The spring chill has just passed and the summer green has just arrived. It should be a day with birds singing and flowers blooming.
However, there has never been such a thing in the swamp.
All around is endless green, dark green, light green, yellow-green, brown-green, mixed and blended, covering the sky and blocking out the sun.
It's a green hell.
Zou Sifang felt like his chest was about to explode. He had been running at full speed for nearly an incense stick of time.
He knew the roads here by heart. In his youth, he had walked every corner of this place, bringing in pinewood logs and laying planks across muddy puddles and hidden ponds for people to walk on while gathering herbs. In this green palace, he was the sole king.
If there is any chance of turning back today's events, it must be here.
No one could defeat him in the swamp; he always found a way to survive...
puff.
A light sound came from under Zou Sifang's feet.
His legs froze. He knew what that sound was: the sound of stepping on waterweed floating in the mud.
How could this be? He clearly remembered that this was a wooden plank. It must have been that rain, that damned rain.
The sound of Xiao Nanhui's footsteps came from not far behind him. Zou Sifang tried hard to steady his sinking body, holding the box tightly in his hand.
Fortunately, he brought the box out.
Xiao Nanhui pushed aside the endless reeds, and the next second he saw that half of Zou Sifang's body had sunk into the mud. Sweat was streaming down his face, and he looked pale from exhaustion. Only his eyes were wide open, revealing a desire to survive.
"You want this, right? If you rescue me, I'll give it to you."
Xiao Nanhui's gaze fell on the palm-sized emerald green gem.
She was not stupid and knew that Zou Sifang's deal was extremely dangerous. Saving a person from the quagmire was not an easy task. But if she did nothing now, there would be no turning back for some things.
There was not even a branch around that could support him, so Xiao Nanhui could only reach out and grab Zou Sifang's shoulders, pulling him sideways outward.
Xiao Nanhui was very strong, but because of this, the ground beneath her feet had to bear twice her body weight in an instant.
The wet and fragile mud began to sink in a larger area, and the mud and water around Zou Sifang instantly reached his neck. He only had time to let out a broken whimper before he was squeezed by the mud and water and could hardly breathe.
Things happened so quickly that there was no time for people to weigh the pros and cons. Xiao Nanhui pounced on the sinking mud in an instant and grabbed the jade seal in his hand at the last moment.
The next second, Zou Sifang's already stiff fingers were swallowed by the mud, and Xiao Nanhui followed closely behind. In her attempt to leap farther, she dropped almost vertically, which accelerated her descent. She tried to grab onto the surrounding branches and weeds, but found no deep-rooted, leafy plants in the swamp, and she had no strength to lean on.
The mud quickly filled her chest, and Xiao Nanhui's breathing became labored. The pounding of her heart made her dizzy and her ears tingle. She gave a wry smile. She used to joke with Shrike that if she died on the battlefield and her body couldn't be found, they'd have someone carve a stone statue and bury it. That way, they could make her look more beautiful. Now that she hadn't died on the battlefield, she probably left nothing behind.
Taking a deep breath, Xiao Nanhui planned to make one last struggle. She struggled to lift the only arm that could still move and climbed out of the mud.
She didn't expect that the next second, a white hand would grab her hand.
Xiao Nanhui stared blankly at the slender and somewhat thin hand. When her eyes moved upwards, she saw a string of Buddhist beads.
Is this the hand of the Buddha? Xiao Nanhui thought a little dazedly, and then a cold male voice woke her up.
"Hold on tight, I don't have the strength to pull up a dead man."
Xiao Nanhui's wandering gaze finally focused, and she saw Zhongli's face very close to her. There were beads of sweat and some splashed mud on it, making the face, which had always been as white as jade, lose its luster. His hair was also a little messy, and he looked a little embarrassed because he was pressed under him.
But at this moment, Xiao Nanhui suddenly felt that he no longer had the feeling that made her stay away from him before. The fragility caused by his delicate facial features disappeared, and was replaced by a kind of determination and toughness.
Unconsciously, Xiao Nanhui tightened his grip on the other person's hand.
Xiao Nanhui's descent stopped due to external forces, but the ground around Zhong Lijing began to sink due to him holding her. He slowly adjusted his body, trying to lie flat on the fragile mud.
Finally, the two people holding hands seemed to have reached a balance point, deadlocked in this quagmire, but this balance was so fragile that it would be destroyed with just the slightest movement.
From the distant marsh came the cries of Ding Weixiang and Shrike, so erratic they were hard to discern. Xiao Nanhui strained to call out, but after a few calls, she dared not move. Even the slightest breath or tremor could send them plummeting. Her cries were absorbed by the damp, cold air around them, seemingly evading them. There was no wind in the reeds, and the vapor condensed, gradually forming a thick fog.
The voices gradually faded away, and the surroundings became quiet. The two people on the wet and cold mud ground were like two stones connected together, motionless.
After an unknown amount of time, the last ray of sunlight on the swamp faded away and the temperature gradually dropped. Xiao Nanhui was in good physical condition and could still hold on, but Zhongli was not a martial artist and was already at the end of his strength. Xiao Nanhui could feel his hands trembling.
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