I will burn books and slay gods.

The door opened.

The pink mist surged forth as if it were a living entity, but it was blocked and diverted when it came into contact with the blue grid constructed by the instructors.

Inside the door lies a completely different world.

The library hall, which must have been magnificent with its soaring ceilings and marble columns, is now shrouded in a flowing, sweet, and pungent pink mist.

The fog appears as transparent, luminous particles in the goggles—those are the fog's "spores," each releasing a wave that weakens thought.

Most of the books on the bookshelf were rotten, and the paper had dissolved into a thick paste that dripped from the shelf.

There were some messy footprints on the ground, extending in different directions.

"Signs of life?" Lin Su asked in a low voice.

Wang Xiaoming closed his eyes, his figure almost completely disappearing into the mist, only his voice coming intermittently: "Second floor...reading room...three...weak signals...and one...deeper...very strong...not human..."

"The citizens are on the second floor. That 'strong' signal might be a fog core, or... something else."

Instructor Gui quickly analyzed the situation, "According to plan, go to the second floor to rescue people. I'll go to the basement to scout the fog core. Maintain communication."

After she finished speaking, she flashed and disappeared into the mist, leaving only a faint blue dot of light in her place—a spatial beacon that could instantly teleport her back to this location in an emergency.

Chen Ye looked at Lin Su and Wang Xiaoming.

Lin Su had already lit the pale white flame at her fingertips. The flame sizzled as it burned in the mist, evaporating the pink mist that approached.

Wang Xiaoming pointed to the stairs on the left: "This way... the energy flow... points to the second floor..."

The three formed a triangular formation and began to move.

Lin Su led the way, the flames forming an arc-shaped barrier; Wang Xiaoming was in the middle, guiding the way and sensing threats; Chen Ye brought up the rear, while constantly observing the readings on his teammates' monitors.

The wooden steps of the staircase were rotten and made a dangerous creaking sound when stepped on.

The fog was even thicker on the second floor, and the goggles showed that the concentration was approaching the yellow warning zone.

"Thinking is starting to...slow down..." Wang Xiaoming's voice became even more disjointed, "It needs...reinforcement..."

Chen Ye acted immediately.

He quickly recalled the basic laws of logic and chose the simplest yet most unquestionable proposition—the law of identity: "A equals A. A thing is itself."

He embodied this concept as a tiny silver halo, which he placed on the wrists of Lin Su and Wang Xiaoming respectively.

The halo glowed faintly, and the cognitive interference readings on the two people's monitors immediately dropped slightly.

"It works," Lin Su said briefly, and continued on.

The second floor is an open reading area, with tall windows covered in fog, letting in very little light.

With the enhanced vision from their goggles, they quickly located their target—three people dressed in ordinary civilian clothes, huddled under a relatively intact oak table.

Their condition is very bad.

His eyes were vacant, drool dripped from the corner of his mouth, and his body twitched intermittently.

One of them was unconsciously drawing meaningless circles on the floor with his finger.

"Deep erosion".

Lin Su checked them over. "But there's still hope. Chen Ye, give them an anchor point. Wang Xiaoming, keep watch."

Chen Ye crouched down and looked at the three citizens who had almost lost their humanity.

He needs to find something that can penetrate the fog and awaken the most basic rationality.

math?

They probably don't understand.

philosophy?

Too abstract…

Then he noticed the work badge on the chest of one of the middle-aged men—Municipal High School, Mathematics Teacher.

Chen Ye immediately had an idea.

He gently shook the teacher and said in a steady, clear voice, "Teacher, listen to me. The Pythagorean theorem. In a right triangle, the sum of the squares of the two legs is equal to the square of the hypotenuse, a² + b² = c². Remember? You taught this."

As he spoke, he presented the mathematical truth of the Pythagorean theorem as a small, glowing triangle symbol, which he gently pressed onto the teacher's forehead.

A miracle happened.

A glimmer of light flashed in the teacher's empty eyes, and his lips trembled: "a²... plus b²... equals..."

"Equals c²".

Chen Ye encouraged, "Very good. Now, repeat after me: The shortest distance between two points is a straight line."

"The shortest distance between two points is a straight line..."

As these most fundamental geometric axioms were repeated and confirmed, the light of reason gradually returned to the teachers' eyes.

Chen Ye followed the same method and applied it to two other people—one was a retired accountant, for whom he used the balancing principle of double-entry bookkeeping; the other was a housewife, for whom he used the certainty of the proportions of ingredients in a recipe.

All three have temporarily regained their basic cognitive abilities. Although they are still confused, they can at least understand instructions and stand and walk.

"It's a success."

Chen Ye said to Lin Su, his voice carrying a hint of accomplishment that he himself was unaware of.

Lin Su nodded, but her eyes remained wary: "Get out of here as quickly as possible. Wang Xiaoming, lead the way back to the marker. I'll cover the rear."

Wang Xiaoming suddenly froze.

His body trembled, the flame icon on the monitor flashed wildly, and the concentration of the surrounding gray fog rose sharply.

"under…"

His voice was almost a screaming whisper, "Something...is coming up...soon...soon..."

Almost as soon as he finished speaking, the library floor began to shake.

From the direction of the stairs, from the hole in the ceiling, from the crack in the wall—countless pale humanoid creatures poured out.

They have the general outline of humans, but their faces are smooth and featureless, and their bodies look like they are formed from pink mist, leaving long, misty trails when they move.

"Mist Spirit..."

Lin Su gritted her teeth, "The materialized guardians of the Fog of Foolishness. There shouldn't be so many... unless..."

Unless the fog nuclei are actively producing them.

"Defensive formation!"

Lin Su shouted, and the pale white flames surged, forming a rotating ring of fire around her.

The first few Mist Spirits to rush forward collided with the Fire Ring, emitting a piercing screech, and their bodies slowly evaporated.

But there are too many.

The Mist Spirits surged in from all directions like a tide, not attacking directly, but trying to break through the fire barrier with their bodies.

At the same time, it releases a denser pink mist.

Chen Ye had to do three things at the same time: maintain the public's cognitive anchor, strengthen his teammates' mental defenses, and deal with the ever-approaching threat.

He felt the karma monitor getting hot, and the whispers in his mind turned into arguments as different knowledge systems began to vie for dominance.

"Wang Xiaoming!"

Lin Su shouted while her eyes were tinged with a faint red glow, "Found the weak point! We must break through!"

Wang Xiaoming strained to concentrate; his figure was so faint as to be almost invisible, only his voice echoing in the mist: "Northwest corner... energy flow... there's a gap... but it can only last... ten seconds..."

"That's enough!"

Lin Su's eyes sharpened. "Chen Ye, stick close to me! The citizens are in your hands!"

She took a deep breath, clasped her hands together abruptly, and then pushed them forward.

"Nirvana - Blazing Feathers!"

The pale flames no longer maintained their circular shape, but instead exploded into countless swirling flame feathers, sweeping forward like a storm.

Wherever it passed, the mist spirits dissipated, and the pink mist was burned to create a brief vacuum channel.

"Now! Let's go!"

Lin Su rushed into the passage first, and the flames in her hand reformed into the shape of a sword, slashing left and right.

Chen Ye held onto two citizens with one hand, while another citizen tugged at his clothes, following closely behind Lin Su.

In the end, Wang Xiaoming used his faint presence to disrupt the pursuers' perception.

Ten seconds. The stairwell is right in front of us.

Nine seconds later, an exceptionally large mist spirit swooped down from the ceiling.

Eight seconds. Lin Su cleaved it in two with a backhand sword strike, but her arm was grazed by the mist spirit, and her combat suit was instantly corroded.

Seven seconds. Chen Ye sensed that a certain citizen's anchor point was starting to loosen, and quickly reinforced it: "Parallel lines never intersect! Never intersect."

Six seconds. The passage began to narrow, and the mist spirits on both sides closed up again.

Five seconds. They rushed down the stairs, and the lobby was right in front of them.

Four seconds. The blue beacon of the ruler instructor flickered in the mist.

Three seconds. Lin Su poured her last bit of strength into the flames, making her final sprint.

two seconds.

one second.

The private individual, accompanied by three citizens, almost fell into the beacon's halo.

The blue light engulfed them.

When Chen Ye could see his surroundings again, they were already back behind the cordon outside the library.

The instructor stood to one side, holding a sealed, transparent container containing a small, constantly changing pink crystal—a fog core sample.

She glanced at the disheveled crowd, then at the safely evacuated citizens, and nodded: "Mission basically complete. Medical team!"

Medical staff who had been waiting rushed up and took the three citizens away for intensive purification treatment.

Lin Su's arm was treated urgently. His fire ability itself has a purifying characteristic, so the corrosive injury was not serious.

Wang Xiaoming almost collapsed to the ground; his monitoring device showed that the leakage had reached the red alert line.

Chen Ye... Chen Ye leaned against an ambulance, breathing heavily.

In his mind, all the philosophers and mathematicians were having a chaotic seminar, and the karma monitor showed that the concentration of gray fog had increased by 30%, but the flames were still burning steadily.

The instructor walked up to him and handed him an energy drink: "Your first practical exercise was satisfactory. The cognitive anchors you established were very accurate, saving those three lives."

Chen Ye took the drink, his fingers still trembling slightly: "Why are there so many Mist Spirits all of a sudden?"

"Because the fog core was stimulated."

The ruler instructor held up the container in his hand, "I found it in the basement, and I also found this."

With her other hand, she unfolded a piece of paper made of a special material, on which was drawn a complex ritual array and that familiar vortex symbol—the mark of the Guixu Cult.

"Members of the cult performed a ritual here, reinforcing the fog core and setting up a trigger-based defense. The defense mechanism was activated when we attempted to evacuate the civilians."

The instructor's eyes were cold. "This is a provocation, and also a test. They are testing our reactions, testing the new recruits' abilities."

She put away the papers and samples: "The good news is, we got the key evidence. The bad news is... they know we're here, and they've already started taking action."

Chen Ye looked toward the library building, which was gradually being cleaned up by the purification troops.

The pinkish mist was gradually dissipating under the suction of professional equipment, but the sweet, fishy smell seemed to still linger in the nasal cavity.

This is just the beginning.

The shadow of the Guixu Cult has fallen.

And these night watchmen must guard the light called reason in this ever-deepening darkness.

He looked down at his hands, the hands that had just saved lives with knowledge, and had just touched the true cruelty of this world.

The flames burned quietly in the monitor.

It's a bit brighter than before.