The closer it was to Han Hai’s edge, the thicker the black mist. The mist around the Piety Safety Town was still acceptable. The visibility of a normal security member was more than ten metres. The blurry building silhouettes corresponded to the map in Jing Tuoshen’s mind. At least, from the looks of things, the town hadn’t changed.
“The people we sent are all gone. Before this, the black mist didn’t spread so quickly. The last signal source appeared here.” The security members followed Jing Tuoshen closely. They were not protecting him. Under these circumstances, the chance of survival was higher if they stayed close to Jing Tuoshen. As they spoke, they reached the town entrance. Piety Safety Town used to be a small village. Its population rose as a lot of factories were built around it. They built their own hospital and school. To deal with the water issue, they even dug out a few pipes from the Hen Shan Water Dam.
“Piety Safety Town was deserted a few decades ago. A lot of inexplicable things happened. However, as the factories appeared and the people got richer, fewer people believed in those things,” The security member beside Jing Tuoshen said softly.
“When the black mist came, did any of the townies escape?” Gao Ming always had a question. How did the investigation centre suppress such a piece of big news like the black mist?
The security member shook his head, “No one escaped. The whole town mysteriously emptied. I know you don’t know it, but that’s the truth. The reaction a normal person has when they enter the black mist is very different from those taken over by the ghosts. They are like…”
“Drawn to it.” Jing Tuoshen finished the sentence. “The normal people who have not interacted with the anomalies will be drawn by something inside the mist. That is why we seal up the news so quickly.”
“What will happen once they enter the black mist?”
“No clue. Until now, we haven’t seen anyone living to leave the mist.” Jing Tuoshen lifted up the lamp in his hand to reveal the words on the building before them: Welcome to Piety Safety Town.
“So we came here this time also to save the citizens of this town,” Gao Ming mocked.
“I’m sorry. With the amount of lives the centre has claimed, I can’t see you as anything more than the antagonist.” Gao Ming made them all speechless.
“Enter the town and search the buildings one by one. The last signal of Recorder 003 came from this place!”
The group didn’t dare to split up as they entered the town. The night deepened, and the visibility became worse.
“The lamp can last for another two hours. The flame will become weaker. You better stay within the range of the light.”
No one used the ghost power. They entered the building that was closest to the town entrance. When they reached the fourth floor, Wan Jie looked up at the window in shock. The security member beside him gasped a few seconds later, “Look out the window! Someone is walking through the mist!”
A taxi and two private cars parked in front of the hotel on the south-eastern side of town. Their headlights were still on.
“Can normal lights pierce through the black mist?” The investigators glanced at the oil lamp Jing Tuoshen held. They frowned. “Many humans are there! They are still coming out of the car!”
Jing Tuoshen and Gao Ming entered the black mist for the first time. They couldn’t tell if they were looking at living humans or not.
“No matter what, we have to go and take a look.” Wan Jie was purposely triggering Jing Tuoshen, “What if they have Recorder 003? If they leave this town, you’ll never see it again.”
“Go downstairs.” Jing Tuoshen knew how strange the black mist was, but he was unwilling to give up this opportunity. “Perhaps they can tell us where the other citizens have disappeared to.”
They hurried down the stairs, but something happened that numbed their skulls. As they left the building and did a headcount, one of the investigators was gone. No one knew when he disappeared.
“The building appears to have eaten him…”
Looking at the dark building entrance, Jing Tuoshen made a decision. “We’ll head to Piety Safety Hotel first!”
As they walked down the town street, the oil lamp dimmed further. Thankfully, the headlights in front of the hotel were still on, guiding them the way. Through the mist, they couldn’t see the figures, but they could hear the conversations.
“What kind of bad weather is this? This is so unlucky!”
“Are the kids alright?”
“They are fine. They are not even nervous. They think this is exciting. What a headache!”
“Do we still get no signal on the phones?”
“No. We can’t even reach the emergency number. This is the first time I’ve encountered something in my twenty years of driving.”
The voice became clearer. The light from the lamp cut through the mist and mixed with the headlights.
The chatting pair of male and female looked at the investigators. When they saw the group in uniform, they didn’t show fear. Instead, there was foolish innocence in their eyes.
The man didn’t have any alertness. He strode towards Jing Tuoshen. He looked so joyous like he was about to be rescued.
“Are you the town police? You’re so hardworking to work on such a foggy day.” The man began, “My name is Wei Tian. I’m the school driver at Xin Lu First High School. The woman over there is the class teacher for Year 2, Class 13. We’re on the way back to Xin Lu after participating in a school activity. The black mist descended on us. After we entered a tunnel, all the signals were gone. We drove for a long time and saw no one. We had to stop at this small town.”
The man’s words were clear and concise. They seemed to live in a world that hadn’t been infiltrated by the nightmare. They didn’t suspect anything when they saw the investigators in the uniform and came to ask for help.
“Are you from outside Han Hai?” Jing Tuoshen raised the lamp. Wan Jie stared at their faces.
“Yes. We were going back to Xin Lu, but we lost our way. To protect the students, Teacher Lee and I decided to park the vehicles here and wait for rescue.”
Waiting for rescue was such an innocent and wishful thinking. The investigation centre couldn’t even save themselves, much less the others.