After relaxing for so long, Mu Xuan was starting to get a little bored.
Ever since the Catastrophe descended upon this world, it had become almost impossible to move around anywhere. Other than those strange, twisted ghostly things, there really wasn’t anything worth admiring within the black mist.
There were no computers, no phones, or any of those sorts of things here. Anyone would get sick of being cooped up inside all the time. On top of that, there wasn’t even a livestock farm in the base yet, and Mu Xuan was getting sick of eating hard bread to the point of wanting to throw up.
Just then, news from Buzhachi arrived once again.
He had found a shepherd who could walk through the black mist!
Sheep were valuable—whether goats or wool sheep, their wool could be used to make clothes! And mutton was still meat: mutton skewers, lamb chops… A parade of delicious foods flashed through his mind.
But soon, Mu Xuan shook his head and pushed away those thoughts.
He didn’t believe for a second that a shepherd who could move through the black mist would be an ordinary person—or that the sheep would be normal, either.
The Catastrophe had been here for so long that barely one in ten humans survived, not to mention livestock.
Even so, Mu Xuan still held out a sliver of hope and decided to go check it out for himself.
What if those sheep were just a little contaminated? The Light Force in his hands might still be able to handle it!
With that in mind, Mu Xuan briefly discussed the direction of the base’s development with Bekze again, and after handing over all the base matters to Bekze, he set out in the direction of Buzhachi’s location.
This time, Mu Xuan didn’t bring anyone with him.
The place was simply too far away, and there was no telling what terrifying oddities he might encounter along the way. More importantly, he alone could use Light Force to preserve food; others could not, and he couldn’t possibly bring enough food for a group.
Sensing Buzhachi’s location, Mu Xuan felt a bit of a headache.
Buzhachi had somehow wandered off much farther than expected.
Even with the boost from Light Force, it would take him quite a while to get there.
The biggest worry was encountering troublesome oddities on the way.
And with visibility in the black mist limited to about a meter, moving too fast made it easy to crash into something.
However… if he kept up this pace, he’d burn through his Light Force too quickly.
After thinking it over, Mu Xuan decisively withdrew the Light Force shrouding his body.
There was no one else in the black mist, so he didn’t need to disguise his appearance. That would also save quite a bit of Light Force.
It was just that his clothes looked a little uncomfortable…
Time lost all meaning in the black mist. Mu Xuan had no idea how long he’d been traveling. When more than half of his Light Force had been depleted, he suddenly stopped.
That was… a Messenger Sparrow!
Mu Xuan remembered this creature vividly; after all, it was the first oddity he’d ever encountered in any real sense. Plus, unlike other oddities that left some trace as they fled, this one simply vanished into thin air!
He scrutinized it carefully, and his wariness only deepened.
This Messenger Sparrow was exactly the same one he’d run into before!
Mu Xuan could sense that there was still a trace of the Light Force from his battle with Griffind lingering on the Messenger Sparrow’s claws.
Why had it sought him out now?
Mu Xuan gripped his staff tightly, ready for the Messenger Sparrow to attack at any moment.
He was certain now—this Messenger Sparrow was far from as simple as it looked.
Yet, after a long pause, the Messenger Sparrow only tilted its two heads under Mu Xuan’s wary gaze, then flapped its wings and left.
This time, the Messenger Sparrow didn’t vanish into thin air like last time.
Was it restricted somehow, or was there some other reason…?
Mu Xuan waited a moment longer just to be sure, and, seeing that there was no danger, continued toward Buzhachi.
The Messenger Sparrow’s actions… felt more like some kind of surveillance…
But for now, Mu Xuan had no way to deal with it. Since it wasn’t an immediate threat, he had no wish to do anything foolish. If he accidentally attracted something even more dangerous lurking behind the Messenger Sparrow, that would be far worse.
After a while, Mu Xuan once again stopped in his tracks.
After silently lamenting how far Buzhachi had run, Mu Xuan glanced down at his staff.
The reason for this stop was that a huge amount of Faith Force had just flowed into him.
Ever since Mu Xuan had allowed free prayer, the staff would accumulate a few strands of Faith Force from time to time. But this time, dozens had poured in all at once.
Must be that they took in another batch of refugees…
He grabbed a lock of hair, which now reached his shoulders, and pulled it into view, staring at the silvery-white strands. Mu Xuan’s lips twitched.
Great—his hair had gone from white to silver-white.
Looking closely, it even seemed to emit a faint silvery glow in the black mist.
To be precise, his whole body—no matter if he didn’t channel the Light Force—faintly glowed with a hidden radiance.
Goodness, had he been thoroughly marinated in Light Force?
He kneaded his soft face, adjusted his clothes, and hurried off once more in Buzhachi’s direction.
He still had quite a distance to go before reaching Buzhachi.
His Light Force, which had been down to a third, was now restored significantly by that wave of Faith Force.
Still, Mu Xuan refrained from using the Light Force to speed himself up any further.
For this last stretch, he only used enough to maintain his height so his clothes wouldn’t drag on the ground—just enough to let his Light Force recover a bit.
On the way, he had managed to avoid most oddities, but had still run into some persistent ones that he’d had no choice but to deal with on the spot.
Fortunately, none of those oddities were especially strong.
But Mu Xuan had no idea what kind of being this shepherd might be, or how strong.
So he needed to conserve Light Force for this last leg, and let it recover as much as possible—just in case things went badly.
“Baa—”
Before long, the bleating of a sheep rang out.
Mu Xuan’s expression immediately grew grave. He halted, eyes warily scanning in the direction of the sound.
He was still a fair distance from Buzhachi—why was he hearing sheep already?
In an instant, Light Force cloaked his entire body, and his appearance shifted at once.
He crept forward two cautious steps, and his pupils contracted sharply.
A monster with the head of a sheep and the body of a man was crouched on the ground, gnawing at something. The moment it sensed Mu Xuan’s presence, its sheep head turned, blood continuously dripping from its mouth, then stretched into a chilling grin.
As expected, there was something very wrong with this sheep!!!
Without a hint of hesitation, before the sheep-headed oddity could pounce, a golden pillar of light shot from Mu Xuan’s palm, piercing straight through it in an instant.
A round hole appeared in its forehead, but this seemed to have no effect at all. The sheep-headed oddity just kept grinning that ghastly smile at Mu Xuan.
The way its lips curled, and the blood, made Mu Xuan shiver—every cell in his body screamed at him that this oddity was extremely dangerous.
Mu Xuan instinctively sidestepped and raised his staff.
A sharp “kak—” sounded—the sheep-headed oddity was suddenly right at his side, biting down on the staff with its razor-sharp teeth.
Then, with tremendous force, it flung Mu Xuan aside, wrenching the staff from his grip.
Mu Xuan tumbled twice across the ground, feeling like his whole body was coming apart. He looked again at the sheep-headed oddity.
An old man in tattered sackcloth reached out and caught the staff as it fell from the sky. With his other hand, he seized the head of the sheep-headed oddity and crushed it outright.
Scarlet blood splattered everywhere. The old man was utterly unconcerned, his voice icy.
“A sheep that strays from the flock is no good sheep…”