The lush adow stretched across the hills, with a gentle breeze softly caressing it.
The clusters of flowers and grass created ripples, and the verdant shrubs added color to the somber sky.
A monster stood beneath a tree, gazing upwards in a daze, looking at the colors it had never seen before, approaching the drooping branches, slling scents it had never experienced, while unnad wildflowers blood beside its hooves.
The exuberance that had grown over a few days left it bewildered.
At this mont, a figure in the distance disrupted the serene scene.
The monster’s front hoof descended, trampling wildflowers, and with a roar, it pounced towards the figure.
Bang—
Gunshots rang out, smoke billowed up as the wild grass quivered in the wind.
As Lu Li passed by the fallen corpse, the growing plants exuberantly covered the monster’s remains.
The plague of plants vanished, and suppressed life was reborn on this earth.
The first impact was the transformation of humanity. Or rather, humanity had never changed; it was rely the shackles of plants that vanished, and now 600 portions of humanity felt like 6000.
When Lu Li paused briefly, the vegetation would grow wildly around him, forming clusters of flowering grass.
In dark, damp environnts, they beca colorful mushrooms and mycelium. In the forest, they turned into sprawling shrubs and saplings; on hills and plains, they transford into vividly blooming flowers and grasses.
This made setting up camp quite troubleso.
Whenever he stayed too long in one place, the vegetation would envelop it. And without the Speaker of the Trees, Lu Li could not command them and had to find rocky areas to camp.
Though the vines would crawl blood vessel-like along the rock surfaces.
Moreover, Lu Li did not return those 600 portions of humanity to the world, for humanity helped him resist pollution.
After all, the resurgence of plants was just a façade, solving only the plant disaster—the strangeness still existed on the earth, never disappearing.
It was said that when the plant disaster was resolved, the vegetation in the Land of Light grew wildly, and even though Annie restrained her aura in ti, she couldn’t stop the Land of Light from becoming a forest.
The residents’ wooden houses turned into treehouses, with sturdy vines crawling up walls, blocking doors and windows.
Even the sunlit shallow seas had strands of seaweed drifting, entangling the boats drifting in the bays,
People were forced to abandon their tasks and cut the abundant vegetation that had grown excessively on this day.
Compared to these changes, which seed more like a disaster to the Land of Light, traces of vegetation were found at the foot of Sugard Mountain, mushrooms were discovered in the Shadow Swamp, and twisted, grotesque plants appeared in Himfast—this was bad news.
Humanity bore pollution turning them into Aliens, then what about the plants?
"There is still the Dark Disaster and the Mist of Strangeness; solving them, we’ll infinitely return to the beauty of the Old Era..."
rchant Anthony narrated Mother of the Marsh’s reminiscence of bygone eras as he cleared the surging vegetation around him, scattering sand to inhibit their growth.
"I am on the road," said Lu Li.
He was not far from the information seen through the gate.
As for the Mist of Strangeness... Lu Li once chased the at Mountain on the ocean, yet, unfortunately, despite their enormity, they were timid, often retreating like sea anemones into the deep sea upon approach, hard to find their trace. Perhaps energy expended could root them out—but these at Mountains spewing Mist of Strangeness were all along every coastline.
It’s hard to count if there are more existing humans or more perpetrators of these strange mists.
"And the clouds that shroud the sky..."
The mist and haze were nowhere in sight.
That was beauty even Lu Li had never seen before.
Only the latter was an impossible vision. The clouds that enshroud the world were shields placed by the Ancients to block the gaze of the stars. Without the clouds, this world would have withered and died long ago.
Even the hole left by the God of the Deep Sea above Old Belfast often awakened the people of the Land of Light from Nightmares of "pair of scarlet eyes peering at the earth from the opening."
Such terror was indescribable, making them wish to return to days devoid of sunlight.
"What do you want to eat tonight?" Mother of the Marsh asked tirelessly, "The apples are ripe. I rember how to make apple pie from the ancient recipe, very sweet, but after the rchant takes it, it might co alive. You could go to Agate Lake to eat, everyone has much to say to you..."
"Let the rchant bring it over."
Lu Li did not wish to end his last journey, after all, they wouldn’t lose to an apple pie.
rchant Anthony returned to the Land of Light to await the apple pie, while Lu Li sat quietly before the bonfire, the flas licking his cheeks. At so mont, an empty can beside him was toppled by tender shoots.
As Lu Li prepared to pick up the can, rchant Anthony ca before the fire, taking an apple pie from his backpack.
The mont it ca out, viscous, scalding tendrils sprouted from the apple pie, dashing towards the unguarded Lu Li, pulling its body to his face, splitting a scarlet mouth ready to bite.
Lu Li lifted his arm, shielding between the apple pie and his cheek. The scarlet mouth incessantly bit, mixing sweet and bloody scents flowing down the arm, while the tendrils wrapped around his soft neck, gradually tightening.
rchant Anthony stood aside, indifferent.
Just as Lu Li was about to be killed by an apple pie, his right hand flicked the holster open, drew the Spirit-Calling Gun, and pressed it against the pie’s body, pulling the trigger—
Bam!
The long-missed blast echoed through the night, and the flas and grass swayed low erratically.
The apple pie gnawing his arm suddenly exploded, splattering pulp far and wide.
A piece landed on Lu Li’s lips. Sweet, llow, with a hint of gunpowder.
...
Minutes later, Lu Li, now in clean clothes, sat back down by the fire.
rchant Anthony was tidying up the apple pie’s remains. Despite being dead, its aroma lingered, still able to be repurposed.
"I am prepared to enter the final destination."
rchant Anthony served as the courier.
"The cetery?"
"No."
Yet Mother of the Marsh had a premonition: "Will we see you again?"
"I don’t know."
Lu Li did not know what lay beyond the "door", only that the truth lay within.
"But what if it deceives you... what if there was never any truth?"
"There isn’t any outside, either."
Mountains, oceans, forests, deserts, fields... his footprints spread across every land, yet there was never a legend of the Shadow of the Maiden here.
Mother of the Marsh couldn’t persuade more. She witnessed Lu Li’s entanglent with Anna, a sentint beyond love—
And besides, this was Lu Li’s choice.
She should not crave further from the hero that surfaced everything in this world.
"I will keep your secret, we’ll wait for you to return."
"Thank you."
rchant Anthony departed, and Lu Li added so logs, curling up beside the fire to sleep.
In the morning, he awoke from the grass, rippling under a gentle breeze, with petals bearing dew shimring amongst the greenery, and smoke rising from the extinguished fire.
Lu Li continued alone, leaving behind the lush adow.
In the distance, ominous gray mist lingered.
Lu Li trekked along barren stones, heading towards the end of this journey.
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