Swamp Revenge

Chapter 4: Swamp Revenge

Elder Duanmu POV

The misty marshlands of the Eastern Realm were a place of many secrets and hidden dangers. The dense vegetation and treacherous terrain were home to creatures of all kinds, some of them deadly and feared by even the bravest of warriors.

But it was not the beasts of the marshlands that troubled Elder Duanmu as he and his fellow sect mates followed the lone figure making his way through the muck and more, despite the lone figure being covered in injuries they inflicted on him and devoid of any heaven and earth spiritual energy. Elder Duanmu felt a certain unease in his heart, one he couldn't explain.

That unease came from the look in the mortal's eyes. The resolve the young man showed in his silver moon-like eyes, even after being insulted and gruesomely injured, and the decisiveness he displayed in choosing to follow them into the forest despite knowing disaster would befall him was something Elder Duanmu rarely saw, even amongst Blue Phoenix sect disciples and even elders, let alone a mere mortal they captured from a backwater village with sparse heaven and earth energy flowing through it.

Elder Duanmu was over seventy years old this year and having spent decades as a cultivator, having fought hundreds of life and death battles, and going through dangerous situations, he had cultivated an instinct for danger that had never failed him even once. Therefore, he took this strange feeling pulsating in his heart seriously and made sure to pay special attention to the mortal Yun Feng's every action, like a prey eyeing the back of a predator.

Yet all he saw was a lanky man covered in blood, struggling to take every single step while firmly gripping a rusty old sword with edges looking duller than a kitchen knife.

"Hmmph, I'd like to see the dirty tricks you puny ants have under your skin," Duanmu snorted, his eyes firmly fixed on Yun Feng's back.

The other Blue Phoenix sect members didn't notice the seriousness in Elder Duanmu's eyes or pay attention to Yun Feng's actions in great detail. If they had, one of them might have noticed that, despite his incessant staggering, his steps were measured and calculated, his eyes focused on the distant point where his quarry was gathered.

Yun Feng's heart was racing as he took every step. His survival depended on if he was able to fool those deities behind him. He had to look as frail as possible while taking advantage of the arrogant and self-assuredness in their power, confident in their power and influence.

As the night grew darker, Yun Feng and the Blue Phoenix sect members made their way through the Blue Valley forest, quickly reaching a swamp.

The path was treacherous, and Yun Feng even struggled to tread the path. There were thorns everywhere, and as he moved forward, new cuts appeared on his already disfigured body, and even his old injuries that were struggling to heal up burst open once more.

Luckily, the potion he took before was still in effect; otherwise, he might have passed out at this point.

Elder Duanmu and the others also felt great discomfort as they moved deeper into the swamp, but they were determined to get to the crater and possibly get an opportunity to change their lives. They followed him deeper into the marshlands

But very soon, Elder Duanmu noticed something amiss. The mortal who was finding it hard to take every step suddenly shot forward like an arrow, leaving his bow. Then, with some rapid movements, he grabbed a rope that seemed to have appeared from nowhere. With the help of the rope, his body was launched into the air before he safely landed on the branch if a tree fifty feet high.

"What do you think you are, d-.." Yun Feng's actions were too sudden and even caught Duanmu off guard. Before he could take any action to grab him, Yun Feng was already out of his reach. In his frustration for letting a mortal escape his hands, Elder Duanmu shouted as he tried to jump onto the tree, but his words were cut halfway when he realized that something was wrong. The ground beneath them grew soft, and he and the others sank knee-deep into the mud.

"Where the f*ck did you bring us to?!!" Elder Duanmu roared at Yun Feng angrily. His killing intent was fully unleashed. He blamed their current predicament on Yun Feng, and if he wasn't stuck and currently sinking into the earth, he would have quickly jumped forward to choke him to death.

"Mortal brat, what the f*ck are you doing? Quickly throw that rope down our way, or we will wipe out your entire family tight before your eyes when we get out of this dumb place.

Not only that, we are going to do rated 18 stuff to your daughters before destroying them right before your eyes!!" The remaining Blue Phoenix sect members glared at Yun Feng and roared in anger.

Yun Feng studied their faces, looking for any sign of fear, but he got nothing.

Only the scar-faced old man had a solemn look on his face as his body slowly sank deeper. The others just acted like brats, whining that their blue cloaks, adorned with jewels and gold, were being blemished by the mud they were sinking into.

"It seems you lot are oblivious to the dangerous situation you are in. This swamp was one I discovered years ago after touring the edges of this forest for a long time. Not only does it quickly devour anyone that falls into it, but it also devours their heaven and earth energy in the process, making it impossible to resist. There's more, hehehehe, there's something else, a terror that lurks beneath that very surface that even I haven't seen in a while." Yun Feng sneered at the struggling deities beneath him with a cold look on his face.

He finally could vent his frustrations on these bastards who brought him so much pain and suffering in so little time.

The Blue Phoenix sect members were stunned into silence as they listened to Yun Feng's words, their faces turning pale with fear.

"You're lying! We're the powerful Blue Phoenix sect, not some random mortal. We can't be defeated by a mere swamp!" one of them shouted, but his voice quivered with uncertainty as they examined the mud with uncertainty. But that suspicion soon turned to horror because they actually felt the pulsating heartbeat of some creature coming from the cave, and could feel all the heaven and earth energy that made them mighty and above all mortals gradually leaving their bodies. Even worse, they could feel a terrifying aura that made their skin crawl coming from within.

They began to despair and struggled to jump out. but Regardless of how much they struggled, they sunk deeper and deeper into the mud.

"Young mortal, let's not be rash. Let's do things reasonably. Why don't you send that rope our way in exchange for some very satisfying compensation?" Elder Duanmu finally opened his mouth and shakily said, his heart full of regret from being slower just now.

"Reasonable? Compensation? I'm just a mere mortal. What right do I have to reason amicably with powerful deities like you or even desire your wealth? I'm afraid if I help you guys, I would be drowned to death with the spit of those three before I can touch anything you lot promise me," Yun Feng coldly replied, pointing mockingly at the other three blue fire disciples.

The disciples behind Elder Duanmu watched as he took slow and slightly exaggerated steps on top of the large branch he was standing on.

"You bastard-" The Blue Phoenix sect members had the urge to curse him out, but they were quickly interrupted by the wave of Duanmu's hand.

"Little one, it was indeed us who acted rudely before, and I see why you wouldn't trust us. But I give you my word: if you bring us out of here, we will set you free and give you enough wealth to last you a hundred lifetimes." Elder Duanmu's shrewdness was in full display as he calmly replied to Yun Feng.

"Freedom? Heh, why would I need that from you? As for wealth, don't I already have your bag of belongings with me? Everything you have to offer is now mine, so your promise means nothing more than dogshit to me." Yun Feng said as he picked up a tree branch shaped like a spear.

He then pulled out his rusty old sword and began chipping off the edges of the branch with it.

Elder Duanmu's face finally darkened at Yun Feng's words. He just realized that they had asked Adriel to carry their bag of holding moments before to offset the pressure the weight was bearing on them.

At the time, he thought the decision was funny as he watched the mortal suffer under all that weight. Now, it felt like that decision would seal their inevitable death in this place.

Boom!!!

In his anger, an unimaginable and terrible might burst forth from within Elder Duanmu, causing the surrounding area to tremble violently. A bright light covered the unsunken upper body of Elder Duanmu.

Right now, he looked less like an old man and more like a deity that had descended from the heavens.

"Do you think you can be rid of trouble if we sink here?! Our sect members are aware we left with you. If you return without us, you and your family will be hunted to the very ends of this world. Not a day would pass in your very short life without you having to look over your shoulder before you are captured and tortured in the most gruesome way known to man."

Elder Duanmu's words were loud and carried with them tremendous pressure from his exposed aura, intent on bringing intense fear to Yun Feng.

If it was any other mortal, they would probably have fallen into a panicked state and done as he asked, but Yun Feng was someone from two worlds with a painful past. Such pressure did little to scare him. At most, it only made his skin shudder, but that was all.

Yun Feng studied the changes in Elder Duanmu's body with great interest, and a strong desire to look that cool appeared in his heart briefly.

"You've finally revealed your true ruthless self. Since words don't work, you resort to bullying with your backing. Unfortunately, that little threat of yours means nothing more than a joke to me. How can anyone care about just a bunch of outer sect members who are nothing more than dignified slaves, when everyone is focused on finding out the mysteries of the red pillar of light?" Yun Feng sneered.

By the time he finished his sentence, the edge of the branch in his hand was already as sharp as a real spear.

Elder Duanmu's eyes widened in surprise as the light around him dimmed considerably and hus pompous aura deflated.

This darn mortal actually knew too much and was right.

Even the higher-ups of his sect had been alerted by the happenings in this small forest and were probably already here in search of something that might change their lives. How could any of them have time to look for four low-ranked disciples and an even lower elder like them?

Thinking up to this point, He struggled even more to escape from the quicksand he was stuck in, but for some reason, a mysterious energy kept him from using his heaven and earth energy to enhance his strength.

He was nothing but a mere mortal here!, without his deity powers he was a weak old mortal.

"Just who are you?" Elder Duanmu glared at Yun Feng's face. This was the first time he had met a mortal so calm and calculating in the presence of deities, unless this mortal was no ordinary mortal but.....that Man, Elder Duanmu hearth began to race as his head concocted a probability he couldn't come to terms with.

there was no way a frail mortal could be that Man, someone who was once the sky himself before, someone who could turn the seas and crush mountains with merely but a thought!!

no, no , no that isn't 'him', Elder Duanmu continually told himself

But then It even felt like this mortal had been in control since the first time they met in that village.

It seemed that every one of his actions, his acting like a spineless coward and shameless dog before, were all part of a plan to set them up.

The fact that he was even aware of their sect's predicament and using it for his own good. This kind of calculation was just too terrifying and not something any mortal should be able to do, information about this swamp and the monsters in it, even knowing as much as the right place to step on without sinking shouldn't be something a mortal can find out on his own.

only That man as a mortal could do this , Elder Duanmu thought.

"I'm just a Wretched man who can't seem to take care of the one I love," Yun Feng said in a rather depressed manner, with a glance he could tell what the frantic Elder was thinking, since he already had a guess in mind the clues should be enough to prove his theory Cause well Yun Feng wasn't in the mood to..

with a sigh He glanced at the sky as if reminiscing on some traumatic event before turning back to look at the four Blue Phoenix sect deities who were now neck-deep in mud.

"... I am the last wretched man you lot will ever see," he said those final words slowly, then he aimed to throw the wooden spear, before throwing it downwards with all his might