351: Weird swamp

Shen Bei and Zhuang Bifan looked at the swamp, their eyes meeting.

“Things are getting… interesting.”

Shen Bei shrugged, muttering.

Zhuang Bifan sniffed, pulling out a wooden comb to tidy his hair: “Not interesting, but troublesome. If we don’t follow the designated path, some unknown force interferes with our direction.”

“Is it a ghost wall?”

“It’s not that simple.” Zhuang Bifan’s tone was rather low: “A ghost wall, to put it plainly, is when we ourselves deviate in direction. But now, it’s clearly not, it should be the power within this barrier.”

Zhuang Bifan’s tone, in Shen Bei’s view, was undoubtedly feigning composure, speaking words he wasn’t even sure of.

Shen Bei listened, frowning, and said in a joking tone: “You’re already very strong for not wetting your pants. No matter what kind of hell it is, we brothers have to go through it, we can’t give up and turn back, right?”

“Alright.” Shen Bei arranged: “You go first, I’ll support you from behind. If there’s danger, I’ll take it for you, you can trust your back to me, absolutely no problem.”

Zhuang Bifan turned to look at Shen Bei, his mouth twitching, a helpless look on his face: “I admire your ability to spout nonsense so seriously without blushing. They say thick-skinned as a city wall, bragging like Wang Lang, that describes people like you. For someone to be as thick-skinned as you, it’s truly rare in the world.”

“Do you want me to lead the charge? Was your Six-Rank Martial Artist title given to you as a phone top-up bonus?”

Zhuang Bifan: …

He coughed, not wanting to waste any more time: “Since we’re teammates, there’s no first or last, let’s go.”

Joking aside.

Even if they argued, they had to brave it and wade through.

At the same time, Shen Bei now understood.

If they didn’t follow the path, they couldn’t get through at all.

Also, Shen Bei had tried flying, but unfortunately, it seemed to be restricted by a mysterious force, making flight impossible.

Shen Bei looked at the misty, vast, and endless swamp, feeling a little apprehensive. The dead silence here was somewhat different from the Banyan Forest.

The Banyan Forest was pure dead silence, as if that place had reached its end, a dead end, the air filled with inertia, with nothing else besides. It was precisely because of this that Shen Bei dared to take Zhuang Bifan in to try their luck.

However, this swamp was completely silent inside, Death Qi was breeding, malevolence was hidden, and coupled with the highly poisonous miasma, it was unknown how many living creatures were buried within, making it extremely dangerous.

Shen Bei even suspected that the miasma seemed to be alive, otherwise, why wouldn’t his Fifth Dimension Attribute work?

If it was just the inherent danger of the swamp itself, that would be fine; natural dangers always have a pattern and can be avoided.

But if the danger was some strange thing contained within, the best outcome would be a narrow escape from death.

Here, Shen Bei could still use Hidden Breath Technique, which could greatly eliminate unknown potential dangers.

But Shen Bei really couldn’t use it, mainly because the swamp was full of puddles, and one could only cross by stepping on clumps of grass.

The distance between the clumps of grass was too far to step over in one stride; one had to jump.

And in the Hidden Breath Technique state, let alone jumping, even a small run was impossible, so he just had to brave it.

At this moment, Zhuang Bifan took a step ahead into the swamp.

With a muffled thud, Zhuang Bifan quickly jumped back from the swamp, his face covered in cold sweat, and continued to stand on the bank, staring intently at a dry patch in the swamp.

The weeds there were broken, and a claw print the size of a human head was left behind. The surrounding weeds withered continuously, and the ground made a sizzling sound. In just a few breaths, the claw print disappeared, and that patch of land, about a zhang wide, was completely corroded and vanished.

All of a sudden, the swamp returned to peace, with no other things visible.

“What the hell is that thing?!” Zhuang Bifan’s face was grim; he hadn’t even seen what had attacked him just now.

Shen Bei hissed: “Beneath the puddles, there really is a strange existence.”

Zhuang Bifan’s face was ashen, standing on the edge of the swamp, looking at the puddles continuously bubbling, a chill running through his body.

Whatever was inside, if they took even one hit, they would surely be dead or severely injured.

“Do you think we might have come to the wrong place? If we went back to Cold Water Town and asked about some secrets, would it be simpler?” Zhuang Bifan asked tentatively.

However, at this moment, Shen Bei was already repeatedly testing between the bank and the swamp.

He jumped back and forth repeatedly, only catching a glimpse of a black shadow flashing by. He could only confirm that this strange thing emerged from the puddles, had a large upper body, large claws, a body with four limbs, moved by crawling, and its claws carried a fierce corrosive poison.

But as soon as it left the swamp area, the strange thing would vanish without a trace, leaving no hint of its presence.

However, after several attempts, Shen Bei had more or less figured it out and knew how to rush through.

“I don’t agree with your statement.”

Shen Bei maintained a confident smile on his face: “Giving up halfway, there’s only zero times and countless times.”

Zhuang Bifan: …

Your way of talking is a bit improper.

“Then what do you suggest we do?”

Zhuang Bifan asked curiously.

They couldn’t fly, and once they stepped in, strange things would inevitably attack.

And Shen Bei’s answer was simple: “Fast! As long as you’re faster than that ghostly thing’s attack speed, you can completely run across.”

Zhuang Bifan frowned: “Unstoppable with speed, right? But the problem is…”

He pointed to the endless swamp ahead: “We have no idea how far the other side is. How much True Qi will it take to reach the other side? If we run out of True Qi halfway, we’ll be in a dilemma.”

Shen Bei grinned: “That’s my advantage.”

“What? Advantage?”

Zhuang Bifan tilted his head: “My True Qi as a Six-Rank Martial Artist must be more than yours, and I don’t even have the courage to say that.”

Shen Bei licked his lips, patted the full-length mirror: “Get in. When I tell you to come out, then come out.”

“And then?” Zhuang Bifan asked.

“Do you have any Medicinal Pills to replenish True Qi?”

“I do have a few bottles.”

“Just have them ready for me.”

In Shen Bei’s opinion, there was no discernible pattern to crossing this swamp; no matter which clump of grass they stepped on, strange things would attack.

Moreover, this thing was incredibly fast. To this day, Shen Bei had not clearly seen what it was.

But Shen Bei, after repeated attempts, the thing still hadn’t caught him, which indicated that his movement speed was faster than the strange thing’s.

There was no correct path here, and no puzzle to solve.

It was all about running speed!

Of course, the storage of True Qi and how long it could sustain running was also a crucial issue.

If Shen Bei were alone, he would be somewhat hesitant to venture in.

But now there were two of them.

Compared to Shen Bei, he had Zhuang Bifan’s True Qi to use.

The problem should not be big now.

At this very moment.

Zhuang Bifan entered the mirror world.

Shen Bei secured the mirror to prevent it from falling off during the run.

Taking a deep breath.

He stomped his legs heavily, causing the ground and air beneath him to violently vibrate.

Shen Bei’s figure, with an overwhelming and fierce momentum, shattered layers of air, and blasted straight towards the swamp!