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

The three of them stared at me, their jaws dropping. As I expected, they didn't have a proper rebuttal against the points I raised.

”If you think you're going to fail, then go home and drop out. Stop dragging us down with your negativity. I'm not telling you to be overconfident and complacent, but at the very least stop whining about how you're going to fail when you haven't even begin the mission!”

The three of them fell silent, unable to refute my reprimand. They lowered their head, but didn't budge.

”But…how do we win?” Yi Ding Si finally mustered the courage to ask. ”Even if we have artificial qi, those veteran martial artists in the Black Venom Cult are still stronger than us! If we try to attack them, we will definitely die!”

”They are in higher cultivation stages than us too!” Zi Sha added fiercely. ”Fighting them head-on is simpy suicide!”

Both guys were oblivious to the irony as always. For non-Chinese speakers, Yi Ding Si sounded almost exactly like ”definitely die” in Mandarin, and Zi Sha sounded almost exactly like ”suicide” in Mandarin.

”So what?” I retorted furiously. ”If they are stronger, you will automatically lose? You think this is some sort of ridiculous xianxia story where everything is dependant solely on cultivation levels? If you're weaker than your opponent, then find a way to overcome that gap in strength! Look at humans. They are naturally weaker than animals like tigers, lions, leopards, bears and other top predators. But how did we rise to become the dominant species on the planet? We didn't become physically stronger than the predators that could tear us apart with their claws and fangs. We developed weapons. We found ways to fight back. We invented arrows, and then guns.”

I jabbed a finger at the stunned trio to emphasize my point.

”We adapt. We improvise. We invent. You're weaker than a magical beast? Use a weapon to slay it. Your opponent is stronger than you? Use a weapon to make up for your strength. Of course, most of the time, they are more skilled with a weapon than you. But if that's the case, find an alternative route of attack! If they're stronger, you might be faster. Or set up ambushes! Rely on stealth! Find and exploit your opponent's weaknesses! No matter how high their stages or cultivation realms are, they are only human. They are not gods. They definitely have weaknesses. Find them and use them to your advantage! No one is this world is perfect.”

Everyone was staring at me. Tong Xue shrugged and shook his head in amusement, probably because he was used to me raving and ranting. Lian Rou, even less so, but she didn't say anything and just nodded quietly.

The terrible trio, on the other hand, merely snorted.

”You're delusional.”

”Keep thinking that, if that makes you feel better.”

”One day you'll meet those godlike existences and truly understand how wrong you are. There exists absolute differences between martial artists. Some are born to be above others, some are more talented than the others.”

”Then why do you guys bother?” I countered. ”Evidently you're not one of those talented ones, so why even bother cultivating and learning martial artists? Why haven't you guys dropped out already? Why risk your lives taking this mission? Isn't it because you want to stake everything on that miniscule chance to pass?”

The three of them said nothing, and just trudged past me wordlessly. The hypocrites clearly didn't want to listen to a single word I said, while selfishly saying whatever they wanted and forcing their negativity onto us, and forcing us to listen to their whining.

Wow…how shameless could they get?

Shaking my head, I was about to follow them, but Lian Rou was quicker.

”Wait! Don't go that way! It's dangerous!”

”Oh, shut up!” Zi Sha snapped. ”What's with you three, acting like you're better than us, all because you completed a bunch of missions and have some combat experience? You think that gives you the right to talk down to us?”

…what the fuck?

Yeah, I mean…you failed all your missions and had no combat experience – by your own admission. Of course we were definitely better than you. We had earned the right through our achievements. What have you guys achieved other than whining?

And they were furious at us for ”acting better than them” instead of wisely taking our advice and doing something about their failures? Was there something wrong with them?

”Watch your tone, you condescending prick,” Tong Xue snarled. The moment they turned on Lian Rou, he snapped. ”I've put up with your whining for long enough, but if you think you're better than us, then feel free and complete the mission on your own. We don't need the credits. We can just abort the mission and leave you guys to do this yourself.”

”Actually, let's do that,” I suggested, already turning away. ”It's clear they don't need us, and I'm sick of their whining.”

”Me too,” Lian Rou agreed with a sigh. She waved a hand at the trio. ”Good luck making through the Toxic Marshes on your own.”

”We don't need your help!” Jiu Bu Liao huffed as she stomped off.

”We can do this on our own!” Zi Sha added before joining her. I gaped at him. Seriously? Where did this new confidence come from? As much as I was glad that they were more confident than before, earlier they were moaning about how they had failed every mission before this, and how it was impossible to defeat the superior Black Venom Cult with their current strength. What was with this sudden change in attitude?

This made no sense whatsoever.

At the very least, Yi Ding Si looked hesitant.

”Er…” he stammered. ”I don't think that's a good idea…”

”Then you can fail on your own!”

Yi Ding Si sighed and shook his head. He glanced at us one last time, looking more grumpy than apologetic, and then trudged after his two companions.

We watched them wade through the swamp. My headache worsened as I wondered how stupid they could be to step right into the murky waters whose depths concealed all sorts of dangers, from gigantic aquatic monsters to venomous creatures. But no, they decided to just wade through the damned thing.

Did they have a brain in those skulls of theirs? No wonder they failed their missions so far.

”Are we really going to let them go like that?” Lian Rou asked worriedly, watching as they moved into the distance.

”Do we have a choice? They don't want our help. And we have no obligation to sacrifice our lives and die with them.”

My words might sound ruthless, but I honestly had no intention of dying because of someone else's stupid mistakes, recklessness and arrogance.

”Wu is right,” Tong Xue agreed with a sigh. ”If they want to commit suicide, let them. I don't want to die with them.”

”Why do you both think we'll die if we try to take care of them?” Lian Rou asked, confounded. ”Shouldn't it be our jobs to keep everyone alive?”

”Probably,” I admitted. ”But the fact that they ignored your warning about that direction being dangerous and just plunging into the swamp like that recklessly shows that they are hellbent on making our job impossible.”

”…you're right.” Lian Rou groaned and slapped her forehead. ”After I explictly told them that it was dangerous…it's like they're deliberately trying to kill themselves.”

”Let's hope they wise up and get out of there before anything happens,” Tong Xue muttered.

No sooner than the words had left his mouth when there was a sudden scream from the direction where the troublesome trio had disappeared to. The three of us exchanged knowing glances, and then quickly ran along the swamp. Tong Xue and I hung back, letting Lian Rou lead the way. Her familiarity with the swamp would make a huge difference.

As we expected, the trio were being attacked by a gigantic Marsh Serpent. Several dozen meters long, and head almost a meter wide, the creature lunged at the shrieking trio as they splashed violently in the bog, trying to escape from the creature.

”For heaven's sake…”

Cursing under my breath, I used my footwork techniques to cross the distance in an instant. Freezing the murky water and creating steps of ice, I landed right next to the Marsh Serpent. The sleek predator turned to me, its maw yawning wide to reveal two massive fangs dripping with venom and a single forked tongue.

I beheaded it immediately with a single swing of my Shadow Fox. The Marsh Serpent stared at me stupidly for a moment, then its head fell off its neck with a spray of blood, causing a huge splash of disgusting liquid across the area.

The terrible trio gaped at me for a moment, still unable to comprehend what had just happened.

”What are you waiting for?!” I bellowed. ”For another magical beast to attack you? Get out of the swamp now!”

As if afraid that I would decapitate them next, the three of them scrambled out of the marsh, making a huge mess and spraying swamp water all over the grayish grass as they stumbled onto relatively dry land.

”Mr. Fei…” Yi Ding Si moaned. ”I don't feel so good.”

Was he going to turn into ash or something?

”I feel dizzy…”

”Ugh!”

Both Zi Sha and Jiu Bu Liao were also suffering similar symptoms. All three of them crashed onto the ground, sprawling over the earth as they writhed.

”Oh no…”

Lian Rou hurried over and frantically pulled at their layers of clothing. As I made my way back to dry land by a combination of my footwork techniques and freezing a small part of the swamp to create footholds, I magnified my glasses and caught sight of countless bugs wriggling on the terrible trio's pale flesh.

”Bog Bugs…they are sucking their blood at an alarming rate!” Lian Rou exclaimed.

”Is there anything we can do?” Tong Xue asked urgently as he joined her. He tried to swat at the Bog Bugs crawling all over the three's skin, but Lian Rou stayed his hand, most likely because she didn't want him to get bitten as well.

”We need to destroy all the Bog Bugs at once.”

”And how do we do that?” Tong Xue demanded.

”Any of you know fire techniques?”

Tong Xue and I shook our heads. I was a user of ice techniques, not fire. If I was a Mary Sue like Qin Lie, probably I could use all sorts of elemental techniques, from lightning, earth (or magnetic), ice and fire, but I wasn't a multitalented Mary Sue who could use all elements and doubled as a genius blacksmith. Neither was I the Flame Emperor Xiao Yan who possessed all the Essence Flames and doubled as a receptarier.

This was way out of my league.

”Do ice techniques worked?” I asked. Lian Rou shook her head.

”Ice will just freeze the Bog Bugs and keep them in stasis. I guess it'll kill them, but I was hoping for something cleaner. Something that would disintegrate them.”

”I should be able to disintegrate them with Absolute Zero,” I offered. Lian Rou scowled at me.

”Won't you kill these three in the process as well if you use Absolute Zero on them?”

”No big loss,” I joked, but if I was going to end up killing them anyway, then I might as well save my qi and let the Bog Bugs do the job.

Lian Rou sighed. ”No choice. We'll have to do this the hard way then.” She rummaged through her storage device and produced a lighter. Closing her eyes, she infused the device with her qi, and then flicked it open. Thumbing it, she produced a small flame.

Then she enlarged it with her qi, transforming it into a huge torrent of fire that washed over the writhing trio.

”AAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

”UUUUUUUUUUGH!”

”KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!”

Goddammit, just hearing the three of them shriek was making me flinch.

”Just put up with the pain for now,” Lian Rou told them, completely unsympathetic. I swear, if I didn't know her well enough I thought she was enjoying their agony. ”The process will take a while, but I have to be very thorough. I don't want to leave any of the Bog Bugs behind.”

The trio were in too much pain to formulate a coherent reply. They merely curled into fetal positions and screamed as the flames ravaged their bodies.

Tong Xue and I exchanged a glance and remained where we were, probably to stay on guard against other predators and venomous creatures from the Toxic Marshes. Not far away, Song Ting Yu and her entourage stopped and maintained their distance, watching us from afar and probably wondering what was going on. Not that we cared. We had more important things to do, such as setting up a temporary perimeter while Lian Rou treated the troublesome trio.

It seemed like we were going to be stuck here for a while.