Chapter 227: Swamp
Chapter 227: Swamp
“The main event should be starting now.”
Fang Jing’s cold voice came from behind her, and Maeda’s consciousness cleared from confusion.
Even though her ears were covered by two palms from behind, the terrible roar still shook her mind.
When she woke up, she opened her mouth wide and felt a strange fear.
It was a deep, inner terror.
She did not know what happened, but she knew that for a moment, she had lost her senses.
And when she tried to open her eyes wide, she only saw scattered fragments. They were half-melted foreign objects, slowly trying to approach from all sides, but they were all shattered by the previous roar.
“What… were those things just now?”
Her whole body turned cold. She could tell that her experience was not an illusion.
“…”
Fang Jing did not speak. He remained silent, but his eyes were fixed intently on a spot ahead.
In fact, what had just happened was far more terrifying than what the Maeda Girl could have imagined.
He had been standing with the girl, and just as a strange wind blew, rustling the leaves, an odd atmosphere spread out.
The Maeda Girl in front of him became semi-transparent, her outline gradually twisting.
Her wrists and legs softened like clay.
It was as if she was melting into the air.
Half of her face collapsed, and her head twisted into an elongated shape. She was slowly disappearing from this world.
“Kami-kakushi!”
He instantly realized that this was the “phenomenon” described in folk stories and local tales—Kami-kakushi.
Kami-kakushi—believed to be when someone is taken into an Alternate Realm, or teased by a Mountain Deity or foxes, or else tricked by tengu and demons.
Most of those who experience Kami-kakushi are children, though adults sometimes encounter it too. Once they disappear, about half are never heard from again, their fates unknown. Only a few ever return alive.
Even if they return, those who were Kami-kakushi cannot recall what happened before.
It was extremely dangerous. If he had not been careful, the Maeda Girl might have vanished strangely from his sight, just like those people on Yūmi Island.
Naturally, Fang Jing would not allow such a phenomenon.
His designated disciple and test subject number one—how could he let others lay a finger on her?
“There’s no need to hide your presence. No matter how much you hide, it’s still too conspicuous. Anyone who pays a little attention will notice.”
“Surprising! Truly surprising!”
In an instant, an overwhelming presence gave the illusion that the air around them had changed.
A man emerged from behind a tree, exactly in the direction Fang Jing had been watching.
It was a man with his face wrapped in bandages. He wore a blue yukata, and an aura resembling miasma appeared around him.
Maeda was shocked, her brows tightly furrowed.
She realized one thing: that was not the presence of a normal person. She had seen people with strong presence before, but this was different. The bandaged man was like a character stepping out of a strange tale, making his entrance with an old-fashioned gait.
His clothing, demeanor, and words had an indescribable quality—as if he could change the atmosphere just by starting to speak. And the aura he emitted now was an even more compressed version of that transformative force.
Yet Fang Jing could face him without changing expression.
The other party gazed back at him expressionlessly, like a plant.
“I originally thought those who would come here would be from C.C.S.D, or at least from that pack of dogs called the Dharma Protectors…”
The bandaged man’s tone carried a note of sarcasm.
“Interesting! It seems you are also one of the External Method. But this is not a wise decision. I’ll give you a chance: hand over the girl beside you, and I will let you leave.”
“Hmm… That’s an interesting proposition. But she’s just an ordinary girl. Why are you after her?”
Hearing the bandaged man’s words, Fang Jing narrowed his eyes. Like a feline, he sized up the other person.
He realized that the bandaged man might have mistaken him for an Esper from the Clans.
But from his words, it seemed that besides the Clans, there were other forces in this country.
(Hayasaka Taeko once thought I was from the Dharma Protectors. The Dharma Protectors might be a group closely related to the Clans, and they might even have a hierarchical relationship…)
Gathering this information, he could now basically confirm this clue. The existence of the Clans, the Espers, and their hidden secrets were gradually being uncovered by him.
Therefore, Fang Jing did not plan to reveal the truth. He continued to chat with the bandaged man, intending to extract more information.
“This has nothing to do with you. Hand over the girl. I don’t want to fight another Esper of the External Method. In a way, we are not enemies.”
The bandaged man blinked and said in a low voice, “For us, the truly hateful ones are the Twelve Clans of the Hidden Assembly. Since ancient times, the External Method followers have been suppressed by the Clans. Now, we who are discriminated against by the Clans should unite…”
As he spoke, Maeda behind Fang Jing was scared and tried to run away, but Fang Jing grabbed her wrist.
“Let me go…”
Maeda had naturally heard their conversation. She was terrified. To her, Fang Jing clearly knew the bandaged man, and the man was talking about things she did not understand.
But one thing she heard clearly: the bandaged man wanted to capture her.
“Calm down.”
Fang Jing held her wrist and pressed on her pressure point. She shuddered and almost collapsed.
“You’re right. The Clans are indeed hateful.”
A faint smile curled at the corner of his mouth as he turned his gaze back to the bandaged man.
“But there’s one thing I’m curious about. Does that Strange Phenomenon, the Hunterghost, have anything to do with you?”
“Hunterghost?!”
The bandaged man paused for a moment before he understood.
“You mean that Seal. That thing was sealed by the two great Clans, Sakuya and Washi Peak. It’s a pillar from the realm of calamity. We are considering whether to try and release it. If we succeed, this city might become a new Sanctified Land.”
His words were casual, but after hearing them, Fang Jing felt an extreme sense of evil.
“Sanctified Land? If such a thing were completed, what would happen to this city…”
“Of course, it would become a city of the dead. You know, the world has the most humans, like garbage—their numbers are astonishing. Sacrificing just one city to open the realm of calamity and create a new Sanctified Land is extremely cost-effective for us.”
The bandaged man said indifferently, “Think about it. Like rats, they reproduce insanely fast. In just ten years, their numbers would recover. And if we succeed, we might gain the power to confront the Clans head-on. So, how about it? Will you join us?”
“Good!”
Fang Jing nodded, a satisfied smile appearing on his face.
Hearing him say “good,” the bandaged man also showed a faint smile.
“I see! I really can’t become your companion.”
Fang Jing sighed. “Sorry, and thank you for the information. But I won’t agree to either of your requests.”
“You… what did you say?”
The bandaged man’s faint smile vanished. In that instant, his expression shifted to one filled with hostility and killing intent.
“You say you disagree—the consequences of refusing might be more than you can bear!”
“That’s not for you to decide.”
Fang Jing straightened his collar, maintaining a calm expression.
“Show me your full strength! I want to see what kind of Esper you are.”
“Stubborn fool!”
In response to Fang Jing’s words, the bandaged man only gave a cruel sneer. He murmured, “Go forth! Devour! Yellow Spring Marsh!”
He stretched out a hand and pointed forward.
In an instant, Fang Jing sensed something strange happening. The ground began to crack, rot, and become pitted, full of gullies and ravines. The area where his feet touched completely decayed, turning into deep yellow mud.
“What… is happening?!”
Like Fang Jing, Maeda’s feet began to sink. The earth had turned into a yellow swamp, slowly devouring her and Fang Jing.
A rotten stench continuously rose from the swampy ground, the foul odor nauseating to the extreme.
But even more terrifying was the corrosive power emanating from the depths of the Yellow Spring Marsh. Fang Jing could feel his shoes and pant legs rapidly melting.
Without much thought, he picked up Maeda in a princess carry.
“Wh-what are you doing?”
“This swamp has a corrosive power…”
Fang Jing replied in a low voice. Now, he did not understand what was happening either. The only thing he could confirm was—the ground for hundreds of meters around had turned into a strange swamp.
(Could this be the power of a Clan Esper? To transform such a large area of ground like this…)
The vast yellow swamp bubbled and gurgled, and an intangible corrosive power emerged from it.
“This corrosive power is extremely dangerous. If it were an ordinary person, they would probably be corroded instantly, their flesh and blood melting away. They would experience the hellish taste of being dissolved alive in an instant!”
He immediately released his Resonance Field to resist the corrosive power. His Resonance Field could form a field force, countering the strong acid-like corrosion of the Yellow Spring Marsh.
“Fool… If you hadn’t deliberately provoked me, I wouldn’t have had to go this far. Unfortunately, retrieving the Collection Artifact is crucial to me, and I don’t have time to waste here.”
The bandaged man had somehow appeared at the edge of the Yellow Spring Marsh. He shook his head as if bored.
“But this kid is too weak. The various families of the External Method followers are indeed self-degrading. How far they have fallen…”