Forge a path to success.

Chapter 26 Green Marsh Beneath the City
"A whole month! A whole month!" Youyou sighed, looking up at the sky. "Why didn't I think of having him try that book... What an idiot! I'm so ashamed!"

The white snake rolled around frantically on the table, its long, limp body a perfect illustration of utter despair. Ji Qiufeng, however, remained nonchalant: "It's not your fault. I never expected that book to get such a high appraisal grade. You were very lucky!"

Jie An wiped the sweat from his forehead: "This concerns your life, Mr. Ji, please don't act like it's none of your business."

"Maintaining a calm mind is the most important thing," Ji Qiufeng said leisurely. He looked at the yellow crystal on the table, cleared his throat, and said, "Ahem! Can you hear me? If I keep pushing myself, I can definitely live for another two months. You two, don't be impulsive, and be careful. That's all."

A muffled female voice came from the yellow crystal: "Dad..."

"I felt completely unmotivated after listening to it," Chu Hengkong commented.

Youyou rushed to the crystal, hissing, "Don't listen to his nonsense! Even if we have to destroy the swamp, we have to find the gold, understand?!"

"Understood!" "Yes, sir!"

Chu Hengkong put the yellow crystal used for communication back into his pocket and looked into the distance with his excited partner.

A damp wind billowed the white sails, and the dragon statue at the bow sliced ​​through the water as the "Dragon Boat" cruised along the city's waterways, stopping and starting, heading towards its final destination on the lower level. This boat was the most common mode of transport for the middle and lower classes. Its appearance resembled a medieval three-masted sailing ship, but like other equipment in the city, it was powered by flowing pearls. Each boat had three decks and could accommodate up to 3000 people at a time, making it a truly enormous vessel.

As one might expect, overloading is the common fate of such vehicles. No matter how reasonable the initial design layout is, the actual cabins are always packed with people. So the two of them slipped onto the roof of the cabin, where standing is strictly prohibited, and blatantly violated the rule to enjoy the wind blowing through the white sails.

"Yay!" Ji Huaisu waved his fist, looking just like a child on a spring outing. Chu Hengkong couldn't help but laugh: "Mind your image, Captain Huaisu."

"Can't I be happy? You were grinning like an idiot too." Ji Huaisu grinned. "Speaking of which, you clearly cared a lot before, so why did you have such a blank expression, acting like you were heartless and ruthless?"

"You mean last night?" Chu Hengkong hesitated for a moment, because he was about to bring up things from the past again. "It was a habit from when I was in the underworld."

"...Does the underworld have rules about suppressing facial expressions?"

“No, but we will control our emotions,” Chu Hengkong said. “My boss said that sadness is a synonym for giving up, and only after exhausting all means can one be qualified to be sad. So we will try every method we can think of, no matter how absurd the method is, until the dust settles after the person dies, and then we will silently mourn at the grave.”

Ji Huaisu stared at him, as if he were an omnipotent super machine. She slapped Chu Hengkong's shoulder hard: "I admire your boss's iron will and strongman style... but if you keep going like this, I think you'll turn into a machine! You're a living, breathing person! Cry when you need to cry, laugh when you need to laugh. Please, next time, say something normal like 'I have another idea,' okay?"

Chu Heng said to himself, "Girl, you're overthinking it. I'm emotional and my thinking is normal, but if I were to sigh and lament every time something happens, wouldn't the team atmosphere completely collapse?" But he was too lazy to argue back, and just gripped the railing tightly: "We're about to fall, be careful not to fall."

The waterway in their field of vision was cascading down, the powerful roar of the water making even the wind seem faint. Ahead of the channel was a massive void, from which water cascaded down, transforming into a thousand-foot waterfall plunging from the central courtyard. The dragon boat accelerated towards the waterfall, its momentum so fierce it resembled a grand suicide. The cabin was filled with the excited screams of children, while Ji Huaisu, who had been obediently gripping the railing, suddenly changed his expression.

“Um…” the blonde girl stammered, “I just remembered something.”

"What's wrong?" Chu Hengkong immediately sensed something was amiss.

"It seems the outside of the dragon boat isn't waterproof..."

Chu Hengkong's vision went black: "What a terrible idea you came up with!"

In an instant, heaven and earth seemed to turn upside down. The dragon boat crossed the boundary and plunged down the waterfall. The overwhelming waves swallowed up the view, and the roar was everywhere, like the waterfall roaring. Chu Hengkong hurriedly pulled down his hood, preparing to be soaked to the bone, but the expected impact did not come. Instead, he saw only a faint golden light.

Ji Huaisu raised a spherical shield, secretly observing his reaction. Chu Hengkong suddenly pulled up his hood: "I can tell you really like this joke."

"After all, you're such a steady person, you rarely panic!" Ji Huaisu chuckled. "How does it feel to ride the waves?"

"To be honest, it's quite impressive," Chu Hengkong said. "Even taking a bus ride here is a spectacular experience; this is the only place like this."

The boat gradually stabilized, and the dragon boat landed on the waterfall, defying common sense as it steadily glided downstream. As the mist dissipated, a rich turquoise color unfolded before them. That turquoise came from the leaves, the vegetation, the lake water, and the swamps. A verdant forest unfolded like a scroll painting, with large and small, deep green swamps nestled within, like the eyes of the earth.

In the heart of the forest stands the colossal tree that runs through Huilong City, its gnarled roots floating on the lake and supporting the brown earth in the swamp. Low houses are built against the tree roots, extending in all directions to form settlements in the forest. There are dozens of such settlements, large and small, where nearly half of Huilong City's population lives.

This is the lowest level of Dragon City, belonging to the Green Marsh District, a region of plants and swamps.

·
"Fresh giant squid. 5 pearls each!" "A genuine swamp treasure map." "A miracle cure." "Mushrooms. Delicious mushrooms."...

The local market was right outside the terminal station, a cacophony of vendors' cries filling the air. Large blue geese honked wildly among the stalls, occasionally scuffling with the vendors' guard dogs. Mud splattered indiscriminately onto the trousers of vendors and customers, eliciting shouts and commotion. Humid, dirty, and filled with the chirping of insects, the air was thick with a gritty vitality, a stark contrast to the bustling atmosphere of the central courtyard. "Your attire is inappropriate," Chu Hengkong remarked.

As soon as Ji Huaisu disembarked, she wrapped herself tightly in a yellow raincoat, hiding her blond hair and beautiful face in the shadows under the hood. Chu Hengkong wanted to take off his coat as well; he couldn't even imagine how hot it would be wearing a raincoat in this place.

“There’s a reason for this… In short, it’s inconvenient for me to show my face in the Bize District.” Ji Huaisu lowered his voice. “This time, the diplomatic negotiations will depend on you. Are you familiar with the situation at the lower levels?”

"This is my first time here."

"Alright, Captain, let me give you a lesson in the basics. First lesson: all the kids at the docks are thieves."

"Very timely." Chu Hengkong pinched a small hand that reached into his pocket.

The dirty hand belonged to a boy with horns on his head, who grinned obsequiously after being caught. Another little girl with horns slipped out of the crowd and, taking advantage of the diverted attention, reached into Chu Hengkong's left pocket. She saw that the pocket was bulging, presumably full of jewels.

The little girl's touch fell on empty air; she only saw the sleeve of the coat twitch, and her hand ended up on the toothless boy's arm. The two thieves glared at each other, then turned to look, only to find the man in the coat had already disappeared into the crowd.

"Their horns look a lot like those of a rhinoceros beetle."

"This means they have Senmin ancestry, just like Mrs. Ansa. If you see features like long horns, unusual skin color, or scales, you can basically deduce that they are immigrants from the Divine Tree City-State." Ji Huaisu raised his chin slightly. "Look over there, your colleagues."

Following her gaze, Chu Hengkong spotted a peculiarly shaped stall among the fruit stands. A man dressed as a samurai in light purple armor knelt on a white cloth, with two large flags planted behind him. The left flag read "Killing Without Bloodshed," and the right flag read "The Secret Technique of the Heart-Shattering." Several thugs carrying blunt knives and clubs surrounded the samurai. Seeing Chu Hengkong looking over, they shouted, "What are you looking at, customer!" "Want to kill someone, customer?" "If you want to kill, come and take the Flowing Pearl, customer!"

Chu Hengkong returned a gentle smile, turned his head and said, "I need to correct your misconception. We assassins are not such a... comical group."

“They are exiles from Shura Island. They speak in a strange way, but most of them are quite strong,” Ji Huaisu said. “Watch your step, don’t step on a squid.”

Chu Hengkong looked down and met the gaze of a pair of small eyes lurking in the mud. A pink creature resembling a squid was hiding in the ground, extending a dirty tentacle to coil around Chu Hengkong, seemingly very interested in him. But the blue-feathered goose playing by the roadside also noticed the little thing. It pounced over and ate the squid and the mud in one gulp.

The goose struggled desperately with its tentacles sticking out from its beak. The goose glanced at Chu Hengkong triumphantly—but upon noticing Ji Huaisu beside it, the creature jumped up like a startled bird and darted into the drain beside the street like a gushing stream.

Chu Hengkong suddenly remembered the most common main dish in the cafeteria: "This thing..."

"It's the squid and goose you eat every day," Ji Huaisu explained. "The water-avoiding goose likes to eat squid and various small tools, but it will turn into water and escape when it sees a woman. The fresh squid prefers shiny little things and will be attracted to strong men."

Chu Hengkong's expression was subtle. He then saw a water-avoiding goose "swim" out of the fishmonger's fish tank: "...The squid came out of the ground? The goose came out of the water?"

"What else?" Ji Huaisu found it amusing. "Do you mean we have to raise these things?"

"In my hometown, yes."

"My God, your place is really weird."

Ji Huaisu nimbly squeezed through the crowd, leading him through the alleyways between the wooden houses. The market was too large and chaotic; it was easy to get lost at the entrance for someone new to Bize. Along the way, Chu Hengkong saw yellow-clad figures praying around cherry blossom wood carvings—refugees from the Netherworld God Kingdom; a tall, aloof group addressing each other with numbers—descendants of the ancient giants' territory; a herbalist with mushrooms growing on his body; a fisherman with a beast's head; and a demon-possessed vendor selling takoyaki…

There were so many people, so diverse, that he was momentarily dizzy. They clearly came from different worlds, yet spoke the same language. The swamp was like a verdant crucible, where races and cultures mingled in the damp air. He realized that the former Dragon City must have been connected to many Dust Islands; otherwise, it could never have attracted so many immigrants. But now the city was closed off, and the immigrants had become homeless remnants…

Chu Hengkong felt oppressed by the thought and couldn't help but loosen his collar. Ji Huaisu mistakenly thought he was too hot and whispered, "Hang in there, we'll be there soon."

"I'll take off my coat."

Chu Hengkong figured that tentacles were nothing in this place, so he casually took off his coat. Ji Huaisu quickly grabbed his arm: "No!"

But she was too late. Chu Hengkong had already taken off half of his coat, exposing the tentacles to the damp air. Astonished gazes turned from all directions, and gasps of surprise filled the air. Conversations ceased, and most of the market turned to look at the tentacle.

That fanatical and eerie gaze felt strangely familiar to Chu Hengkong. The next moment, a fishmonger raised his hands high, his voice almost pious with ecstasy: "Oh, the Great Touch! The Hand of God!!"

(End of this chapter)