247 Chapter 246: March into Marsh (1/2)

After that little incident, I spent the next few days training before finally meeting up with Tong Xue, Lian Rou and my new teammates before we proceeded toward the Toxic Marshes.

Zi Sha seemed like quite the emaciated fellow, a tall and thinly guy with stringy hair and a pale complexion. He looked at us wearily and nodded a greeting. Beside him, Yi Ding Si was a chubby fellow with a mop of messy black hair, and a nervous tic. He grinned nervously when he saw us and raised a pudgy hand to wave.

The second girl of the group, Jiu Bu Liao, was a mousy person who was just over a meter and a half in height, and her black hair was allowed to flow freely to her shoulders. She seemed to be in a bad mood for some reason, sulking in a corner. I should also add that she was the last person to arrive, being almost an hour late despite us having agreed on the meeting time a few days ago.

Tong Xue, Lian Rou and I exchanged glances. Zi Sha and Yi Ding Si were one thing, but Jiu Bu Liao's presence really did not bode well for us.

”Okay. Now that we're all here, let's go!”

I clapped my hands, trying to sound optimistic. The three unfamiliar members stared at me, and then scoffed.

”What are you so excited about?”

”You do know where we are going, right?”

”…the Toxic Marshes, right?” I asked, bewildered. ”You guys know what you signed up for, right?”

”…well, yes.” Jiu Bu Liao glanced at the other two guys, who were scowling grumpily. ”This is our last chance. If we don't succeed in this mission, we'll fail and flunk out of school.”

”We're short of credits, and this mission is the only one that offers us enough credits to stay in the academy,” Zi Sha added bitterly.

”We'll definitely die,” Yi Ding Si moaned, oblivious to the irony as always. Tong Xue, Lian Rou and I glanced at each other, already irritated by their defeatist attitude.

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Speaking of credits, the three of us had more than enough to pass. This mission was just a bonus, and we were in it for the rewards, rather than because we needed the credits to pass. As the mission was pretty dangerous and high-ranked, the rewards it offered were substantial, so we were willing to take the risk.

For me personally, I was less interested in the rewards and more invested in the experience the mission provided. I craved more combat experience, and for the chance to test my skills in an actual battlefield. Plus I had an irrational hatred against poison users, and was more than happy to participate in wiping them out.

However, our current teammates seemed reluctant to take the risk, and were only here because they would flunk out of the academy otherwise. Unfortunately, with that sort of defeatist attitude, they were going to die anyway, never mind fail their credits.

”If you follow us, you should be able to pass.” Tong Xue, surprisingly, was the one who step up and assure them. ”We have plenty of experience, and we've accomplished most of our missions. As long as you listen to us and be careful, there shouldn't be any problems.”

”That's right!” I agreed enthusiastically. ”Believe in yourselves! You just haven't unlocked your hidden potential yet! This is a great chance for you guys to gain experience and improve your combat abilities!”

”Get real.” Zi Sha glared at me venomously. ”We aren't you. We have no talent, and can never match up to geniuses like you.”

”…you do know I'm not a genius, right?” I felt a headache building behind my temples. ”I don't have any talent. I had to work my way up the ladder with sheer grit and tremendous amount of effort. I'm a bloody One Star Constitution practitioner, for heaven's sake! What about you guys?”

”Two Stars.”

”I'm also Two Stars.”

”Three Stars,” Zi Sha admitted.

”Then what's your fucking excuse?” I snapped. ”If a One Star Constitution practitioner like me can find a way to accomplish my missions, then why are you guys all acting as if you'll fail already? Stop whining and start doing something about it!”

Everyone stared at me, taken aback. I glared back at the terrible trio, my qi leaking out and intimidating them.

”Or would you prefer to drop out of the mission? We can leave you behind if that's what you want. We don't need you guys to drag us down and become a burden. We have enough things to worry about without having to take care of you.”

”No, we'll go.” The terrible trio hung their heads in shame. Good. About time they man up and quit their whining.

”All right then.” Lian Rou tried to take charge, especially now that the trio seemed intimidated by me and Tong Xue. ”Let's get on the bus.”

We boarded a bus just outside Wu Ling Academy. Apparently the bus was going to take us to the town next to Sen Lin Forest, or at least the the part of Sen Lin Forest where the Toxic Marshes were located.

It was a town named Duchun Village. As we sat in the bus, I noticed something peculiar. Glancing out of the window, I caught a glimpse of a bunch of helicopters and what looked like a gigantic colorful butterfly.

They were following the bus we were in.

Frowning, I wondered why Song Ting Yu was following us. What would interest her in the Toxic Marshes? Was she also invested in the extermination of the Black Venom Cult?

Well, we would find out. Soon.

Thsu bus took about forty minutes to deliver us to Duchun Village, and we disembarked from the bus.

”Do you guys need to get any last-minute supplies?” I asked, just to be sure. We all had made our preparations before we departed from the academy, but these things happened. Even I realized I had forgotten something sometimes just before I went for a mission.

”Nope,” Tong Xue replied.

”I have everything we need,” Lian Rou assured us.

The terrible trio glanced at each other warily, wondering if I was going to unload into them if they admitted that they forgot something, and I sighed heavily.

”Don't worry. Even I forget stuff sometimes. If you need something, buy it. Don't worry about being embarrassed or whatever. Your life is more important than your pride.”

I made a show to check my inventory to ensure I had everything in order. The trio sucked in a nervous breath and also checked. Fortunately, none of them seemed to have missed anything and they expressed their readiness.

”All right! Let's go!”

I put on a cheerful demeanor and led the way toward Sen Lin Forest. As my friends and teammates followed me, I couldn't help but notice that the airborne vehicles (and Flowing Cloud Rainbow Butterfly) had landed to unload their passengers. Song Tong Yu and her bodyguards were following us on foot.

It was only natural. Sen Lin Forest was much too dense and the terrain much too treacherous for anyone to explore its interior in vehicles. I wasn't sure why Song Ting Yu and her entourage were so determined to follow us into such risky areas, but I sure as hell hoped they were prepared. Did they have antidotes on hand?

Most likely they did. Song Ting Yu was an intelligent girl. She probably already made the appropriate preparations for their trip into the Toxic Marshes.

The six of us continued onward, with our three new teammates unaware that we were being followed. Lian Rou, to be fair, was also ignorant that we were being shadowed as well, but Tong Xue as usual spotted them shortly after I did.

”Is it my imagination, or are we being stalked?” he asked.

”Huh?”

The other four turned to stare at him. I raised my hand in a reassuring manner.

”Don't worry, it's just a group from the Martial Arts Alliance. They're probably here for their own mission. If anything, they'll probably help us instead of attack us.”

”You know them?” Zi Sha asked me incredulously. I nodded.

”Now that you mention it…” Tong Xue glanced at our stalkers, who were trying their best to keep their distance and hide among the trees. And doing a bad job at it, I might add. Tong Xue could spot them, but that was perhaps due to his training in the now-extinct Smart Shadow Sect. ”They look like that Song Ting Yu and her bodyguards who visited our school a week or so ago.”

”That's exactly who they are,” I affirmed.

Everyone gaped at me. What? Was it that surprising?

However, I didn't want to alert our followers to the fact that we were aware of their presence, so I signaled to my team to keep quiet and continued walking. They glanced at each other warily, but followed my lead.

Tong Xue, in particular, trusted me. Lian Rou was also pretty familiar with me, and despite Tang Qi Hong's death, we didn't exactly drift apart. Most likely because I continued to hang out with Tong Xue – more so than Zhu Jiao lately, now that I thought about it.

”Why are they following us?” Lian Rou asked curiously, glancing behind. Song Ting Yu's group ducked their heads behind the dense foliage and trees in hopes of avoiding her gaze, but they failed so comically that I could only shake my head.

”Probably the same reason as us. To exterminate the Black Venom Cult.” I shrugged. To be honest, I didn't know, but it certainly wasn't because Song Ting Yu was infatuated with me to the extent that she wanted to follow me wherever I went. I wasn't that delusional.

Not to mention, such characters didn't exist in reality. No real girl would just simply throw herself into your arms because of plot reasons or because you were ”nice”. Love was a more complex emotion and romance a more complicated process than simply a harem of girls falling for you and resorting to all sorts of retarded strategies to catch your attention just because you were nice” or because you saved them once.

Speaking of which, I had never saved Song Ting Yu before, so I doubted it was because of that. And while I was aware that her charm technique had backfired and she sort of grew infatuated with me, I was confident that by now she had found a solution to it and had got rid of the charm technique that imprinted my figure in her heart.

So the only reason was probably the Black Venom Cult in the Toxic Marshes. But if that was the case, they could just join us and cooperate with my team, rather than stealthily sneak around and trying to stay hidden from us for some moronic reason.

Should I go confront them? I wondered. Probably not. Best to let them do what they want for now, and catch them by surprise later. If everything worked out, I might be able to trick Song Ting Yu's group into bumbling right into the Black Venom Cult's hideout, and letting them fight and weaken each other before swooping in to steal the credit.

That might sound cruel, but don't forget. Song Ting Yu and her lackeys were from the Martial Arts Alliance, a hated enemy that tried to invade and wipe out the Nine-Tailed Fox Sect. I certainly hadn't forgotten about that.

If the Martial Arts Alliance and the demonic sects decimated each other, that was fine by me. No, that was the ideal scenario. Nine-Tailed Fox Sect will have our revenge!

So we continued on, pretending that we hadn't detected Song Ting Yu and friends. Passing through the outskirts of Sen Lin Forest, we advanced deeper into the heart of the forest. The terrain was growing more treacherous, the ground becoming softer and damper, and the trees more gnarled and curled.

I could even detect a trace of wetness in the air. We were getting close.

”Be careful,” Lian Rou warned as she glanced around, evidently recognizing the place. As she mentioned before, she was pretty familiar with the Toxic Marshes and their inhabitants. ”We're nearing the marshes. There should be Marsh Serpents here.”

Fortunately, we had antidotes to counteract the relatively mild venom of Marsh Serpents. I say relatively mild, but without an antidote, a bite from the poisonous Marsh Serpents could kill a full-grown man in hours. Longer, if the victim was a martial artist, because we could use our qi to suppress the poison until we find an antidote.

Even so, these were the least of our worries. Marsh Serpents were comparatively small, especially when contrasted to the deadlier denizens that dwelled in the depths of the swamps of Toxic Marshes.

Our feet sank uncomfortably into the softening ground, and Jiu Bu Liao stumbled. Fortunately, Yi Ding Si was on hand to catch her.

”Careful!” Lian Rou warned again, watching out for creatures in the marsh. ”There will be Bog Bugs in the shallow waters. They are too small to present a danger, but in great numbers they can suck the blood of an adult man dry.”

”Gotcha,” I said and adjusted my glasses. They scanned through the dark, murky waters of the nearest swamp, but my lenses didn't pick up any life signs.

”…can we really do this?”

”Hmm?”

I turned to look at Yi Ding Si. He was pale and trembling slightly as he looked around at the threatening depths of the forest. The verdant greenery had been replaced by a darkness, with an ominous fog hanging over the swamp. The waters were a sickening gray, and the bark of the increasingly gnarled trees were dark and withered. Very few leaves hung onto their claw-like branches, and those that did remain looked gloomy and diseased.

”Can we really defeat the Black Venom Cult? I mean, we are just a bunch of kids with not much combat experience. I can't even complete a single mission. I'm so weak…can a kid like me really defeat full-grown martial artists in the Black Venom Cult?”

”Speak for yourself,” Tong Xue snapped crossly. ”Fei Wu, Lian Rou and I all have a fair amount of combat experience.”

”We don't,” Zi Sha cut in grumpily. ”Maybe you three have, but the three of us don't.”

”Then why are you coming along?” I demanded, getting sick of their whining. Now I understood why the Royal Road people on Discord found me so irritating and drove me away. They were sick of my incessant whining as well. Now that I got to experience somehow complaining nonstop, I was getting a little annoyed myself.

”Because if we don't then we'll flunk out of the academy,” Jiu Bu Liao replied.

”But according to you guys right now, you're going to fail the mission anyway because you don't have the confidence to fight the Black Venom Cult, even though you signed up for the mission. And when you fail and return, you will not receive the credits and will flunk out and be drop out of the academy anyway. So why bother going through all this trouble and participating in the mission in the first place, taking all these risks, since you're convinced you will fail anyway?”