I changed the world.

Page 157

A gray naval-painted unmanned helicopter, numbered 7873, was patrolling back and forth outside the fog zone surrounding the Ammani resort. Several smaller floating detection units were also around it, and their detection devices were constantly monitoring the fog zone from multiple angles and transmitting this data to the fleet behind.

Multiple helicopters like these are carrying out missions simultaneously. At this time, drones are being deployed to observe almost every angle around the foggy area. These long-endurance reconnaissance drones have amazing endurance and are extremely simple and cost-effective observation vehicles.

Not far below this unmanned helicopter lies a vast expanse of coastal woodland, home to numerous mangroves and other plants. Sulu's warm and humid climate is ideal for the growth of lush vegetation.

In the dense forest, two figures were struggling to trek along the river; they were Wei Chengguang and Zhu Yingwei.

As the saying goes, plans can't keep up with changes. Having lost their boat earlier, the two decided, after some discussion, to continue along the river. However, moving on the shore was obviously much more difficult and slower than going downstream, and the biggest obstacle for them was the dense vegetation that was everywhere in the jungle.

As the saying goes, there was originally no road in the world, but as more people walk on it, it becomes a road.

The greatest tragedy for the two of them was that not enough people walked the path, so in many cases, they had to pave the way themselves.

In fact, along the way, Wei Chengguang's kukri was almost worn down, and his arm was practically no longer his own. Wei Chengguang even felt that his arm would definitely swell up tomorrow.

"Hey, Bouncy, I said... have we arrived yet?"

Wei Chengguang wiped the sweat from his forehead, stopped to check the navigation, roughly estimated the distance, and said uncertainly, "It should be just ahead..."

At this moment, Wei Chengguang looked exhausted, his sleeves were rolled up high, he had a backpack on his back, and the shoes on his feet were so worn that their original color was almost unrecognizable.

"You said that ten minutes ago..." Zhu Yingwei, who was following behind him, was in no better shape, with messy hair and looking listless.

"This... I was just following the navigation, who knew it would take so long..." Wei Chengguang said helplessly. In fact, in such remote areas, navigation is far less efficient than in cities. It can only be used as a basis for judging distance and direction. As for more detailed terrain and roads, navigation service providers will not send people to conduct on-site surveys in dense forests. Relying solely on satellite mapping, there is naturally no detail to speak of.

Because in dense forests, due to the lack of reference points, determining direction is actually quite troublesome, especially with the layers of vegetation overhead, making it impossible to see the starry sky in most areas, thus rendering traditional stargazing for navigation unusable.

There isn't a single road leading straight in any direction, which often forces the two of them to wander around for quite some time in search of an easier path.

Their original plan was to walk along the river, using the waterway as a natural geographical landmark, and this method proved to be feasible. Waterways do indeed provide a natural advantage in terms of location, but the areas along waterways are usually also areas where jungle animals roam. Many wild animals choose to come to the river at night to drink or graze on the plants along the water's edge, and Wei Chengguang's previous encounter with the wild boar was an example of this.

This significantly increased the risks of traveling along the river compared to ordinary areas. In addition, there were many areas along the river where vegetation was so dense that they were impassable and required detours, which greatly slowed down their progress.

The two chatted idly, following the route on the navigation map. They were currently heading southeast, and the terrain of this area generally sloped from northwest to southeast. After emerging from a patch of tall, dense grass, they found themselves in a bright and open space.

They were standing on the top of a hill, a high vantage point. Further ahead was a steep slope, where a river flowed down the slope, forming a torrent that stretched into the distance.

The two stood on the hillside and looked into the distance. Because of the higher elevation, the surrounding light was much brighter than before.

The faint sound of flapping wings came from the sky. The two quickly crouched down and hid themselves. Looking in the direction of the sound, they saw an unmanned helicopter flying slowly by, with a searchlight shining in their direction.

Several small floating detection units were also surrounding the helicopter, which appeared to be carrying out some kind of detection and data collection work.

"Bengbeng, look there!" Zhu Yingwei pointed to the area illuminated by the helicopter searchlight.

As the beam of light shone, the two could clearly see that as far as the eye could see, large swaths of fog appeared exceptionally thick, as if they had a physical form, covering a vast area in the distance. This fog was also strange; it did not move or spread, but rather lingered there, slowly undulating and rippling, as if it were alive.

"That's... fog?" Wei Chengguang thought for a moment, then suddenly seemed to realize something, took out his phone, and started searching for keywords.

Chapter 259 Severing the Clouds

Because there are no terrestrial base stations nearby, mobile phone signals in the wild can only be provided by satellite. Although Wei Chengguang also purchased the relevant service, the signal strength is still incomparable to that of terrestrial base stations. In addition, the signal in this area seems particularly poor, as if it has been interfered with in some way. Therefore, Wei Chengguang had been running the search engine for quite a while without it appearing.

"Your signal is really bad..." Zhu Yingwei complained, then turned on her own phone, but there was no difference; her phone also couldn't open any web pages.

“We need to find a higher spot…” Wei Chengguang was clearly more experienced in this kind of situation. He put down his backpack, stretched his shoulders, looked around, chose a large tree not far away, and walked over…

"What are you going to do?" Zhu Yingwei asked curiously.

"The signal should be better if we climb up there..."

"Be careful..." Zhu Yingwei looked up at the tree, which looked to be more than ten meters tall, and couldn't help but remind her.

........................

………………

About fifteen minutes later, Zhu Yingwei stood under the tree, cupped her hands in a megaphone shape, and shouted loudly to Wei Chengguang, who had climbed to the top of the tree and started operating his phone: "How is it? Is there a signal?"

Wei Chengguang made an OK gesture downwards, then continued to operate his phone.

A moment later, Wei Chengguang put his phone back in his pocket and then carefully climbed down the tree.

"How is it? How is it? Any news online?" As soon as he landed, before he even had time to wipe his sweat, Zhu Yingwei came over to him.

“I looked around and there were all sorts of things said online, but there were indeed some mentions of fog. Some people said they encountered strange fog on Highway 13 leading to the Ammani resort area. What I found particularly problematic was that when I clicked on it, I found that the topic had been deleted… I saw it through a screenshot of a webpage snapshot.”

"It was deleted...that means there's a problem." Zhu Yingwei frowned: "Releasing a bunch of true and false information to cover up the real truth..."

“That’s very likely,” Wei Chengguang said. “It’s just a pity that there’s so little information available, and we don’t know what’s so special about this fog.”

As the two were discussing, the sound of flapping wings came again. It was the same helicopter that had just returned, clearly conducting some kind of routine patrol.

The two also noticed that the helicopter never entered the fog, but only circled around the perimeter of the fog.

"So now... what should we do?" Zhu Yingwei's question caused both of them to fall silent.

It is now clear that there is something wrong with this sudden fog, but since the helicopter only hovered around the fog and did not enter it, could there be some unknown danger in the fog?

This conjecture made both of them hesitate, and even the usually bold Zhu Yingwei dared not rashly suggest that they go directly into the fog.

What if... there's some kind of monster inside?

What if... it's some kind of corrosive mist that would disfigure you if you got inside?

A bunch of movies and TV shows they had seen in the past flashed through their minds, but their faces became increasingly troubled.

Just then, in their field of vision, the fog that seemed to never dissipate suddenly began to churn as if boiling. This unusual situation immediately caught the attention of the drone that had not yet flown far away. It hovered there, and all its observation equipment was pointed in the direction of the fog.

"Look, look..." Zhu Yingwei hurriedly pointed to the change in the fog, and Wei Chengguang also noticed the change immediately. The two of them stopped discussing and focused on the changes in the fog, wanting to see what was about to happen.

A breeze started to pick up, carrying the scent of the sea and a slight chill.

The wind quickly picked up, one gust after another, making the canopies of some of the taller trees rustle loudly.

A few breaths later, above the mist, the clouds began to surge. Large swaths of leaden clouds gathered from all directions, pressing down lower and lower. These clouds carried electric currents, undulating like silver snakes. At some point, the surrounding air pressure seemed to drop lower and lower, giving people a vague sense of unease, as if something bad was about to happen.

A rustling sound arose around them, startling some birds into the air, which then flew away from the mist. At the same time, the surrounding plants swayed, and some small animals ran through the forest, quickly moving away from the area.

Wei Chengguang felt a ringing in his ears and felt inexplicably anxious. He glanced uneasily at Zhu Yingwei beside him, just as Zhu Yingwei turned to look at him as well. Both of them had anxious expressions on their faces.

"I feel like something's not right. Should we take a step back?"

Zhu Yingwei pursed her lips, hesitated for a moment, and finally nodded...

However, at that moment, a feeling of extreme unease suddenly surged into my heart, like suddenly missing a step and falling into an abyss while going down the stairs, or like being suddenly held to the throat with more than ten knives while walking at night.

At the same time, an extremely sharp, incredibly long white light pierced through the thick fog and shot straight into the clouds above...

Then, a breathtaking scene unfolded: the cloud layer that shrouded the mist, spanning an unknown area, was directly parted by this white light. The cloud waves rolled to both sides, creating a huge slit in the middle, like Moses parting the Sea…

From that massive cut, one could even see the dazzling starlight from even higher above, scattering down...

This was actually a sword aura!

For some reason, upon seeing the white light, both Wei Chengguang and Zhu Yingwei instinctively made this judgment in their minds.

Perhaps it was because of that white light, which, at first glance, gave one a chilling, bone-deep sense of coldness and a sharpness that could cut through everything...

Looking at the slowly parting clouds above, Wei Chengguang's eyes gleamed with rage, and a word instinctively popped into his mind:

"Severing the clouds and sky..."

Wei Chengguang couldn't help but look in Zhu Yingwei's direction, and coincidentally, she looked over as well. Their eyes met, and they both saw excitement in each other's eyes.

To use an old saying, both of them were people with "an unwavering desire to pursue the Way." Otherwise, they wouldn't have spent so many years searching in various places, encountering countless setbacks, yet never giving up.

They even created a group on Qianluo called "Zhaowendao" (朝闻道), with Wei Chengguang and Zhu Yingwei as administrators. However, most group members only offered verbal support and at most attended the annual offline gathering.

Chapter 260 Sacrificial Rites

When it comes to actually taking action, very few people are willing to spend money and effort to put it into practice.

Each attempt ended in failure, and it's impossible not to feel discouraged. Enthusiasm is eventually worn down by reality, and many members of the group have stopped speaking altogether.

Fortunately, since the beginning of this year, especially since they noticed some videos circulating online, and with the help of on-site investigations, they have finally begun to have a vague sense of grasping some clues.

However, no video can compare to seeing it with your own eyes!

Only now were they truly convinced that they had discovered something extraordinary!

What lies hidden in the fog ahead?

A war between immortals and demons? Immortals subduing demons? The two of them almost simultaneously conjured up a whole host of scenes from movies, TV series, and novels.

Regardless, there's a high probability that a powerful figure exists within the fog ahead; perhaps, it's even a sword immortal...

Since that's the case, we must do our best to seize this opportunity!

Do your best and leave the rest to fate. As for the outcome, that depends on whether Heaven wills your favor...

Wei Chengguang made his decision almost instantly, turning to look at Zhu Yingwei...

"Hongzi..."

"bouncing……"

Coincidentally, at the same time, Zhu Yingwei also turned her head and spoke.

The two were silent for a moment, then Wei Chengguang gestured for them to speak first.

"How about we go take a look?" Zhu Yingwei's big eyes sparkled with barely suppressed excitement, which made Wei Chengguang subconsciously think of a cat smelling fish.

“That’s what I wanted to say too,” Wei Chengguang nodded without hesitation.