650 The Caw Through the Swamp (1/2)

The golden threads were very thin and very tough. The only way to bury them under the skin was to sew them in with a needle. It was an extremely painful process. Who would do something like that to themselves if it were not necessary?

Ning Que looked at Ye Hongyu and said, ”It seems like the West-Hill Divine Palace has accepted Long Qing once more.”

Ye Hongyu asked, ”What does Long Qing have to do with this matter?”

Ning Que answered, ”Only Long Qing knows that I know Tao Tie. That is why you buried the golden threads in yourself.”

”Long Qing knows that you know Tao Tie? He didn't tell the Divine Hall.”

Ye Hongyu frowned slightly as she said, ”As I've said before – the golden threads were buried many years ago, when we returned from the Wilderness.”

Ning Que, a bit surprised, said, ”Lotus had already died back then. Why did you go through the pain of burying golden threads in your body?”

Ye Hongyu said, ”Because I have to be prepared at all times for someone to eat me.”

After a moment of silence, Ning Que said, ”You really are a lunatic.”

He scooted back a little and made sure that the blood on his chest had clotted before releasing his palm. He held the hilt once more. Ye Hongyu used mud to seal the wound on her neck and looked up calmly.

Their gazes met once more in the dark swamp and they both understood what the other meant.

Even the strongest, most fearless warriors would feel immense fear and attachment to life when faced with imminent death like the two of them. The thought of avoiding each other – avoiding death – would naturally occur to them. They would need to rest for a long while before they could work up the nerve to fight once more.

However, this was not so for Ning Que and Ye Hongyu. He knew that Ye Hongyu would not allow him and Sangsang to leave alive. Ye Hongyu knew that they would not give in easily. That was why furious bloody battle was imminent.

Ye Hongyu suddenly looked at herself.

Her bare feet were submerged in the muddy swamp. Nails of her pale feet had been painted red, but were fading after being submerged in the swamp. The muddied waters lapped at her feet, washing away the paint.

She was standing on a piece of shaky wet moss. Her palms were itchy and felt weak, almost as if she were being gently tickled with feathers.

Ning Que also felt the ground faintly tremoring. Rather confused, he looked towards the west side of the swamp. It was still enshrouded in mist and he could not see a thing.

The tremor grew and shallow waters of the swamp began to swirl and dance. The murky waters seemed to have become dancers draped in grey as they rose and fell.

An arch shot up from beneath the moss and across the surface of the swamp. It stretched from the western edge shrouded in mist to just before them. There were dancing shadows and, along with them, a smooth capybara appeared from the arch of fog.

Following the first, dozens of arches appeared from beneath the wet moss. Several capybaras shot across the swamp, fleeing in horror towards the east. It was as if something terrifying had appeared behind them. However, what was odd was that not a single capybara tried to dive deep into the muddy bottom of the swamp.

Anything would look terrifying if there was a crowd of it. What's more – a bunch of ugly fellows covered in greasy hair and mud? It made one's hair stand. Ning Que and Ye Hongyu might not be afraid of the poisonous capybaras, but they backed away subconsciously, leaving an open path for them.

Tremors on the swamp's surface grew stronger. Moss swirled in the water and mud flew all over the place. Mud in the swamp was like rainwater on a drum – it did not lay still at all.

After hundreds of capybaras passed through in horror, more wild animals ran out of the fog in the west and fled to the east. The most frightening part was when tens of thousands of mud rats ran by, squeaking. Ning Que saw that there were two Snowfield Direwolfs in the fleeing herd.

Snowfield Direwolves lived in the Cold Region of the Far North. They reigned in the cold regions. As the Hot Sea froze over and Desolate Man headed south, they too moved southwards. They had become the most terrifying beast in the Wilderness over the last two years and word of their strength had spread to the Central Plains.

However, the snow-colored wolves were covered in mud and had several terrifying bite marks on their backs. They looked exhausted, fearful and did not seem as terrifying as they were rumored to be.

The number of fleeing beasts grew, covering the part of the swamp that was not covered by fog.

Ye Hongyu is the Great Divine Priest of Judgment and Ning Que is a powerhouse. However, when faced with a large number of fleeing beasts and the wrath of nature, they did not dare move lightly.

In the beginning, when hundreds of capybaras appeared, the two of them took several steps backwards. As waves of beasts grew, they were forced to keep retreating and, as a result, the distance between the two grew farther and farther.

They simultaneously looked towards the western side of the swamp, which was covered in fog. Their expressions grew grave as they wondered why so many beasts would appear in the swamp. What was it that could terrorize so many beasts and cause them all to flee? What dangers lay waiting in the deep fog? Could it be the legendary wild beast?

Earth shook and sounds of clopping hooves crackled like thunder. There was a commotion in the western part of the swamp. A grey shadow leapt out from the fog and fell heavily on the ground, mud smeared all over its hooves.

To the surprise of Ning Que and Ye Hongyu, appearing from the fog was neither an ancient wild beast, nor was it a hermit master cultivator. It was a gray horse.

The grey horse was graceful and unusually good looking. Long hair on its neck fluttered. When it ran on the soft muddy ground of the swamp, it was like a grey shadow – wild and unrestrained – obviously feral.

However, not even the most handsome of feral horses could scare several hundreds of capybaras, mud rats and beasts into fleeing.

At that moment, a white shadow leapt out of the fog again. It was an equally good looking white mare. Following that, hundreds and thousands of wild horses rushed out from the fog!