I Return From Hell

Chapter 52: Chapter 50: Outbreak of Two Mist Events

Donglin Park.

The area had already been cleared and cordoned off. A large number of temporarily dispatched personnel were stationed around the perimeter, prohibiting anyone from entering.

Inside the park.

Zhao Guohui, Chen Xiao, and Qian Yihao each led a team of ten to survey the surrounding terrain.

Multiple Mist Events had broken out across the country, and the authorities had already compiled some information. One key finding was:

Mutants were the greatest and most common threat during a Mist Event. They were the result of human mutation, a process suspected to be related to an individual’s physical constitution, health, and willpower—with willpower being exceptionally important.

The people here had been selected based on these criteria.

This was to ensure that as few Mutants as possible—or ideally, none at all—would emerge during this Mist Event.

This would also allow them to better deal with other threats.

Soon.

The three teams finished their reconnaissance and obtained a map of the park’s layout.

”From now on, Qian Yihao will be the combat commander.”

”Any objections?”

Chen Xiao’s gaze swept over the crowd as he asked.

Everyone shook their heads.

They had all witnessed Qian Yihao’s strength and knew he was very experienced in this area. Having him serve as combat commander was naturally the best possible choice.

”I suggest we all stick together. If anyone turns into a Mutant, we’ll take them down as a group first.”

”Remember, no matter who becomes a Mutant, you can’t go soft.”

”Even if I’m the one who turns, I want you to aim right here and shoot! Don’t hesitate! I don’t want to become a monster, and I certainly don’t want to devour your flesh and blood.”

Qian Yihao pointed to his temple and said, ”Now, everyone rest where you are and get yourselves mentally prepared. I hope all of you can make it through.”

The matter of Mutants had already been explained to these thirty people beforehand, so they were all mentally prepared.

But now that it was brought up again, no one could avoid feeling tense.

An unknown amount of time passed.

’Is a Mist Event really going to happen here?’

The question surfaced in everyone’s mind.

White mist gradually began to appear all around them.

”It’s here.”

Everyone’s expression turned grim.

A tearing pain began to spread through their bodies.

As expected of highly trained individuals with firm willpower, not a single one of them cried out in pain. Only a few showed their agony, biting down on the towels they had prepared in advance, their expressions resolute.

Zhao Guohui assessed his condition, took out a voice recorder, and spoke calmly. ”Right now, I’m feeling both a tearing sensation in my body and another strange feeling.”

”The tearing pain is subsiding. I feel like my body has been greatly enhanced, and this enhancement is still ongoing. The entire process doesn’t affect my ability to move.”

”That strange feeling is still present, and it’s getting stronger.”

The next moment.

”ROAR.”

A roar shattered the silence.

SWISH.

Zhao Guohui whipped his head toward the source of the roar.

The others’ faces changed drastically as they all turned to look.

”Huang Yiming.”

The crowd cried out in alarm, on full alert.

”Brother Ming.”

Someone who was close to him couldn’t help but call out.

Zhao Guohui’s brow furrowed deeply. He never would have imagined that his own apprentice would become a Mutant. He closed his eyes in anguish, the hand holding his gun trembling.

”ROAR.”

Huang Yiming had lost all reason. His appearance had changed drastically, and now, smelling the scent of humans around him, he let out an excited roar and lunged at the comrade closest to him.

Everyone was shocked.

”BANG.”

A gunshot rang out.

A dark hole appeared on Huang Yiming’s forehead, and he fell backward.

’Who fired that shot?’

”Huang Yiming had strong willpower and was in good health. Because he needed to care for his seriously ill mother, I didn’t have him stay up late with us these past few days. Yet he still became a Mutant. From this, we can deduce...”

”...that whether or not one becomes a Mutant is most heavily influenced by one’s natural physical aptitude.”

Zhao Guohui holstered his gun, his voice low as he forced himself to remain calm and speak.

The crowd fell silent.

Huang Yiming was an apprentice Zhao Guohui had personally trained in the Zhao Group. The two worked together seamlessly and were both mentor and friend. For him to be the one to personally shoot Huang Yiming... one could only imagine how he felt.

Watching Zhao Guohui desperately suppress his grief, Chen Xiao and Qian Yihao couldn’t help but feel a sense of respect.

...

...

「Treasure House.」

This was the city’s largest antique shop. It had three floors and was in a remote location.

Normally, being New Year’s Eve, the place should have been practically deserted. But right now, it was brightly lit.

Shadows flickered inside.

Xie Shaokun had already surveyed the layout and destroyed all the surveillance cameras, but...

”Why isn’t Yu here yet?”

He was getting anxious.

When the mist started to well up around him...

Xie Shaokun grew even more anxious. ’Maybe I should just leave?’ he thought.

Even Yu had to treat this Mist Event with extreme caution. How could he dare to face it alone?

His life was more important.

Only after participating in a few more Mist Events with Yu would he have the confidence to enter one by himself.

Just then.

Xia Yu arrived.

There was a swarm of ’flies’ behind her. To avoid revealing herself, she hadn’t been able to ’borrow’ a car and had to wait for a taxi, which took forever to arrive.

Fortunately, she had made it in the end.

She glanced behind her.

Their eyes met.

Zhao Xianghe waved his hand a bit awkwardly. ”You’re here to hang out, too?”

His friends quickly put away their phones, pretending to admire the antiques.

Xia Yu ignored him.

In her past life, Zhao Xianghe hadn’t been involved in the Treasure House incident. He had survived until after the Apocalypse began, but now...

’Why does he have to court death?’

She withdrew her gaze, her expression indifferent.

”Yu.”

Xie Shaokun hurried over, letting out a heavy sigh of relief. ”Back in school, were you one of those people who always slid into the classroom right as the bell rang?”

Her timing was cutting it a little too close.

”Tell me what you found.”

Xia Yu had no time to waste on small talk with Xie Shaokun and urged him on.

Regarding the Treasure House incident, she only knew two things:

First, the time and place.

Second, there were no survivors. Afterward, no human bodies were found, not even the corpses of Mutants.

As for anything else, she was completely in the dark. She didn’t even know what dangers or resources were here.

”Including you guys who just came in, there are exactly 50 people.”

Xie Shaokun spoke quickly, ”The first floor has a lot of display counters. The outer ones are arranged along the walls, and the inner ones are in an oval shape.”

”The second floor has fewer counters, all arranged along the walls. There are also several private rooms for transactions, leaving the central area quite open.”

”The third floor has all sorts of entertainment like card and board games, pool tables, and arcade machines. You can even play claw machines. Each activity has its own area, and there are some antique decorations, so the whole floor is packed.”

”That’s where most of the people are.”

”That’s it?”

”Oh, right. The antiques on the first floor are cheaper, and the ones on the second floor are more valuable.”

”???”

”There’s no elevator. To go upstairs, you have to take the stairs in the northeast corner.”

”???”

”Uh... that’s really it.”

Xie Shaokun had overheard someone saying the owner was keeping a mistress and that the mistress had shown up today, but that didn’t seem like important information, so he didn’t mention it. ”I only just got here myself, and I had to destroy the surveillance cameras.”

”No need for excuses.”

Seeing that the people on the first floor were already beginning to show abnormalities, Xia Yu knew the Mist Event had fully erupted. The Blood Butterfly appeared in her palm as she spoke rapidly, ”Besides the Mutants, there’s definitely another, greater danger in this Mist Event.”

”So we have to clear out the Mutants as fast as possible and try to keep as many people alive as we can.”

The Treasure House incident was too bizarre.

She had to be cautious.

”I’ll leave the first floor to you.”

”WHOOSH.”

With that, she rushed up to the second floor.

As she left the first floor, Xia Yu glimpsed a pair of three-inch lotus red embroidered shoes in one of the display counters.

They were an uncanny shade of red.

For some reason, her heart skipped a beat the moment she saw them.

”ROAR.”

Roars echoed throughout the building.

Xia Yu tore her gaze away and stepped onto the second floor.

The next moment.

The slaughter began.

Screams, shrieks, roars, and the thud of falling bodies mingled together like a symphony, becoming the background music for this feast of slaughter.

In the darkness.

Xia Yu moved like a Ghost, reaping the lives of one Mutant after another.

In just three minutes.

The second floor was cleared.

She didn’t rashly head up to the third floor. Instead, she guarded the top of the stairwell, ensuring her back was safe so she could create 1v1 opportunities against the Mutants.

Twenty minutes later.

The Mutants were all killed.

Including Xia Yu and Xie Shaokun, eighteen people survived.

If not for Xia Yu and Xie Shaokun, this first wave would have likely resulted in a ’total party kill’.

”Monsters, a bunch of monsters... *sob*... I want to go home.”

”The outside is covered in mist, we can’t get out! What in the world is happening?”

”*sob* The dreamboat I spent so much money to win over... we didn’t even get to go to a hotel, and now he’s just gone... *sob*...”

...

The survivors huddled together in a chaotic mess.

Everyone took out their phones and turned on their flashlights, making the surroundings bright.

”Yu, I didn’t find a single Crystal Core over here.”

Xie Shaokun said, ”Luckily, no one brought any pets. The devil’s ivy plants here all became Spiritual Transformation Plants, which saved us a lot of trouble.”

”Mm.”

Xia Yu had obtained two in total.

She wasn’t so lucky this time; the probability of a Crystal Core forming was much lower.

”Yu, it doesn’t seem like any other dangers are coming.”

Xie Shaokun surveyed their surroundings, frowning in confusion.

”It’s here.”

Xia Yu’s pupils contracted. As if sensing something, her entire body tensed up.

Xie Shaokun: ”???”

The next moment.

White mist began to pour in from outside the Treasure House...