Chapter 538: Will Still Come Back

Tongzi muttered darkly: "This task is all about excitement!"

Those useless goods in sight somewhat affect the mood.

Wu Yue waved her hand dismissively: "Alright, I know, I'll try to court death at this gathering."

Tongzi, having received pocket money points and an ice pop, was very satisfied and logged off.

Wu Yue collapsed onto her bed with a wrinkled little face: "Can't take advantage of this cheap system, better to first increase strength."

She sat up straight, crossed her legs on the bed and began today's meditation, feeling strands of shamanic power drifting from around; Wu Yue satisfiedly curled her lips, as her strength grew, the speed of absorbing shamanic power also became faster.

On the way to the gathering place, everyone was hurrying, for according to Bu Lun and Ying Fei's words, they were already later than the other tribes.

Wu Yue sat on the back of the Cloudtreader, the ferocious aura of the top-tier ferocious beast kept surrounding beasts from daring to approach and extend claws.

"Shaman Yue, ahead is a foul swamp; inside are many big fish with sharp teeth. They move very nimbly in the foul swamp and can hide there to attack us, so we need to detour via the forest beside this foul swamp."

Bu Lun carefully pointed out a patch of swamp ahead that would be missed if not looked at closely, and said.

This foul swamp truly lives up to its name; a pungent stench wafts out in waves, making her nose feel a faint sting.

"You can't smell this foul swamp's odor for too long, or you'll lose your sense of smell, especially Beastman Warriors."

Tongzi's voice suddenly sounded in her mind; Wu Yue, hearing this, turned pale, quickly reached into her side basket, actually taking out several cloths from the Snow Tiger Tribe that she had brought out from the system space, and flung them at Yuan Lang and Teng Qian: "Wet them with water and cover your nose and mouth, immediately retreat from the foul swamp's range."

After speaking, her fair little hand patted the back of the giant beast beneath her.

The Cloudtreader's keen sense of smell could hardly tolerate this stench; upon receiving its master's signal, it immediately turned and flew outward.

Ying Fei and Bu Lun exchanged a glance; although doubtful, they also followed behind and retreated from the foul swamp.

"Host, do you see that kind of medicinal herb with only a single leaf?"

Wu Yue, upon hearing, looked down and indeed saw on those small patches of land surrounded by mire, sparsely growing were stalks of green medicinal herbs as straight as steel needles.

Tongzi nodded: "Crossing the foul swamp is the nearest route to the gathering; if you follow Bu Lun's suggested path, by then you won't get any of the good stuff."

Wu Yue's little face darkened: "This is a scheme to make sure we can't exchange anything."

"Cloudtreader, later when we pass those patches of land, fly a bit higher; we'll gather some detoxifying herbs."

In response to Wu Yue, the giant beast let out a low, deep howl, and then its huge body dove downward.

With a swing of its claws, chunks of black soil emitting a pungent odor were lifted up.

After flying out of the foul swamp's range, everyone then stopped at an open clearing.

Bu Lun, somewhat dazed, rescued himself from Ying Fei's claws, his legs weak as he came to Wu Yue and the others; Ying Fei also came over, though his complexion wasn't great.

"Shaman Yue, why do we need to come back? We could have just detoured earlier."

Ying Fei said doubtfully.

Wu Yue glanced at him, then took out a yellow root from her basket and handed it over: "Smell this, what does it smell like?"

Ying Fei didn't know what Wu Yue meant, but he didn't think this shaman would harm him, so he stepped forward a few paces and took it.

As soon as he received the yellow root, he twitched his nose a few times but smelled nothing.

"There's no smell."

He trusted his sense of smell; a powerful Beastman Warrior doesn't need to bring items to his nose to smell them.

Bu Lun, hearing this, also walked over curiously: "Let me see."

Ying Fei turned and handed the root to Bu Lun, seeing him also dubiously examining it: "This thing really has no smell, amazing; no matter how faint a plant's odor, our sense of smell can detect something."

After saying that, disbelieving, he brought the yellow root to his nose; instantly a faint foul smell spread, and Bu Lun instantly moved his hand away: "When you bring this close to smell, it seems to have a faint foul smell."

At this moment, Wu Yue and the others had again covered their noses with cloths, but their gazes were not on Bu Lun and Ying Fei; instead, they looked sympathetically at the two behind them.

Ying Fei and Bu Lun, seeing this, doubtfully turned to look...

"You... what's happened to you?"

Only saw that behind them, the pure-human males each leaned on a tree, continuously dry-heaving, their bodies swaying yet unable to stop, looking extremely miserable.

"Captain... retch! Captain... retch... what you hold in your hands... that... is too foul!"

Bu Lun and Ying Fei's faces instantly turned pale as they looked at that yellow root, only then realizing something was off.

The ever-present Qingcao scent and moist air aroma at their nostrils had vanished...

"I... we can't smell it! We've lost our sense of smell!"

Ying Fei somewhat collapsed onto the ground, continually grabbing soil and leaves from the ground and bringing them to his nose; even dirt stained his usually spotless face, he didn't care at all.

At this moment, he only wanted to regain his sense of smell; for a Beastman Warrior, losing smell is how terrifying, only they themselves know.

When hunting and living, sense of smell is more important than eyesight.

Bu Lun's hand trembled, and the yellow root fell to the ground.

He repeatedly brought the hand that had held the yellow root to his nose, but all he smelled was still a faint foul smell.

"Really... really no sense of smell..."

Suddenly, in his confused mind flashed the earlier scene where Shaman Yue had everyone cover their noses and retreat; in his bloodshot eyes rose a glimmer of hope.

His steps somewhat panicked, he rushed forward and with a thud knelt before Wu Yue; even though he harbored a sliver of hope, his voice still trembled with unease: "Shaman Yue, please save us; I and Ying Fei are willing to offer the precious herbs we obtained from the Wuke Tribe as tribute."

Wu Yue's crescent-like eyebrows slightly rose; she had just given Ying Fei the yellow root merely to make them realize the foul swamp's severity.

Moreover, she would need them to lead the way ahead, so regarding curing their sense of smell, she hadn't planned to ask for anything.

But since the precious herbs have already been delivered to hand, what reason is there to refuse?

Wu Yue smiled: "Of course, but..."

Her gaze fell on Bu Lun's back, the dirt-covered Ying Fei: "I wonder if Ying Fei is also willing?"

"I am willing."

Ying Fei had no hesitation; compared to his sense of smell, those herbs meant nothing to him.

After saying that, he directly took out a Beastfolk bao guo from his bosom, inside which were herbs wrapped in leaves.

Teng Qian stepped forward to receive it, and also took Bu Lun's herbs.

You lost your sense of smell because of the foul odor in the fetid marsh; that odor is toxic.

She said while taking items and herbs from the basket at her side: "Yuan Lang, help me light a fire."

The pot, beautifully styled and etched with mysterious patterns, was placed on the simple stove; it was pottery made by the Snow Tiger Tribe, and the markings on it were characters Wu Yue had written herself, but to the people here they looked foreign and mysterious.

Herbs were tossed into the pot one after another; after a brief simmer, Wu Yue's pale, tender little hand hovered above the pot, and visible strands of shamanic power seeped into the herbal brew.

The herbal liquid, which originally gave off a bitter taste, also began to exude wisp after wisp of fresh fragrance.

Wu Yue directly took a spoon, scooped out two bowls, and handed them to Teng Qian and Yuan Lang: "You should drink some too."

The two hesitated not at all, took the stone bowls and gulped them down.

In an instant, the fetid marsh's smell began to flicker again; the Beastman Warrior whose sense of smell had been restored could still detect a trace of pungent odor even from this distance.

Seeing this, Yingfei and Bulun no longer hesitated, stepped forward and divided the remaining shamanic medicine, drinking it down.

After a few breaths, their sense of smell also began to slowly return.

"Finally fixed! I can smell again!"

Bulun was overjoyed like a 200‑catty fool, running and jumping back and forth in the forest several times, only to be ruthlessly subdued by Teng Qian before calming down.

After this terrifying experience, nobody dared to underestimate the fetid marsh any longer.

"The fetid marsh smells too awful, so few people come here; even when attending a gathering, they set out early and take a detour, avoiding this place."

"Our time is a bit tight, so I thought we could take a route from somewhere closer..."

Bulun sat there listlessly and said.

"Everyone, rest well today; tomorrow we'll fly over the fetid marsh."

Wu Yue spoke directly.

These words left the Dongshan Tribe folk stunned; they clearly knew the marsh's odor would rob them of smell, yet they still wanted to walk through it—had their brains been trampled by a boar beast?

Each one looked at Wu Yue with pleading eyes.

Wu Yue smiled at them: "Before we set out, I'll hand out herb packets to you; when passing through the fetid marsh, place the packet under your nose and you won't lose your sense of smell."

Having just healed Yingfei and Bulun, the Dongshan Tribe's trust in Wu Yue surged, and at once everyone set their minds at ease.

"I can take four pure‑human males; Yingfei and Yingyan, you two take the rest of the people, and we'll fly straight over from the sky."

Pure humans cannot fly; advancing through the mire is dangerous, and even if we weren't worried about the marsh's toxic gas, we'd be devoured by the beasts inside.

"In that case, we need to make two flights to get everyone across."

After settling on a plan, they left the tribesmen on watch, and the rest each found a spot to lie down and rest.

That night was utterly peaceful; no incident occurred of the beasts Bulun mentioned emerging from the fetid marsh to eat people.

During the process of transporting the tribespeople, Wu Yue also saw the beast lurking in the mire: its withered‑tree‑like body was as long as a Beastman lying down, with a massive head and icy yellow eyes, and even a slight sway of it could smash a large tree on the bank into cracks.

All of this made Wu Yue regard them seriously; aside from size, everything else resembled a crocodile cast from the same mold.

However, a crocodile this large she had only ever seen in primitive‑creature picture books, and even that size was merely noted there.

If this creature took a bite, half of them would be done for.

"In that case, we need to make two flights to get everyone across."

After settling on a plan, they left the tribesmen on watch, and the rest each found a spot to lie down and rest.

That night was utterly peaceful; no incident occurred of the beasts Bulun mentioned emerging from the fetid marsh to eat people.

During the process of transporting the tribespeople, Wu Yue also saw the beast lurking in the mire: its withered‑tree‑like body was as long as a Beastman lying down, with a massive head and icy yellow eyes, and even a slight sway of it could smash a large tree on the bank into cracks.

All of this made Wu Yue regard them seriously; aside from size, everything else resembled a crocodile cast from the same mold.

However, a crocodile this large she had only ever seen in primitive‑creature picture books, and even that size was merely noted there.

If this creature took a bite, half of them would be done for.

"In that case, we need to make two flights to get everyone across."

After settling on a plan, they left the tribesmen on watch, and the rest each found a spot to lie down and rest.

That night was utterly peaceful; no incident occurred of the beasts Bulun mentioned emerging from the fetid marsh to eat people.

During the process of transporting the tribespeople, Wu Yue also saw the beast lurking in the mire: its withered‑tree‑like body was as long as a Beastman lying down, with a massive head and icy yellow eyes, and even a slight sway of it could smash a large tree on the bank into cracks.

All of this made Wu Yue regard them seriously; aside from size, everything else resembled a crocodile cast from the same mold.

However, a crocodile this large she had only ever seen in primitive‑creature picture books, and even that size was merely noted there.

If this creature took a bite, half of them would be done for.

"In that case, we need to make two flights to get everyone across."

After settling on a plan, they left the tribesmen on watch, and the rest each found a spot to lie down and rest.

That night was utterly peaceful; no incident occurred of the beasts Bulun mentioned emerging from the fetid marsh to eat people.

During the process of transporting the tribespeople, Wu Yue also saw the beast lurking in the mire: its withered‑tree‑like body was as long as a Beastman lying down, with a massive head and icy yellow eyes, and even a slight sway of it could smash a large tree on the bank into cracks.