The Gusu Mistake - Chapter 33

The rain stopped, and another day of searching yielded no sign of the Scorpion Spirit. Jiang Yilan and Yuan Ruo had business to attend to and couldn’t linger, so they left some newly refined medicinal powders for the villagers and took their leave.

After leaving the village, the two traveled for another three days. Thankfully, the journey was peaceful, with no unexpected interruptions.

“Is this the Land of the Fallen Bodhi?” Facing the endless desolation before her, Jiang Yilan couldn’t help but wonder, “Why is it so desolate?”

Yuan Ruo replied, “I’ve heard that the Land of the Fallen Bodhi looks flat, but it’s actually all swamp underneath. Without the right method, you can’t get in at all.”

“What…?” Jiang Yilan was both surprised and shocked. “Then what do we do?”

“Phew!” Yuan Ruo let out a breath. “I only thought about the swamp before and assumed there’d be a way to cross it. I didn’t realize the place was so big!”

Jiang Yilan didn’t respond. She picked up a stone from the ground and tossed it toward a low-lying area hidden by weeds. The stone first made a small dent, then slowly sank in, completely disappearing without a trace.

“It really is all swamp!” Yuan Ruo saw the stone vanish. “It seems we won’t be able to get in today!”

“If we can’t get in today, why would we be able to tomorrow?” Jiang Yilan was not convinced. “Since someone was able to get in, we can definitely find a way too!”

Yuan Ruo asked, “Do you have a plan?”

Jiang Yilan looked at Yuan Ruo with a sidelong glance. “You know, I actually do!”

Yuan Ruo chuckled softly. “Tell me about it.”

Jiang Yilan played coy, a mysterious look on her face as she surveyed her surroundings. She then blew a whistle, and in a moment, a gray wolf came running toward them.

Yuan Ruo instinctively became defensive. “Why is there a wolf?”

“Don’t be scared, I called it!” Jiang Yilan waited for the gray wolf to get close, tied a vine around it, and then whispered something into its ear. The gray wolf then ran off again, but this time in the direction of the Land of the Fallen Bodhi’s swamp.

“It…?”

“Don’t ask, just keep up!” Jiang Yilan interrupted Yuan Ruo’s question and took the lead, following the gray wolf.

The gray wolf was light-footed, and its weight was distributed across four paws. Even if it ran over a problematic area, it wouldn’t immediately sink, but a pit would appear. By observing the locations with and without pits, they could determine if there was a swamp ahead.

In this way, guided by the gray wolf, the two quickly crossed over half of the swamp. But just as they thought they had made it, the unexpected happened. The gray wolf ran for several steps, and each step created a pit. No matter how light its feet were, it was inevitable that it would slip and fall in.

“Watch out!” Yuan Ruo grabbed Jiang Yilan, who had nearly fallen in. Looking at the gray wolf, half its body was already submerged, struggling to get out. Yuan Ruo quickly used the vine to pull it up.

“Awoooo!” The gray wolf was clearly terrified. After it was pulled out, it howled on the ground and refused to go on. Looking at the area ahead, which was clearly all swamp, there was indeed no way to proceed.

“We can’t get across!” Jiang Yilan’s spirits sank.

“We’re not far now!” Yuan Ruo looked ahead, and the shape of a building was vaguely visible in the distance.

Jiang Yilan became excited. “What are you thinking of doing?”

“Yilan!” Yuan Ruo placed a hand on Jiang Yilan’s shoulder. “Look at me. I’m going to cross. If I make it, you follow me. If I don’t, you go back the way we came and don’t worry about me!”

“What nonsense are you talking about?” Jiang Yilan knocked Yuan Ruo’s hand away. “Aren’t we here to draw out the murderer of your brother? Why are you risking your life here?”

Yuan Ruo lowered her head. “Are you saying we’re not going to the Jingbo Gate?”

“It’s not that we’re not going, it’s that we can’t go!” Jiang Yilan said. “You know in your heart that this matter is likely unrelated to them. We came here just for the sake of a gimmick!”

Yuan Ruo, however, said, “But I always feel a bit unwilling to give up!”

“Unwilling to give up my ass!” Jiang Yilan retorted. “Compared to your life, that’s nothing!”

Yuan Ruo gave a wry smile and didn’t respond.

“Okay!” Jiang Yilan looked back the way they came. “Since we really can’t go, then we won’t. Let’s go back. Maybe those with ulterior motives are already waiting there. If you die here, I can’t handle them alone!”

“Haha!” Yuan Ruo chuckled softly. “Alright, I’ll listen to you. I can’t just throw this life away!”

“Awoooo!” Just as the two had agreed to return, the gray wolf suddenly started howling again. They looked over and saw that it had accidentally fallen into the swamp, and the vine had been broken in its struggle.

“Gray Wolf!” Jiang Yilan tried to save it, but it was no use. They watched as it completely disappeared before them.

“This…” Yuan Ruo squatted down, only to see a few bubbles. “It sank!”

“Now what?” Jiang Yilan looked at the long path they had taken. “Without it, how do we get back?”

Yuan Ruo asked, “Can’t you again…?”

“I need one!” Jiang Yilan looked at her hands. “This area is so desolate, stretching for who knows how many miles. Finding this gray wolf was already a stroke of luck!”

“Heh!” Yuan Ruo closed her eyes and gave a bitter laugh. “Is this fate? In the end, we gained nothing and are trapped here!”

“There must be a way!” Jiang Yilan said, then began to look for something they could use. Finding nothing, she steeled herself and, based on her memory of the direction they came from, leaped forward.

“Yilan!” When Yuan Ruo saw Jiang Yilan jump, she quickly followed. “Don’t move, it’s dangerous!”

Finally, Jiang Yilan stopped, landing on a safe spot. “Don’t talk. Maybe I can remember more if you don’t.”

Jiang Yilan finished speaking, then leaped again. This time, she wasn’t so lucky. She stepped into a void and began to sink into the ground.

“Yilan!” Yuan Ruo lunged and grabbed one of her hands, but didn’t notice that the spot where she was standing was also muddy. In a matter of moments, both of them began to sink.

“Yuan Ruo, go back quickly!”

Jiang Yilan tried to make Yuan Ruo leave, but Yuan Ruo couldn’t possibly abandon her, and besides, she was in danger herself and couldn’t leave. The two could only watch helplessly as they were slowly submerged, unwilling to give up, but with no way to stop it.

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