Into the Death Swamp

Xiao Chen retreated swiftly, charging toward the three guards pursuing him. He deliberately let them encircle him. But Guluo sneered, controlling the painting scroll as it descended, paying no heed that his own men were within the attack range.

Xiao Chen was forced to break out of the encirclement, pushing his power to its absolute limit. A faint radiance emanated from his body as he traced an arcane path with his palms, stirring up violent fluctuations of primal energy. With a loud shout, all the withered branches and stones on the ground levitated, hurtling toward the scroll in the air.

Of course, he did not target only that one scroll—the seven remaining unactivated scrolls were also within his attack range. Guluo's expression shifted sharply. He had no choice but to detonate the descending scroll, unleashing a terrifying wave of energy.

A white tiger, over five meters long and formed entirely of condensed energy, sprang forth and pounced toward Xiao Chen. At the same time, dozens of energy blades shot out in a violent cascade.

Sensing the deadly energy fluctuations, Xiao Chen pushed his movement technique to its peak, barely avoiding the devastating assault. The ground trembled violently, and a massive crater over four meters deep appeared, sending up clouds of dust.

Although the three guards were not directly hit, the shockwave sent them sprawling in the debris. Xiao Chen did not look back. He vanished like a gust of wind, breaking through the area sealed by the energy scrolls.

As the dust settled, Guluo's face was ashen. "After him!" he roared, gathering the remaining seven scrolls and leading his three guards in pursuit.

At the same time, the Little Celestial Horse, carved like a divine jade sculpture, appeared in the distance, carrying Zhao Lin'er along the treetops and heading this way.

Xiao Chen sensed the grave danger. The terrifying fluctuations from the scroll explosion had drawn his mortal enemy. Leaving afterimages in the dense forest, he sped toward the depths of the primeval forest.

The Little Celestial Horse caught a glimpse of Xiao Chen's back, as if sensing what was about to happen. It suddenly turned and carried Zhao Lin'er away in the opposite direction.

Guluo was astonished.

Zhao Lin'er was equally shocked. The Little Celestial Horse ignored her commands, bounding swiftly across the treetops, as if unwilling to let her come into conflict with Xiao Chen.

The Royal Celestial Maiden had no choice but to seize an opportunity and leap off the Little Celestial Horse.

Xiao Chen's initiative to appear was an opportunity for Zhao Lin'er, and she did not want to let him slip away. She would have begun hunting him down anyway, as Guluo's reinforcements were nearly here.

Soon, Zhao Lin'er caught up with Guluo. But the vast, dense primeval forest was too thick. After the delay, Xiao Chen had already vanished without a trace.

At this moment, Guluo shed his earlier sinister expression and smiled confidently. "Your Highness, there's no need to regret. He's only escaped for now. By tomorrow at the latest, our reinforcements will arrive. Even if he has a dozen giant apes protecting him, several times that number would still be annihilated!"

"Thank you for your help, Brother Guluo," said the Royal Celestial Maiden Zhao Lin'er. Her features were beautiful, her bearing transcendent and ethereal, with an indescribable grace and lightness.

Having thrown off his pursuers and bypassed the Tyrant Dragon's territory, Xiao Chen slowed his pace through the mountain forest. Cleanly killing his enemies and successfully breaking through the encirclement—it was a meaningful counterstrike.

But the addition of a powerful new enemy made his situation three parts more dangerous. He had to begin seriously considering how to deal with it.

By evening, Guluo stood before the bamboo hut, his face twisted with rage. The death of his five attendants had stoked his true fury. His clenched fingers were white-knuckled. Earlier, he had wanted to kill Xiao Chen for Zhao Lin'er's sake; now, for his own sake, he could not let Xiao Chen continue living.

Zhao Lin'er was communicating with the Little Celestial Horse by the small lake. But no matter what she promised, whenever she mentioned using it to track down Xiao Chen, the Little Celestial Horse shook its head. She was left helpless.

Meanwhile, Xiao Chen was advancing deeper into the island. He could no longer stay at the edges of the Tyrant Dragon's territory. If he continued to hide there, tomorrow might bring a deadly encirclement.

Of course, before leaving, he laid false trails, deliberately leaving clues that led toward extremely dangerous locations. If the pursuers eventually encountered certain ferocious beasts, his goal would be achieved.

The evening glow dyed the sky red. The blazing clouds cast a dim crimson light over the mountain forest.

Beast roars echoed through the endless primeval forest. Terrifying beasts emerged and vanished among the trees.

"Rumble!"

A massive elephant covered in cyan scales charged past not far from Xiao Chen, its two gleaming ivory tusks as sharp as broadswords. Its eyes gleamed with savage light as it chased several wild oxen. Soon, a miserable bellow came from the distance.

Through the foliage, Xiao Chen saw the cyan-scaled elephant devouring the wild oxen. The scene was brutally bloody. He could not help but marvel at the countless strange and fearsome beasts on this island.

Carefully avoiding all manner of unheard-of, unseen ferocious monsters, Xiao Chen advanced eight or nine li before the evening glow fully disappeared, entering a stretch of dark, damp marshland.

This marsh was eerily silent. Aside from towering ancient trees, not a single beast was seen, not even a bird. Pools of water and mudflats lay in utter stillness, like a land of death.

Distant roars continued, but here the silence was absolute. The contrast made this place seem ominous beyond words.

As he walked deeper into the marsh, the air grew damper, and a peculiar stench of decay reached his nose. Xiao Chen frowned. How could he not sense that something was wrong? The Yin energy was exceptionally heavy, vaguely swirling with a grim, sinister aura.

After advancing over a li, he still found no living creature aside from the trees. But in the mud and stagnant water, he saw many white bones—some half-submerged in the silt, others exposed on the surface, looking ghastly in the dim forest light.

There were skeletons of all kinds, including those of ferocious beasts, ranging from one or two meters to over ten meters in size. What shocked Xiao Chen was that he also saw many human bones. From their color and texture, they must have been centuries old.

The last traces of the evening glow vanished. The world fell fully dark. The marsh grew even more sinister. The colossal trees stood like tombstones in this dead, silent swamp.

"Crack!"

The sound of breaking bone suddenly rang out in the stillness, making this swamp of death even more dreadfully eerie. Xiao Chen whirled around, but found nothing. Perhaps it was just an aged bone crumbling from decay.