The handsome man spread his hands, gave Lan Tiao a helpless look, and said, "I don't know about this either. You need to try it yourself. Just stand here and stretch your hand out from time to time. At the same time, calculate how long it will take you to leave the miasma range. The next time you go in, you still have to stay for the same amount of time before you can come out."
Lan Tiao said: "Thank you for telling me this."
The handsome man smiled and said, "You're welcome. Do you have any questions?"
Lan Tiao said, "Yes, I happened to hear people talking about a sacrificial tribe... What is that?"
The handsome man replied, "Ciguang Swamp...is a very mysterious and strange place. Normally, only a few demonic beasts and spiritual plants live in the swamp. However, there are two abnormal phenomena in Ciguang Swamp. The first abnormality is that a group of sacrificial priests suddenly appear in the swamp. The characteristic of this group is that all of them have a teardrop-shaped mark between their eyebrows. Any cultivator who sees this group, no matter how powerful, will fall into their hands...and never emerge from the swamp again."
Lan Tiao heard something illogical in the man's words and asked in confusion, "According to what you said, all the practitioners who have seen the sacrificial tribe are dead or missing. Then how do you know any information about them?"
The handsome man curled his lips and said, "Just like we are now, you are standing in the miasma, and I am standing outside. If a group of people from the sacrificial tribe suddenly come, they will only take you away, but not me... People from the sacrificial tribe have a characteristic, that is, they can only see people standing in the miasma. I am standing outside, so they can't see me or hear my voice."
"I see." Lan Tiao nodded.
The handsome man continued, "I haven't finished yet. Listen quietly. Another anomaly in the Ciguang Swamp is even more dangerous... A particularly holy and handsome [person] will appear within. Let's call them [people] for now. Each of them appears benevolent and bright, so we've named them the [Ciguang Clan]. When a Ciguang Clan member appears, all the miasma within the entire swamp territory will transform into a pale white mist, resembling the misty clouds in the sky. Furthermore, anyone who sees a Ciguang Clan member will fall into utter madness! For example, if I were standing outside the woods right now, and the mist inside turned white, I would involuntarily rush back in. My mind would still be clear, but I wouldn't be able to control my steps. I would walk into the swamp, letting my body sink deeper and deeper... The sticky swamp swallowed me, gradually suffocating me, but I never struggled. Until the moment of death, I seemed to have reached the other side of the Ciguang Swamp. As for what was on the other side, I had never seen it... Do you understand what I mean?"
Lan Tiao shook her head: "What you said is too confusing. I don't understand what you are talking about..."
Hearing this, a hint of impatience flashed across the handsome man's face. Then, he realized that perhaps he hadn't explained it clearly, so he continued, "To put it in an analogy, the Mercy Swamp is like an empty house. Weeds grow in this house, and a bunch of animals live there. We are the thieves who go into this house looking for treasures. Do you understand?"
Lan Tiao said, "I understand."
"For example, there's a well and a lake in the courtyard. Under normal circumstances, these two places are relatively safe. However, occasionally, a group of people will escape from the well. These people are the sacrificial tribe, and they will capture any thieves stealing from the courtyard... You can think of it as an independent and complete world beneath the well. The sacrificial tribe lives in this world at the bottom of the well most of the time, but occasionally they come up to capture people. When they've captured enough, they return to the world below... Do you understand?"
Lan Tiao nodded: "I understand."
The handsome man hummed, then continued, "As for the Ci Guang tribe, they live in the lake... This analogy is wrong. The Ci Guang tribe should live beneath the swamp. Their method of capturing people is even more bizarre than that of the sacrificial tribe. The sacrificial tribe simply forcibly captures people's bodies, but the Ci Guang tribe will bewitch humans and make them jump into the swamp and sink..."
At this point, the handsome man looked terrified. He continued, "I know about the Ciguang tribe's situation because I have a blood relative with whom I share vision and emotions. Back then, I happened to be imprisoned by the city lord, and my blood relative happened to be exploring the Ciguang Swamp. Unfortunately, he encountered the Ciguang tribe members. Then, he gradually sank into the swamp. At the same time, I was also affected. My reason completely disappeared, and I frantically wanted to rush out of the cell and sink into the swamp... Later, when I regained consciousness and recalled the past, I was terrified. At that time, I was covered in blood and flesh. I rushed out of the cell at all costs, but was intercepted by more than 20 jailers. Seeing my frenzied appearance, they thought I was faking my escape and beat me up, but they also happened to prevent me from dying... Today is the anniversary of my blood relative's death. I just burned paper money for him nearby and didn't expect to run into you."
Lan Tiao was not very good at comforting others, and he noticed that the handsome man didn't show much sadness on his face, so he just said "My condolences."
The handsome man smiled and said, "I'm not sad. I'm willing to tell you so much because I want to make a deal with you~"
The ending tone of the last word rose, and anyone could hear the lightheartedness and joy in his words.
Lan Tiao asked, "What deal?"
The handsome man smiled maliciously. "The technique I practice is called the [Embracing Devil Art]. The essence of this technique is to constantly trade with others. The method of trading is... very simple. Whenever a practitioner initiates a conversation with me, and I simply respond, it counts as a transaction... The more I answer, the more I can trade from you. Even now, I'm still answering your questions... Now, I want to exchange it for the thing that's most precious to you."
"You..." Lan Tiao was stunned. She thought she had met a kind person, but she didn't expect that the other party had other intentions.
The most important thing is...trading with others? There are such strange and bizarre skills in this world?
Can you become stronger by trading with others?
Lan Tiao's body uncontrollably took out an amulet from her arms and threw it out of the miasma forest.
This miasma only prevents Lan Tiao from leaving, but does not prevent dead things from leaving the miasma forest.
The handsome man took the amulet and asked suspiciously, "What is this? A spiritual weapon?"
Lan Tiao said angrily: "Give it back to me!"
"This is already mine." The handsome man opened the amulet and found that it contained a few... hairs?
These hairs are very ordinary and do not have any aura of spiritual fluctuations.
"Is this the most precious thing you have?"
"A few broken hairs?"
The handsome man turned the amulet inside and out and found that there was indeed only this little thing in the amulet, nothing else. Moreover, the amulet looked very ordinary. Although it was washed very clean, the color was old and it must be quite old.
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