The King of Black Fog

The light gradually dimmed, and the originally negligible kerosene lamp light became more pronounced.

The old man's preaching grew more frequent, and everyone attributed it to his increased caution after the earlier mishap.

Not sure if it was the cold, the lesson learned, or the pain in his ankle, Andy listened silently without showing impatience.

"Ahead is the 'Fallout Zone'," said the old man as he spread out the rolled-up map while resting in the cave carved out by Li Changzhou, "'The Fallout Zone' is so deep, there's almost no light. We must stick to the paths already explored, and mining can only be done at the edges of these paths."

Upon hearing mining, Tali trembled and perked up.

Yeet glanced at her and said, "'The Fallout Zone' is colder, making the ice wall harder to carve. Make sure, absolutely sure, that your ice pick is sturdy enough."

"There are still monsters lurking in the darkness," the old man continued after a pause, "as well as adventurers preying on each other."

The cave could barely offer enough space to stand and eat to regain physical strength, but couldn't provide warmth. Lingering too long out of comfort might result in never waking up after nodding off. Everyone prepared to resume their journey.

The old man put away the map and handed it to Li Changzhou: "Captain, the rest is up to you."

"Old man, why don't you just keep the map—" Yeet couldn't help but speak, but he only got halfway through his sentence.

"This is my last adventure." The old man said nonchalantly.

Yeet quietly told Tali, "This map is worth at least ten thousand solid ice pieces."

Tali gasped.

Don't be fooled by the fact that one night at Della's tavern cost seven solid ice pieces; that's only because they're on the snowfield. Back on the sea island, seven solid ice pieces could buy an entire small tavern!

Li Changzhou glanced at the old man and took the map: "Don't put too much hope in me, I can only do my best."

"That's enough." The old man chuckled, "Let's go, boys!"

The eight were ready, this time not splitting into two groups, but tying themselves together with two ropes.

Of the eight people, only one would move at a time, with the other seven serving as anchors.

Being an anchor wasn't necessarily safe; shortly after setting out, Tali, letting her guard down, slipped and plummeted.

Fear instantly enveloped her!

"Ah!!" Yeet, who was descending above Tali, roared, trying to bear Tali's weight with his waist.

Whzzzhh!

His ice pick slipped too, skidding across the ice surface.

Yeet spun mid-air, struggling to find balance, and drove his ice pick back into the ice surface.

Bam!

The ice wall was as hard as iron, and each fastening took at least two hundred breaths; trying hastily was futile.

He not only failed to drive the ice pick into the ice surface but also, due to excessive force, let the pick slip from his grasp. If not for the wrist strap, the pick would have been lost.

Yeet fell, as did Stone Fist above him, who held on for only a moment.

The old man above Stone Fist grunted, his waistline rope tightened, bursting his frozen wound, but through a lifetime of caution, he managed to hold the weight of all three with his ice pick.

Blood dripped out and froze quickly, staunching the flow but leaving him blinded by excruciating pain.

Beneath Tali were Li Changzhou and Yang Qinglan.

A dark hand emerged from behind Li Changzhou, catching Tali and then another hand emerged from the first hand to catch Yeet, followed by a third hand from the second to catch Stone Fist.

The old man was over fifteen meters away from Li Changzhou—beyond the reach of the helping hand—but after catching the three, his burden was eased.

"Are you okay?!" Andy, above the old man, yelled in alarm.

"Don't look back!" the old man shouted.

Even in darkness, one must not gaze at the abyss.

Tali, Yeet, and Stone Fist gasped for breath, icy sweat trickling from their armpits, freezing immediately.

Bai Zi and Andy also breathed heavily, the ever-present fear of death nearly taking form, gripping them into the abyss.

"I'm, I'm sorry." Tali's voice came, filled with shame.

"Don't apologize, make use of the time!" Yeet lay atop the dark hand, chiseling the ice wall with his pick.

The descent continued.

Darkness completely surrounded them, making it impossible to see each other, save for the glow of light at each other's waists.

The light, weak in the thick darkness, almost seemed to drown, leaving everyone feeling short of breath.

They occasionally stopped, focused on listening for any sound, lest the ice corpse reach their faces unnoticed.

"The danger from ice corpses is minimal here," the old man said to the exhausted yet terrified Tali after again defeating an ice corpse in a cave, "some adventurers deliberately cover their lights, lying dead on the ice, waiting for others to draw near, then silently—"

He raised his hand, mimicking pulling someone down.

Tali, Stone Fist, and Andy shivered.

"Old man, stop scaring us!" Andy exclaimed discontentedly.

The old man laughed cheerfully.

After resting, he said: "This is the last stretch. Next, we will separate; those staying behind to mine solid ice remain here, those betting on a chance, follow the captain further down. Everyone has already decided, but now lies one last chance to reconsider."

"I'll stay!" Tali immediately said.

"We will too." Yeet and Bai Zi agreed.

Stone Fist hesitated; before coming here, he was determined to follow the captain and seek 'Great Power' in the abyss, but since descending, he was pinned down by an ice corpse, and without his shield, he'd be dead.

The ice pick had slipped as well.