novelraw Chapter 1022: The Migrating Team from the Surface
Chapter 1022: The Migrating Team from the Surface
The waxy, repulsive wounds on the spider-girl's body shifted, reattaching themselves to her half-human, half-arachnid form and manifesting as hideous warts that would make one's skin crawl.
Lu Li asked the spider-girl when the Lower Academy had joined the competition.
"About two hours ago."
That was close to the time the upper-level students had entered the fog.
"Do you know the way out of the trial?"
"The exit? Isn't it just getting out of the Swamps?"
That was a reasonable assumption. When there was no clear answer, looking for a similar one usually wasn't a mistake.
The muck underfoot suddenly split open, and the snaking roots of the Distorted Figure coiled around Lu Li. Before they could form a cage, the spider-girl's scythe-like limbs, sharp as blades, traced dark violet afterimages. Two sections of the roots snapped, oozing a viscous, grayish-brown fluid.
The mimic-anomaly did not retreat despite its injury, nor did it even glance at the spider-girl. Its attention was entirely captivated by Lu Li's aura.
Lu Li pulled an alchemical potion from his stomach, uncorked it, and poured it out. The liquid flowing from the bottle strangely transformed into a dark yellow mist that enveloped his entire body.A hissing sound of dissolving filled the air, but the acid did minimal damage to the roots—they could form a prison long before being destroyed by the corrosion.
"This way!"
The spider-girl's voice rang out as she sliced through the nearly-closed cage. Dark violet afterimages flashed constantly, severing root after root.
She, too, was being corroded by the dark yellow mist, and the warts on her body swelled like insect larvae.
Lu Li scrambled through the opening, and he and the spider-girl retreated beyond the edge of the withered forest.
Standing on the soft, brown earth, they watched as the tangled roots prowled the perimeter. In the end, as if wary of something, they reluctantly retreated back into the dead woods.
"Thanks."
Lu Li's gaze fell on the spider-girl's freshly corroded body, and he took out a healing potion from his stomach.
"Human potions don't work on us."
The spider-girl applied a shamanistic salve to herself.
"If you want to thank me... you smell so good... can I have a taste? Hmm, just a little piece will do. Blood would be fine, too. What about a fingernail? Or maybe some hair..."
As she chattered on, Lu Li unfolded his map. The nearest marked exit was in the mining district of the underground dwellers, the source of the tremors in this area.
The underground dwellers were a neutral faction, doing business with both humans and anomalies. Since Lu Li had some connections with the Underground Trading Guild, he might receive some assistance—and if not, he could always pave the way with Anomaly Currency or shillings.
Lu Li and the spider-girl, whose name was Ida, made their way toward the mining district.
Ida's six jointed limbs allowed her to move across the mud as if it were solid ground, scouting ahead for Lu Li and detecting the impassable mire pools camouflaged as ordinary muck.
Lu Li followed behind to cover her, but her senses proved sharper than any revealing potion, easily navigating around both detected and undetected mires.
Because of this, they moved away from the withered forest much faster than they had approached it. At one point, the spider-girl suddenly retreated to Lu Li's side and dropped to the ground, folding her jointed legs so their tips were lifted off the earth.
The tremor from deep within the earth once again shook this part of the Swamps.
"The shaking makes me uncomfortable. It dulls my senses," Ida explained.
A few dozen seconds later, the receding tremor left behind a churned and ravaged swamp. Ida stood up again, swaying as she crawled forward as if slightly drunk, before regaining her balance.
After they had traveled for some time, the faint outline of the mining district appeared a few miles ahead. It was then that Lu Li's gaze fell upon the silt.
Several sets of messy, dense, and blurred tracks stretched out ahead.
Ida raised her front limbs, pointing at the footprints. "Those are all human tracks. Could they be other contestants?"
Following the tracks, it became clear that whoever made them was heading for the same destination as Lu Li: the mining district of the underground dwellers.
The chaotic tracks grew clearer and fresher, indicating that Lu Li was closing in on the people ahead. Yet, all that lay before them was the flat swamp and the distant silhouette of the mining district. And then, the tracks vanished.
The footprints in the remaining silt were jumbled and wandering, no longer leading anywhere, like an isolated island.
Just then, a tremor rolled out from the mining district. Ida folded her limbs to brace against the shaking, which was stronger now due to their proximity. By the time the tremor subsided, the jumbled tracks were already indistinct.
One more tremor, and the tracks would be completely erased.
Lu Li lifted his dark eyes, scanned the open space before them, and said calmly, "Are you contestants?"
Silence. As the silence deepened into a dead stillness, Ida picked up a piece of rock and threw it.
The stone traced an arc and suddenly smacked against an empty spot. The splashing mud revealed a faint figure.
"...We're just ordinary people."
A trembling, frightened cry came a moment later.
Some invisible barrier vanished, revealing a group of ragged, weary-looking civilians.
"That... thing... next to you... that inhuman... is it your servant?"
The source of their fear was the spider-girl at Lu Li's side.
The spider-girl's eyes narrowed slightly, her jointed limbs flexing dangerously.
"She's my companion, from the Lower Academy."
The exorcist's calming words spread through the air, and feeling the soothing, purifying aura, her limbs slowly uncoiled and relaxed.
"The Lower Academy...? We've never heard of it, but..." The leader, a middle-aged man, let his gaze fall on the badge. "I know of the Academy of Giant Trees."
The middle-aged man had no choice but to trust Lu Li, and this forced faith quickly turned to genuine confidence as he drew closer.
"Are you a priest?" the middle-aged man couldn't help but ask.
"No."
They were from Cotton-Town, one of the cities that had once protected Midnight. After the fall of Midnight, Cotton-Town lost its protection. The situation rapidly deteriorated, and the town was assimilated. Many of its residents chose to migrate.
Compared to the other struggling divine cities, they at least still had a choice, a chance to make their way to "New Midnight."
The middle-aged man was one of the members of that migrating team.
Seven days ago, a team of forty-four residents had entered the Old Sewer, heading for Midnight. The result was plain to see: the team was now reduced to five men, two women, and one gravely ill boy.
The mining district, which led to the Central Station of Midnight, was only a few miles away, but the migrating team had been forced to stop. The tremors from the district had turned the mud into a treacherous lake of mire, blocking their path.
They were waiting, hoping another tremor would open the way again.
Lu Li looked ahead. The murky swamp had settled back into stillness between the tremors. Beneath the seemingly calm silt, no one knew if there was soft earth or a man-eating bog.
They could go around, as there was always another way to the mining district, but the critically ill boy might not survive the detour.
The boy's forehead was almost scorching hot. Even if his fever broke, he might suffer brain damage and be left an imbecile. His parents had already died on the journey.
The disheveled survivors also didn't know if they could successfully reach the mining district and complete the final leg of their journey.
They were short on food, water, and medicine.
"I only have a piece of dried meat..." The spider-girl fumbled in her pocket, pulling out a palm-sized piece of jerky, unwilling to give it to these people who feared and hated her.
For Lu Li, however, this was not a problem.