Early in the morning, Liu Ji and the others, equipped with food and water, set off for Swirling Mire City, following the directions on Myza's map.
As for the bunch of potato people, Liu Ji spent a whole day thinking about what to do with them but ca up with nothing. Thus, they trailed behind him in a neat line, like his own green tail.
With only a hand-drawn map, no GPS, and this world lacking any thods to calculate coordinates using celestial bodies, the group had to find the landmarks on the map first to determine their bearings.
And what was marked on Myza's map as a reference point was a huge stone bridge.
According to Myza, while this swamp wasn't particularly dangerous, to ordinary people, any swamp could be perilous.
While Swirling Mire City's main inhabitants were Earthwalkers, they did trade with other races, so many stone bridges spanned the dangerous swamp, connecting relatively safe areas.
The stone bridge Myza marked was the first one they'd encounter when heading toward Swirling Mire City from the desert. Seeing it ant they were entering a swampy area.
But…
After spending a whole week finding the bridge, they discovered it was nothing but a ruin—crumbled bridgeheads and a few moss-covered pillars sticking out of the swamp.
"Well… it seems Mr. Myza was right. He's been in the desert for too long." Girunini sighed, hands on hips at the bridgehead, gazing out into the swamp. "The bridge is in such a state of disrepair already; it's hard to say if the city even exists anymore."
"Let's hope it's still there. We still have to go in any case. Even if the city is gone, we need to find so clues," Yaine said, approaching the broken bridge. She chanted a spell, and a frost-covered path erged along the broken bridge pillars, leading across the swamp.
She then jumped down from the bridgehead and began walking along the frost path. Seeing this, Girunini gestured for the others to follow and jumped down as well.
rvant took Calidora's hand, pulling her into his embrace. Unfolding his dragon wings, he elegantly floated down from the bridgehead.
Liu Ji and Osar, who were still behind, were caught off guard and were left staring after them.
Liu Ji approached the bridge, observed the frosty path below, then turned to look at the line of potatoes behind him. Scratching his head, he pondered.
If these potatoes fell into the swamp, would they grow better or would they rot?
And would these legged potatoes move as smoothly as before if they are in the swamp?
While Liu Ji was lost in thought, he felt a furry hand pat his shoulder. Turning, he saw a smiling Osar holding an empty basket, gesturing toward it with a "please use" motion.
Liu Ji blinked, then understood. He smiled gratefully at Osar and gave him a thumbs-up. Then, he turned back to the potatoes in the soil and called out, "Kids, co out and get in the basket."
For so reason, the usually obedient little potatoes hesitated. They rely poked half their heads out of the soil, looking at Liu Ji doubtfully.
From their emotions, Liu Ji could sense unease and reluctance.
Huh? Could it be that potatoes really can't survive in a swamp? Liu Ji wondered. Taking the basket, he patted it and said, "Don't worry, I won't make you guys enter the swamp. See this basket? Just stay inside."
The potatoes still seed hesitant but eventually crawled out of the soil one after the other and squeezed into the basket.
"Hey, don't be scared. I won't drop you guys," Liu Ji said, slinging the basket over his back.
He smiled at Osar, indicating he was ready, then jumped off the bridgehead like the others.
However, he had forgotten one thing.
In his desert transformation form, not only was his body stronger, but he was also heavier.
There was a loud crack, and the frozen surface of the swamp shattered under his weight. Liu Ji's body sank into the swamp, and the basket filled with potatoes was splattered with mud, causing a panic among them.
Just as Liu Ji struggled, a giant rock hand suddenly erged from the mud behind, lifting him up and carrying him to Yaine.
Yaine, reached out with a staff, tapped his head lightly, and said in incantation, "Be careful."
"Ah, sorry." Liu Ji grinned sheepishly.
During the week-long journey, Liu Ji had been learning incantation and could now manage basic phrases fluently.
Yaine guided the rock hand to place Liu Ji on solid ground and said softly, "Stay close."
With that, she led the group, including Osar who had jumped down too, across the ruins of the broken bridge into the depths of the swamp.
———
———
anwhile, roughly 20 to 30 ters behind the group, a small brown bird flew over, landing on a reed by the swamp, and started pecking for insects on the stalks.
Suddenly, a round, plump insect fell from the reed, landing with a splat in the mud.
The bird tilted its head, eyeing the wriggling insect. Then with a shrill chirp, it hopped down to the mud and pecked at that plump bug.
Then, it pecked once more, then again, and again. Finally, it picked up the insect, shook it, tossed it upward, and finally swallowed it whole.
Satisfied with what was probably the juiciest bug it had eaten in recent tis, the bird spread its wings, ready to fly away to find more food.
However, it found itself unable to take off.
Looking down, the bird saw that so weird black threads had erged from the swamp soils and burrowed into its legs.
Panic set in, and the bird struggled. However, the more it fought, the more it hurt, the black threads seeming to cling to its very bones, causing excruciating pain.
The pain made the bird frantic, and it flapped its wings desperately to free itself from the strange black threads.
But the fierce struggle only made it lose its balance, causing it to fall to the ground.
It tried to stand back up, but the half of its body that had landed on the mud experienced the sa searing pain as its legs, rendering it helpless and only capable of flailing its remaining free wing.
Then, gradually, even that wing stopped moving. The bird's one exposed eye looked longingly at the sky it once knew.
Then, the black threads wrapped around its entire body, dragging it deeper into the swamp.
Bloop.
A bubble rose to the surface and popped, leaving behind a tiny mud pit.
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