds unpleasantly accurate," Bai Zhi said.
Liu Meng frowned. "Why steal soul fragments? If they want to imitate someone, why not steal the full soul?"
Several cultivators looked at her. This question had clearly appeared in more than one mind.
Zhuge Jing answered first.
"A complete living soul is not easy to steal. The body, cultivation foundation, life flame, karmic ties, and Heaven-Earth imprint all anchor it. Tearing away a full soul requires either death, deep suppression, sacrifice, or an array far stronger than what we have seen in the outer region."
Chen Feng’s expression turned gloomy. "So they do not need the full soul. They only need enough to make others hesitate."
"Yes," Su Bai said. "And enough to fool tools that read identity."
Zhuge Jing’s gaze sharpened. "Even my Profound Eye can be deceived if the target is built from enough true fragments and hidden beneath sufficient corruption."
The words carried weight.
The Profound Eye of the Heavenly Abacus was not omnipotent, but among the younger generation, it was already one of the strongest verification methods.
If even it could be fooled, then no one could rely on a single test.
Su Bai took out the True-Sight Bodhi Bead and showed it to them.
"This also has limits," Su Bai said. "If the false body is immature, it can expose flaws. If corruption is too heavy, or if the false body has digested enough true traces, the bead may react weakly or ambiguously. It is useful, but it cannot decide everything alone."
The outpost became silent.
The categories had become clearer, but clarity did not make the enemy less frightening.
It only made the danger easier to name.
For a moment, the people inside Outpost No. 3 felt as if a layer of fog had lifted from their minds.
But then, the real fog outside the boundary thickened again.
This time, everyone felt it.
A cold pressure passed through the outpost like a hand brushing across the back of every neck. Conversation died at once.
Time seemed to slow.
Su Bai turned toward the mist.
His spiritual sense spread. The world beyond the outpost opened in his mind.
He saw them.
Human figures walked through the ruins beyond the boundary.
They walked openly, almost calmly, as if the ancient outpost belonged to them and the living people inside were the intruders.
There were about a dozen of them.
Their faces were not clear through the mist, but their shapes were human.
Some walked with their heads tilted slightly. Some dragged weapons. One carried something wrapped in torn cloth.
Around them moved miasma beasts. Roughly a hundred.
Their eyes glowed dully inside the red haze, and their bodies gave off the smell of old blood and wet ash.
Then Su Bai’s spiritual sense reached the farthest enemy.
His expression changed.
Behind the walking figures and beasts, something was being carried.
At first, it looked like a lump of flesh, then it pulsed.
Ashen-Blood Miasma pumped out of it in slow, heavy breaths.
The red mist around it thickened every time it moved.
Su Bai’s eyes cooled.
He recognized that thing. It was the same kind of flesh fragment as the one he had found beneath the reversed altar.
It’s the one he had planned to barbecue later.
Now the enemy had brought another one. And this time, they were bringing it toward Outpost No. 3.
Su Bai withdrew his spiritual sense and spoke at once.
"Prepare."
The word cut through the outpost. Everyone straightened.
Su Bai’s voice remained calm, but the content made many faces change.
"The enemies are here. Approximately a dozen human figures. Soul-Bloom Returnees unconfirmed. Around a hundred miasma beasts."
The outpost reacted instantly.
Weapons came out. Formation plates lit up.
Su Bai looked at the damaged Boundary Pillar.
A normal outpost barrier kept external miasma from entering.
But what would happen if a source of Ashen-Blood Miasma was carried directly into the safe zone?
No one knew.
Su Bai did not want to test it.
He turned to Zhuge Jing.
"Brother Zhuge, please assume command."
The words surprised several people.
Meanwhile, Su Bai’s attention had already fixed on the flesh fragment beyond the mist. If that thing entered the outpost, the consequences might be worse than a direct attack on the wounded.
He could not split his focus between battle command, containment, verification, and destroying or sealing that source.
More importantly, an army with two commanders would only become confused.
Zhuge Jing understood even faster.
His fan opened with a snap.
"I accept."
His gaze swept across the outpost, then paused briefly on the emptied star-metal shells that had already been arranged near the inner line.
"Outer line, form three rotating defense rings. Shield cultivators in front, sword and saber cultivators behind them. Formation cultivators, reinforce the weak points. Medicine cultivators, remain near the injured."
Then his gaze moved to the familiar figures.
"Brother Qin, hold the front-left line. Brother Han, support where the beasts break through but do not overextend. Sister Ji, freeze the ground outside the breach points and slow their advance. Sister Tang, suppress the mist only at the outer edge. Sister Lin, have your mechanisms watch the human figures first and the beasts second. Holy Maiden Bai, protect the injured and prepare purification support."
Each order fell clearly.
No one objected.
Zhuge Jing continued, "No one kills a human figure without confirmation. If one enters restraint range, bind first. If sealing is possible, use the star-metal shells."
His fan shifted slightly toward Su Bai.
"If Brother Su gives a separate order, his order takes priority."