The King of Black Fog

"Got him! Got him again!" The corpse that had previously grabbed Andy's ankle opened its mouth, bit onto the upper half of its torso, and twisted its way out of the cave.

"Grab him! Grab him!" The head on the upper torso cheered at the cave's edge.

As the corpse retreated, it pushed the head into the Abyss; the voice of "grab him" still echoed from the Abyss.

Yeet and Bai Zi strode forward again, smashing down with their steel swords like hammers.

The corpse's arms were broken off, and the two men each took an arm, dragging the old man backward.

"Tali!" The old man roared upwards.

Tali snapped back to reality and released the bowstring.

The nearly extinguished fire arrow flew in the air, landing on the corpse with a "whoosh!" Flames soared half a meter high.

The firelight illuminated their faces as the group, who narrowly escaped death, panted heavily. Yet the threat of the Abyss, like their shadows on the cave walls, never left them, always lurking.

"Ah....." Andy leaned against the icy wall, clutching his ankle, groaning in pain.

The old man, gasping for breath, stood up and went over to him, removing his thick shoes and socks to check the injuries.

"It's fine," he sighed with relief, "luckily, your clothes were thick enough; no bones were hurt."

Yeet and Bai Zi's cold eyes softened. If Andy had been seriously injured, they would have abandoned him.

The old man removed his gloves, took a piece of potion-frozen ice from his waist, melted it in his mouth, and spat it onto Andy's ankle, then pressed heavily with both hands.

"Ah!!" Andy's face contorted.

"Painful?" The old man didn't scold, instead smiled broadly.

"It hurts like hell! Be gentle, old man!"

"Pain is good. This lesson is heavy, yet it hasn't led to real injury or illness, very good! You'll know when to restrain yourself in the future!"

"If it wasn't for my hands and feet being frozen stiff, I—ah!!!"

The old man rubbed his ankle as if trying to separate flesh from bone, and turned to Yeet, saying: "Yeet, tell him what we'll do if his foot becomes useless."

"Make me the bad guy, huh?" Yeet was reluctant but began speaking, "Andy, if you injure your bones, we'll leave you here."

A straightforward method, a calm tone, without a hint of guilt or heaviness.

Yet Andy's screams grew weaker, and he grimaced in pain, breathing heavily but remained silent.

"Isn't there... still the leader?" Tali whispered.

"Tali," Bai Zi turned around, "it's us who need the leader, not the leader who needs us, do you understand? With the caves created by the leader, if we still can't handle the Ice Corpses, we're just burdens."

"In the face of the 'Great Power' of the leader, even if we can deal with the Ice Corpses, aren't we still burdens?" Stone Fist asked in confusion.

"Stone Fist, little brother," Yeet rested his elbow on Stone Fist's shoulder, "'Great Power' is strong, but not invincible in every situation, especially in the Abyss.

"Like just now, the leader also needs us to stand in front, to observe the enemy first; in case the one coming up is the kid who plays with green light, we can use our lives as shields for the leader.

"If it's another 'Great Power,' we can also gather intel from their way of killing."

"Don't make me sound so cold." Li Changzhou emerged from deep within the cave.

Yeet shrugged.

Li Changzhou walked to the old man: "Everything alright?"

"No problem, young—" The old man turned, saw Li Changzhou's gaze, faltered for a moment, "—injury."

Li Changzhou nodded, suddenly said: "You go back with Andy."

"Boss! I can continue!" Andy cried.

Li Changzhou kept his eyes on the old man.

The old man said: "We can continue."

After a brief silence, Li Changzhou walked towards the cave entrance: "Life is your own."

Yang Qinglan followed beside him.

Yeet, Bai Zi, Stone Fist, and Tali followed closely behind; Andy, fearing to be left behind, hastily put on his socks and shoes, gritted his teeth to catch up.

"You little bastard, slow down, don't exert that foot for now, save it for the fight!" The old man still squatting on the ground cursed.

He slightly turned towards the cave depth and glanced at his chest, where the half-corpse had gripped him. Blood and clothing had frozen together.

"Old man! Hurry up!" Andy shouted.

The old man slowly stood, his head buzzing and vision blackening.

He acted as if nothing was wrong, feeling his way towards the cave exit, his vision gradually recovering.

"Yeet, switch places; I'll go lowest." The old man spoke.

"As you wish."

The two swapped positions.

Li Changzhou and the old man descended first. When they reached the limit of the rope, waiting for the next person, the old man spoke: "Captain, if something happens to me, don't save me."

Li Changzhou turned to look at him.

The sun was getting smaller, the cold biting, the Abyss was watching from below, with only the two of them on the ice wall for the moment.

"Given my condition, even if I return now, I might not make it out of the snowfield." The old man spoke relaxedly, "Andy... if I don't die in front of him, giving him enough impact, he won't live past twenty."