"We’re back?"

Bai Zhou struggled to his feet on the boat and looked out.

The waves lapped gently against the shore, and the fog was still thick.

"What was that jolt just now?"

Bai Zhou looked toward the bow and saw that the small fishing boat was wedged against a massive rock on the shore. That was the source of the jolt.

He looked at his apprentice in confusion. "Did you see anything just now?"

"I didn’t see anything, Master. I listened to you and kept my eyes closed the whole time."

"Then... did you feel anything?"

The apprentice thought for a moment. "It just felt like we were veering further and further off course, then we circled around and ended up back here."

"Nothing else?"

"No."

Hearing his apprentice’s reply, Bai Zhou grew even more confused. ’Then what was my experience at sea all about?’

Just then, he felt something hard and uncomfortable pressing against his chest.

When he had stumbled earlier, his chest must have been hit. The pain was only just starting to surface.

’What is this?’

Bai Zhou reached into his completely soaked pocket and pulled out a small, root-carved figurine.

The little figure was faceless, its arms crossed over its chest as it lay eerily in his palm.

"Master, why are you carrying this?" his apprentice asked curiously upon seeing it.

’Why am I carrying this?’

The same question arose in Bai Zhou’s mind, but for the life of him, he couldn’t remember why he had brought this memento with him.

A chilling gust of wind blew in from the sea, making Bai Zhou shiver. He had no choice but to head back home with his apprentice for now.

...

After that, Bai Zhou and his apprentice tried many more times. Every time they attempted to leave the island, they would end up returning for one reason or another.

The fishing boat seemed to lose all sense of direction in the fog, constantly going in circles, always ending up back on the shore.

Not only that, but when Bai Zhou had other members of the Chali Race try, he discovered they couldn’t leave the island either.

Later, mildew spots even began to appear on some of the small boats that had ventured out to sea. It seemed the fog was trying everything it could to stop the Chali Race from leaving the island.

After a few near-accidents, Bai Zhou didn’t dare to try again.

By then, he had arrived at a terrible suspicion—the Chali Race was trapped by the fog.

With this in mind, Bai Zhou made one last attempt. This time, he didn’t bring anyone else.

He found a small, undamaged boat and set off from the island alone.

This time, the fog’s influence wasn’t as severe.

Although the fog hindered Bai Zhou’s departure, it wasn’t as intense as before.

After some twisting and turning, Bai Zhou broke through the edge of the fog and reached the open sea.

Looking back at the island shrouded in thick fog, Bai Zhou was once again plunged into confusion.

’Why was I able to get out?’

He could only leave when he was by himself. Though he was still hindered, the interference was not as obvious.

After returning to the island, Bai Zhou pondered for a long time and guessed there were two possible reasons:

First, he had only a superficial understanding of eternal life, a mere smattering of knowledge, so the fog wasn’t as aggressive toward him.

Second, the fog’s behavior was likely targeted at a "race" as a whole, and its focus on individuals wasn’t as severe.

Although he racked his brain, Bai Zhou couldn’t figure out the fog’s purpose. He did, however, summarize some of its principles. For now, he could only treat it as a punishment for glimpsing eternal life.

’If it’s targeting a race, it really does feel like some kind of karmic retribution...’

Because one person alone was not enough to bear the price of prying into heaven’s secrets, the heavens’ punishment extended to their clansmen and descendants, following the bloodline to implicate all who were connected.

An entire race might even have to bear the cost.

As he thought, Bai Zhou silently opened his bundle again.

Inside the bundle were the "murder weapons" he had collected from the human island.

He picked up the rune components, which looked like they were made of Bronze, and discovered they had actually started to rust.

The pattern of the rust was very distinct. Bai Zhou realized he had seen this pattern somewhere before.

’The mildew spots?’

After just a few glances at the rust stains, Bai Zhou suddenly understood. No wonder it looked so familiar.

’The fog can even affect the Fishman’s weapons.’

’Could it be that the fog has mistaken the owner of these weapons for one of us?’

The moment he thought of this, Bai Zhou understood everything.

Immediately after, a brilliant idea appeared in his mind.

’I can use this fog to get my revenge.’

But how could he make the Fishman Race fall under the fog’s influence?

Bai Zhou thought for a long time but couldn’t come up with a solution.

Just then, the little girl beside him gave him a reminder:

"Lure the Fishman Race to this island. Let them discover the secret of eternal life for themselves. That way, it won’t arouse suspicion, and the Fishman Race will also be trapped on this island by the fog, cursed for all eternity!"

"Yes!" Bai Zhou looked at the little girl beside him and praised her, "You make a very good point."

After being praised, the little girl’s mouth, only half-formed, twisted into a grin.

But then Bai Zhou hesitated.

"But what about the Chali Race? Won’t I be putting them in danger by doing this?" he said worriedly.

The little girl sat next to Bai Zhou, wrapping her small, charred hands around his arm. She was quiet and obedient, saying nothing.

However, a scorching heat from within the little girl’s body surged into Bai Zhou’s arm. In just a short while, Bai Zhou felt his arm burning unbearably.

Bai Zhou wanted to pull his arm away, but her small, charred hands were incredibly fragile, as if they would shatter with the slightest force.

The moment he flinched, he seemed to hear the sound of crumbling charcoal. After that, he didn’t dare make another rash move, forcing himself to endure the discomfort and sit rigidly still.

Beads of sweat trickled down Bai Zhou’s forehead, and his thoughts grew chaotic.

"Are you going to keep running? Where do you plan to go this time?" the little girl asked, looking up curiously.

Bai Zhou subconsciously wanted to deny it, but when he opened his mouth, he didn’t know how to explain.

He really had been running all this time.

"Don’t be hasty..."

"But you’ve been running for a very long time."

This time, Bai Zhou was truly speechless.

"It hasn’t finished burning. It’s still burning. We’re all burning. How far are you going to run? Do you not want to care about us anymore? If you run far enough away, you can finally cool down, is that it?"

"I didn’t!"

Listening to the little girl’s relentless questioning, Bai Zhou couldn’t bear it any longer. On impulse, he violently wrenched his arm free.

CRACK!

The little girl’s charred hand snapped off at the sound. She stared at her own short, broken stump, at a loss.

She didn’t cry. She just sat there quietly.

So obedient.

Only then did Bai Zhou realize he had made a terrible mistake. He asked, his voice trembling:

"Does it hurt?"

"It doesn’t hurt. I can’t feel anything... I just can’t hold you anymore..." the little girl said dejectedly, her two broken little hands swaying slightly.

"I can’t hold on to you anymore. So don’t keep running, okay?"

"I’m sorry... I’m sorry..."

Bai Zhou broke down completely. He collapsed to the ground and began kowtowing madly to the little girl beside him, his face streaked with tears.

"I won’t run. I absolutely won’t..."

A searing heat rushed into his skull.

It seemed only by slamming his head violently against the ground could Bai Zhou find some small relief.

...

"Master, what are you doing?"

The apprentice pushed open the door and asked in astonishment, seeing Bai Zhou continuously kowtowing.

Bai Zhou was kneeling on the ground, struggling ceaselessly.

The moment he heard his apprentice’s question, all the strength seemed to drain from Bai Zhou’s body in an instant, and he froze in place.

Sweat mixed with tears dripped down, soaking the ground.

"Apprentice, I want to ask the Chali Race... to help me put on a show..."