Chapter 013: The Swamp in the Mountains

Du Fan felt as though someone was pulling him from beneath his feet, as if he were being sucked straight into the ground. Without time to think, he struggled desperately. But for some reason, everything around him was muddy sludge—he couldn’t grasp anything. He glanced around and immediately understood what was happening. This place was likely a swamp formed by decaying leaves in the mountains, with a layer of leaves covering it. Since these leaves hadn’t yet decomposed, it was hard to see the swamp beneath. However, staying in one place for too long meant the layer of leaves couldn’t support his weight, causing this situation. By the time he realized this, he had sunk quite deep. The muddy sludge around him pressed down on his chest like a heavy burden. Du Fan felt dizzy, saw stars floating in the sky, and could hardly breathe.

Rinne, who had spent long time in the mountains, had seen this situation many times. Such swamps in the deep mountains were often bottomless. Once trapped, even the strongest warriors couldn’t escape without any means to pull themselves out. Rinne screamed in panic, “Don’t move! Absolutely don’t move! The more you move, the faster you’ll sink!” She then started searching for something to pull Du Fan out of the swamp. After looking around, she found nothing. Finally, gritting her teeth, she tore off the hem of her robe, tied it loosely around Du Fan’s hand, and pulled hard backward. Du Fan didn’t dare move in the mud, his chest so compressed he was on the verge of passing out. Seeing his condition, Rinne grew anxious. She pulled hard, but it was difficult to drag a man out of the mud. Moreover, as a witch like the mages of Roland Continent, she had strong mental power but weak physical strength. On top of that, she was already injured and had just performed a blood sacrifice, leaving her nearly unconscious—how could she have any strength left? Finally, using all her strength, Rinne managed to pull Du Fan out of the mud. Not daring to stay put, she dragged him to sit on the trunk of a large tree before collapsing and sitting down herself.

After a moment, the two finally recovered. Du Fan patted his chest and wiped the mud off himself. Unsure what was on his mind, he smiled at Ringo and said, “Thank you… If not for you, I would have been finished.”
Ringo frowned and shook her head weakly. “It’s nothing. You’ve saved me many times along the way too.”
They exchanged a glance before quickly looking away.
Du Fan felt frustrated. This girl had pushed him to do something dangerous just a day ago, yet now she acted as if nothing had happened… It seemed that even life and death could bring about changes in people.
Ringo was also puzzled. Though she wished Du Fan dead, she felt a faint reluctance in her heart—a sentiment she couldn’t understand herself. In the end, she could only sigh softly, thinking she would figure things out once they survived. If they died here, no words would matter.
Du Fan sat for a while longer, examining his body. Frowning, he said, “I need to find a place to wash up and change clothes. I stink to high heaven.”
Ringo shook her head. “Have you seen any water since we came in? Even if there were water, would you dare to wash? It might be water from the Submerged River—washing in it could cost you your life.”
Du Fan smiled bitterly. “You’re right. I forgot that. It’s better to stink a bit than lose my life… Alright, Miss Ringo, you seem more familiar with this place. What do you think we should do next?”
Ringo took a breath and smiled bitterly too. “How can I be more familiar than you? We Karas are not allowed to enter this place even once in our lifetime. Although there are some similar records in our tribe, they’re just legends. Who knows if they’re true?”
Du Fan sighed. “Then tell me what we should do now.”
After hesitating for a moment, Ringo asked back, “Is this place safe?”
“This damned place…” Du Fan shook his head. “How could it be safe? And…”
As he spoke, Du Fan slowly closed his eyes but found he still couldn’t sense anything with his mental power. Frowning, he said, “Besides, mental power is useless here. We have no idea what’s around us… That big tree behind us could very well be a tree demon.”
At these words, both were shocked. They couldn’t help but look up at the tree beside them. Only after realizing there was nothing unusual about it did they both sigh slightly.

Du Fan pondered for another moment. He took a breath, silently examined his injuries, then sighed softly and said, “Can you still walk?”
Ringtone replied, “Of course I can, but?”
“There’s no but…” Du Fan struggled to stand up, taking a few deep breaths. “This place is extremely dangerous. That evil Spider Queen might return at any time. If… she does… or if something else shows up, we won’t even have the strength to resist.”
Hearing Du Fan’s words, Ringtone’s expression changed. “Then what should we do?”
“What to do?” Du Fan smiled bitterly. He glanced around, identified the direction, and said, “It’s impossible to go back the way we came. All we can do now is head to the Gate of the Abyss and try our luck. But that damn high priest of yours is really untrustworthy—his words are so unclear that I’m still confused. He didn’t mention a single detail about what the Gate of the Abyss is like, nor did he say if we can even find it.”
“And…” Du Fan licked his slightly dry lips. “We haven’t eaten anything in a long time, and we haven’t drunk much water either… If we can’t get out, maybe we’ll have to…”
“Have to what?”
A strange smile appeared on Du Fan’s face. He glanced at the muddy pit where they had fallen earlier and sighed softly. “Then we’ll have to eat those things.”
Ringtone’s expression turned grim. “Those things… can we eat them?”
“When you’re dying of thirst, you’d eat something a hundred times dirtier than that muddy pit, as long as there’s even a trace of water in it…” Du Fan said firmly. He stood up, shook off some of the mud from his clothes, and sighed. “Alright… let’s go.”
Ringtone frowned. “So we’re not waiting… for him?”
Du Fan clearly knew who she meant. He shook his head slightly. “In this situation, how can we possibly wait for him? Although it’s safer to go back with him, do we really have to go back for him? He’s extremely powerful; he’s surely fine… We just need to take care of ourselves. As for the rest, let fate decide.” Ringtone nodded slightly and didn’t say anything more.

The two of them slowly made their way deeper into the forest. But with experience this time, they dared not walk on the ground anymore. Fortunately, the trunks of those giant trees were very thick and mostly exposed above the ground; otherwise, there really would have been no place to stand.

Strangely enough, they didn’t encounter any other magical beasts along the way. After discussing it for a while, they guessed that this forest was likely the domain of some evil spider queen, so it wasn’t surprising that there were no other magical beasts.

After walking a further distance, the forest became even quieter, and this silence made people’s nerves extremely tense. Du Fan glanced back at Ringo after walking halfway and noticed her pale face. He couldn’t help but ask, “Are you okay?”

Ringo shook her head slightly and said, “I’m fine.”

Du Fan frowned but didn’t say much. He could faintly sense an extremely powerful pressure. Although he wasn’t very scared himself, Ringo seemed greatly affected by it. Du Fan knew that he was fine mostly because of the Divine Origin. If he hadn’t accidentally obtained it, he would have already collapsed on the ground by now.

With this thought, Du Fan became even more curious about the Abyssal Gate. What could be inside that could generate such pressure?

He glanced at Ringo a few more times and suddenly had an idea. He couldn’t help but ask, “Miss Ringo, have the legends of the Submerged Valley and the Abyssal Gate always existed in your tribe?”

Ringo was slightly stunned. After thinking for a moment, she replied, “Yes… These legends are said to have existed thousands of years ago. They have been passed down from generation to generation among our Karas. Although some details have been lost, we still remember the general legends about the Abyssal Gate.”

Du Fan nodded and said in a low voice, “The Submerged Valley and the Submerged River were roughly explained by High Priest Gannon. But I still don’t know what the Abyssal Gate actually is. Could you tell me?”

Ringo’s expression changed slightly. After a moment, she sighed and said, “The Submerged River and the Submerged Valley are barriers that protect the Abyssal Gate. Even the Karas from our tribe can be considered part of those barriers… But… I’m not very clear about the secrets behind it. I only roughly know that the Abyssal Gate seems to lead to a place full of monsters. If that gate is opened, the monsters will pour out, and by then, the human world will likely be destroyed.”