Chapter 382

40% damage immunity cap, 40% attack power!

Tang Luo opened his eyes, the Merit Jade Lotus fell into his hand; if examined closely, one could see that the originally closed flower buds seemed to have unfurled slightly, showing a tendency to bloom.

"Master, 'Friend Request' please accept." Ao Yulie said with a smile, raising his hand as a wisp of gray aura coiled over.

Tang Luo reached out, letting the aura settle into his hand, resting on the back of his hand.

It felt like wearing a wristwatch—when needed, he could check the time anytime, and could also take it off anytime without any effect.

"Can you sense my position?" Tang Luo asked.

Ao Yulie shook his head: "It's just a pure communication channel." As he spoke, gray mist swirled in his eyes, looking slightly eerie.

Tang Luo felt a faint invitation; upon accepting, the world before him shifted.

He appeared in a world entirely composed of gray mist.

Even the "solid ground" beneath his feet was gray mist, defying common sense and giving a strange feeling.

The thick gray mist before him rolled back, revealing a "passage"; Tang Luo followed it for two steps, and a long oval table appeared before him, surrounded by exquisite chairs—five on the left, five on the right, one at each end front and back, twelve in total.

Ao Yulie sat in the main seat and asked: "Master, can you see my appearance clearly?"

"No." Tang Luo shook his head; Ao Yulie's face was blurred, as if mosaicked, indistinct, "How much control do you have over this place?"

"Actually, not much." Ao Yulie stood up, his face becoming clear.

He leaves marks on others, inviting them into the Gray Mist Realm.

He can also choose to agree or refuse when others wish to enter the Gray Mist Realm; those inside, he can send away at any time, even if they wish to stay forcibly.

At the same time, he can blur his own and others' appearances to a certain extent for disguise.

Besides that, there are no greater or more "permissions."

The appearance within the Gray Mist Realm is not determined by Ao Yulie as the equipment's owner, but has always been this way.

Ao Yulie also had no intention of causing damage to test it, lest he break the equipment.

This equipment, he still quite likes.

It can be used in special ways—how to use it, the understanding cannot be put into words.

Wen Hanfei previously clearly used the Gray Mist Realm as an important contact tool for "us." This time, taking it out in front of outsiders was partly to besiege Tang Luo, and partly to consider establishing relations with the Divine Alliance and the Martial Arts Mythos.

Now, with the equipment changing hands, all the contact methods originally left behind have completely disappeared.

It's equivalent to being formatted once.

Wen Hanfei's "us" has basically announced dissolution.

He used to be an old schemer, using the Gray Mist Realm to contact, vaguely "us" members, never showing his true face; without the Gray Mist Realm, he also lost contact with the remaining members of "us."

Of course, now the enlightened Wen Hanfei doesn't care either.

"Us" is definitely going to disband; he now has no grand ambitions or lofty aspirations, only wanting to guard his own small plot of land, do some good deeds, so as not to one day suddenly be found by Tang Luo and be salvaged again.

From a wolfish ambitious person, he has become a Buddhist-like person.

Tang Luo also did not seek out Wen Hanfei to dig up "us" and wipe them out completely.

The number of "us" is actually not large—Wen Hanfei and his two confidants, plus the two encountered during the Earth Store King mission, and additionally a few stray cats, about ten people total.

And their strength is not considered strong.

Neither side has grudges; Tang Luo has no interest in deliberately becoming a villain.

Ao Yulie again submitted a "Friend Request" to the Heavenly Hound; the Heavenly Hound glanced at Tang Luo, flicked its tail, and reluctantly accepted.

The Heavenly Hound's appearance within the Gray Mist Realm is not that of a cat or dog.

But rather a pink-carved jade-like little girl, about five or six years old, her humanoid form basically the same as the Heavenly Hound's back then.

Expressionless, very much the "three no's."

The next day, there was no news report about last night's harbor incident, only some minor rumors circulating.

The suit-clad person incident had already caused enough public panic; adding the "harbor destruction" event would not be conducive to social stability.

Stability must override everything.

But not having news doesn't mean it's truly stable.

Around 5 p. m., a video circulated online for a while, then was quickly 404'd.

The video is very short, rather blurry, under a minute long; its content shows suit-clad people swaying as they walk down the street.

Their unnaturally long black limbs make the whole "person" look like a humanoid spider.

"It's one from that night." After viewing the video, Ao Yulie recognized the person inside.

Although the limbs elongated, the basic body shape remained unchanged; Ao Yulie's vicious eyes identified him as one of those from that night.

Did the suit-clad person possess his corpse?

"Doggy. Let's go, take a look." Tang Luo stood up, brought the Heavenly Hound, and headed to the video's location.

Come on, let's hurt each other!

The suit-clad person's own scent is hard to pin down, but since it used a corpse, the situation is different.

The Heavenly Hound did not disappoint Tang Luo's expectations, quickly leading him and Ao Yulie to a place.

Not some deep mountain old forest, nor an abandoned hospital building—such a place very suitable for horror films—speaking of which, Tang Luo's cursed house in the wilderness is actually quite fitting.

It's a place with constant flow of people, even livelier than usual, a commercial complex.

After all, crowds can bring a sense of security.

Because the suit-clad person has appeared several times in residential areas, many families with children have chosen to stay in hotels for a period.

Subjectively speaking, it feels safer than being at home—at least the distance between people is relatively close; opening a door and rushing into the hallway allows one to shout for help loudly.

On the first floor, guided by the Heavenly Hound, Tang Luo and Ao Yulie arrived where the suit-clad person was.

A circular pool, with a symbolic fountain in the center, beside it four benches for customers to rest.

The suit-clad person sat on one of the benches, body slightly hunched, motionless, resembling a thinker.

He was not in the form of a suit person, but looked like a normal person, with no visible signs of death.

"As the saying goes, the greatest recluses hide in the city." Ao Yulie sighed.

When Tang Luo and Ao Yulie approached the suit person, he finally reacted, jerking his head up as his features rapidly faded, as if dissolving, while blackness began to spread.

In the blink of an eye, the exposed skin turned completely black, the head had only a shape, no features.

At the same time, his hands and feet needed to grow further.

At that moment, Tang Luo reached out, grabbed the suit person's head, and a flash of firelight appeared between his fingers.

The liuli flame instantly engulfed his entire body, burning him into a foul black mist, leaving not even ashes behind.

"Indeed not the 'main body'." After instantly dispatching the suit person before him, the task did not increase from 2 to 3, proving this one was at most a "clone."

Don't forget, there were five missing corpses in total; at this rate, at least five more suit persons need to be eliminated.

Only then could the mission be completed, and it must include eliminating a main body.

If we could find and directly eliminate the main body, the remaining eroded ones, now turned into clone corpses, would likely not need to be dealt with.

Tang Luo was highly efficient; even in crowded places, no one noticed the suit person's changes or Tang Luo's actions.

They merely noticed two men passing by a resting bench, where someone who might have been sitting there suddenly vanished.

A foul smell appeared in the air.

"Looks like we'll have to search for a while..." Ao Yulie said, and before his words finished, the surroundings instantly dimmed.

All lights went out.

The entire building plunged into darkness in the blink of an eye—not ordinary night darkness, but the kind where you can't see your hand in front of your face, where nothing is visible.

After less than a second of silence, surrounding screams rose and fell.

But there was no panicked running, no trampling incident; in the pitch black, no one dared to move randomly.

Many people crouched down, and some grabbed onto nearby people or decorations, walls, etc., seeking a sense of security.

"Looks like we don't need to search; I like proactive demons and monsters." Tang Luo smiled, rubbing his thumb lightly against his index finger, a liuli flame dancing on his fingertip, emitting strong light that dispelled the surrounding darkness.

But the range wasn't particularly large—just the space around Tang Luo.

"I'll go find people." Ao Yulie said, and together with the Heavenly Roaring Dog, he stepped into the distant darkness.

"Everyone, please don't panic; follow me, the poor monk will lead you out—this place is not safe." Tang Luo already bore the demeanor of an enlightened high monk.

His calm voice brought great reassurance, gradually quieting the surrounding people.

"What happened..." someone spoke up, wanting to ask something.

Tang Luo slightly shook his head, gave no answer, and the liuli flame on his fingertip expanded further, enveloping the surrounding shops as well.

"Let's go." A group of people gathered around Tang Luo, following him toward the mall's first-floor entrance.

As expected, it was filled with an unknown black substance; reaching out to lightly touch it felt like pressing against ice.

Tang Luo gently pushed, and the black substance blocking the door instantly disintegrated, turning into a black mist that vanished.

As his palm opened and closed, amidst the dissipating black mist, the suit person's silhouette appeared—exactly the one Tang Luo had grabbed by the neck and lifted in his hand.

The extraordinarily long limbs waved like whips, lashing toward Tang Luo.

But while still mid-air, it turned into a pile of ashes.

No surprise—this was also a corpse clone, just unknown whose.

Without Tang Luo's reminder, the escape route had already appeared; people rushed forward in panic, having clearly seen what had just vanished—the suit persons that had caused widespread panic.

If not for Tang Luo, this sudden appearance of a stabilizing pillar, a stampede would likely have occurred.

This side's sole light source also attracted more people from within the mall.

Soon, black mist again thickened near the entrance, showing signs of recondensing.