In order to leave this godforsaken place, everyone picked up their pace.
“Wa, everyone look, what is that?” Lu Xiya was pleasantly surprised as she yelled loudly.
Everyone stopped, and a smile slowly appeared on their faces. This was because they were able to faintly see lush greenery waving up and down the hills in the distance. Seeing something other than marsh, the group knew that they were not that far from being able to leave the marsh.
“Everyone, work a little bit harder, very soon we will be living this damned marsh.” Ha Lei loudly shouted. This journey across the marsh had already costed him two of his teammates’ lives. Although they had only themselves to blame, but lacking two teammates definitely affected the safety of the group. He knew that the marsh was actually not considered dangerous when compared to their actual destination, Lost City.
But just when the six of them darted towards the edge of the marsh in high spirit, everyone inhaled a mouthful of cold air. The excitement they felt just a moment ago disappeared without a trace. Just 300 meters ahead of them lies a green grassland. This grassland ahead of them was the true death zone which claimed the lives of many adventurers. The muddy marsh below was filled with countless crawling blood red bugs. Yes, the exact same kind of bugs that instantly made Ge Leite and Shi Yan disappear without leaving so much as their bones.
“Ha Lei, what should we do? Is there a mark in the map that tells us how to cross this area?” Looking at the blood-colored sea of bug, Lan Yan’s complexion became pale. He didn’t want to end up like Ge Leite and Shi Yan.
Ha Lei shook his head, and his complexion became solemn. After that he took out the map, and look at it over and over again. They had traveled exactly according to the route marked on the map without any deviation. However, the existence of the bugs were not marked here on the map.
“Finished… all of out hard work was in vain.” Lan Tian sighed, he honestly didn’t have any confidence to pass through this last 300 meters distance.
At this moment, Barbarian Bull, Lu Xiya and Leng Youyou reflexively looked at Long Yi. Subconsciously, they had already considered Long Yi as their only leader. As for Ha Lei, none of them trusted him to be a good leader.
Long Yi was also staring at the sea of blood coloured bugs in a daze. Just a moment ago wasn’t able to tell, but he finally noticed that these blood red bugs seemed to simply stay within this 300 meter wide area, without crossing the boundary it even in the slightest. Immediately he thought that the 300 meter boundary was man made, or else it would be quite impossible for the bugs to be so obedient.
“Unless every one of us could use float magic like a Master Magician, we cannot get through this.” Ha Lei gloomily said.
“Even if we all can use Float Magic, we are very unlikely to get past these bugs.” Long Yi said with a wry smile.
“Why?” Ha Lei asked.
Long Yi tore off a piece of cloth from the lower edge of his clothing, and wrapped two hands full of soil in them. After that, under the confused gaze of everyone, he threw it in the sky above the sea of bugs with all of his strength. Everyone managed to see that just when this mud wrapped bundle entered the sky above the bugs, those bugs crawling on the ground immediately send out ear-piercing sounds. In a flash, the bugs flew and enveloped the entire sky which made it seem like there were red clouds covering the sky. However, these bugs didn’t stay for long as they quickly fell to the ground. The only difference after the bugs returned to the ground was that the mud bundle was nowhere to be seen.
“See? Unless we can fly 500 meters high in the sky, don’t even think of passing these bugs.” Long Yi said.
This time everyone went silent. Being able to fly past the bugs was one way to cross the marsh, but the problem was that none of them had the ability to fly. Could it be that they had to retreat and silently accept that they have failed the mission?
Before long, the sky started to dim as the night fell. Even though they were unable to find a solution to the problem of crossing the sea of bugs, they were still able to pick out a camping ground for the night under Ha Lei’s instruction. The group decided to think of solutions that night before trying again the next day.
When everyone finished setting up the tent and were ready to take a rest, the final rays of the sun had also sank down into the horizon. As the entire world was plunged into darkness. Coincidentally, Long Yi and the rest were looking at the sea of blood red bugs when they were left dumbfounded by what they saw..
“Wa, that is so pretty!” Lu Xiya couldn’t help but let out an involuntary cry. Nobody had expected that these vicious bugs who devoured people without spitting out the bones would unexpectedly shine in the night. These bugs looked extremely dazzling in the night as they resembled ruby red crystals. This sight of hundreds of millions of bugs emitting red light and wriggling about in the boundless red sea, looked extremely beautiful and bewitching in the night.
In just this startled fashion, the six of them silently stood rooted to the ground as they stared at the sea of bugs which was currently surging with great momentum.. They had no idea how long they had been standing there, looking at the sea of fiery red bugs before they caught sight of air bubbles rising from the marsh below the bugs. Following the air bubbles that popped at the surface of the marsh, a crocodile-like reptile drilled out of the marsh. It appeared incomparable ugly, it’s stuck out triangular eyes emitted faint green radiance, and sharp teeth grew all around the insides of its long mouth. This creature was somewhat similar to Earth’s long mouth alligator, but they were countless times more ferocious.. The strange thing was, those blood-red bugs didn’t attack it, instead, once they met it, they dispersed.
“What is that?” Long Yi asked. Seeing that crocodile-like animal, an thought flashed through his mind. The thought was vague and Long Yi failed to seize it..
“This is a Marsh Human Eating Beast, often living in groups of several thousand. As long as one falls into the marsh with them inside, no matter whether he/she is a Swords Saint or a Master Archmage, it is hard to avoid death. Originally these terrifying bugs are sufficient enough to give us a headache, now these human eating beasts. Could it be that we really have to stop here? I truly don’t want to give up.” Ha Lei shook his head and said, before entering his tent.
In the middle of the night, Long Yi woke up from meditation. He always felt that he knew of a way to pass through this marsh, however it was rather blurred. He often felt that he was almost able to grasp the key to cross the marsh before the thought disappeared.
Long Yi left his tent, and that fiery red sea of bugs was shining as before. He walked to the edge of the marsh and sat down, as he stared blankly at those bugs and marsh human eating beasts. The Human eating beasts obviously noticed Long Yi, and several tens of them started making their way towards him. But just like those bugs, they also didn’t dare to cross that boundary line.
Leng Youyou saw the figure sitting on the edge of marsh, and with an extremely complex expression, she withdrew her steps. She risked her life by accepting this mission of Lost city because she had a hidden agenda as well. Being unable to pass through this marsh made her very stressed out. But compared to the vexed feeling she had over this man, her stress of not being able to cross the marsh seemed incomparable.
These few days, Long Yi’s continuously teasing her made her happy, but she didn’t dare to face Long Yi. From Long Yi’s actions, it completely revealed that he had accepted her, but she suddenly felt afraid. On one side she was afraid that the feelings between her and Long Yi was like a gorgeous soap bubble that would break under the touch of sunshine. On the other side, she had the fear of implicating Long Yi into her problems.
“Wake up, come over and sit.” Just when Leng Youyou wanted to retreat, Long Yi’s voice suddenly appeared in her ear.
Leng Youyou jumped in fright, as she lift her head and looked over at Long Yi. Seeing as he was still sitting at his original location, she was unable to think of why his voice sounded right beside her ear. Perhaps she was already accustomed to Long Yi’s endless surprising abilities, Leng Youyou merely hesitated for a bit, before walking over to sit beside Long YI.
