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The war prisoners of the Ghost Mother Cult exhaled black smoke from their mouths and noses, which was denser than air. It didn't rise upward but gurgled downward like a layer of viscous black oil spreading beneath the hull.
Witnessing the soldiers' hands withering and shrinking along with the prisoners, the nearest martial masters all leaped into the river water in a rush of fear, desperate to avoid the inauspicious contamination.
In the midst of the frantic escape, only Liang Qu moved forward against the black smoke, grabbed the cultists by their clothes and tossed them into the water, unafraid of the eerie smoke.
Indeed, the strange black smoke had no effect on Liang Qu. The moment it touched him, it dissipated like melting snow with a sizzling sound, leaving only a slight burning sensation in the palm of his hand.
It became lighter.
