Chapter 335 Fog and Lamp

On the Aifala Continent, little fuss was made over naming flora and fauna.

Some were simple descriptive names drawn directly from a species's appearance, call, behavior, or habitat, such as the "bloodthorn" or "sparrow-claw vine"—

More particular namers might link a species to mythological allegories, heroic epics, or historical events, like "Merlin's rose" or "Kaelmo's spider plant"—

Of course, most of the time, the names passed by word of mouth among adventurers and explorers were simply the most widely circulated common names.

Over the long history of the Aifala Continent, capable scholars well-versed in biology and naming conventions might have attempted to establish a strict, universal standard.

But none had ever succeeded.

After all, this was a fantasy world where gods truly existed and divine authority was fragmented.

An ordinary forest deer that could be seen anywhere—"Nature," "Antlers," "Protection," "Life"—

Behind it likely lay connections to multiple great beings residing in their divine kingdoms.

And a widely circulated name, recognized by the majority, acted in some way as a facet of "faith."

The implications involved were far beyond a realm mortals could touch.

"Fog lamp grass" was the plant's name in Common.

Simple and easy to understand. Even an illiterate rural farmer could roughly picture its appearance and growth environment upon hearing the name.

In Elvish, a language that always emphasized phonetics and elegance by using the fewest syllables to outline the richest imagery, fog lamp grass also possessed a poetic expression.

A hazy halo swaying in the thickest mist before dawn.

It was not a particularly tall plant. Each stalk measured between half a foot and a foot long. Its slender, emerald-green stem bent slightly, as if unable to bear the weight of the "dewdrops" above, while a lantern-shaped inflorescence formed by a dense cluster of blue-white petals hung from the top.

It looked like a humble night watchman.

For the vast majority of the year, fog lamp grass remained inconspicuous, dotted solitarily within cliff crevices and hidden deep amid weeds and shrubs.

Only around the Midsummer Festival did it transform the ambient magic it silently absorbed on ordinary days into motes of light emanating from its stamen. Upon contacting the moisture in the surrounding air, this dust sparked a soft glow.

In the legends of the elves, fog lamp grass was formed from the tears of an ancient elf who was separated from her lover in the forest.

Wherever her tears fell, they transformed into these small lamps to illuminate the path of return, guiding lost souls back home.

Even today, many rangers of the elven clans tied stalks of fog lamp grass to their waists, or wore badges bearing its motif to showcase their status and honor.

Naturally, Lillie knew none of these stories about fog lamp grass.

To her, it was merely another plant in the forest, no different from the wildflowers by the roadside or the hanging vines.

She even harbored a faint aversion to it.

Because every Sacrificial Ritual coincided with the blooming period of the fog lamp grass.

This instinctively made the girl associate "death" with "fog lamp grass."

Bang! Behind her came a massive, muffled thud as the heavy wooden doors closed, the scrape of iron chains against locks reverberating in her ears.

She thought she could faintly hear the clamor of the villagers.

This brought a surge of relief to Lillie, who had endured the village's oppressive atmosphere for many days.

'Yes, the ritual is over. Everyone finally won't have to suffer like they did these past two days.'

But soon, as the footsteps and voices gradually faded, an indescribable sense of fear and loneliness engulfed the girl's body and consciousness like a tidal wave.

The Canyon was deep and secluded, steeped in mist, the air filled with a heavy, damp, and chilling silence.

Darkness and mist slowly rolled and flowed before her eyes, acting like some living entity that firmly restricted her vision to within ten paces.

The concept of space seemed to blur. Her heartbeat grew increasingly piercing, accompanied by the reverberations of occasional water drops falling from the rock walls to vibrate against her eardrums.

Here, light had become a luxury.

The towering cliffs on both sides blocked out the warmth and light of the sky above. Only the faint, gloomy rays that barely seeped down scattered and refracted through the swirling mist, merging into an unsettling, blurry glimmer.

In this environment of dim lighting and extremely low visibility, the fog lamp grass ironically became the most conspicuous feature.

The soft blue-white halos resembled stars fallen into the Canyon, swaying gently in the profound depths. Drooping downward, the exquisite lantern-like flowers emitted a fluorescent glow in the breeze, illuminating small rings of air and dark moss around them.

There were not many stalks of fog lamp grass, but their presence felt exceptionally strong in the oppressive darkness.

One stalk after another grew on the rock walls and among the grass, acting just as the legends described to guide lost souls deeper into the Canyon.

Lillie had long prepared herself to face death. Her calm, quiet demeanor when facing Dongshu had revealed the determination in her heart.

But no matter how much she convinced herself that this was for her family and the village, she was ultimately just a young girl who had never stepped out of her home.

Her family was out of reach, and the path back was sealed.

Facing this lonely plight and impending death, a profound streak of fear still rose within her.

The intense agony flaring from her arm and the warm liquid flowing down from her wound instinctively reminded her that her life was slipping away.

The biting chill in the air made Lillie's body tremble even more. Like a moth darting toward a flame, she subconsciously drew closer to the only light source in this environment, breaking into a light jog toward the fog lamp grass.

The Canyon was so silent it was unnerving.

Despite her feet never stopping for a moment, the girl felt her body growing colder, her limbs gradually losing their strength.

Beyond that, in the terrifying dead silence that forced her to hold her breath, Lillie seemed to sense a gaze hiding deep within the darkness.

It could have been a blurry outline flashing by in the distance as a stalk of fog lamp grass swayed; perhaps it was an abstract face formed by moss on the rock wall beside her; or perhaps—it came from the very earth beneath her feet.

Lillie even had the illusion that this path into the dark depths, guided by the fog lamp grass, was not her own choice. Instead, the Canyon's will was luring her step by step into some terrifying abyss.

"Rustle!"

Suddenly!

The bushes not far ahead shook abruptly. The sudden noise bursting from the dead silence caused the highly focused girl to scream.

Her body stiffened in a flash, and she collapsed to the ground.

Her pupils trembled and her consciousness hazed, as if she were about to faint in the next second.

Fortunately, a deliberately lowered, familiar male voice rang out at almost the exact same time as her scream, allowing Lillie to regain her senses.

"Shh, don't make a sound—"

Staring at the blurry silhouette gradually approaching through the dim light, Lillie instinctively widened her eyes, her tone carrying a hint of disbelief.

"Dongshu!?"

"W-why are you here?"

The plain and simple boy, who had rarely missed morning practice yet suddenly appeared in this forbidden land, did not answer her question.

Upon seeing Lillie, wild joy first filled his eyes, thankful that she had not yet died as a sacrifice in the ritual.

Then, upon noticing the girl's pale cheeks and the wound on her arm, a wave of panic washed over him.

He hurriedly took out the herbs and bandages he had prepared earlier from his waist pouch and rushed forward in a flurry, wanting to bandage the girl's wound.

"No, no, no—you shouldn't have come, Dongshu!"

Lillie's voice trembled slightly as her slender arm reached out subconsciously, blocking Dongshu.

"It's too dangerous here. Quick! Go back!"

"While the village chief and big brother Aspen haven't gone far, get them to open the doors for you!"

"Head—head toward the entrance. We... no, you—"

Looking at the flustered girl who had become incoherent because of his appearance, Dongshu surprisingly calmed down. Gently brushing aside the pale, slender arm blocking his way, he squatted beside Lillie, took out his water flask, and carefully washed her wound.

"Lillie, you should know that once the doors to the forbidden land close, before the ritual is completely over and the Spirit of the Canyon is appeased—"

"We can't get out."

Dongshu carefully treated the wound on the girl's arm, his calm tone somewhat mirroring Lillie's from that night in the barn.

At this moment, the anxious girl and the quiet boy had completely swapped demeanors.

Staring intently at Dongshu, Lillie opened her mouth as if to speak, but her gradually returning composure ultimately made her swallow the words.

She did not stop him, choosing instead to wait quietly for him to finish bandaging the wound.

Only when the bandages were tightly wrapped layer by layer, with the bloodstains barely visible underneath, was the wound fully treated.

Only then did she slowly ask, "How did you get in? Do Aspen and the others know?"

"Hehe." Dongshu scratched his head with a sheepish smile. "I was waiting since yesterday afternoon all the way until midnight, and I finally found an opportunity when they changed shifts."

Hearing this, Lillie froze, a strange expression appearing on her face.

"You mean you came in even earlier than I did, and you've already been in the Canyon for half the day?"

"It hasn't been that long. I was early by three or four hours at most."

"And you didn't run into anything?" Lillie stared wide-eyed.

"Nothing at all." Dongshu smiled and nodded, deliberately injecting levity into his tone to reassure the girl. "I told you it was all made up by the village chief and the others. See? Nothing happened at all."

"Don't worry. I've trained in the wilderness with big brother Aspen for years. I can take good care of you."

"In a bit, we'll find a place to hide in the Canyon, quietly wait for a few days, and then look for a chance—"

"Dongshu," Lillie said abruptly, cutting off the young man's words.

Of course, she could tell that he was comforting her.

The dirt smeared on the boy's cheeks and his trembling fingers while he bandaged her had already revealed that he was far less collected than his outward appearance suggested.

Lillie had long accepted her fate, but she absolutely refused to let the boy she knew die silently alongside her in this place.

Her tone was resolute.

"Listen to me. Head toward the doors and don't look back."

"If the sacrifice isn't offered, the ritual won't succeed."

"And if anything goes wrong with the ritual—we've heard countless times since childhood about the disasters that would befall the village, haven't we?"

"No, Lillie, I—" Dongshu wanted to argue, but the firm, tranquil eyes of the girl before him caused his voice to trail off.

He knew that whatever else he said now would likely fail to change her mind.

But to truly ask him to watch helplessly as the girl was used as a sacrifice and offered to that so-called "guardian spirit" in the Canyon, a being whose appearance they didn't even know—he couldn't do it.

A flash of resolve crossed Dongshu's face. He stood up suddenly, just about to speak.

All of a sudden!

A quiet, spreading veil of grayish-white caused him to freeze.

Without him noticing, the thick mist in the air had silently grown denser.

And the fog lamp grass around them, which had guided the path like miniature streetlamps with their soft blue-white halos, had already been swallowed by the profound darkness.

For a moment, it was as if this small cluster beside them was the only fog lamp grass left in the entire Canyon.

"Careful!"

He barked in a low voice, abruptly drawing the one-handed sword at his waist. Twisting his body halfway, he shielded Lillie behind him.

Warned by Dongshu, the girl also realized something was wrong.

Knowing her own meager strength, even though she was prepared to be sacrificed, she still instinctively made defiant movements under the threat of death.

Struggling to her feet, she stood back-to-back with Dongshu. With wide eyes, she did everything within her power, carefully observing and perceiving the danger in the darkness ahead.

The air fell into a suffocating silence once again.

Sweat dripped from his forehead, tracing down his cheeks to soak his collar.

Dongshu's body was taut, his palm gripping the sword hilt turning slightly white from exerting too much force.

As if sensing the weakness of the two prey before it, the monster lurking deep in the darkness had no intention of lying in ambush any longer.

And so, the blue-white glow of the fog lamp grass flashed once more.

Buzz—that was the noise bursting forth when magical particles vibrated.

One by one, the fog lamps that should have been scattered throughout the Canyon quietly gathered.

Shrouded in swirling mist, the glowing blue halos rippled faintly in the darkness.

Highlighted by the specks of light from the fog lamp grass was a massive, hideous, and terrifying silhouette faintly visible in the thick mist and darkness.

Dongshu possessed a resilient will and the courage to protect the one he loved.

But he was ultimately just a novice hunter. The most dangerous creature he had ever faced was nothing more than a newly matured jungle leopard.

Right now, as he gripped that battered, mottled one-handed sword, he raised his head and looked at the four-meter-tall behemoth before him.

A sense of powerlessness welled up uncontrollably in his heart.

Just as Dongshu's eyes went red, his teeth clenched, and he took a step forward, driven by a young man's surging hot blood, intending to swing his sword at the enemy ahead—

"Whoosh!"

A small, dark-brown clay pot shot out from the darkness behind them, abruptly smashing onto the monster's body.

Wrapped in sticky black grease, amid the splashing and spreading dust, a spark flickered and vanished.

Boom! Blazing flames erupted!