On the broken streets of Shadow Town, three silhouettes illuminated by the faint light of the oil lamp fell.
The creeping darkness of the twisted jungle gradually shrank back.
"Can it be... higher?" Ophelia thought the reason for failure was that it was too low.
"My remaining power is limited..."
The hundred-meter-high water column is the limit that He can control: "Only you can retrieve the body and restore strength."
But that has turned into a cycle of "recovering the remaining body to solve the jungle, and solving the jungle to recover the remaining body".
Return to the few remaining swamps in the south and tell the Swamp Mother the news of the failure of the operation. The next thing they can do seems to be to let the God of the Deep spread his breath and attract the attention of the remains of the twisted jungle.
But they may pay a heavy price for this: if the Twisted Jungle covets the God of the Deep, it will be impossible to resist.
"Take me to the front line." Lu Li raised his head and said to the Swamp Mother.
"As you said."
Late at night, everyone once again arrived at the battlefield bordering the Twisted Jungle.
"Ophelia, you follow me. Save me if I'm attacked, but retreat if not."
Lu Li wiped off the mist on the oil lampshade, held it in his right hand, passed between the two banyan tree guards, and stepped onto the battlefield that resembled a thunderstorm area.
Ophelia was like lava with a dark surface, sending out hot waves and following Lu Li.
Just like last time, the Twisted Jungle became frantic due to their approach. The raging tree roots, which were denser than the previous three contacts, rolled towards Ophelia, who turned into humanoid lava, forming a ball of fire to wrap around her.
Lu Li, who was holding an oil lamp, stood in the middle of the battlefield where tree roots were entangled with each other and even the frozen soil was plowed up and covered with ravines, unharmed.
They did avoid him. Even the splashing, sharp wood chips and frozen soil were gently blocked by the surrounding twisted tree roots and banyan tree roots.
But at this moment, the tree roots crawled and spread under Lu Li's feet, forming a rattan-like cage to shackle him.
"Don't come over."
Lu Li stopped Ophelia, the Mother of the Swamp, the God of the Deep and the servants of believers who were about to rush into the battlefield, and allowed the tree roots to lift him up and roll him to the north.
"Wait here, they are taking me to a place."
The calm words disappeared with Lu Li. Deep in the dark and twisted shadows of the forest, the battlefield was once again buried by thunder.
"Lu Li, do you know you?" the God of the Deep Sea whispered.
"It's 'them'." Pusius corrected the God of the Deep Sea's wrong ancient pronunciation, as casually as if he were friends: "If we knew each other, they wouldn't attack us."
He wasn't worried about Lu Li at all.
"Because... Lu Li's... title... Tree Whisperer."
Ophelia, who returned from the ashes, hoarsely revealed the answer, and the murmur of the cursed title sounded in the ears of the two gods.
The reactions of the Swamp Mother and the God of the Deep differed: the former expressed surprise, while the latter recalled whispering: "This feeling... of the world... is a shadow."
"You are...learning from me...talking again." Ophelia held back her breath.
The God of the Deep Sea is still remembering, but he can't put the pieces together into memories.
"What is the Shadow of the World?" Pusius asked after waiting for him to lift his hood.
"I forgot..."
…
The light shining outside the tree root cage forms light and shadow, changing and interlacing.
The tree roots held up the cage, like another kind of wave gathering at the feet of the God of the Deep Sea, relaying Lu Li to the depths.
Lu Li couldn't tell the direction, but he should be moving north, perhaps passing the swamp road.
When he allowed the Twisted Jungle to take him away, Lu Li missed something troublesome: the devil's pursuit.
However, as he was far away from the protection of the God of the Deep Sea, the burning heat from the mark on the back of his hand did not come as expected, as if the devil had given up looking for Lu Li.
More than this, Lu Li believed that tracking being blocked by some force was not the Twisted Jungle. At least the burning heat on the back of his hands did not disappear when he entered the Twisted Jungle from the coast.
Lu Li, who had realized the truth, touched his chest, and the necklace condensed by the God of the Deep Sea and given to him as a second gift by the Mother of the Swamp was under his shirt.
Putting aside the added value of "given by the ancient god", the gift given by the God of the Deep Sea is obviously very generous. Even more generous is the swamp mother who forwarded it to him.
The speed of the cage slowed down at this time, and it slowly landed on the soft mud squeezed into the cage.
A tree root spread out, unscrewing the prison, and releasing Lu Li after a long and quiet journey.
Lu Li stepped out of the prison and held up the oil lamp, like a little man stepping into the dark forest of giants.
"Friends coming from afar, why do you walk with evil people who harm trees..."
A humming, vibrating whisper sounded from deep in the jungle.
Lu Li held a swaying oil lamp and faced the darkness where the voice sounded: "We have no intention of harming the jungle, we are just looking for something."
"They hurt the jungle..."
"Because you attacked us."
"You... hurt the jungle first!"
There was no rage as imagined, and the echoing and vibrating voice was more like a child or dull young man complaining about the grievances he had suffered.
In fact, Lu Li couldn't remember who had hurt the trees before the attack, including stepping on tree roots in the sea.
Maybe the God of the Deep Sea did something.
"I apologize to you on His behalf."
The voice in the darkness softened as a result: "Friend, what are you looking for..."
Continuous light spots like fireflies suddenly appeared. Floating from the depths of the jungle, the places they passed changed from quiet to noisy.
They illuminate the forest: instead of the twisted canopy you might imagine blocking the sky, the trees are tall and straight, like a naturally growing forest.
Lu Li also saw the owner of the sound from this: a tree that was no different from the surrounding giant trees, except that a section fell on the crown, and was supported by layers of branches forming a bird's nest like a bird's nest in the crown, like finger bones that could not bear the weight.
"That claw."
Lu Li found the remains of the God of the Deep Sea.
"It can't be given to you..." The voice's answer was as expected.
"Why."
"The jungle needs its strength against its enemies."
"Mother of the Swamps of the South?"
"That's just one of the enemies."
"Are there more enemies?" Lu Li asked with a frown.
"The water that pollutes everything, the wind that blows out everything, the shadow that casts everything..."
Lu Li fell into thinking. He had never heard the Swamp Mother say this.
And they sound weird.
"What is water that pollutes everything."
"In the north of the jungle, they have no end in sight, bringing pain and despair to the jungle..."
seawater.
"Where is the wind that blows out the glimmer of life?" Lu Li asked again.
"They are just hanging around outside, waiting for an opportunity to move and take away the warmth of the jungle..."
Winter.
Then the final "shadow that covers everything" is the clouds covering the sky.
Lu Li calmly stared at the giant tree and the finger bones on its crown: "If I can solve it for you, can you give us your claws?"
"Really? Friend." The voice became deafening, and it seemed that I could feel its excitement.
"Um."
It might be easier to help them than to fight the jungle.
"But before that, please stop invading the Swamp Mother's territory."
