The waxy, repulsive injuries on the Spider Girl's body transferred, forming ugly, wart-like lumps on her half-human, half-spider form that made one's skin crawl.

Lu Li asked the Spider Girl when the lower academy joined the competition.

"About two hours ago."

The timing was close to the upper layer's entry into the mist.

"Do you know the trial's exit?"

"Exit? Isn't it the exit from the swamp?"

Understanding it this way wasn't wrong. When there is no clear answer, looking for similar ones usually doesn't lead to error.

The ground suddenly split open, roots twisting like serpents entangled Lu Li. Before forming a prison around Lu Li, the Spider Girl's scythe-like limbs sliced through, leaving dark purple shadows, severing two roots, leaking gray-brown sap.

The Mimic Monster did not retreat due to its injuries, nor did it pay any attention to the Spider Girl beside it, all its focus was drawn to Lu Li's aura.

Lu Li took out an Alchemical Elixir from his stomach pouch, unscrewed it, and poured it out. The liquid emerged from the bottle and bizarrely turned into a dark yellow fog, enveloping Lu Li.

The hissing sound of dissolution echoed around, but the corrosion's damage to the roots was insignificant — the roots were enough to form a prison before being completely corroded away.

"This way!"

The Spider Girl's voice rang out as she sliced through the nearly closed prison. The dark purple shadows kept flashing past, cutting through the roots.

She was also being corroded by the dark yellow fog, with wart-like lumps on her body wriggling like insect eggs while growing.

Lu Li charged through the opening, retreating with the Spider Girl beyond the withered forest.

Standing on the soft, brown earth, the roots lingered at the edge, eventually withdrawing reluctantly into the withered forest due to some apprehension.

"Thank you."

Lu Li's gaze landed on the Spider Girl's body, which was corroded once more, as he took out a recovery potion from his stomach pouch.

"Human potions are not suitable for us."

The Spider Girl applied a witch doctor potion on herself: "If you want to thank me... You smell so nice... Can I have a taste? Just a little piece, or your blood would work, how about a nail? Hair isn't... "

As she rambled, Lu Li unfolded a map, with the nearest marked exit at the Earth Dwellers' dig site, the source of the tremors in this area.

The Earth Dwellers are a neutral force, dealing with both humans and anomalies. With some connection to the Earth Dwellers' Trading Company, Lu Li might receive some assistance — even if not, strange currency or Shillings could pave the way.

Lu Li and the Spider Girl named Ida continued to approach the Earth Dwellers' dig site.

Ida's six limbs made her move through the swampy terrain with ease, exploring hidden swamps disguised as soil, abodes for lurking anomalies.

Lu Li followed behind, filling any gaps left by Ida, though her senses were more acute than the Revealing Potion, bypassing anomaly-laiden swamps that Lu Li hadn't discovered.

Hence, their pace away from the withered forest was much faster than their approach. Suddenly, at some point, the Spider Girl retreated to Lu Li's side, huddled, her limbs withdrawn and ends raised from the ground.

The tremors from deep within the earth once again spread through this swamp.

"The vibrations make me uncomfortable, dulling my senses," Ida explained.

After several dozen seconds, the tremors subsided, leaving a murky, chaotic swamp. Ida rose again, swaying slightly as though tipsy, regaining her balance.

They continued on their journey for some time, and the outline of the Earth Dwellers' dig site appeared in the distance. At this point, Lu Li's eyes fell on the mud.

Several lines of chaotic, dense, blurred footprints stretched forward.

Ida raised her forelimb, tracing the outline of the footprints: "They're all human footprints, could they be other contestants?"

Following the footprints ahead, it was apparent that they shared Lu Li's destination, heading towards the Earth Dwellers' dig site.

The increasingly clear, chaos-ridden footprints indicated that Lu Li was closing in on those ahead, yet only flat marshland and the distant outline of the mining area lay before them. Then, the footprints vanished up ahead.

The remaining footprints in the mud were chaotic and meandering, stopping abruptly like an isolated island cut off from the world.

At this moment, the tremors from the dig site appeared. Ida curled her limbs to avoid the more pronounced tremors closer to the site. By the time the tremors faded, the chaotic footprints were already blurred.

One more tremor, and the prints would be completely obliterated.

Lu Li's dark eyes lifted slightly, gazing at the open space ahead, and he spoke calmly: "Are you contestants?"

In the silence that followed with no response, Lu Li displayed the Giant Tree Academy's emblem.

"We are from the Giant Tree Academy."

When the silence turned into a dead silence, Ida tossed a piece of stone that landed with a splash, revealing a vague outline in the smeared mud.

"... We are ordinary people."

A trembling, fearful voice finally emerged.

A kind of hidden barrier disappeared, revealing shabby, exhausted civilians.

"That... the person beside you... the Alien... is it your servant?"

Their source of fear was the Spider Girl beside Lu Li.

The Spider Girl's eyes narrowed slightly, her limbs precariously arched.

"My companion, from the lower academy."

The calm words from the Exorcist beside him soothed, emanating an aura healing and purifying the soul, prompting her bodice to ease and relax.

"Lower academy...? We haven't heard of it, but..." The team leader, a middle-aged man, fixed his gaze on the emblem: "I know the Giant Tree Academy."

Compelled to trust Lu Li, the middle-aged man's hesitant belief soon evolved into trust upon nearing Lu Li.

"Are you a priest?" the middle-aged man asked, unable to resist.

"No."

They were from Cotton Town, once one of the towns surrounding Midnight City. After Midnight City's fall, Cotton Town lost its protection, rapidly deteriorating and assimilating, prompting many residents to migrate.

Compared to the dire situation of other Spirit Towns, they at least had the option and opportunity to head to "New Midnight City."

The middle-aged man was part of one such relocation team.

Seven days ago, a relocation team of forty-four residents entered the old sewers, heading for Midnight City. The result lay before them: now, only five men, two women, and a gravely ill young boy remained.

The Earth Dwellers' dig site, leading to the Midnight City Main Station, was only a few miles away, but the relocation team had to stop: tremors from the dig site had turned the marsh into a swamp, blocking the road.

They waited, hoping the tremors would reveal the path once more.

Lu Li gazed forward, where the shaken muddy swamp was returning to silence. Beneath the calm surface, no one knew if it was soft earth or a devouring mire.

They could circumvent the area, always finding a route to enter the dig site, but the severely ill boy might not survive.

The boy's forehead was burning hot to the touch. Even if the fever subsided, he might still suffer brain damage and become simple-minded, with his parents already having perished along the way.

The bedraggled survivors didn't know if they could safely enter the dig site and complete the final leg of their journey.

They lacked food, water, and medicine.

"I only have a piece of monster meat..." The Spider Girl rummaged around her pocket, revealing a piece of palm-sized dried meat, unwilling to offer it to these people who feared and loathed her.

However, this was not an issue for Lu Li.

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