Chapter Fifty-Three: The Strange Vision
Xuanyin Island, also known as Ghost Island, is a landmass with an area of over 100 miles in length and width. The terrain is rugged, with mountains and forests that are dense and lush. However, during the day, there are no birds in the forest, and no fish in the water. The entire island is shrouded in an eerie silence. At night, dark shadows dart back and forth between the mountains and forests, and white foam appears on the surface of the rivers. It is said that these shadows are the vengeful spirits of those who died unjustly, and that the white foam contains their accumulated resentment. This island has brought fear to people, but also a sense of mystery.
However, this land mysteriously disappeared a hundred years ago. People began to discuss it in hushed tones, but for those living near the Ghost Town, it was a joyous occasion. The Ghost Town had been like a stone hanging over people's heads, and now that the stone had suddenly vanished, it was a cause for celebration. Every household lit lanterns and decorated their homes, beating gongs and drums to mark the occasion.
But things are always one wave after another, and in a few years, people have been living in anxiety again. Since the forest withered completely, several girls would go missing every year, all of whom were beautiful and gentle. At first, people fell into panic, but later, as more and more girls went missing, it triggered the anger of young men and the families of the missing girls.
People living in this world, regardless of age, have heard a heart-wrenching love legend. It is said that 400 years ago, the prince of the kingdom of Broken Mirror fell in love with a folk sorceress. When the prince left, he promised the sorceress that after handling his affairs in the palace, he would return to take her back to the palace. However, year after year, the sorceress waited in vain for the prince's return, yet she continued to believe that one day he would come back for her. Her delicate face could not withstand the ravages of time, and the sorceress grew increasingly old. To wait for the prince's return, she refused to grow old, and she defied fate by absorbing the life force of other living beings to maintain her youth. When the trees withered away, she chose beautiful girls as her sustenance.
There was once a time when, due to the carelessness of a shrine maiden, a girl ran away. It wasn't until later that people realized this legend was actually true. Upon learning the truth, people were no longer afraid and organized themselves to enter the Kanasen Forest to capture the shrine maiden. However, several groups of people went in but never returned with any news. Eventually, nobody dared to enter that forest again. It wasn't until one day when four travelers accidentally entered the forest and only one managed to escape that people found out this forest had not only a heinous shrine maiden but also something even more terrifying - white fog. As a result, for decades, this forest became a death zone where no one dared to enter.
……
A massive fog bank suddenly flashed with lightning and thunder, black evil energy gradually spreading throughout the space, making the atmosphere of the entire space extremely oppressive.
Innumerable glass ball-sized fog masses floating in mid-air began to quiver one after another, making "chirping" sounds, apparently they had never seen such an unusual scene.
"This... what is this?" At this time, three men suddenly appeared out of thin air in the space, with the one in the middle wearing white clothes and the two on either side wearing green clothes.
"What's going on?" the man in white exclaimed.
The two men in green robes on either side of him looked equally astonished.
"Go and investigate!" said the man in white clothes.
With that, the two men in green robes vanished into the dark air like a whirlwind.
A moment later.
"The origin of all this is one of the floating fog groups, and that group was one of the four people who were just caught ten years ago!" One of the men in green clothes said respectfully.
"How dare a small character like you act wildly here! Take me to see!" The man in white clothes sneered with a ferocious face, and then disappeared on the spot.
