The Bewitched Grass Swamp, known to the locals as the Endless Abyss, was actually nothing more than an enormously vast muddy lake. Its most distinctive feature was the aquatic grass that grew across the surface—lush, dense, and resembling orchid grass. These plants floated on the lake's surface, their root systems interconnected and extending deep into the silt at the bottom. From a distance, the entire swamp looked like a thriving meadow. Near the shore, the root systems were dense enough to bear a person's weight, but farther out the roots could no longer hold. Step once and you'd fall through into a hole, sinking straight down...
The muddy lake was not entirely without buoyancy, but the lakebed was choked with long aquatic roots and deep silt. Such a muddy lake was enough to deter even the king of swamps—the crocodile—because the aquatic roots could easily entangle them, leaving them unable to break free and slowly starving them to death. For this reason, apart from insects, fish, shrimp, snakes, and frogs, no large animals existed in the Bewitched Grass Swamp. Even waterfowl of any decent size avoided foraging there, fearing they too would become ensnared in the dense root systems with no hope of escape...
Reidi was no stranger to such Bewitched Grass Swamps. In North Sea City, newly developed in Northland over the past two years, the Black Mud Swamp lay just across the Blue Cang River. The family had converted a small portion of the Black Mud Swamp on the Northland side into fertile farmland, but the Black Mud Swamp on the far bank remained the domain of the fearsome and enormous magic beast known as the Iron-Spined Estuary Crocodile.
Without at least Silver-tier
Back then, in order to develop North Sea City and the Black Mud Swamp on the territory's side, the family had specially forged two giant steel crossbows for dealing with Iron-Spined Estuary Crocodiles.
He recalled that when the family subsequently built the Hundred-Mile Dike connecting Tortoise Mountain Fortress to North Sea City along the banks of the Blue Cang River, the Iron-Spined Estuary Crocodiles from the Black Mud Swamp on the far side would cross the river in groups to attack the construction workers. Unfortunately for them, they all met their end at the massive bolts fired from the giant steel crossbows. Once the Hundred-Mile Dike was completed and christened the Xiloba Dike, the crocodiles on the far bank finally learned their lesson and stopped crossing the river to court death.
Since the mountain would not come to them, they would go to the mountain. The Imperial Guard battalion stationed at Tortoise Mountain Fortress, bored out of their minds, consulted with the naval battalion and commissioned the shipyard to build two river ferries for crossing the Blue Cang River. They then mounted the two giant steel crossbows on the boats and began hunting the Iron-Spined Estuary Crocodiles lounging along the far bank. Before long, not a single crocodile could be seen along the riverbank. The hunters then gradually ventured deeper into the Black Mud Swamp on the far side, and the crocodile carcasses became the
Even now, less than a third of the vast Black Mud Swamp had been explored by the Norton Family's hunting parties. And within this explored portion alone, the hunters had discovered several muddy lakes similar to the Bewitched Grass Swamp. At first, the hunting party had assumed that such dense grass must conceal a great number of Iron-Spined Estuary Crocodiles, so they simply doused the grass with fire oil and set it ablaze to force the crocodiles out. To their surprise, once the flames had burned away all the aquatic grass, they found that it was actually a massive muddy lake filled entirely with aquatic roots. A casual hook cast into the water could haul up a veritable mountain of fine root tendrils, and they even found numerous Iron-Spined Estuary Crocodile carcasses that had not yet fully decomposed—creatures that had presumably strayed in, become trapped, and perished.
Reidi, while training on his own at
He had arrived here the evening before—over a day ago. Seeing the vast grassland ahead, he had been quite pleased, thinking that once he plunged into it, tracking his trail would become all but impossible. But after taking just two steps, something felt wrong. He quickly probed downward with his long sword and broke into a cold sweat. This... wasn't this the same kind of grass-covered muddy lake as the ones in the Black Mud Swamp? A few more steps forward and he would have sunk right in—that would have truly been the end...
That night, Reidi cut down the shrubbery and two crooked, scraggly trees surrounding the Bewitched Grass Swamp, then fashioned ropes from vines mixed with strips he'd sliced from the tattered leather vest he'd been wearing. He tidied up the brush and used it to lay a path leading deep into the swamp. A muddy lake like the Bewitched Grass Swamp was not entirely without buoyancy—the real danger was that a person or animal falling in would panic and struggle, causing the aquatic roots to wrap around them. The more they struggled, the more entangled they became, until they were dragged to the bottom like a silkworm trapped in its own cocoon.
The key was to gently grasp the aquatic grass floating on the surface, slowly pull yourself back, gradually drawing your body toward the shore while carefully avoiding getting your feet tangled. Only then was there hope of escape. Of course, having companions on shore ready to haul you out was by far the safest option.
But Reidi was alone and without help. It had taken him an entire night and the following morning just to complete his preparations. He then hid in a small muddy hollow along the shore, waiting for the pursuit party to arrive. No matter what happened, he had to get supplies from these pursuers—otherwise he would find it very difficult to endure the increasingly bitter cold that lay ahead...
The first to arrive on the scene was the squad of Fisablen Family Silver Guards led by Great Swordmaster Shanti. Seeing Reidi's figure vanish into the lush grassland, Shanti swept her gaze over the ten-odd soldier corpses on the ground and ordered without hesitation: "Go search him out..."
"Yes!" One Silver Guard answered, then charged toward the grassland with over a dozen of his companions.
Great Swordmaster Shanti didn't expect these Silver Guards to be Reidi's match. She merely hoped they could hold him up for a while—as long as she reached him in time, she would easily deal with this Norton Family brat. She had some impression of Reidi; he was that taciturn attendant who always lingered at Lorist's side. She recalled that Lorist had once introduced him as his eldest disciple, Reidi. At the time, Shanti had simply found it amusing—how old was Lorist, and yet he was already taking on disciples?
That had been a few years ago... At that time, the Norton Family had crushed the
Great Swordmaster Shanti had always believed that Lorist's victory over her was merely a matter of luck and coincidence. She had been on enemy territory at the time and somewhat hamstrung, and besides, she had still possessed strength when she fell, while Lorist had collapsed from exhaustion the moment he left the Grand Duke's residence. Shanti had therefore always considered Lorist to be no true opponent of hers.
During their return to the family's Eastern Wasteland Province lands, Princess Sylvia had actually gotten along quite well with the Norton Family's new head. Shanti had seized the opportunity to learn from Sylvia's own mouth the origins of Lorist's swordsmanship. It turned out this Norton Count practiced the legendary cultivation methods of the Eastern warrior monks—no wonder his style was so uncanny.
But Great Swordmaster Shanti didn't think much of Lorist's prospects. Even though Lorist, through Sylvia, had pointed out the bottleneck she had been facing in her swordsmanship cultivation—a revelation that had struck her like lightning—she refused to give him any credit. She believed she could have identified the weaknesses and flaws in her own swordsmanship within a few months without his guidance. In her view, Lorist had gained more from their duel than she had—he had been the one to profit.
Even though Great Swordmaster Shanti despised Lorist for his lack of ambition—having a powerful family military force yet cowering in Northland like a turtle in its shell, only thinking to fight back when someone else made a move—she had never expected her adopted daughter Sylvia to develop feelings for him. This was something she absolutely could not allow. She wanted Sylvia to marry a peerless hero in the future. Look at Lorist—unremarkable in appearance, practicing the dubious Eastern warrior monk techniques. His family was nobility spanning several hundred years, yes, but they had always been confined to their own territory. Compared to the Fisablen Family, which dominated the great grasslands and had supported the Second Prince in establishing the Iblia Kingdom, he was laughably weak.
What frustrated Great Swordmaster Shanti was how quickly the world changed—it left one dizzy. Before she knew it, the new year had passed and word arrived that the Norton Family, in retaliation for the Second Prince sending a third-tier Great Swordmaster Galinan to assassinate Lorist, had marched on Windbury Royal City and captured the King himself. This was nothing short of treason. At the same time, they had also defeated two border cavalry regiments led by Viscount Christoph, taking the viscount and over fifteen thousand soldiers prisoner.
Faced with such dire circumstances, the Fisablen Grand Duke had been forced to make concessions, sending Princess Sylvia as an envoy to the Norton Family's territory to sign a massive trade order—cattle and sheep in exchange for military equipment—securing the release of the viscount and the captured soldiers. This earned the Norton Family's goodwill and indifference, allowing the Fisablen Family to begin the years of quiet preparation and effort toward their eventual rise...
The Fisablen Family had finally accumulated formidable military strength. On this point, Great Swordmaster Shanti once again looked down on Lorist—it was the Norton Family's greed and their relentless chase for gold coins that had created the now-powerful Fisablen Family military. The Grand Duke had used the standardized cavalry equipment the Norton Family kept shipping over to build a powerful, seemingly invincible light cavalry force, seizing the Greater and Lesser Golden Rivers region in one fell swoop and filling the last gap in the Fisablen Family's capabilities.
The Norton Family could never have imagined the heights to which a set of their standardized cavalry equipment would appreciate on the grasslands, or how many Grass Barbarian tribes would kneel before the Grand Duke's horse hooves for just a few sets of equipment... Sometimes Great Swordmaster Shanti thought that if the Fisablen Family掌握了 the secret of forging standardized equipment, they would never be like the Norton Family—selling off these precious sets for gold coins and livestock. That was nothing short of aiding the enemy...
But there was no mending Sylvia's heart, so full of love and fantasy. In the end, Great Swordmaster Shanti resorted to her trump card, forcing Sylvia into closed-door cultivation for several years of rigorous training, pushing her to advance to Second Gold Star as soon as possible.
Perhaps the passage of time would help Sylvia understand that her feelings were merely an illusion. But after four years, Sylvia's longing and passion had only grown more intense—she had even gone alone to Northland to invite that Lorist to the knight tournament the Grand Duke had organized especially for her. Wasn't that simply delivering a lamb to the tiger's den? Fortunately, the Grand Duke had nearly come to blows with Lorist at the tournament and rejected the Norton Family's marriage proposal. But Sylvia, devastated by the death of that short-lived royal brother, had skipped the tournament entirely and gone to Northland to clear her head instead. Thank goodness Shanti had been watching closely at all times—otherwise that despicable Lorist might have made his move...
Now, upon learning that the Grand Duke's closest nephew had been killed by Reidi of the Norton Family, Great Swordmaster Shanti immediately recognized this as a golden opportunity—the perfect moment to sever all ties between Sylvia and the Norton Family. She volunteered to go capture this Reidi herself. Once Reidi died at her hands, Lorist would never let the matter rest. If the two families became bitter enemies, how could Sylvia possibly marry into the Norton Family?... The Fisablen Family was militarily powerful, and the Grand Duke was preparing to consolidate the Iblia Kingdom's strength into a unified whole—they had no fear of clashing with the Norton Family's forces...
*Plop* *Plop* *Plop*...
A series of splashes, screams, and cries for help rang out. Great Swordmaster Shanti spun around quickly, only to see that of the dozen-odd Silver Guards who had charged into the grassland, barely half still showed above the surface. Their bodies were sinking fast, entangled in countless thin black-gray and blue-white strands trailing various aquatic grass leaves. The strands multiplied the more they struggled, pulling the men under with accelerating speed. Shanti was about to rush forward to help when she saw a guard who was nearly submerged grab the hand of a companion reaching to pull him up—in the blink of an eye, the would-be rescuer was also ensnared in those strands and dragged underwater...
How much time had even passed? Of the dozen-odd Silver Guards, only three remained... These three were the savvier ones—they cried out for help continuously but dared not move a single muscle, having discovered that the faster they moved, the faster they sank. Great Swordmaster Shanti's blood ran cold, but she didn't dare step any closer to the muddy lake. She could only shout at the soldiers rushing over from the distance: "Quickly! Get over there and pull them out!"
After considerable effort—dragging, pulling, hauling—the three Silver Guards were finally rescued. Then a few local hunters arrived and explained the nature of the Bewitched Grass Swamp. Now even Great Swordmaster Shanti was at a loss. She had clearly seen Reidi dash deep into this grassland—yet she never imagined the grassland was a natural trap that had cost her nearly a dozen Silver Guards in the blink of an eye. Now that no one could get in, what was to be done?
"Burn it! Burn this entire grassland down! Let's see how that bastard manages to stay hidden in there without these Bewitched Grasses. Once the cover is gone and that bastard shows himself, we'll know exactly how he got inside, and catching him will be easy!" Great Swordmaster Shanti said through gritted teeth.
"But—but, Your Eminence, the Bewitched Grass Swamp is far too vast. We'd need to bring in enormous quantities of fire oil, otherwise the grass holds too much moisture to burn properly..." said a soldier who appeared to be a squad leader.
"Then go fetch the fire oil! Go now! Everyone else—set up sentries around the Bewitched Grass Swamp. Don't let that bastard slip out!"
...(To be continued.)