Dark caves are inlaid with fluorite, broken gray mist fills the swamp, and strange outlines wander in the mud. This is a hotbed of plague and disease.
"Because this is the safest branch line recently." Pusius raised his head eagerly and explained: "Other branch lines are more dangerous than this one, and they have to go around in a big circle."
"Safety?"
Katarina pointed to her feet and said sarcastically.
The roiling mud under the swamp on the shore boiled due to Catalina's movements, and half of the snake's slender limbs were vaguely exposed under the splashing mud.
"We can take the ferry. Look, it's coming."
Pusius stretched out his forelimbs and pointed to the depths of the swamp.
An unmanned boat sailed in the swamp, its stern swaying and drifting toward the shore.
"The mud won't attack us if we get on the ferry."
As the wooden boat approaches the shore, the boiling mud seems to be calmed and suppressed, and then returns to tranquility after the wooden boat approaches.
Bang.
The bow of the boat knocked gently against the shore.
To prove it, Pusius jumped into the wooden boat. The gently rocking wooden boat made ripples absorbed by the mud, but the swamp was still calm.
"We are human beings, and the plague and pollution here will kill us." Catalina said with rejection and distrust of Pusius.
"But other branches are more dangerous..."
At this time, footsteps sounded behind him.
A strange man with 6 arms, a tall body and gills came to the swamp branch.
Pusius subconsciously jumped out of the cabin to get out of the way. The stranger raised his lips as if smiling at Pusius and got on the wooden boat.
Because Lu Li and Catalina were dressed like believers, it did not have any contact with them.
Believers are a presence that is not easy to mess with no matter where they are.
The stagnant wooden boat slowly left the shore carrying the stranger, losing its restraint, and the swamp beneath its feet surged again.
"What's going on with the other branches?"
Lu Li silently observed the wooden boat getting further and further away.
"One of the two lines closest to the swamp line allows only alien species to enter and excludes humans and aliens. The other one has to go through a dark line..."
Branch lines crowded with alien species, branch lines interspersed with hidden lines. Apart from the swamp branch line, they really have no choice.
The premise is that Pusius is not lying.
"I want to go here!" The eldest sister's head popped up from Lu Li's shoulder.
"We'll wait for the next boat."
Lu Li said.
Many wooden boats travel among the swamp islands, waiting for a while for new wooden boats to arrive.
Pusius jumped into the cabin, and Lu Li and the resisting Catalina stepped onto the wooden boat.
The stench of rotting silt becomes stronger as it enters the swamp.
"How to get it started."
"Just have the destination in mind, and if there are many people, say it out loud." Pusius said, shouting to the wooden boat: "To the other side of the swamp."
The wooden boat slowly floated towards the bright exit on the other side.
On the broken islands in the swamp, many figures stand where the wooden boat passes.
"Don't pay attention to them and don't respond to them."
Pusius stared at the silhouette standing on the shore dozens of meters away, and nervously reminded: "Don't leave the wooden boat. As long as the wooden boat is not invaded, we will be safe."
The wooden boat was getting closer and closer to the island. The old woman standing on the shore turned to look at them, holding a wooden bowl filled with delicious broth, and gently waved to Lu Li and the others.
Passing by the old woman, they were so close that they could almost reach out and catch the wooden bowl. Because of Pusius' reminder, Lu Li and Catalina did not respond to the old woman, and quietly sat in the wooden boat and floated by.
The second island is a beautiful girl stuck in the mud. "Help me... I don't want to die..." The lower body of the girl in a white skirt was stuck in the mud, her eyes filled with tears, and she helplessly asked Lu Li and Catalina for help.
The third island is a group of crawling humanoid silhouettes covered in mud. They wear severely decomposed human heads, with red eyes shining behind their eye sockets. When the wooden boat approaches, they stand upright in a ridiculous and weird way, imitating human movements, trying to attract
The attention of Lu Li and others.
After leaving the third island, the wooden boat has arrived at the center of the swamp branch.
There is an island here, and it is also the fourth island they will pass through.
A wooden house with weird proportions sits on the island. It is like a freshly steamed white bread that has been stretched and elongated, revealing fibrous deformed veins.
A familiar outline stood on the edge of the island where the wooden boat would pass.
The tall woman called the model.
"The exit is dangerous, alien species are occupying it, there, stop, go ashore."
The wooden boat approached the shore, and the model opened her barbed fangs and made a low sound that made the air tremble.
Like the first three islands, Lu Li and Catalina ignored it.
But when the wooden boat passed by, the model suddenly leaned forward, and her hooked nose gently sniffed the residual scent of them in the air.
And Lu Li's delicious taste was familiar to her.
With bloodshot veins of resentment clinging to her deep eye sockets, the tall woman turned her head mechanically, knelt down, moved her slender limbs, and chased towards the wooden boat with the sound of grinding her teeth.
Fortunately, the wooden boat drifted away from the island before the model caught up with them.
"Why is it attacking us?"
Catalina asked incomprehensively: "Didn't it still serve as our guide when we first came here?"
"The model is very vindictive...it saw me, so it thought I took away the business..." Pusius said inarticulately out of fear.
"So it's for you?"
"No, it's not...it's us. If it catches you, you will also be eaten."
Lu Li looked behind him. The model was blocked by the swamp and was wandering restlessly on the shore.
"Are we safe?" The timid Pusius huddled in the cabin.
"No."
Lu Li looked towards the island.
The wandering model has left the shore, but the crisis has not disappeared.
It moved its spider-like slender limbs, crawled and jumped on the debris-like ground in the swamp, chasing the wooden boat from the edge.
"It's coming for us!"
Pusius screamed, trembling with his tail between his legs.
The crawling mannequin is faster than the wooden boat. It won't be long before it overtakes the wooden boat and is waiting for them ahead.
"What can you do?" Catalina's eyes followed the movement of the flexibly crawling model.
It is more flexible than the mantis, and Katarina has no confidence in fighting it.
Lu Li nodded gently, lowered his head and said to the wooden boat: "Go back to the entrance where we came from."
The wooden boat arced through the swamp and returned to its original path.
The model jumping in the distance stopped and continued to follow.
The wooden boat passed by three islands, and the weirdos imitated human movements. The girl in the white dress who was stuck in the swamp was still calling for help, and the old woman stood on the shore, with the wooden bowl stretched out within reach.
But they are still a bit slower than the model.
When the jumping model landed in front of the entrance, the wooden boat of Lu Li and others was still dozens of meters away from the shore.
"This won't work." Catalina stared at the model getting closer and closer to them. "It's faster than us... We won't have time to dock."
Lu Li did not answer Catalina, but lowered his head and said to the wooden boat.