July 25, 2023 by Wyrd
His feet sank into the swamp, and the black, putrid mud kept rising up his legs until it reached his waist.
Luckily, it stopped there.
He calmly took a few steps forward and turned back to say to the others, “If we had come any later, we wouldn’t have been able to leave the Black Swamp before nightfall. We would have had to sleep inside it.”
The one speaking was a flower attendant from the same courtyard as them, not another player, but someone from this dungeon world. He had silvery-white hair and was quite handsome.
He was usually very silent and didn’t like to talk much, but when he spoke, his words were full of intimidation.
After all, he was probably not an ordinary NPC. Upon hearing what he said, several players began adjusting their clothes.
They were aware that they were here to pick flowers, and regardless of gender, they all wore trousers. The clothes prepared for the flower attendants included long robes and elegant outerwear, even with trousers.
Su Wangsheng reminded Zhu Shuangshuang. “Tie your robe at the waist, but don’t roll up your pants. We don’t know what might be in the swamp, so protect your legs with the trousers.”
As a scriptwriter with a vivid imagination, Zhu Shuangshuang had already thought of various things that could be in the swamp: blood-sucking leeches that would stick to their legs, flower-patterned snakes crawling silently in the putrid mud, or decaying hands suddenly grabbing their ankles.
Zhu Shuangshuang said, “Don’t talk like that!”
Then, she glanced at the eerie, sticky black swamp and asked Su Wangsheng, “Didn’t the flower attendant just say that we wouldn’t be able to leave the swamp after dark and would have to sleep here? Yenan Wang also said that something bad will happen if we didn’t leave before nightfall. So, do you think there might be many flower attendants who died in the swamp, their bodies decaying and merging with the mud?”
Su Wangsheng remained silent.
He retracted his extended leg.
It’s like the officials were allowed to set fires but not the common people to light a lamp. (T/N: This idiom is used to criticize the double standards and unfair treatment that can exist in society, where those in positions of power or authority may be granted certain privileges or allowances that are denied to ordinary citizens. It highlights the unequal treatment of people based on their social status or position.)
Su Wangsheng said, “Can you please stop saying such things?”
Zhu Shuangshuang replied, “What I said is based on facts. Look at the water on the black swamp, with a reddish tint. Could it be corpse water?”
The two of them bickered back and forth, but in the end, they still put their feet into the swamp.
“That is a feeling I absolutely don’t want to experience again.”
“The swamp soil is unusually soft; just a light step sinks you in. You can clearly feel the mud under your feet and seeping into your pants, sticking to your skin.”
“Sigh.“ Both Su Wangsheng and Zhu Shuangshuang had already put their legs into the black swamp, while Ning Su was a bit slow in response.
They both turned to look at him, and Zhu Shuangshuang asked, “What is it?”
Ning Su replied, “It’s corpse water. I can smell it.”
“...”
Zhu Shuangshuang burst into tears immediately.
Ning Su comforted her, “It’s okay, there shouldn’t be any decaying hands as you mentioned. The bodies have all decomposed and turned into mud and water.”
“...”
While crying, Zhu Shuangshuang continued walking into the swamp, saying, “My flower, where is my flower? Mom...”
Su Wangsheng turned his grief and indignation into strength, gritted his teeth, and half of his body sank into the black swamp. Before going further, he asked Ning Su, “Aren’t you coming down?”
Ning Su looked at Ning Changfeng, who was also motionless, lazily leaning against an ancient tree.
This person was lazy, not participating in information exchange, and not being proactive in completing tasks.
Ning Su was about to pass Su Wangsheng’s words to Ning Changfeng when he sensed something surging in the black swamp.
It was a white snake.
Ning Su sighed again, realizing the advantage of having bloodline inheritance; it was better than any skills or weapons.
Ning Changfeng said, “Little brother, if you stand with me on the united front to deal with Shi Tianzhu in the future, I’ll help you bring back a flower.”
Ning Su turned his back to Ning Changfeng and squatted on the ground, not knowing what he was doing.
A few seconds later, two children appeared.
Ning Changfeng slightly raised an eyebrow at his way of “giving birth” to children.
When Gui Sheng came out, he hugged Ning Su’s arm and rubbed against it.
Manman looked up at him with satisfaction and said, “Mom looks so beautiful.”
“Huh?” Gui Sheng replied, “Cute!”
Ning Su’s beauty in this instance was beyond doubt.
Upon hearing this, he immediately struck a pose like that of a delicate, sick person, supporting his forehead with his hand, and weakly said, “I’m so tired.”
“But we still need to find flowers in the swamp.”
Gui Sheng immediately exclaimed, “I’ll find them!”
At that moment, Zhu Shuangshuang, who happened to see this scene, muttered to herself, “Is he even human?”
Gui Sheng was so small that his head would submerge if he came into the swamp.
Ning Su pretended, “Can such a cute Gui Sheng do it?”
Gui Sheng’s eyes brightened, about to express how capable he was, but Manman sighed in a mature manner and said, “Let me do it.”
With her words, more than a dozen tall skeletons jumped into the dark swamp and quickly spread out in all directions.
Ning Su remarked, “Ah Fei is really capable.”
Gui Sheng echoed, “Capable!”
Manman sighed again and looked somewhat melancholic as she gazed at the boundless black swamp. However, when she saw Zhu Shuangshuang crying and searching for flowers in the mud, she thought she looked silly. “Why doesn’t she ask Zhi Zhi for help? This black swamp is child’s play for Zhi Zhi with his lotus lantern.”
Zhu Shuangshuang remained silent.
Perhaps because many flower attendants had already searched the nearby, but no player had found any flowers yet.
The further they went, the deeper the swamp became, and the pressure they felt increased.
Zhu Shuangshuang found it difficult to lift her legs, and the intense smell of decay overwhelmed her brain and stomach. She suddenly looked up and saw two reddish-orange suns flickering before her eyes.
Her physical strength was also failing; walking back on this road was already difficult, and going forward was very dangerous.
She sank into the mud, down to her chest, a strand of hair hanging down, about to fall into the decaying sludge when it was caught by a pair of grayish-white little hands.
A boy wearing small leather shoes sat on a lotus lantern, looking at Zhu Shuangshuang, “Zhi Zhi.”
Gui Sheng, who was far away, saw his familiar little companion and took two steps forward. “Zhi Zhi!”
The little boy looked back at him. “Zhi.”
Gui Sheng happily waved his little arms.
Zhi Zhi pushed Zhu Shuangshuang back and sat on the lotus lantern, sailing toward the depths of the swamp, looking even more relaxed than a skeleton.
Su Wangsheng: “...”
So, what kind of instance did they enter before this? Why are there suddenly so many laboring children?
In the end, he was the only one who walked with bitterness and difficulty toward the depths of the swamp.
The time from the sunset to darkness was not long.
The skeletons quickly brought a plant of black-leaf red-petal flowers for Ning Su, with two branches, each with four flower blossoms, just like a multi-headed rose bubble.
Zhi Zhi found a green vine flower for Zhu Shuangshuang, with vine palms about the length of a palm, slightly drooping.
After completing the task, the three little children played together.
Before long, Su Wangsheng also struggled to find a deep blue flower.
Meanwhile, the lone ranger Ning Changfeng had long returned with his flower.
As the day was about to turn dark, regardless of whether the flower attendants found flowers or not, they began to walk back.
But even so, a few flower attendants couldn’t make it in time.
Some of them, when they didn’t find flowers, unwillingly continued to move forward, misjudged their physical strength, and found the return journey difficult and exhausting, having to rest for a while after walking a few steps, panting heavily.
“We should go now; if we don’t leave soon, it’ll be too late,” Su Wangsheng said, looking at the distant black swamp with only a faint line of red light remaining.
As the last trace of sunset was about to disappear, the undulating terrain of the black swamp seemed to become more distinct, as if something deep within the swamp was moving.
The few flower attendants had their eyes wide open, as if they had seen the most terrifying thing in the world.
“Ah! -“ A shrill, sharp scream echoed as the flower attendants were suddenly pulled into the depths of the black swamp.
Before they could struggle, they were engulfed by the swamp, and a black wave surged, returning the swamp to silence.
Except for one.
A red headscarf surrounded the nearest flower attendant.
Half of his body was submerged in the swamp, desperately struggling to wave his arms.
Zhu Shuangshuang was also pulled backward, and Su Wangsheng immediately grabbed the red headscarf in front of her.
In that instant, he realized the immense power of the swamp. The comparison between their strength and the swamp was like two drops of water against an endless sea.
Su Wangsheng: “Quick, help us!”
The flower attendant in the black swamp was also in tears, looking at them in pain and pleading.
It was like when they were in front of the Flower God’s temple, and they saw players trapped in vases, begging for help in the same way.
Other players around them reacted and rushed over, pressing down or grabbing hold of the long red headscarf.
A dozen players together felt the same sense of helplessness and insignificance.
They couldn’t pull the flower attendant up at all; instead, they were being pulled along with him towards the depths of the swamp.
Ever since becoming flower attendants and undergoing the restoration of the major family’s holy water, the players were no longer as weak as they were in Boss Qi’s water prison. Their stamina had reached its peak, and their strength and stamina had increased, allowing them to use skill weapons.
With much greater strength than ordinary people, and being able to use various skill weapons, they still couldn’t pull the flower attendant up even a bit.
It was as if there was a huge, terrifying monster within the black swamp, pulling them in like a string of tiny ants in a game-like manner.
As the night fell, the black mist over the swamp thickened, and the foul stench inside grew stronger. There were indistinct “yiyas” that sounded like knives piercing their brains.
It was too late.
They were powerless.
Many flower attendants were about to let go when suddenly a layer of black substance came from behind, making the red headscarf snap straight.
A white and thin hand appeared behind the flower attendants, grabbing the tail of the red headscarf.
Ning Su’s voice came from behind, “Gui Sheng, exert your strength.”
“Yes!”
Gui Sheng, who had somehow run to the front, had black cracks appearing on his small, pale hand.
He stood in front, facing the eerie and profound power of the black swamp, pulling the red scarf, and his small feet actually stepped back.
At the same time, from the back, black energy rushed towards the swamp.
The black mist condensed into water droplets and turned into black rain, dripping down on the flower attendants. It was fishy, cold, and burned their skin.
The red scarf, which had already lost its color, finally contracted backward.
The flower attendant, who was constantly being swallowed by the swamp, was pulled out by them.
The players were overjoyed.
Regardless of how important this person was, the feeling of pulling someone back from the seemingly unbeatable presence with all their strength always brought some joy.
But this joy lasted only for a second.
When that person was pulled up, it brought up a liquid that splashed onto the players’ faces and bodies.
That liquid contained ancient and decaying smell, mixed with fresh, scorching hot blood, and it sent a cold and hot shock to their skin.
The player who was dragged up fell heavily to the ground.
Only half remained.
The missing lower half connected to the upper half was filled with fractured, tiny serrations, as if corroded by something.
The corrosion was still ongoing.
From the waist down to the palms of his upturned hands.
The sky began to pour a dense black rain, and the black swamp surged like waves, carrying the ghostly wailing winds they heard every night.
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