Chapter 1021 Eighty-eight. Stranger

   "Why didn't you tell Mr. Lu Li the truth?"

  On the edge of the dead forest, Mildred Hampley and Blitz Thiel looked at the silhouettes of the students as the fog engulfed them.

   "This is his chance... You didn't say anything."

   Mildred Hampley watched as the figure stepped into the mist and turned back to the hut.

  …

   The thick gray fog like melting cheese pulled Lu Li away, blocking the companions beside him, blocking the surrounding sounds, and surging silently.

  When the sticky feeling was about to drag Lu Li's footsteps, they disappeared without a trace like the last wisp of blue smoke rising from the bonfire.

  Lu Li walked out of the fog.

   Wide and gloomy, dim and oppressive, with tangled vines, twisted branches, and the distant dead jungle solidified in the air.

   The roots hanging down from the dome are like scallops inside the shell, and the slightly shorter roots hang like stalactites in the sky. The changes in the spatial scale seem to be reduced in consciousness. Unfortunately, Lu Li couldn't find any familiar sights around.

  Lu Li took out the compass from the inner pocket and pointed the pointer straight to the oddly twisted dry forest ahead. Open the eyeball wooden box and summon the merchant Anthony to confirm the location.

  The compass can only keep Lu Li from getting lost in the vast swamp. Merchant Anthony can get him to find the exit, but Ernie Hamilton Wayne's "exit" and the "exit" out of the swamp may not point to the same goal.

  The businessman Anthony quickly felt that he was in the north of the swamp. If he wanted to go back, he just had to go south and enter the dry forest in the distance.

   looked around and confirmed that there were no clues left around. Lu Li bypassed the swamp and water and approached the dead forest.

   It seems safer to stay in a swamp with a good view than with a dead forest that shades the perception. But for Lu Li, the woods are his natural ally.

   Swamp.

   As a forbidden area close to the Night City, the old sewers, and the Giant Tree Academy at the same time, the swamp has always been reclaimed and weakened. To a certain extent, the surface may also be more dangerous than this dim world.

   But it doesn't mean it's safe here. The swamp is a forbidden area after all, and there are still terrifying existences lingering in the unknown areas and depths.

   And here is the depths of the swamp.

  Lonely Lu Li doesn't seem to be alone.

   Keep a distance from the dead quagmire where no one knows what is hidden, and only a few minutes away from the distant dead forest.

   It is farther than expected, but fortunately, the broken quagmire reveals a broken path leading to the dead forest, and the surrounding area is wide enough, so you don't have to worry about the sudden attack, just beware of the quagmire next to you.

  The shoes stepped on the soft soil, and the edge of the clod slid into the mud, making ripples, and then being pushed back to the shore by the more violent ripples that suddenly appeared.

   A tremor came from the depths of his feet. The surrounding swamps with dimly reflected dim yellow domes swayed with sticky ripples, muddying the world.

  Looking around, Lu Li looked up to the east, and the ground shaking faintly came from there—

   Expand the map and mark the east as the mining area of ​​the earth dwellers.

  Vibration should originate from the mining area.

The    tremor lasted for dozens of seconds, leaving behind the murky quagmire that had not yet returned to calm.

  Luli looked around again, many broken mud swamps rose bubbles and blurred outlines, as if some existence surfaced and disappeared quickly, as if nothing had happened.

   Note their location and avoid them, Lu Li stepped forward through the swamp, his pace unwavering.

  The underground tremors from the mining area occurred several times at a near-constant frequency. Each time, the mud was muddy, revealing a safe path leading to the dense forest, and at the same time, many things in the mud were washed to the shore.

   For example, stranded on the shore, and the silt covers the clothes that cannot distinguish the color.

  The branches picked up the dirty clothes, and a part of the arm bone was wrapped up, covered with bite marks that were not new or old.

   Throwing away the branches, Lu Li bypassed the swamp near the edge of the dead forest.

   Stepping into the dark and dead forest, there is no breeze, only the sound of footsteps, they are dead.

   Walking in the dead forest is like walking in a cemetery with tombstones, peaceful and solemn.

   It wasn't Lu Li's arrival that disturbed the peace here, but the subtle, low-pitched shouts.

   "The exorcist? This way, I'm here..."

  Looking at the reputation, the roots of a dead tree were wrapped tightly around a strange figure. Disgusting, the deformed spider-shaped body devoured the poor girl, and the corrosive liquid made the body of only half of the girl shed and decayed——

   But the situation is not as disgusting and abominable as it appears.

  The spider body and the girl's half body belong to the same consciousness, only the corrosive pus actually affects the spider girl's body.

   "I'm from the Giant Tree Academy..." The spider girl trapped in the root cage asked Lu Li for help, and threw an academy badge similar to Lu Li's badge: "Exorcist, help me out."

  The two badges are pieced together to form the outline of the giant tree. This is the lower academy badge.

  Lu Li's eyes fell on the tightly bound spider girl, forming the root of the stomach sac to slowly digest the inside.

   "These trees are alive. Don't get close, they will attack you." The spider girl in the prison reminded. Therefore, she did not struggle, and endured the pain of being digested as nutrients—

"what should I do."

   "Try fire."

  Lu Li did not take the suggestion, but concentrated on feeling the woods. But just like stepping into this dry forest, this is a cemetery. Trees erect tombstones for themselves. There is no vitality here. Instilling humanity may only make tree trunks become soil and give birth to new plants.

   "It has nothing to do with the woods, it's not part of the place."

   And the crux of the problem: Lu Li cannot perceive emotions from the prison of tree roots.

  Friendliness, welcome, exclusion, hatred… none of these.

   For Lu Li, who is the controller of [Tree Whisperer], the real answer is clearly revealed.

"What's the meaning?"

   "It may be some kind of bizarre mimicry of the appearance of tree roots, and your separation will not cause the forest to rebel."

   The slightly startled spider girl tried to lift her sharp forelimbs to pierce the roots. The prison wriggled gently, shrinking when it received damage, and retracted to the ground, releasing the annoyed spider girl.

   No accident, no conspiracy.

  If Lu Li didn't appear, the spider girl would most likely have to resist before being corroded and seriously injured, and then discover the truth - the predator was almost eaten by weak prey.

  Lu Li stood by the side, quietly waiting for Spider Girl to deal with her injuries.

  The spider girl didn't care about serious injuries that could be fatal to humans. She took out the crushed herbs from her waist pocket, smeared it on the surface of her body, and mixed it with the rotten and thick juice formed by digestion, like silt covering the surface of her body.

   "I'm so lucky to meet the exorcist. Before we entered, we were talking about whether there was a chance to meet you. Can I follow you and be your companion?"

  The spider girl who is lively and chatty swears to bring excitement to the "cemetery".

   "What your sword is pointing at is the road!"

   (end of this chapter)