Transmigrating Into a Fantasy World: Signing in During Pregnancy, Reaching the Summit with My Childhood Sweetheart

91: Chapter 91: The Mystery of the Swamp Mist and the Hunt for SkeletonsThe dilapidated bone boat churned through the murky, muddy water, moving in eerie silence. Only the dim yellow lantern hanging from its prow swayed in the desolate rain and mist, casting bizarre, flickering shadows. Five figures stood on the boat, all clad in dark leather armor with strange paint smeared across their faces, concealing their true features and leaving only pairs of eyes that glittered with vigilance and greed in the darkness. Their auras were cold and damp, carrying the wet, fishy scent of those who frequented the marshes. Their cultivation levels ranged roughly from Foundation Establishment Middle Stage to Late Stage, with the leader, the One-Eyed Stout Man, having reached Foundation Establishment Peak.

Their gazes clung like maggots to bone, firmly locked onto the small earthen mound where Su Muxue was hiding. They had clearly discovered her presence long ago. In this region known as the ’Weeping Marsh,’ the aura of any outsider was as conspicuous as a torch in the night.

Su Muxue’s heart instantly leaped into her throat. She forcibly suppressed the turbulent Qi and blood surging within her body and tightened her grip on the zhenyuan remnant sword in her hand. These newcomers harbored ill intentions, and her current condition was extremely poor. Lin Mo had fallen into silence. The situation was even more dire than it had been in the Nirvana Wasteland.

The bone boat stopped about thirty zhang away from the earthen mound. This distance allowed for both offense and defense, showcasing the newcomers’ experience.

The One-Eyed Stout Man grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellowed teeth. His voice was hoarse and unpleasant, speaking in a kind of underworld lingua franca: ”Outsider lass, you sure know how to pick a spot to shelter from the rain. However, this ’Rotbone Marsh’ is no friendly place. It’s dangerous to be alone. Why not come aboard and let us brothers protect you?”

His words were frivolous, but his eyes were sharp as an eagle’s, constantly scanning Su Muxue and the simple Restriction she had set up beside her. His gaze lingered for a moment on the dim light sphere in her embrace, a flicker of surprise and deeper greed flashing within. He could sense the sphere’s extraordinary nature, despite its faint aura.

Su Muxue’s expression remained impassive. Her clear, cold voice cut through the curtain of rain: ”Unnecessary. I will rest here for a moment and then leave. I won’t trouble you all.”

”Heh, still stubborn,” a tall, thin man beside him chuckled darkly. ”Boss, she looks seriously injured. That glowing thing in her arms might be a treasure... In this desolate wilderness, isn’t this a gift from the heavens?”

A glint of light flashed in the One-Eyed Stout Man’s single eye. He was clearly contemplating murder and plunder. In this lawless land, the strong preyed on the weak; it was the natural order.

He wasted no more words, waving a large hand: ”Take her! Be careful, don’t damage that light sphere!”

The four men on the bone boat immediately responded. Two aimed poison-tipped blow darts at Su Muxue, while the other two slipped into the muddy swamp like phantoms, merging with the mire and silently approaching from underwater! Their coordination was seamless, clearly practiced in such deeds.

*Whoosh! Whoosh!*

Two slender, faintly blue-glowing poison darts tore through the rain curtain, aiming straight for Su Muxue’s shoulders, intending to capture, not kill.

Simultaneously, the mud beneath her feet rippled slightly. Two hands coated in sludge shot out, grabbing for her ankles!

Crisis erupted in an instant!

Although severely injured, Su Muxue’s combat instincts remained. As the poison darts were about to strike, her body twisted at an impossible angle. The zhenyuan sword didn’t even leave its sheath; she merely used the scabbard to parry with pinpoint accuracy, left and right!

*Clink! Clink!*

Two light sounds rang out. The poison darts were easily knocked aside, disappearing into the nearby mud with a sizzling, corrosive sound.

Facing the ambush from below, she stomped the tip of her foot down on the earthen mound, sending a tremor of power imbued with Sword Intent into the swamp!

*Thump!*

Muddy water exploded. Two muffled grunts sounded as the two Cultivators who had submerged were forcibly jolted out, staggering back with looks of shock. They hadn’t expected this seemingly grievously injured woman to still possess such formidable reaction speed and strength!

The One-Eyed Stout Man narrowed his single eye: ”So you do have some skill! Attack together!”

He took action personally, leaping from the bone boat. A heavy bone blade hung with iron chains appeared in his hand, whistling through the air as he brought it down in a vicious overhead slash toward Su Muxue! The spiritual power of a Foundation Establishment Peak Cultivator erupted without restraint, the blade’s momentum fierce and heavy!

The other four simultaneously launched a coordinated assault. Blow darts, poison-coated daggers, and eerie swamp curses attacked from all sides!

Su Muxue was attacked from front and back, her face growing paler. She could not retreat. Behind her was the silent Lin Mo!

”Lingxiao — Circular Guard!”

She let out a clear shout. The zhenyuan remnant sword finally left its sheath by half an inch. A condensed, black-green Sword Intent suddenly expanded from her as the center, forming a circular Sword Intent barrier that firmly protected her and Lin Mo within!

Countless attacks landed on the Sword Intent barrier, producing a dense series of explosive cracks! The barrier shook violently, its light flickering chaotically. Although it didn’t shatter immediately, Su Muxue’s body trembled continuously, and fresh blood trickled from the corner of her mouth. Her spiritual power was rapidly depleting, her injuries aggravated and worsening!

Continuing like this meant certain defeat!

They had to break out!

Just as she prepared to pay any price, forcefully activating the Taiyin Origin to perform a forbidden technique—

Lin Mo, who had been silent all along, emitted an extremely faint flicker from his light sphere.

A very weak, yet crystal-clear thought transmitted into Su Muxue’s mind: ”...Left front... underwater... hidden passage... leads to... underground river... I can... sense it...”

It was Lin Mo! At this critical juncture of self-repair, he had still spared a sliver of attention. Relying on the nirvana star core’s keen Perception of energy flow, he had discovered a sliver of hope beneath the swamp!

Su Muxue’s spirits lifted!

At that moment, the One-Eyed Stout Man’s bone blade came slashing down again with brutal force!

”Now!” Lin Mo’s thought urged urgently!

A cold light flashed in Su Muxue’s eyes. She no longer focused on fully maintaining the Sword Intent barrier. Instead, she channeled most of her remaining spiritual power into the zhenyuan sword in an instant!

”Lingxiao — Cloud Piercer!”

Merging her body with the sword, she transformed into a sharp, unstoppable black-green streak of light. She did not attack the One-Eyed Stout Man, but instead shot straight toward the seemingly ordinary, turbid water surface to her left front!

This sword strike was fast! Accurate! Ruthless! It concentrated all her remaining strength and resolve!

The One-Eyed Stout Man’s blade cleaved empty air, his expression changing: ”Trying to run?!”

However, Su Muxue’s speed far exceeded their expectations! Where the sword light passed, the muddy water parted automatically!

*Splash!*

Her figure plunged unhesitatingly into that stretch of water and instantly vanished!

”After her!” The One-Eyed Stout Man roared in shock and anger, immediately leading his men to the water’s edge. However, they found strong underwater currents and extremely low visibility; they couldn’t see a trace of her.

”Boss! Below is the labyrinthine hidden passage of the ’Water Ghost Cave’! It’s a tangled maze with many dead ends and traps!” A subordinate skilled in aquatic matters reported uneasily, clearly deeply wary of that area.

”Dammit!” The One-Eyed Stout Man smashed a fist furiously onto the water’s surface. ”The duck flew right out of our mouths! Send the signal, notify the gang! Surround this body of water! They can’t have gotten far. With such serious injuries, they’ll have to surface for air! Search! Turn over every stone to find them!”

A bone-made signal arrow shrieked into the gray sky, exploding into a ball of green phosphorescent fire that lingered for a long time.

The pursuit by one of the overlords of the Weeping Marsh, the ’Skeleton Gang,’ had begun anew... Underwater, Su Muxue held her breath. Relying on her last shred of willpower and Lin Mo’s faint directional guidance, she struggled through the icy, pitch-black underwater currents.

The underwater world was indeed a different realm, full of naturally formed rock caves and tunnels crisscrossing like a maze. Without Lin Mo’s guidance, she would have been lost long ago.

Her injuries grew heavier, her spiritual power nearly exhausted. The icy river water constantly sapped her body heat, and her consciousness began to blur.

Just as she was about to lose her grip, a faint glimmer of light appeared ahead, and the water flow became gentler.

She struggled to swim upward.

*Splash!*

She burst through the water’s surface, coughing and gasping violently. She found herself in a small underground cave. Half the cave was water, half was a damp rock floor. Some glowing moss on the ceiling provided illumination. The air was damp but no longer carried the swamp’s decay.

She crawled onto the bank with difficulty, almost collapsing from exhaustion, and immediately looked at Lin Mo in her embrace.

Lin Mo’s light sphere remained dim, but the crack on its surface seemed to have healed slightly under the influence of the earth mother spiritual saliva. His thoughts transmitted again, still weak but clearer: ”...Temporarily... safe... This place... has a faint... tributary of the earth veins... can conceal... our... auras...”

Only then did Su Muxue completely relax. Overwhelming fatigue and pain washed over her like a tide; she was on the verge of passing out immediately.

But she forced herself to stay awake, taking out and swallowing her last few Medicinal Pills. She then carefully transferred a wisp of weak spiritual power to Lin Mo to aid his recovery before finally collapsing onto the ground, sinking into a deep state of self-restoration.

The cave was left with only the sound of her heavy breathing and the dripping of water.

An unknown amount of time passed, perhaps an hour or two. Su Muxue was startled awake by a strange, rhythmic *click-clack* sound.

Her eyes snapped open. Her injuries and spiritual power had recovered somewhat, but she was far from healed. She looked warily toward the source of the sound.

In a corner of the cave, Lin Mo’s light sphere was now suspended in mid-air. The cracks on his surface, nourished by the earth mother spiritual saliva and the faint earth vein Qi of this place, had mostly healed. His light, though still restrained, was much more stable.

At this moment, he was controlling several small, pale bones—from some unknown creature—scattered on the cave floor. With a strange rhythm and trajectory, they slowly assembled and pieced together in the air.

The *click-clack* sound was precisely the bones colliding.

What was he doing?

Su Muxue watched, puzzled.

Soon, those small bones were pieced together into an extremely crude, fingernail-sized... bone compass?

As the final bone piece fell into place, the crude bone compass trembled slightly. A faint, almost imperceptible gray-blue light appeared on it—the power of the nirvana star core.

The compass’s needle did not point north-south. Instead, it trembled, stubbornly pointing in a specific direction within the cave, vibrating slightly.

Lin Mo’s thoughts came through, carrying a trace of fatigue but also a profound depth of insight: ”...Sensed it... same Origin... Nirvana Sword Intent... although... very faint... very far...”

”...This direction... high probability... is... Nangong...”

Su Muxue’s pupils contracted sharply.