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墨書 Inktalez
"Humans are inherently insignificant; in the face of nature, and even in this world, we are but a drop in the ocean..." Haoyang sighed from beside me.
But I couldn't share their leisurely thoughts on life's philosophies. As I gazed at the relentless torrent before us, worry gnawed at me about what we should do next. Although Li Zhisheng and I could quickly reach our destination using our abilities, it would consume a considerable amount of energy. If anything unexpected happened afterward, I feared...
Lost in thought, I sat on a branch of a large tree, staring blankly at the floodwaters.
I don't know how much time passed, but gradually the sky cleared, and the flood began to recede. The once lush forest was now a scene of devastation; only a few towering pines had managed to survive this catastrophe. The ground was covered with soft yellow mud and the remnants of uprooted trees.
Looking up at the sun that had started to shift westward, I realized time was running out. If we didn't hurry to that village and find a way to save Haoyang, his life would be in jeopardy...
The more I thought about it, the more anxious I became. However, with the flood just receding, the ground was unwalkable; everywhere was soft mud that could easily trap us.
Noticing my distress, Li Zhisheng comforted me, saying, "Don't worry; there will always be a way."
At that moment, Haoyang seemed unfazed. He peeled off a thick piece of bark from the tree beneath him and began to pound it in his hands. "We can use this."
With that, he tossed the bark to me. I understood his intention immediately; he had tied his shoes to the bark with shoelaces, creating something akin to snowshoes.
"Right! How did I not think of that..." I said as I encouraged Li Zhisheng to follow Haoyang's example and fashion his own snowshoes from bark to increase our surface area on the muddy ground and effectively prevent us from sinking.
While we were busy making our makeshift snowshoes, Li Zhisheng suddenly called me over to take a look. Leaning closer, I saw that where he had peeled back the bark, there was a red snail. The snail left behind a trail of blood-like slime.
"Do you think this is related to those red fireflies?" Li Zhisheng asked.
I found it strange but couldn't see how it connected to the blood-colored fireflies. "How could a snail be related to fireflies?"
He explained, "Don't you know? Fireflies grow by eating snails. If this snail is abnormal, it could cause the fireflies that eat it to mutate as well... And think about what snails eat..."
Listening to him, I realized how little I knew about these creatures' habits. Reluctantly shaking my head, I ventured cautiously, "Leaves?"
"You're not entirely wrong," he replied. "But more accurately, snails feed on certain crop leaves, making them pests for agriculture."
Now I understood what Li Zhisheng meant. Enlightened, I said, "So the vegetables grown by the Blood Farmer were eaten by the Snail, and then the Fireflies consumed the Snail, which led to the appearance of the Blood-colored Fireflies?!"
"If I'm not mistaken, it should be like that..." Li Zhisheng replied thoughtfully.
At that moment, Haoyang had already finished making his Snowshoes. He slowly moved over from the other side of the tree branch and asked, "What are you looking at?"
Hearing this, I pointed to the wriggling Red Snail in front of us. "This is why the red fireflies appeared."
Haoyang seemed to understand; he nodded slightly and said, "So the Blood Farmer is real."
"Now, whether it's true or not, we need to go to that village and see what kind of people are behind these harmful things!" I said fiercely.
Afterward, Li Zhisheng and I also finished our Snowshoes. The three of us cautiously climbed down from the treetops. Standing on the muddy ground, the thick bark on our feet indeed worked well, effectively preventing us from sinking into the mud. Although it was a bit cumbersome to walk, it was better than being submerged in yellow mud.
Thus, we trudged through the soil with difficulty. Before long, we reached the mountain's peak. The mountain wasn't very high, but there was a larger lake at the top, which seemed to be the source of the Mountain Flood.
We circled around the lake at the summit and continued onward. Soon we left the area washed away by the Mountain Flood. The ground became much easier to traverse, and our bark-made Snowshoes became a burden.
So we removed the bark from our soles and navigated through the dense forest. At this point, I noticed that there were blood-red marks all around in the woods; they seemed to be left by those Red Snails crawling through. The sheer number of those red "footprints" was quite unsettling.
But now I had no time to observe these "footprints." As the sun gradually set and darkness began to envelop us, my heart tightened with worry.
If night fell and that damned thing on Haoyang acted up again, there would be nothing left to save him. With that thought in mind, I instinctively quickened my pace...
I didn't know how long we had been walking; the sun had almost completely set, leaving only a few remnants of twilight hanging in the sky.
Just then, I faintly saw a wisp of blue smoke rising not far ahead. Along with the smoke, several windows revealing candlelight came into view.
"That must be it! Hurry!" I urged Li Zhisheng as I supported Haoyang and hurried forward.
Moments later, we arrived at the front, where several low thatch houses stood, wisps of smoke rising from their roofs. At that moment, an old man emerged from one of the thatch houses. He was holding a wooden bucket and walked over to the well beside the house, hanging the bucket on a rope and lowering it into the water, seemingly preparing to draw some.
Seeing this, I couldn't help but rush forward to ask him if he knew anything about the Blood Farmer. However, as I got closer, I realized that this old man looked somewhat familiar.
"Isn't that the guy from the market..." Haoyang whispered beside me.
Although Haoyang's voice was low, the old man still heard him. He looked up at the sound. As soon as he saw me, he froze, and the bucket he had just pulled up fell back into the well with a splash.
He trembled as he extended his hand and said, "Y-you... how did you get here?!"
Caught off guard by his question, I didn't know how to respond at first, but deep down I was already convinced that he was likely the Blood Farmer. Anger surged within me as I pointed at him. "You Blood Farmer! You've caused so much harm... Today, I'm going to put an end to you!"
With that thought in mind, my eyes blazed with fury as I released Haoyang and tightly gripped Jiang Ling in my hand...
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