Chapter 1165: Chapter 5: Land of Obsession (Part 5)
5. Forbidden Zone
“Step into the mist, you will be randomly transported to the depths of the vast swamp. The quicker you find the exit to proceed to the next stage, the higher your score. Defeating mbers of other camps will earn extra points…” Ernie Hamilton Wayne shouted to the students heading into the mist.
The mist surged with invisible and obscure forces, sending them to various parts of the swamp. At the edge of the withered forest, Mildred Hampri and Blitz Tailor watched the students swallowed by the fog, whispering to each other: “Why not tell Mr. Luli the truth?”, “This is his chance…didn’t you also keep silent?” Once that figure stepped into the mist, they ceased their riddles between each other and returned to the Hunter’s cabin.
Lu Li walked out of the fog. The vast swamp stretched ominously and oppressively, vines twisting around distorted branches, roots hanging into the swamp’s depths like the scallops of a shell. Lu Li could not find any familiar sights around him, he was evidently not near a safe zone. Due to the “Speaker of the Trees”, Lu Li leaned towards his natural ally—the dead woodlands to the south. Unfortunately, they had long vanished, their dead bodies stood like tombstones on the mire. Only the intermittent tremors from the eastern depths occasionally shook the branches, making the trees seem alive.
Suddenly, cries for help like crude traps rang out at the edge of the woods. Lu Li followed the sound and found a creature that was half a frail maiden, half a spider with a body that would make even the bravest man scream like a woman and ooze thick fluids. It was tightly bound by tree roots, calling for Lu Li’s help and claiming to co from the lower levels of the Giant Tree Academy. Lu Li was more puzzled by the tree roots secreting corrosive liquid than doubting the maiden’s identity—he could confirm this place was a graveyard where trees ford their tombstones, with no sign of life. Feeding them humanity would only turn the trunks into soil for new plants rather than revive them. So what were these unresponsive and scentless tree roots before him? Lu Li shared his conjecture with the creature, recognizing the exorcist’s creature identity—acting upon injury, the “tree roots” recoiled back into the earth. The creature finally recognized that it almost absurdly got bitten by a lone hyena due to the terrifying shadow of bushes.
This creature claid its na as Ida, its mind uncorroded by contamination, it swore to Lu Li like a knight: “The direction your sword points, shall be the path.” Lu Li took it and approached the source of the tremor, the Earth Dwellers’ excavated mining area. Like Vena Ice-Free Port’s trading rchants, Earth Dwellers’ Trading Company was one of the main suppliers, where Lu Li could seek assistance.
On the way to the mining area, Lu Li encountered chaotic footprints on the swamp’s loose soil, usually obliterated by tremors, indicating they were left not long ago. These footprints followed Lu Li’s path and abruptly vanished after a short distance. Ida recklessly cast a stone but inadvertently revealed the source of the ssy footprints—a surface team migrating to Midnight City. Lu Li provided food and water to the hungry people, dication for the feverish boy, and led these residents towards the Earth Dwellers’ excavated mining area.
Kindness is not always rewarded, this ti was an exception. The exorcist’s goodwill was quickly repaid: the Bloodline Family Alliance occupied the mining area. Because of sheltering the migrating team, Lu Li and Ida managed to disguise themselves as mbers of the team, passing through the Bloodline Family Alliance’s blockade. However, they seed like they willingly jumped into a cage—the Earth Dwellers prohibited fighting, and there was no exit, trapping them like other contestants hiding in the mining area. But Lu Li did not leave empty-handed. He bought intelligence from the Earth Dwellers about the exit: From love cos worry, from love cos fear. Without love, there is no worry and fear—it was both a clue and a prophecy of Lu Li’s life.
Lu Li’s presence was discovered by Nunes. He exchanged information about the swamp’s cursed title for Lu Li’s mbership in his team, a squad consisting of mbers from Spirit Town, the Knights Order, the Giant Tree Academy, and the Noble Council. After acquaintance, Nunes led Lu Li to retrieve the information—Nunes claid he discovered a backpack and the parchnt within it due to objects erging from the swamps’ depths amid tremors.
Please allow to temporarily abandon the writer’s integrity, forsaking the foreshadowing and buildup necessary in literary works, only to point out the source of all conspiracies: this from the swamp, the evil, terrifying parchnt—it deceived Lu Li, masquerading as an exorcist also originating from the Old Era to win Lu Li’s trust, nearly dragging all efforts in Midnight City into an abyss—readers, rember: everything attributed to the parchnt self-identified as Will Ken is shrouded by the shadow terd conspiracy.
Blinded by the evil parchnt, Lu Li joined Nunes’ team, bribed the Earth Dwellers, followed the evil parchnt’s guidance to escape the mining area from the slurry in abandoned mine pits. Soon they returned here, as the Bloodline Family Alliance may hold clues to the next stage. They captured a Bloodline Family contestant, harsh interrogations failed to open his mouth, but Lu Li’s release of goodwill made him speak: It seems to have always been with us, like a casually placed object, like sothing ubiquitous—similar to the previous intelligence, it was like a riddle.
When they were ready to leave, they discovered two companions had vanished into the depth of the slurry. Following the traces into the dimly lit mine’s depths, two forks with similar footprints appeared ahead. The teams scattered due to the forks, later encountering new forks further ahead, so force prevented them from retreating, compelled to proceed until each stepped into the mine like a hocoming. Eventually, only Lu Li erged from the labyrinthine mine’s exit. The waiting Earth Dweller inford him it was their Holy Artifact. It was placed there to lure the creatures summoned by the Keeper of the Realm into the labyrinth, serving as nourishnt for the Holy Artifact.
Lu Li escaped unhard due to cooperation with the Earth Dwellers’ Trading Company, but his companions did not. On the way to visit the depths of the mining area, Lu Li saw belongings of his forr companions…and their gnawed remains. Amid the parchnt’s false comforting whispers of old cunning words, Lu Li arrived at the trembling source—captured by the Earth Dwellers’ Keeper of the Realm—the swamp grew every mont, these creatures resembling legendary beasts devoured the swamp’s power, preventing its spread to the world.
In theory, the Keeper of the Realm protected the world, akin to the human factions. However, Earth Dwellers are rchants, outsiders—as rchants, Lu Li bought the right to wield a giant spear gun to kill the Keeper of the Realm. When the spear gun aid at the Keeper shackled in the rock wall, the exorcist no longer thought of the exit. He pondered its existence, mulled over his companions’ corpses on the pyre—the shot spear gun shattered the chains binding the Keeper. The freed beast stirred a rock tidal wave in the cavern, burying it.
As the dead silent subterranean cavern echoed with the clatter of rolling rocks, Lu Li crawled out from under the rubble, and the mist leading to the second stage appeared at this mont.
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