Chapter 184: Mist

Deep in late summer, the mountain forest that was once thin became lush and green. Sunlight leaked through the gaps in the leaves. The air was humid in the dense forest at dawn, and there were fine dewdrops on the branches and grass. It gave a refreshing and cool feeling.

When Fang Jing drove up to the “Aobanuma Research Institute,” the sky was already bright. After a whole night of trouble, he finally reached this mountain forest swallowed by the green of fir trees.

This area had several famous mountains and was a well-known spot for climbing lovers.

From earlier information, he learned this was a big forest where non-experts could get into trouble.

But this was only true if they went straight for the dangerous peaks. As long as they stayed on the main paths and followed the built roads, getting lost usually wasn’t an issue.

“Building the research institute in such a place is really beyond me…”

Still, it wasn’t a bad idea for hiding, but moving things there was tough.

Fang Jing drove the car off the highway into the woods and got out. He picked up the map and looked it over.

“I’ll skip that for now. From what I remember and what the map shows, getting into the mountains will take a long time. Reaching ‘Aobanuma’ will mean a long detour.”

Aobanuma was a place name. Information from the Okamoto Information Broker didn’t confirm it was the “Aobanuma Research Institute,” but only mentioned a big building.

“…a huge pure white building with no known use. It probably had professional guards inside, but we couldn’t find any related details.”

The Okamoto Information Broker tried to dig deeper into the building’s story but quickly hit a “wall.” This made them see the building had hidden dangerous roots. So they had to give up.

After getting this news, Fang Jing pinned the area as the most suspicious one.

—

The buzz of cicadas made people restless, and birds sometimes chirped loudly.

Sounds of grass moving happened now and then in the fir forest. Two figures with backpacks walked one behind the other along the winding forest trail.

Tall trees stood here and there, with their tops straight and high. The shortest were at least twenty to thirty meters tall, like long poles growing up from the ground. There were big gaps between the trees.

The ground was full of thick yellowish-green wild grass and mixed plants. Some bare rocks showed green and were covered in patchy moss. A gray-backed grass lizard jumped onto a rock, looking around quickly with its eyes. Then it heard a noise, got scared, and hid in a crack in the rock.

The next second, a foot in a hiking shoe stepped on the rock and jumped over smoothly.

“We’ve walked nearly ten kilometers, and we’re almost three away from reaching ‘Aobanuma’…”

After checking the map and matching it with the land, Takami Fuyumi, with her backpack, knew where they were.

This was near the western edge of Gunma Prefecture, close to Niigata. It was a mountain called Naki Kawa Mountain, not far from Joshinetsu National Park.

West of the mountains near the city lay a line of tall peaks. The highest parts were almost two thousand meters up. After going into the hills, the weather changed a lot, and mountain accidents happened often.

Amasue Suetora was more used to mountain life than others. She had spent much time deep in the hills to practice hunting.

To learn about “Kang Tsang” ways and “Fang Hunter” tricks, the loneliest forests were best.

Every Fang Hunter had to stay away from people for long hard training. To build strength, they did things like rock climbing, hiking, and living in the wild.

Amasue Suetora couldn’t recall her childhood. But thinking back, it was mostly a dark, tall cliff.

“The Executive Department paid no mind. We don’t know what the top people are thinking…”

She had asked a familiar friend to pass the note details to the Executive Department head. Sadly, there was still no news.

The Mobile Operations Room was weird these past weeks. Insiders were slowly “changed,” and people she knew got sent to lower jobs.

She heard the big fights among the top groups got louder, but she hadn’t expected such a mess.

“Still three kilometers… it sounds so far.”

Takami Fuyumi panted hard behind her. Her energy was mostly gone, and she kept drinking water.

Three days ago, she got the “Succession Title” and officially took “Teng Jian” from the Twelve Artifacts. It was a move from above.

For now, it was likely that the Exorcism Blades “Xiong Qi” and “Jiang Liang” were snatched by the Corpse Hound.

But the Twelve Artifacts weren’t ordinary blades. If the Ki no Shou died wrong, the “blade spirit” would shatter and shift. It went back to the heart iron handled by Kagami God Room. After crafting, it could be fixed again.

The Ki no Shou might die, but the Twelve Artifacts wouldn’t break.

Even if Uzo and Ryugai Tobu died, it wouldn’t ruin the Twelve Artifacts forever.

To make up for fighting power, giving the “Vajra” title to Takami Fuyumi, who was still learning, was just a quick fix.

Because this new Ki no Shou was too young and unskilled, Amasue Suetora got put on as her guide.

Since she also knew about the “Note Case,” Amasue Suetora decided to bring Takami Fuyumi along to Aobanuma. First, she had planned to touch base with Raisu and his helper Kitano. Sadly, the Phone never worked.

“Phone signals are really bad in the hills. If they went into the woods at Aobanuma, the Phone just couldn’t connect…”

After seeing this, she started out before dawn at top speed for the area.

After arriving, she found some problems. One was she couldn’t get to the Aobanuma Research Institute fast.

In her route plan, the only good way now meant going over a huge mountain to reach the spot.

True, a highway for cars ran that way. But five years ago, the place got called a ‘Special Famous Area and Supernatural Site.’ Rules to protect it barred private cars from coming or going.

That main road only let a few tour buses and buses through each day, and only a couple of times.

Raisu and helper Kitano talked with Kagami God Room first. They stayed overnight at a hot spring inn for those hiking in the hills near Aobanuma. Then they borrowed a car from the inn folk to get to the research institute.

Amasue Suetora and Takami Fuyumi didn’t have time like that now.

They just had to cross the hills to the institute as quickly as possible.

After checking her way with a compass, Amasue Suetora kept moving. They were very close.

But then, something odd happened. As they kept walking forward, a very faint smoky fog began to form in the air.

After a while, the fog thickened. It floated in the thick woods like see-through threads. Soon after, the fog became solid white, washing away the view all around. The mist turned into a thick river. Things were too blurry to see clearly just a few steps away.

(This mist feels a bit wrong…)

Amasue Suetora knew right away the fog was too quick and weird.

—

“Yagashi, Yagashi, this fog just popped up out of nowhere. Is Naki Kawa Mountain doing this? It feels so spooky!”

In the deep forest thick with plants, a little girl bounced with small steps beside the boy named “Yagashi.”

The little girl came up to his waist only. She had soft, pale skin and wore a plain white dress. Flat bangs covered her forehead, and her straight, smooth black hair fell long. Her big bright eyes fluttered, full of wonder, making her look like a young cat.

“I think that fog has something nasty in it.”

Her voice rang clean and sweet like a small bird’s.

“This fog isn’t normal. There’s a strange feel in the air.”

Yagashi stared coldly at the far-off sights. The heavy mist was turning the wild slopes into a fog maze.

“Could it be the ‘Elder Class’ Dong from the Oblique Tooth’s Corpse Hound? I heard that in the big fight, it used fog to trick our side for a while. Even the Clan folks were late, missing the Huang Fan Festival…”

As the fog swept over, she jumped onto a higher rock and mumbled.

“You mean Dong, the ‘Elder Class’ from Oblique Tooth? I remember he should be dead!”

“Not too sure. But if he’s alive, he’s barely kicking. Ha, if Fang Hunters hadn’t gotten lazy, that old bunch wouldn’t dare act up!”

A sly glint touched the girl’s pink cheeks. She looked all around like a wondering kitten.

“Yagashi, Yagashi, something odd is moving in…”

Boom! Thud!

The sounds of heavy steps and a Chain being dragged over the ground crept in from the fog.

Tens of gray figures drifted from the mist.

“Suzuran, it’s time.”

He felt the icy killing sense gather in the fog, bringing down heavy force.

Yagashi took a sharp breath. He lifted one hand.

“Bring out the Hua Sheng Blade ‘Chigamaru’! This enemy isn’t easy. Without Blade Demon Transformation, even I won’t win.”