Chapter 196 - Burn
Still staring at the location where the statue had been, Jin Wang shouted at the top of his lungs, "We have to get out of here!" but contrary to the commotion he was expecting, there was no response at all.
With gritted teeth, he finally looked behind but could see nothing but the dense fog.
His eyes contracted as he mumbled absentmindedly, "It's started already."
"Please, wake up!" he shouted inwardly while beads of sweat formed on his forehead.
Pressing his right hand on his chest, he closed his eyes and a deep voice echoed in the surroundings.
"I call upon the void!"
The surrounding fog rippled like the water's surface as he continued in a somber tone.
"The last of the 'Inanis',
Of the tribe of Mora,
The first of the Liber,
And the last of the living."
He prostrated on the ground as a seething aura erupted from the empty space behind him.
"Oh great 'Nothingness', open your descendant's eyes to the world beyond and let this 'insignificant one' break free from the clutches of the 'Great Shadow' underneath."
The fog around him started undulating while getting pushed back by an unknown force. Jin Wang sneaked a peek and was elated to see his prayers were being answered. His eyes glinted as he pushed a bit more.
"I beseech Thee, give this mortal the ability to escape from the 'Shadow's' hold," he slammed his head on the ground so hard that it started bleeding.
But there was no change in his surroundings nor a response from the unknown power. He looked up worriedly after a few minutes before bitting his lips resolutely.
He mumbled, "I...I offer myself in exchange," and after a second of silence, a humming sound came from behind.
The very space itself twisted and formed a three-fingered hand. It was barely visible but certainly there.
It reached out and entered Jin Wang's body effortlessly. An expression of intense pain flashed past Jin Wang's face for an instant before returning to normal.
The hand came out a few seconds later with a white glowing orb of light in its grasp.
Jin Wang opened his mouth with great difficulty, "My gratitude to the great 'Nothingness'," and passed out in the same prostrating position.
The hand disappeared like it was never there in the first place.
The air manifested and an invisible wave spread out with Jin Wang as the center. It passed through the fog effortlessly and reached every single person in the camp, waking them up. Even Zeng Yu and Zeng Wu who were in a trance of sorts were startled by it.
"What? What's going?" Zeng Yu looked around in confusion and noticed the dense fog all around them. His expression turned serious as he realized what had happened.
Veins appeared on his forehead as he took in a deep breath, "ATTENTION!" he bellowed, sending debris flying everywhere.
This was the actual power of a Ninth stage Spirit Realm expert. A simple yell was enough to cause a storm in the normal world.
"Attention!"
"Attention!"
"Oi! Wake the hell up!"
A commotion broke out as everyone got up as quickly as possible. Zeng Wu came running over and looked at his father with the same expression.
"Where is Jin Wang?" Zeng Yu asked while taking a look around.
Zeng Wu squinted and looked at his surroundings but couldn't see very far because of the fog.
"I'll go check," he said before sprinting off in Jin Wang's direction.
A minute later he returned with Jin Wang's body over his shoulder. His face was extremely pale and blood was coming out from his forehead.
Zeng Yu frowned, "What happened?"
"I don't know. There were no signs of struggle, he was just passed in this condition," Zeng Wu explained.
"Ahhh!"
"STOP! What are you doing!"
"Get off of me!"
Zeng Yu extended his hand towards Jin Wang to check his condition but was interrupted by the sudden onslaught of screams from the surroundings.
The father-son duo ran in and saw people running everywhere.
Several groups of Red Legion soldiers were surrounding a few people with their weapons out.
"Move!" Zeng Yu shouted and the soldiers quickly parted.
He walked forward and was astonished by the scene in front. It was a humanoid figure standing over the body of one of Hou Chin's guards. The figure was down on all fours, using its teeth to bite into the flesh of the guard, ripping it clean off the bones.
*Blurgh*
Several spectators vomited.
Zeng Yu's aura rose as he punched out in the figure's direction. "Enough! Have you gone mad!"
The punch hit the figure head-on, sending it flying into a wall not far from them.
Zeng Yu walked over to the guard and checked for a pulse, but the body was already cold.
"Bring her over!" he shouted. Four Red Legion soldiers quickly ran up to the figure embedded in the wall.
"No please, Xiuying'er would never do this on purpose! Something strange is going on!" Hou Chin quickly ran over and stood between the soldiers and Sun Xiuying, who was the one eating the guard's flesh earlier.
"MOVE!" Zeng Yu shouted, punching out once again, sending a shockwave in her direction.
Terrified by the incoming attack, her legs went limp as she fell to the ground while covering her face.
*BOOM*
The shockwave went past her, hitting Sun Xiuying who was about to bite into Hou Chin's neck.
"Careful, something is not right with her!" Zeng Wu shouted from the side.
*Cough*Cough*
"O-Of course something isn't right. She was just eating another person," Jin Wang mumbled weakly.
He lifted his head with some effort and looked at Sun Xiuying and then at the guard she was eating, "Burn them both, now!"
"What?!" Zeng Yu glared at him.
"Quick, before it spreads!" he spoke again.
While Zeng Yu was contemplating, four more screams came from all around them. Several of the tents fell down as over six figures walked out slowly.
They were covered in blood, some missing a limb or two while one even had half his throat torn off.
Jin Wang looked around and sighed, "Already so many, but they still aren't awake yet, quickly, incinerate them at once!" he tried to shout and splurted out another mouthful of blood.