Deep into the Swamp (Part Two)

What?

Were you here to take a bath?

Obviously, no one would come to a swamp to bathe. The people in the water were merely members of a tribe that lived in this swamp—the Water Chestnut Tribe.

The Water Chestnut Tribe had a small population of only fifty or so people. At that moment, the Water Chestnut Tribe's Gathering Team was also collecting their winter reserves: water chestnuts, the kind of nut with a black, ox-head-shaped shell and white flesh inside.

Many people had eaten these things, but few knew that water chestnuts actually grew in water. They were especially abundant in shallow-water swamps like this one. Water chestnuts were high in starch and rich in protein, and easy to store once dried, so they were also the Water Chestnut Tribe's daily staple food.

At that moment, each member of the Water Chestnut Tribe's Gathering Team was hugging a piece of driftwood and floating in the water. They were all working tirelessly, turning over the "water plants" drifting on the surface, grabbing their leaves and flipping them over. Several water chestnuts immediately appeared among the roots of the "water plants."

Just as they were happily busy, one of their kind suddenly appeared in their field of vision. A youth with his hair tied up and a Bone Hairpin stuck into it was sitting on a strange object floating on the water, slowly drifting toward the "Death Forbidden Zone" mentioned by the Elder.

Out of kindness, the leader of the Water Chestnut Tribe's Gathering Team, a young adult woman named Ling Cao, hurriedly shouted at Luo Chong, hoping he would stop drifting in that direction. Unfortunately, the youth could not understand her tribe's language.

All she saw in Luo Chong's eyes was surprise and curiosity.

In her desperation, Ling Cao hurriedly swam toward Luo Chong, shouting at him as she went.

Luo Chong, meanwhile, wore a completely bewildered expression. He had no idea what these people who had suddenly appeared in the water were, let alone what the woman swimming toward him wanted.

While Luo Chong was distracted for a moment, Ling Cao had already swum to his boat like a fish. With one hand, she grabbed Luo Chong's little boat; with the other, she pointed toward the reeds filled with rice plants and shouted. Her expression held both anxiety and fear.

Seeing that the other party meant him no harm, Luo Chong relaxed. But judging from the woman's expression, she clearly did not want him to go over there, as if some monster were hiding in those reeds.

Luo Chong gestured with his hands, bared his teeth, and held both hands in claw-like shapes. He imitated a beast's cry, then pointed at the reeds again.

"Are there wild beasts in there?"

Ling Cao shook her head. She pointed at Luo Chong, then at that patch of land. Afterward, she placed her hand on the water and made a sinking motion.

"If you go there, you'll sink."

Good! This round of gesturing deserves full marks.

Oh, so it was a swamp. That was fine. He had come prepared—what was there to be afraid of?

Luo Chong understood what Ling Cao meant and was grateful for her kind warning. But since he was prepared, he still intended to make the trip. The rice was right in front of him—how could he turn back now?

Immediately afterward, Luo Chong smiled at Ling Cao to show that he was fine. Then he rowed toward the reeds without the slightest hesitation.

Ling Cao froze, then immediately shouted at Luo Chong again. But she did not continue swimming after him. She could warn this stranger, but she could not possibly help Luo Chong with anything. She still had her tribe, and she still had children who had not yet grown up.

Ling Cao stared blankly at Luo Chong's back. Then, all of a sudden, she was left utterly dumbfounded.

She saw the youth tie two board-like objects to the soles of his feet. Then he hugged a square vine shield large enough to cover a person and leisurely stepped onto that "Death Forbidden Zone."

Ling Cao, who had witnessed this scene with her own eyes, let out a startled cry.

"A god! He must be a god! That boy walked into the Death Forbidden Zone, but he didn't sink!"

As Ling Cao cried out in her tribe's language, the members of the Water Chestnut Tribe's Gathering Team also turned their heads one after another. Every one of them was left standing there with their jaws hanging open.

After all, discovering a Death Forbidden Zone like this had cost the tribe countless lives. The Water Chestnut Tribe had never seen anyone who could walk across a Death Forbidden Zone without sinking to the bottom.

But although Luo Chong appeared relaxed, only he knew how difficult the situation really was. Walking across this swamp was nowhere near as easy as it looked.

The entire area beneath the reeds was mud. Although Luo Chong would not sink while wearing his flippers, the suction of the muck beneath his feet was tremendous. Every step took immense effort just to lift his foot free.

Left with no choice, Luo Chong adopted his second plan. He laid the vine shield directly on the mud ahead, stepped across it to the other side, then placed the shield in front of himself again. Step by difficult step, he advanced toward the rice.

The people of the Water Chestnut Tribe seemed to have figured it out by now. The boy moved forward by stepping on that board each time, which was why he did not sink into the mud. But this was still enough to astonish them. After all, no one had ever thought of such a method before.

After exhausting every ounce of strength, Luo Chong finally reached the "reeds" growing the rice ears. He began examining them with great delight.

The rice plants were mixed in with the meadows and reeds growing from the mud. If not for the rice ears growing on top, they would have been easy to overlook.

Each rice plant stood around two meters tall. The largest were even taller than sorghum or corn. They stood firm against the wind and had an extremely strong aquatic nature. Every stalk was laden with rice ears more than a finger's length long, their grains plump and full.

The rice had reached maturity at just the right time. Ninety-five percent of it had already turned golden yellow, making it perfect for Luo Chong to harvest.

Taking out the Snakeskin Bag he had prepared in advance, Luo Chong launched into a wild harvest. He stripped every rice ear within reach and stuffed them all into the Snakeskin Bag.

Watching Luo Chong busily working inside the "Death Forbidden Zone," Ling Cao no longer wasted time either. She hurriedly gathered water chestnuts with her tribespeople, occasionally turning her head to glance in Luo Chong's direction, her eyes filled with curiosity.

What was that blue guy doing?

"Ling Cao, what is that person doing? Is he collecting food too? Could there really be food inside the forbidden zone?" asked a girl who looked barely old enough to be considered an adult, her voice filled with curiosity.

Ling Cao's brow furrowed, and a cold glint flashed through her eyes. She sternly reprimanded her, "Don't worry about that. Even if there is food inside the forbidden zone, it isn't something we can take. Have you forgotten how your little brother died?"

The girl was startled by Ling Cao's stern tone and immediately looked aggrieved. But then she suddenly remembered her little brother, who had fallen into the swamp while trying to retrieve a bird's nest. Tears began streaming down her face.

That day, they had gone out together to gather food. Her little brother had spotted many bird nests on the meadow, their eggs large and round. With a grin, the girl's little brother had walked toward the meadow, saying that he would bring his elder sister a few bird eggs so she could have a change from their usual food.

But the moment he stepped onto the meadow, he suddenly sank. In the blink of an eye, the mud had swallowed the boy up to his waist. He panicked and struggled desperately while crying out to his elder sister for help. But several tribespeople held the girl back, forcing her to watch helplessly as her little brother sank into the meadow, frightened and despairing.

From then on, the Water Chestnut Tribe had one more forbidden zone.

Seeing the girl sobbing uncontrollably, another middle-aged woman hurriedly spoke up to comfort her.

"Don't cry. Your little brother was a good boy. If not for him, we never would have discovered that forbidden zone. He was a hero of the tribe."

Ling Cao also felt that she had spoken out of turn. She should not have brought up the girl's little brother. She glanced toward Luo Chong, then hurriedly changed the subject.

"Look at the thing he's sitting in. Why can it float on the water? It looks so amazing. How about we go ask him later and see if he's willing to tell us how to make one? Then we won't have to keep soaking in the water all the time."

At this, everyone turned their heads toward Luo Chong's little boat.

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