His foot hit the ground with a squelch.
The mercenary who had stepped in it immediately looked as though he had swallowed a mouthful of shit and struggled to lift his leg.
Something like tar coated his sole. He could neither shake it off nor scrape it away, so he could only pinch his nose and hobble after the group.
Everywhere they looked, it was the same.
After they descended past a certain point, the relentless attacks had inexplicably vanished—but instead of getting a breather, they found walking increasingly difficult.
Without anyone noticing, their surroundings had gradually changed.
First, the walls turned to dirt, then from dirt to jelly, and finally from jelly into something slippery and impossible to describe.
The ground beneath their feet had become a swamp as well, with predictable results.
With the attacks gone, their progress had actually slowed.
Kyle took a deep breath, tasting the increasingly foul air, and finally could not resist speaking to Chen Ye.
"Are you sure this is the way? Why does this feel so wrong?"
Chen Ye had not spoken since they entered. He merely kept surveying their surroundings. Only after Kyle impatiently repeated himself several times did he seem to snap out of it and answer.
"How should I put it? This should be the right place. After all, this thing..."
He took out a battered compass and checked it.
The rusty needle wobbled wildly, but eventually pointed in a particular direction.
Kyle saw it too, but rather than relaxing, his expression grew uglier.
"Seriously, who exactly are you looking for? You all said it was someone who could help us find the exit, but why do we keep going farther down...? At this point, can't you tell us the truth?"
*I'd like to tell you, but with your