Downstairs.
Wang Mingyuan's phone rang again.
Dean Li's voice came through the receiver, tinged with a little confusion: "Teacher Wang, where are you? I don't see you. Getting old makes one forgetful—can't even find the right way."
Wang Mingyuan frowned: "Dean Li, where are you now? I'll come find you."
"I'm here—"
Dean Li named a nearby landmark.
After all, Lan City had no shortage of towering buildings.
Not being able to find the Binhai Grand Hotel was understandable.
And it sounded like Dean Li wasn't far from here.
But after only a few dozen steps he suddenly stopped.
The next moment he spun around.
The towering Binhai Grand Hotel had, without warning, become completely enveloped in thick Mist.
The fog churned and wrapped around the entire building.
"Damn!"
Wang Mingyuan's pupils contracted; he immediately understood what had happened.
Aberrants were attacking!
He couldn't continue the call and hung up.
Spirit power flared through his body as he shot like an arrow toward the Mist-shrouded hotel!
The Mist crept closer like a giant maw waiting to devour intruders.
Wang Mingyuan did not hesitate for a second and plunged straight into it.
His students were still inside!
...
Rooftop of the Binhai Grand Hotel.
Liu Ziming floated on his back in the pool, arms lazily splashing.
Everyone was enjoying a rare moment of calm.
At that instant, the world seemed to fall silent for a beat.
Then, without any warning, the dense Mist erupted.
The blue sky that had been clear a second ago was swallowed in an instant.
The fog didn't seep from the edges; it seemed to appear from nowhere.
Like a huge gray-white curtain, it wrapped the entire building.
The Mist stopped abruptly a few meters from the structure.
As if blocked by an invisible barrier, it did not penetrate inside.
"What the hell!"
Liu Ziming shot upright out of the water.
Su Zhan reacted fastest: "Back-to-back! Gather immediately!"
Everyone moved quickly to assemble.
Su Zhan stared at the roiling fog barrier. "We've studied Mist incidents at Vermilion Bird Academy. This should look familiar to you all."
Liu Ziming impatiently ran his wet hands through his hair. "Worst-case scenario, twenty-four hours inside the Mist equals one second outside. By the time Teacher Wang realizes something's wrong, we'll all be dead."
Xu Hao added, "Mist is summoned by Aberrants, which means there must be Aberrants inside the hotel!"
"Dean Li."
Feng Jue suddenly spoke, eyes sharp. "He said he was coming, and then the Mist appeared."
Xu Hao's face changed. "Are you saying... Dean Li is suspicious?"
Xie Xi snorted coldly. "That's an awfully convenient coincidence."
"I don't think it's certain."
Xu Hao shook his head. "Dean Li is highly respected. There's no reason for him to harm us. And if he had set a trap, why call and expose his location personally?"
"What if he staged the whole thing?"
Liu Ziming curled his lip. "Also, him calling Teacher Wang and telling him to leave doesn't prove anything. He could always claim coincidence. That old man looks kind and gentle—who knows what he hides behind that face—"
"Enough."
Su Zhan cut him off. "Arguing about this now is pointless. The immediate priority is surviving."
Even so, he couldn't stop suspecting Dean Li.
Wang Mingyuan wasn't careless.
Given Teacher Wang's caution, even to go pick up Dean Li he would have waited in the hotel lobby or at the entrance, not recklessly leave the building.
But now he had vanished without a trace—no message, nothing.
Unless... someone deliberately drew him out.
And the only person who could have done that was the one who had just called—Dean Li.
Su Zhan's gaze hardened.
Teacher Wang was cautious, but he trusted Dean Li to some extent.
After all, Dean Li was a venerable master who had personally brought healing medicine before.
It was precisely that trust that had let his guard down.
Teacher Wang probably never expected the Mist to fall the moment he stepped out.
Now they were trapped here, isolated and helpless.
Su Zhan scanned the Mist with a heavy heart.
If this really was Dean Li's scheme... what would his goal be?
Was it targeted at the students?
Or was he himself an Aberrant?
It didn't make sense.
Could it be a coincidence?
So many coincidences?
Su Zhan couldn't tell for the moment.
"Su Zhan."
Xie Xi's voice pulled him back. "What do we do now?"
Su Zhan dismissed his thoughts.
No matter who pulled the strings, this was not the time for investigation.
Survival was the only goal.
Ripples rose on the pool's surface, as if something beneath the water was stirring.
Feng Jue turned his gaze to the surface, alert.
Su Zhan took a deep breath:
"Remember three rules.
First, never actively step into the Mist.
Second, be wary of any abnormal phenomenon.
Third, the Mist lasts at most three days—as measured by time inside the Mist. That means if we can endure three days inside, the Mist will dissipate and we'll survive."
At that moment everyone heard a splash from the pool.
Something was crawling out of the water.
A pallid hand, laced with blue-gray veins, clawed onto the pool edge.
Its knuckles twisted, nails black and razor-sharp.
Then a second, third...
Six malformed arms yanked at the ground, slowly dragging a twisted body ashore.
It looked like a person, but it was absolutely not human.
Its torso hunched; skin was pale as a corpse, cracked with fissure-like patterns.
Where a head should be at its neck there was a huge translucent sac.
Inside floated dozens of human eyeballs, spinning wildly and locking onto everyone present.
Its lower body split from the waist into six spider-like jointed limbs, each ending in razor bone blades.
"Sh—"
It opened what passed for a mouth.
If the gaping orifice ringed with sharp teeth in the center of the torso could be called a mouth.
The pool water suddenly boiled.
More of these creatures pulled themselves from below.
"Peepers!"
Liu Ziming went pale. "Be careful. They can perform mental contamination through their gaze. Don't stare at those eyes for more than three seconds."
Feng Jue's face drained of color. He lifted his hand in a hollow grasp, about to summon the Startling Swan Sword.
Su Zhan grabbed his wrist. "The medic said you must not use spirit power for seven days, or your foundation will be damaged."
"I took the healing pill. I'm fine," Feng Jue said lightly.
"That's still not acceptable."
Su Zhan would not relent. "Even if the pill speeds recovery, only a few hours have passed. No matter how potent the medicine, it doesn't let you use spirit power right now."
Everyone's faces fell.
They were already exhausted from their confrontation with Starlight Academy.
They all realized the same thing.
This Mist was a carefully planned finale.
Timing, terrain, and unity.
Everything favored the enemy.
They only kept silent about it to preserve morale.