Tears streamed down their faces as they reunited in the Demon Swamp.
The Swamp of Ten Thousand Bones, as its name suggests, is a forbidden zone for living beings.
Before even stepping inside, a stench of rotting mud, poisonous miasma, and a thick, deathly aura assaulted the senses, making one want to vomit. Mo Xiaoyu stood at the edge of the swamp, gazing at the boundless, eerily green and grayish-black muddy expanse before her. Dead trees, like twisted, ghostly claws, stretched from the mud, their branches draped with tattered, fluffy substances that swayed in the faint, eerie breeze. Everywhere she looked, the stark white skeletons of unknown beasts or humans lay half-submerged, adding to the sinister atmosphere.
The poisonous miasma permeating the air not only eroded the physical body but also disturbed the mind. Mo Xiaoyu immediately circulated her spiritual power to protect herself, and the cool aura emanating from the Soul-Stabilizing Pearl acted as the strongest barrier, keeping the invisible negative energy at bay. Even so, she could still feel a heavy, unsettling sense of oppression.
The Soul-Stabilizing Pearl on her chest was burning hot, and the sensation was stronger than ever before, almost bursting out of her chest and pointing straight into the depths of the swamp! But at the same time, the sensation also carried a kind of weakness and intermittentness that made her panic, like a candle that might be extinguished at any moment.
He's inside! And the situation is extremely bad!
Without the slightest hesitation, Mo Xiaoyu took a deep breath of the unpleasant air, and with a swift movement, like a light and agile swift, she darted into this land of death.
In the swamp, there was nowhere to gain leverage. She could only rely on her exquisite movements to step over the occasional exposed hard rocks, huge dead trees, or relatively solidified clods of mud. Every step had to be taken with extreme caution, because no one knew whether beneath that seemingly solid foothold lay a swamp that could swallow everything.
"Glug... Glug..."
Huge bubbles occasionally rise from the silt, releasing even stronger poisonous miasma when they burst. Furthermore, some venomous insects and ferocious creatures adapted to this environment lurk in the shadows, waiting for their chance to strike.
A giant crocodile, its body covered in sticky mud and stained with vibrant colors, silently lunged from the side, its gaping maw emitting a foul stench! Mo Xiaoyu flicked her wrist, and her steel sword traced a cold arc, precisely piercing the crocodile's relatively vulnerable eye. A burst of sword energy erupted, instantly shattering its brain. The crocodile's massive body convulsed violently a few times before slowly sinking into the mud.
Before she could even catch her breath, the "ground" beneath her feet suddenly began to writhe! It was a giant swamp leech disguised as a mud puddle! Its slippery body suddenly coiled around her, and its powerful strangulation force instantly tightened around her legs, causing a numbing sensation at the point where the suckers attached.
Despite the danger, Mo Xiaoyu remained calm. With her left hand, she joined her fingers like a sword, drawing upon a faint wisp of starlight to transform it into a sharp blade of light, which slashed fiercely at the leech's slippery body! The starlight seemed to have a natural restraint on this sinister creature. The leech let out a silent hiss, winced in pain, and quickly burrowed into the mud and disappeared.
She dared not linger and continued to venture deeper. The further she went, the harsher the environment became. The poisonous miasma almost solidified, its colors becoming bizarre and grotesque, sometimes crimson like blood, sometimes eerie green like will-o'-the-wisps, constantly assaulting the protective aura and the barrier of her Soul-Stabilizing Pearl. The footholds she could use for support dwindled, and the suction of the swamp grew stronger, forcing her to expend more spiritual energy to maintain her balance.
Even more terrifying, this swamp seemed to be able to erode divine sense. Her perception range was compressed to its limit, and she could only rely on the increasingly clear guidance from the Soul-Stabilizing Pearl.
One day, two days… she struggled through the perilous swamp, her concealing cloak tattered and stained with mud and dark red blood—some from ferocious beasts, others from her own. Her spiritual energy was dwindling, her elixirs were rapidly depleting, and her physical strength was nearing exhaustion. Yet, the light in her eyes grew ever more resolute, for the Soul-Stabilizing Pearl's signal indicated it was almost upon them!
Finally, on the evening of the third day, after passing through an area filled with deadly pink miasma, the scene before her suddenly changed.
This is a relatively dry depression located at the deepest part of the swamp. In the center, several huge, broken stone pillars stand, carved with ancient totems that have long since faded, like the remnants of some lost civilization. And in the center of the area surrounded by these stone pillars, a figure is slumped against the thickest of the pillars.
The man's once-blue robes were now stained beyond recognition by dried blood and mud, torn in many places, revealing deep, bone-revealing wounds. His head was bowed, his long hair disheveled and obscuring his face. His breath was so faint it was almost imperceptible, like a candle flickering in the wind, ready to be extinguished at any moment. Only in his hand did he still tightly grip an ancient longsword—Zhan Yuan. The blade was dim, yet it still exuded a faint, unapproachable majesty.
Who else could it be but Xie Yunzhi?!
"Clouds stop—!"
Mo Xiaoyu's heart felt like it had been ripped apart instantly; all her strength crumbled the moment she saw him like this. She gasped in shock, her voice trembling uncontrollably and choked with sobs, and rushed over without thinking, stumbling and almost collapsing in front of him.
Upon hearing her voice, the head that had been hanging low slowly, as if using all its strength, lifted up slightly.
Amidst his disheveled hair, a pair of eyes, once clear and bright like stars, now dim, bloodshot, and vacant, were revealed. For a fleeting, almost imperceptible light flashed in those eyes the moment he saw her, only to be swallowed by immense pain and exhaustion. His lips were dry and pale, moving slightly but uttering no sound; only a trickle of dark red blood escaped from the corner of his lips.
Mo Xiaoyu's tears instantly burst forth like a broken string of pearls. She reached out her trembling hand, which was also covered with tiny wounds, wanting to touch him, but she was afraid of hurting the wounds all over his body, so she could only hang in mid-air, trembling helplessly.
“Yun Zhi… Yun Zhi… I’m here… I’ve found you…” she choked, her words incoherent, as she carefully reached out to brush the messy hair from his face. The skin her fingertips touched was covered in cold sweat.
Xie Yunzhi seemed to want to smile at her, but before the smile could even appear, it turned into an uncontrollable, extremely painful cough. Her whole body convulsed, and more blood gushed from her lips, staining her trembling fingertips red.
Mo Xiaoyu's heart ached. She hurriedly took out the best healing pills she had brought from Starfall Lake from her storage ring and carefully fed them to him. She then took out some water and gently moistened his chapped lips. She mixed her remaining gentle spiritual energy with the cool and tranquil aura of the Soul-Stabilizing Pearl and slowly channeled it into his almost depleted meridians.
Her spiritual power and the aura of the Soul-Stabilizing Pearl seemed to have a miraculous effect on him. Xie Yunzhi's violent cough gradually subsided, and his unfocused eyes regained some focus. Although he was still weak, he was at least no longer in a state of imminent collapse. He laboriously raised his other hand, which was not holding the sword, and very slowly covered the back of her hand, which was stained with tears and blood, that had been resting beside his cheek.
His hands were cold and trembling, yet they carried a power that instantly reassured her.
“…Silly…girl…” he whispered weakly, his voice so hoarse it was almost inaudible, “…You…shouldn’t…have…come…”
"If I don't come, who will care about you!" Mo Xiaoyu retorted, her voice trembling with tears, gripping his cold hand tightly as if trying to transfer her life force to him. "You said we'd be together! You can't leave me behind!"
Looking at her red, tear-filled eyes and her face etched with worry and stubbornness, Xie Yunzhi felt something melt deep within his dim eyes—a profound and complex emotion that transcended pain and exhaustion. He didn't speak again, but simply tightened his grip on her hand, closed his eyes, and focused all his energy on guiding the spiritual and medicinal power she had brought to heal his battered body.
Mo Xiaoyu stayed by his side, not daring to relax for a moment. She continuously channeled spiritual energy and the aura of the Soul-Stabilizing Pearl into him while vigilantly watching the dim surroundings. This ruin seemed to have temporarily isolated him from the poisonous miasma and ferocious creatures of the outside world, forming a small, relatively safe area.
Night fell silently. The swamp was even more dangerous at night, with all sorts of eerie sounds rising and falling, as if countless eyes were peering into the darkness at the faint light in this depression.
Mo Xiaoyu leaned against the stone pillar, letting Xie Yunzhi's head rest on her lap, shielding him from the cold night wind with her body. She held his hand, the Soul-Stabilizing Pearl radiating a soft and warm glow between their clasped hands, like the only light in this desperate situation.
She looked down at his furrowed brows and bloodless face, even in his unconscious state, and tears silently streamed down her face again, dripping onto his cold forehead.
"Hold on, Yunzhi..." she murmured softly, as if making a vow, "I will definitely take you away from here... no matter what..."
The night in the Swamp of Ten Thousand Bones is long and cold. But in these ruins, two hearts, hardened by suffering, finally come together again, relying on each other's faint warmth to fight against the boundless darkness and despair.
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