Su Mu sat on the ox's back, looking around with a bewildered expression. The environment was slightly dim, with oddly-shaped crooked-necked trees growing along the riverbank.

A gust of wind blew by, causing Su Mu to get goosebumps with a chilling feeling.

"How long did I sleep?!"

Su Mu asked the Cyan Ox.

Rawr—

Hearing the Cyan Ox's response, Su Mu's eyes widened.

What?

Slept for three days?

"I came out to work, why didn't you wake me up?" Su Mu asked through gritted teeth.

Upon hearing this, the Cyan Ox remained silent, feeling slightly wronged.

Wasn't it you who told me to keep going forward?

Besides, you were asleep, how could I dare wake you up?

I didn't dare to stop either.

"Fine, fine."

Su Mu didn't blame the Cyan Ox, after all, he was the one who told it to keep moving forward.

He jumped off the ox's back, carefully examining the surroundings, discovering that he had arrived at a very upstream section of the river, a place he had never been before.

Previously, Su Mu did not have a high affinity with the river, and the further upstream he went, the more strange mist would appear. The thicker the mist, the dizzier he would feel, so he had never ventured too deep.

The Cyan Ox wasn't slow at all, and it kept walking non-stop for three days and nights. Only the spirits knew where it had brought him.

"Didn't you encounter any strange mist while you were walking?"

Su Mu was somewhat surprised at how Xiao Qing was able to traverse those peculiar mists.

Upon hearing this, the Cyan Ox shook its head.

Because carrying Su Mu along the way, it indeed did not encounter any mist, and the journey was very smooth.

Su Mu looked down river and found that mist was starting to form. The mist on this river was not a fixed occurrence; sometimes it wouldn't appear for several days, while other times it would be blanketed with thick fog for a month straight.

Well, now there's mist. It would be amusing if I couldn't find my way back later.

Although the mist wouldn't cause any substantial harm to Su Mu, it was very easy to get lost in, and a few months ago during a patrol, Su Mu got caught in extremely thick mist and was lost for three days before finding his way home.

So whenever Su Mu went to a place he had never been before, he would mark the path ahead of time. Since he had been asleep just now, he hadn't made any marks, and now the mist was starting to rise.

Oh well, let's wait until the mist clears. For now, let's look for some treasures nearby or explore on patrol.

He went to the riverbank and found that the water here was moving very slowly, so slowly that it seemed static.

Then he released his spiritual sense, preparing to summon Mahi and Kong Yao to this place.

The response he got was that they could not locate the water domain he was in, which made Su Mu feel strange.

...

At this moment, Su Mu had a thought, and he took out a piece of Treasure Fish Meat from the Space Ring, tied it with a rope, and placed it in the water by the riverbank.

Then he waited quietly, at least half a stick of incense time passed, and no fish appeared.

This showed that there were no fish in this water area.

Why was Su Mu so certain? Because this piece of Treasure Fish Meat was an irresistible bait for most fish, normally when Su Mu threw a small piece into the river, it would attract countless fish to vie for it.

Could it be, that this is dead water?

There's a saying in fishing about "dead water," generally referring to stagnant, decaying water zones.

No fish would exist in such a Dead Water Domain.

However, although the water here was flowing very slowly, it was still flowing, and as long as water flows, it won't become dead water.

After not being able to figure it out, Su Mu returned to the shore.

He looked at these crooked-necked trees growing along the bank, with their twisted and gnarled shapes, like sinister Tree Demons, casting shadowy reflections.

Near Su Mu's stone house, you could hardly see a single tree for several hundred meters.

But here, the trees were densely packed, there must be hundreds?

At this moment, Su Mu noticed something unusual coming from deep within the dense forest ahead.

Su Mu walked to the Cyan Ox's side, tied the rope around its neck to a nearby crooked-necked tree, and patted its back, warning, "The mist is rising now, and it's dangerous. Stay here and don't wander off."

Saying this, he left a trace of his aura on the Cyan Ox to prevent getting lost later on.

When it heard this, the old Cyan Ox nodded.

...

After setting all this, Su Mu turned to look into the depths of the crooked-necked forest, suddenly feeling parched and involuntarily swallowed his saliva.

For some reason, curiosity and desire inside him urged him to venture deeper.

With the mindset that there might be some treasures, Su Mu gritted his teeth and headed towards the depths, quickly disappearing into the mist.

The closer he got to the depths, the more pronounced the coldness became. This coldness wasn't ordinary but penetrating to the soul, causing his soul to shiver.

As he walked further, the mist grew denser, changing from grey to grey-black. Whether it was his imagination or not, Su Mu smelled a faint scent of decay, age, and desolation from this mist.

This weird smell made an uncontrollable trace of fear arise in his heart, which was an instinct of humans.

In fact, Su Mu wasn't particularly afraid, but when a person enters an extremely dangerous and eerie environment, a sense of fear from the unknown naturally arises.

Continuing onward, Su Mu felt his brain becoming somewhat dazed, so he slowed down.

However, he remained cautious, leaving a mark with each step to ensure he wouldn't get lost later.

After walking another thirty meters or so, the mist had completely turned black, and the coldness was so obvious that it began affecting Su Mu's movement.

However, these weren't too problematic.

What was troubling was, for unknown reasons, countless fear thoughts kept emerging in his mind.

The frightening part was these thoughts of fear didn't originate from him; it seemed like the outside world was continually implanting these terror thoughts into his mind, affecting his mental state.

At this moment, Su Mu suddenly stopped. He felt he was very close; after coming this far, turning back was not an option.

He took out a stick of Purple Bamboo from the Space Ring, tipped his head, and dripped a few drops of wine into his mouth, then swallowed.

After a moment, Su Mu felt slightly tipsy, but not drunk; his consciousness remained quite clear.

As they say, alcohol courageously fuels the timid, and after a few drops of Purple Bamboo Wine, all those countless fears in his heart disappeared.

Then he stepped forward boldly, walking faster and faster, almost running.

Finally, he passed through the last stretch of dense forest, pushed aside the leaves blocking his way, and suddenly, the black mist disappeared instantly, his view expanding vividly.

"What is this place?"

Su Mu froze in place, instantly sobering up.

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