The old witch’s conditions: snatch someone! (5600)

"If you don't return Elisa to us, we will fight it to the end!"

Intense fighting spirit flared in everyone's eyes!

Cao Xing first released Malenia.

Then, he took out the new version of the Book of the Dead from his backpack!

At this moment, he held the Book of the Dead in his left hand and grasped the Thousand Ice Staff in his right, with terrifying magical power erupting from his body.

At the same time, the blood-drinking blade in Malenia's hand erupted with raging flames.

The Lizardman statue in his backpack was also ready to replenish divine power at any moment!

With this combination, even if a Legendary creature appeared, it would be severely wounded by Cao Xing!

"Hum!"

A powerful wave of destruction emerged, and icy blue meteorites began to appear within the mist overhead!

Cao Xing was already preparing to cast a Forbidden Spell!

On the other side, Sarah entered her Reaper form directly, and Braum transformed into a hundred-meter-tall giant!

Everyone was unreservedly releasing their aura, as if declaring war on this mist!

The surrounding mist began to churn, as if the creatures within had sensed their presence and were frantically converging on the area where Cao Xing was located!

However, there was not a trace of fear in Cao Xing's eyes.

He intended to lure these monsters in and have a direct confrontation with them!

At this moment, everyone was prepared for a fight to the death!

Just then, Cao Xing suddenly noticed a special change ahead.

A mass of black smoke suddenly emerged from the mist.

This mass of smoke was strikingly visible, even within the thick mist.

"Whoosh—"

The black mist gathered like a hurricane, then quickly dissipated.

Then, a figure appeared before them,

with a hunched body, a tattered coat, and a withered cane in hand.

When she raised her head, an aged, terrifying, and somewhat familiar face appeared before Cao Xing.

This figure was none other than the Old Witch he had encountered twice before.

Seeing this, Cao Xing stopped casting the Forbidden Spell.

"Why are you here?"

He instinctively realized that this Old Witch had come looking for him.

"Heh heh…"

The Old Witch slowly opened her shriveled lips, and a harsh, wheezing laughter like a bellows issued from her mouth once again.

"Young man—are you going to look for that little girl?"

Cao Xing seemed to realize something, then said without hesitation: "Yes, do you know where she is?"

The Old Witch raised her head, a strange smile appearing on her face.

"That child was taken away by ****—she cannot come back—"

Hearing this, Cao Xing frowned again.

Clearly, the name mentioned by the Old Witch had been censored by the system again.

This also indicated that the other party was an extremely terrifying existence, to the point that even Cao Xing and his group could not know its name.

"I don't know who you are talking about, but Elisa is a member of my territory. This fellow took my territory member without permission, and I want him to return her."

The Old Witch chuckled: "Young man, it's useless. With your current strength, it is impossible to fight against ****…"

Cao Xing fell silent for a moment after hearing this.

He also knew that what she said was likely true; the creatures in the mist were far more powerful than he imagined.

Cao Xing took a deep breath, trying to suppress the anger in his heart.

He asked in a calm tone: "May I ask, that mysterious existence took my territory member—what does it intend to do to her?"

The Old Witch laughed and replied: "This little girl has… in her body, and taking her away, it probably wants to awaken it…"

Cao Xing's expression shifted slightly.

Although much of the information was censored, he still understood a few things.

That mysterious existence in the mist took her away to awaken something inside Elisa.

In that case, the little girl would not be in mortal danger for the time being.

Thinking of this, Cao Xing directly dispelled the Forbidden Spell above his head and said: "I understand."

"You are right. My strength is not enough right now; I am no match for that one."

"In the future, I will go into the mist myself and make that mysterious existence 'return' my territory member!"

Cao Xing emphasized the last sentence.

As mentioned before, he lacked the strength now and had to endure it for the time being!

In the meantime, he could only pray that nothing happened to Elisa.

The Old Witch seemed to see the unwillingness in his eyes; her mouth stretched wide, revealing an exaggerated and terrifying smile.

"Young man—I can help you bring that child back—"

Hearing this, a glimmer of hope appeared in Cao Xing's eyes.

However, the Old Witch's next sentence made him frown again.

"However—you must agree to one condition—"

"What condition?"

Cao Xing asked: "You don't want me to become a believer of some existence again, do you?"

The other party shook her head with a smile: "Of course not. I asked you once before, and you already refused."

"Since you are unwilling, that great existence will not force you."

"The matter I want to talk about concerns an important upcoming change in the world."

"I think you must have heard that the moment of the next Rule Imbalance is approaching—"

Cao Xing's expression became serious again.

He knew what the Old Witch meant.

What she was talking about should be related to the Ancient Dragon of the Eternal Frozen Sea—Zhuoma.

"I have indeed heard of it. What do you want me to do?"

The Old Witch stared straight into Cao Xing's eyes, as if trying to see through his soul.

"You don't need to do anything. You only need to bring someone by your side to the depths of the Eternal Frozen Sea when that day arrives."

Cao Xing frowned: "Someone by my side again? Can't I go myself?"

The Old Witch slowly shook her head: "No, it must be him."

"Of course, this condition will not have any negative impact on him."

"On the contrary, it might even bring him significant benefits."

Cao Xing looked skeptical: "There's such a good thing?"

"Forget it, no more nonsense. I agree. Just help me bring Elisa back."

For Cao Xing, the Eternal Frozen Sea was a matter for later.

During this time, he could continue to develop and improve his strength.

But Elisa's situation was different.

This existence in the mist, who knows where it was taking her, and it wanted to awaken something inside her. Even if Cao Xing became stronger later and rescued this little girl,

would the Elisa of that time still be the Elisa he knew?

Cao Xing could not be sure.

Therefore, even knowing that this Old Witch might be digging a pit for him, he had to bite the bullet and jump in.

Hearing his agreement, a smile appeared on the corner of the Old Witch's mouth.

"You have made the right choice, young man—"

After saying this, she turned into black smoke again and disappeared from the spot.

Everyone stood in the mist.

War Angel Liu Muxue radiated a soft light, dispelling the surrounding darkness.

They looked at their Lord, and expressions of unwillingness also appeared in their eyes.

If—only their strength had been greater, Elisa would not have been taken away, and Cao Xing would not have had to agree to the terms of this terrifying Old Witch.

They secretly made up their minds to work hard to become stronger!

At this moment, Cao Xing didn't have many thoughts; he was more worried about whether the Old Witch could successfully bring Elisa back.

Just then, Cao Xing suddenly felt a strong tremor coming from the depths of the mist in the distance!

It was as if some terrifying, drastic change had occurred in the mist!

The radiation range of this tremor was extremely far.

Not only the area where his territory was located, but even the entire Gale Snowfield and the surrounding mountains began to shake!

"Rumble!"

The earth trembled continuously, and the snow that had accumulated on some high mountains for years collapsed at this moment.

The Survivors of the Gale Snowfield were awakened from their sleep by this strong tremor and spoke up in the chat channel.

"Damn! What happened? Is this an earthquake?"

"No way! The damn fog disaster is about to end, and now an earthquake? Do they not want us to survive?"

"Brothers, don't panic. It seems that only our Gale Snowfield has this tremor, which means it's a localized earthquake and will pass soon."

"So that's it—"

At this moment, Cao Xing's gaze remained grave.

He seemed to realize something.

This Old Witch must have gone to snatch the person back for him!

She might even have started fighting the other party directly!

This made Cao Xing realize once again that this Old Witch might be unimaginably powerful.

The existence she mentioned earlier, which was censored by the system, must be extremely terrifying in strength.

Yet even so, she still engaged in battle with the existence in the mist.

Their battle even affected the entire Gale Snowfield.

This level of power was already beyond Cao Xing's scope of understanding.

Meanwhile, tremors continued to come from the mist,

and endless thick fog was rapidly converging toward a certain area, even making the fog on Cao Xing's side much thinner.

Even streaks of black shadows in the mist were rushing forward, seemingly to provide support.

It was evident that the Old Witch's strength was terrifying, forcing the existence in the mist to get serious.

However, this battle did not last long; after just a few minutes, it gradually calmed down.

The mist fell into a deathly silence again, which made everyone alert once more.

After waiting for a while, the surroundings remained silent.

"Is this—the battle over?"

"Where is that Old Witch? And where is Elisa, whom she promised to bring back for me?"

Just as he was feeling puzzled, he suddenly saw a figure slowly walking out of the fog ahead.

Sarah, Assam, and the others immediately raised their weapons, preparing for battle.

And when that figure fully emerged from the fog and reached them, they all locked their gazes onto her.

It was Elisa, wrapped in a cotton coat, her face pale.

Seeing this, the faces of everyone present immediately filled with surprise and joy!

Even Cao Xing was overjoyed.

That Old Witch had truly succeeded and brought Elisa back safely.

By now, Herlie had already rushed over and grabbed her arm.

"Elisa! Are you okay?"

However, Elisa remained in a dazed state, her eyes unfocused.

Facing Herlie's concern, she only turned her head slightly to glance at her.

Then, her body tilted and she collapsed, as if she had lost all consciousness.

Seeing this, Herlie stood there, appearing somewhat at a loss.

Cao Xing also frowned slightly.

However, now was not the time to study this.

During their wait, the surrounding fog had become increasingly dense, which meant they were still not out of danger.

Cao Xing said quickly, "Sarah, pick her up. We are returning to the territory now."

The Dark Elf assassin vanished from the spot the moment she received the order, then scooped up the unconscious Elisa.

Cao Xing quickly pressed the communication device on his ear and said, "Jode, pull us back. Remember not to pull too hard and break the vines."

"Muxue, you go to the front and lead the way."

The moment the order was given, the vines tied around everyone's waists tightened instantly, pulling them toward the territory.

Liu Muxue, radiating an aura of light, moved to the very front of the group.

Then, everyone followed closely behind her as they moved rapidly.

Not long after they started moving, a strange sound suddenly came from the fog.

"Screech." This sound seemed to contain some kind of anger, as well as something eerie—

Within the fog, it seemed as if something wanted to take Elisa back!

"Swish!"

A large shadow, like a tidal wave, rushed toward them rapidly.

Seeing this, Cao Xing's expression instantly tightened.

He had no intention of fighting these monsters in the fog.

"Let's go quickly and return to the territory."

Upon hearing this, everyone instantly unleashed their maximum speed!

They moved forward frantically, guided by the vines around their waists.

Back at the territory, Jode was constantly pulling on the vines.

The endless fog obscured their vision, so Cao Xing simply stopped trying to discern the direction and moved directly along the path of the vines.

At this moment, Isabelle was still exerting all her strength to emit light!

Her eyes filled with worry as she looked toward the fog ahead.

Meanwhile.

Cao Xing, Sarah, and the others were still rushing through the fog at high speed.

As they got closer to the city wall, more and more creatures in the fog were approaching them rapidly.

They covered the five or six-kilometer distance in just a few dozen seconds!

Soon, Cao Xing saw a faint, flickering light; he didn't need to think twice to know that it was the path Isabelle was illuminating for them.

"Quick! We're going straight into the territory!"

As he spoke, everyone burst forward once more; even Braum displayed unprecedented speed.

When they stepped within two kilometers of the territory, it felt as if they had returned from a mysterious world back to their own.

The surrounding fog thinned significantly, and everyone was able to clearly see the outline of the city wall.

A sense of relief welled up in their hearts.

However, Cao Xing could feel that the creatures in the fog had not given up and were still approaching rapidly.

He quickly pressed the communication device and switched to the team channel: "Everyone, return to your rooms immediately and close the doors and windows!"

"No one is allowed to come out without my orders."

As he spoke, everyone in the territory retreated to their rooms at once and extinguished all light sources.

The moment Cao Xing returned to the territory, he looked at Jode and Isabelle on the city wall.

"Follow me!"

As he spoke, those two figures stopped what they were doing and followed Cao Xing as he rushed toward the center of the territory, heading straight for the Lord's Castle.

Soon, everyone swarmed into the spacious castle hall.

Then, with a 'bang,' they slammed the oak doors shut!

The moment they entered, Liu Muxue returned to her normal form, and everyone stopped releasing their aura.

The entire territory plunged into complete darkness.

Inside the Lord's Castle, everyone panted lightly, calming their racing hearts.

Meanwhile.

Dense, skittering sounds began to surge in rapidly, and in the blink of an eye, they crossed the city wall and entered the interior of the territory.

"Scritch-scratch…"

Then, one after another, slamming sounds echoed from the residential houses in the territory!

Cao Xing even heard the sounds of some buildings collapsing!

"Boom! Rumble!"

Clearly, the creatures in the fog were very angry and had even begun to attack the buildings in the territory.

Everyone gripped their weapons, motionless, ready to fight at any moment.

In this oppressive atmosphere, every second felt like a year.

Cao Xing even considered just going out and fighting them head-on.

After all, it was almost dawn.

However, seemingly compelled by some rule, those eerie creatures did not break down the doors to force their way in.

At least up to this point, Cao Xing hadn't heard any reports of any members being attacked.

He gradually abandoned the idea.

The time reached 5:15 AM—

It was getting closer and closer to sunrise.

And the closer it got to dawn, the darker it became.

The number of eerie creatures outside grew, and even the windows where everyone was hiding were being slammed against.

That terrifying atmosphere was almost suffocating.

Until—

The time reached 5:45 AM.

When the first ray of dawn shot out from the distant horizon, piercing through the layers of gloom.

Those dense, skittering and slamming sounds were instantly cut off, as if by an invisible hand, and came to an abrupt stop.

Then, as if they had received some kind of instruction, they retreated rapidly like an ebbing tide.

"Swish…"

Everyone could clearly hear the creatures in the fog crossing over the city wall and moving away from the territory.

However, Cao Xing and the others still did not go out; instead, they continued to wait in their respective rooms.

They waited until the time reached 6:00 AM.

When the sun had completely risen, the light of dawn thoroughly dispersed the thick fog that had shrouded the entire world.

[Survivors, please note: You have reached the 25th day of the Development Phase. The Heavy Fog Disaster has ended. Congratulations on surviving this special natural disaster!]

[There are 20 days remaining until the third wave of monster sieges. In the coming period, all Survivors will receive the 'Song of Dawn'.]

[Song of Dawn: Resource gathering speed increased by 10%, movement speed increased by 10%.]

[Today's weather: Sunny, minimum temperature -48°C to -56°C. Suitable for going out and developing the territory.]

The moment they saw the prompt.

The entire chat channel was plunged into a frenzy of celebration.

The Survivors excitedly sent messages in the chat channel.

"Woohoo! It's finally over. I've fucking lived another day; it wasn't easy!"

"Yeah, it really wasn't easy, but it's a good thing everyone managed to hold on."

"There's going to be a period of stable development now. I must take advantage of this time to stockpile more food and resources, and then strengthen my territory, damn it!"

"Me too, damn it. If another long-term disaster like this happens, I won't have such a miserable time."

The full eleven-day Heavy Fog Disaster had made the Survivors determined to stockpile more resources!

Meanwhile.

Liu Muxue, Sarah, and the others were still inside the Lord's Castle, listening to the movements outside.

After several minutes passed, they found that everything around them remained quiet, confirming that the monsters had likely left.

Cao Xing gestured.

Among the crowd, Sarah quickly stood up and went to the door.

She slowly pushed open the doors of the Lord's Castle, poked her head out to confirm, and then said.

"Everything is normal."

For a moment, everyone in the castle, who had been on high alert for nearly an hour, relaxed slightly.

Cao Xing quickly switched to the team channel and ordered, "Alright, everyone, stand down from alert status. It's safe to come out."

The next moment, cheers erupted in their ears.

The workers and combat personnel also appeared very excited and rushed out of their rooms one after another.

Cao Xing didn't go out immediately; instead, he looked at Elisa, who was still in a coma to the side.

The young girl had her eyes tightly shut, her face pale.

Although there were no abnormalities in her [Status] bar, judging by the situation, it seemed she wouldn't be waking up anytime soon.

"Herlie, take Elisa back to her room to rest first," Cao Xing instructed.

"Understood, Lord!"

After saying this, Herlie walked over, helped Elisa up, and walked out the door.

Cao Xing also led the others out of the Lord's Castle.

The moment they stepped outside, they immediately felt that the whole world was different.

The fog that had shrouded the entire territory for more than ten days had completely dissipated.

Their visibility had also returned to normal.