Chapter 57: Warning

They stood in the thinner mist, neither willing to walk back into the densest part. Lin Feng rubbed his face.

"What if I blindfold myself and plug my ears? You lead me."

Yu Mei gave him an exasperated look. "You don’t even know the direction while wide awake, dufus. Now you want to stumble around deaf and blind?"

"Fine. What if I just charge through while screaming so I can’t hear it?"

"It feeds on focus and desire, not sounds. Anyway you don’t have an ’item’ that can repel these things?"

"Ohh... Now that you mentioned it, let me see if i have anything"

Lin Feng opened the System Shop with a theatrical flourish, making a show of digging through his satchel at the same time.

"Please," he muttered, "there needs to be something new that can deal with this..."

He scrolled past the usual upgrades and stopped on a fresh listing.

"Repelling Peachwood Spike’... seventy-five hundred Rage Points." He stared at the description.

It’s a wooden stake. How the fuck is a wooden supposed to help me against a bunch of spirits. They’re not vampires for godsake. He thought.

Lin Feng kept scrolling, increasingly annoyed.

"’Clarity Incense of the Calm Heart’ — burns for three minutes and ’soothes emotional turbulence.’

Lady, my emotional turbulence is the only reason I’m still standing. Next."

Yu Mei raised an eyebrow.

Lin Feng closed the shop with a scowl. "Nop. I’ve got nothing useful for spirits.,"

She sighed. "Then you either go all the way back, or we should try a different exit. I should warn you that the next nearest one is guarded by a particularly nasty water entity."

Lin Feng groaned. "Water entity? Never mind that."

They were still turning over half-serious options when the atmosphere changed. The mist did not thicken this time. Instead it drew back in a wide circle, and the roots and vines ahead twisted upward, weaving into a vague feminine upper body and face. The same presence that had spoken to him on his first day in the swamp.

The voice came, warm and calm and completely unhelpful.

"Lin Feng... You cannot exit before completing your quest. If you fail, you will never exit."

Lin Feng stared. "This is outrageous! That wasn’t in the deal."

"It was implied," the swamp said, as if stating something obvious. "Logical."

He groaned. "First you lock me out, now you want to lock me in. Make up your mind."

The presence ignored him and turned its attention to Yu Mei.

"You mei... You have broken our previous arrangement by attempting to guide him to an exit. So your protection is rescinded."

Yu Mei simply nodded, as if she had already expected it.

"However," the swamp continued, "you did so in service of the one who holds a deal with me. If you help him achieve his goal, I will give you what you want most. Your freedom. For that, your sole aim will be to ensure his success and prevent him from straying from the objective."

Yu Mei’s eyes widened.

Lin Feng opened his mouth. "You conniving—"

"I expect results soon," the swamp finished, and the vine-woven face unravelled back into ordinary roots and mist.

Then silence settled. Lin Feng dragged a hand down his face. "There it goes." He looked at Yu Mei. She had not moved. "You good?"

She was quiet for several breaths. When she finally spoke, her voice was lower than usual.

"My protection is gone. Now it’s certain that the only path left to what I want is through your success. From now i will be treated as an intruder by the beasts and creatures of this swamp, just as they treat you."

Lin Feng exhaled. The weight of the new restriction settled across his shoulders. He glanced once more toward the deviant mist, then turned away from it.

"Alright," he said. "Back into the deeper layers then. We need to make progress, or we stay stuck here forever."

Yu Mei adjusted her grip on the spear and started walking. Her expression was unreadable, but her steps were steady.

They put several more ridges between themselves and the failed exit before either of them spoke again. The mist here was ordinary, the residual hostility thin and old.

"That thing," he said finally. "What exactly is it?"

Yu Mei walked a few steps in silence before answering."Strange, isn’t it? It’s more calculating than most humans. It only keeps you along as long as you’re useful."

Lin Feng glanced at her. "You talk like you know more than you’re saying."

She gave a small shrug. "Not much. People say different things. Some claim it’s an ancient spirit powerful enough to claim the entire swamp. Others say the extreme disordered qi here eventually formed a will of its own, a guardian that grew out of the land. Truth is, nobody really knows what it is. Including me.""And the beast it wants gone must be more troublesome than I thought," Yu Mei said. "The swamp sounded almost desperate to be rid of it. That desperation is new."

"You don’t know anything about the beast either?"

"No. And that seems strange to me as well." She adjusted her grip on the spear.

"So what’s the next step?" Lin Feng asked.

"The next step is simple. We move and find the next residual nodes and whatever comes with them. Best thing right now is to make you stronger."

"Yeah that’s what i came here for in the first place."

"Then let’s move."

(Two weeks later)

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Lin Feng Dashed faster than he ever did before and behind him the water surged in violent, grasping waves. The same territorial water beast that had nearly killed him weeks ago was hunting him again. And it was angrier, and very committed to finishing the job.

This time, however, the gap between them stayed open. Upgraded Fleet Footed Dash chewed through the slick roots and shallow water with almost insulting ease. Lin Feng even had enough breath to taunt it.

"What’s wrong? Those short little fins can’t keep up anymore?"