Extra's Strategy: Cultivate Protagonists, Become Invincible
Chapter 68: Test Subjects

Chapter 68: Test Subjects

Mu Ran made the squirrel stop rolling forward when it reached the very edge of the distance their eyes could penetrate through the foggy zone, barely a brown silhouette now amidst the gray haze. A couple of minutes passed in silence as they observed its state.

Suddenly, the squirrel began to squirm.

Then, under their shocked gaze, the squirming turned into a series of uncontrollable seizures. It clutched its throat and began to screech in panic, making Mu Ran panic in turn.

He immediately made a gesture to drag it back from the fog. But by the time it rolled back to them, its eyes had gone completely white, face covered with blood-splattered froth and stinking pus.

Han Xuhan and Mu Ran exchanged a nervous look. If the fog was so poisonous to living creatures, how were the people inside it moving around so vigorously? The shouts they were hearing didn’t seem to be struggling the way the squirrel had.

Hearts enveloped in a mixture of fright and puzzlement, they walked around the edge of the foggy area. It was still approaching the rim of the canyon inch by inch. Perhaps a few hours later, there would be no safe zone here.

Behind them, the canyon was certainly not a destination. The direction the portal was pointing them toward was definitely the depths of the fog. They could still return back to the woods, since the portal was right behind them at the edge of the cliff.

However, this was the only clue they had uncovered related to their mission. Moreover, Mu Ran seemed hell-bent on exploring this place. So returning was not an option for now.

Unable to figure out a safer way to investigate what was happening inside the foggy area, they sat down and decided to chew on some dry food to replenish their energy.

Han Xuhan’s back was still aching from smacking into the tree during his fight with Shen Kai. The skin there had turned red. He took his time massaging it with some ointments from the infirmary. The effect seemed almost immediate!

The joints that had nearly been dislocated from their fight stopped feeling painful, and the skin that should have taken weeks to heal was already recovering at a miraculous speed.

Han Xuhan roughly estimated that he’d be able to move unimpeded by any discomfort within an hour. He mentioned the observation to Mu Ran, who only shook his head, looking unimpressive.

"If you had a small foundation in the Martial Path of cultivation, you wouldn’t have needed the medicine. Your body would have naturally recovered from the injuries far faster."

While he was resting, Mu Ran returned to the edge of the fog for a survey, looking for openings and contemplating methods to venture into the fog without getting killed.

There had to be a trick to it, he kept insisting, raising a suspicion in Han Xuhan’s heart that this guy probably had some other ideas.

Both of them were beginning to grow impatient. Sitting here wasn’t exactly safe.

If Shen Kai really was a demonic cultivator, then the chances of him returning with reinforcements weren’t low. If that happened, the two of them would be caught between a rock and a hard place, unable to move in either direction.

Han Xuhan had dozed off for a while despite the tense situation, but a sudden burst of loud noise made him jump to his feet. Mu Ran also rushed to his side, watching the foggy area intently. The noise seemed to have come from there.

They noticed a great disturbance within the fog soon, and it kept growing larger. Something huge and chaotic was approaching the cliff.

Both of them immediately backed up, heading towards the invisible portal. Mu Ran finally opened up his huge backpack and pulled out a long, rusty spear, while Xuhan took out the blade of his glaive, which he had tied to a stick.

From the tumultuous fog, a ragtag group of men revealed themselves, running crazily towards the safe zone. Han Xuhan and Mu Ran prepared to be attacked, but these strangers rushed past them like unstoppable arrows, approaching the bottomless cliff without showing any hesitation.

Both of them were dumbfounded. What were they running from?

The thought made Han Xuhan chase after them immediately. If half a dozen men were escaping from something so desperately, he didn’t want to face it either. Mu Ran was hesitant to follow, but he still tagged along from a distance.

"Brothers! Hello! Please wait!" Han Xuhan yelled as he ran.

But the men seemed to have lost their senses, ignoring Han Xuhan’s calls. The terror-struck looks on their faces never receded for a moment despite reaching the rim of the canyon.

What they did after that made Han Xuhan’s knees go weak. Stumbling over the rocky soil, he watched in horror as the men began to leap off the edge without hesitation.

"Hey, heyheyhey! The exit isn’t in that spot! The portal is in that area!" Han Xuhan roared, pointing at some rocks they had left there to find the portal quickly. But nobody listened to his words.

As the last man of that group was about to leap off, Han Xuhan let out his final desperate shout.

"PINE TOWN! We’re from Pine town! Turn back!"

That got the crazed man’s attention. Moments later, Han Xuhan crashed into him and held him down to the ground, fearing he might try to jump off abruptly. Mu Ran came to his assistance while the man tried to throw him off.

Twisting under their grip, the man heckled out a few broken sentences between his screams.

"Fog! Dead in the fog! Everyone! Run from them! Demons! All of them are demons! Escape!"

Some parts of his garbled speech could be understood by linking them with clues they already had gathered.

The demonic cultivators must have used the kidnapped people as cannon fodder in this place, or perhaps as experimental subjects; just like how Mu Ran had used the squirrel.

The poison in the fog must have seeped into his body, and the result was evident. This man was losing the remaining bits of his sanity right before their eyes.

Before they could think of anything to combat the man’s deteriorating condition, he let out one final tragic scream and began to spew froth from his mouth and nose. Streams of blood started spurting out with the froth, and his skin shrivelled up as if he was being mummified.

Han Xuhan let go of the man in shock and disgust while Mu Ran used his spear to knock the body away from the two of them.

Han Xuhan’s heart was beating like a drum, adrenaline returning inside his system and lighting up every nerve on fire. He hadn’t felt like this even while fighting Shen Kai. He felt sick.

Mu Ran didn’t look very well either. But he seemed to be handling the shock far better than Han Xuhan.

"I’m not going inside the fog; no way in hell am I doing it before we find a surefire counter to this poison." Han Xuhan flatly asserted after confirming that the man was no longer breathing.

He didn’t refute Han Xuhan’s words this time. But Han Xuhan could see it in his eyes; Mu Ran was absolutely determined to find a way into the fog. This horrifying outcome was not going to deter him from that plan.

Right then, they heard a gurgling sound coming from the ’corpse’ next to their feet.