Chapter 4620: Sharp Shrieks
“Ah, I get it now! You must have been feigning weak to make all of us put down our guard. Actually, your understanding of the Thousand Transformations Illusory Palace is far above us all!”
Words shot out from Xia Yan like a barrage of arrows.
Even the reticent Xiao Yu had spoken up as well, but compared to the curious Xia Yan, his tone was one of displeasure.
“You’re doing it intentionally, aren’t you?”
Xiao Yu looked at Chu Feng with an annoyed look on his face.
“What are you saying?” Chu Feng replied.
“You could have just made a move right away, so why did you wait until we were swallowed by the marsh before helping us?” Xiao Yu asked.
“Oh? I advised you not to make a move earlier though, but you refused to listen to me. However, you’re right. I am indeed doing it on purpose. But as compared to being sabotaged by my own allies, don’t you think that my act of helping you is much more humane?” Chu Feng asked.
“I was not the one who pushed you into the black lake,” Xiao Yu replied.
“But you turned a blind eye to my plight whereas I stepped forward to save you. Also, I should advise you to drop that arrogant act. Neither of you two is safe yet. If I leave you to the lurch right now, you won’t be getting out of here alive,” Chu Feng said.
Xiao Yu and Xia Yan immediately began observing the marsh they were trapped in, and only then did they realize that the weird bubbles had begun popping out from the marsh. It looked as if they were standing in the midst of boiling water.
Soon after, an unbearable stench arose from the marsh. It was the power of corrosion.
As the bubbles grew more and more vigorous, the stench and the power of corrosion grew proportionately as well.
“Brother Chu Feng, I was wrong. I shouldn’t have pushed you into the black lake without giving you a heads up! However, I swear that I had no intention of leaving you to the lurch. I’m afraid that you wouldn’t trust me, so I acted without consulting you!”
Xia Yan quickly tried to clarify what he did earlier. His tone was more than enough for anyone to feel the fluster he was in.
“Brother Xia Yan, I trust you.”
Chu Feng set up a formation that swiftly shrouded Xia Yan and freed him from the marsh, allowing the latter to leap out of the marsh without any problem.
After saving Xia Yan, Chu Feng turned his gaze to Xiao Yu.
Xiao Yu was an incredibly proud person. Even with his life at stake, he didn’t beg Chu Feng for his help right away. Instead, he tried his best to figure out a way out of the quandary he was in. However, no matter what he did, he was unable to free himself from the marsh.
“Brother Yu Xiao, you should quickly apologize to Brother Chu Feng! Brother Chu Feng, Brother Yu Xiao doesn’t carry any enmity toward you. You can’t just leave him to the lurch!”
Oddly enough, the one who appeared to be the most desperate of all was Xia Yan, who anxiously tried to talk to Xiao Yu and Chu Feng to resolve this situation.
To his chagrin, Xiao Yu had no intention of admitting his fault, and Chu Feng had no thoughts of letting this matter go just like that.
Admittedly, Xiao Yu was a person with backbone, but having backbone didn’t equate to being capable.
Soon, the bubbling of the marsh grew incredibly vigorous, making the stench impossible to bear. The power of corrosion finally grew concentrated enough to corrode Xiao Yu’s skin. The obstinate Xiao Yu gritted his teeth and tried his best to bear with it, but he was still unable to stop himself from wincing in pain.
“Chu Feng, treat it as I owe you a favor!”
Finally, Xiao Yu was left with no choice but to grudgingly concede.
Seeing this, Chu Feng smiled lightly as he immediately activated the formation he constructed beforehand to pull Xiao Yu out from the marsh. While he was displeased with what those two did previously, he didn’t carry any strong enmity toward Xiao Yu.
In fact, he admired the backbone Xiao Yu had.
He disliked those who acted as if they were high and mighty, only to turn subservient before those stronger than them.
Xiao Yu was proud, but his proudness was at least real. Even when he bowed to Chu Feng in the end, he took on not a subservient attitude nor a pleading tone. Instead, he viewed it as a favor owed.
After saving the two of them, Chu Feng began constructing a formation once more before submerging the formation into the marsh. Soon after, a huge deluge of water poured out from within the formation.
In just the blink of an eye, the marsh turned into a small pond right before Xia Yan and Xiao Yu’s eyes.
“The mud cloaking your body can’t be washed away with ordinary methods. You can only remove it with the essence water of this marsh. Hurry up and wash it off, or else the poison in the marsh will corrode not only your body but your soul as well. Once your soul is affected as well, I won’t be able to help you anymore,” Chu Feng told Xia Yan and Xiao Yu.
“Thanks.”
Xiao Yu’s words came from the bottom of his heart.
Even though Xiao Yu and Xia Yan had gotten out of the marsh, they weren’t out of danger yet. The mud that was on them wasn’t any ordinary mud. It clung to their bodies as if a persistent leech, continuously afflicting them with its poison.
If not for Chu Feng, he wouldn’t have known that it was possible to extract the essence water of the marsh to wash away the poisonous mud. It was due to that that he thanked Chu Feng.
After thanking Chu Feng, Xiao Yu took out an object to retrieve a portion of water from the formation before walking away. However, barely after taking a few steps, he suddenly turned around to warn Chu Feng and Xia Yan, “I have a cleanliness obsession. Don’t follow me, and wait for me to come back.”
Those words were spoken more like a threat than a reminder.
After saying those words, he quickly walked away.
“Brother Chu Feng, you need not take it to heart. It’s only a while since I got to know Brother Xiao Yu, but I can sense that he’s not a bad person at heart. He’s just a little socially awkward.”
Xia Yan also took out an object to collect the remaining water in the pond too.
“Do you have a cleanliness obsession too?” Chu Feng asked.
He had intentionaly turned the formation into a pond so as to make it convenient for Xia Yan and Xiao Yu to enter it and wash off the poisonous mud. Yet, these two men actually began shying out at a time like this.
“Heh, I don’t have a cleanliness obsession, but I’m just afraid that it might hurt your self-esteem once you see how big I am.”
Xia Yan laughed heartily as he took out an item that resembled a pearl. He tossed the pearl to the side, and it immediately morphed into a mini palace.
Meanwhile, Chu Feng shook his head helplessly. With a deep sigh, he began setting up a formation in order to fully clear away the marsh.
After the earlier explosion, the area of the marsh had grown much larger. If Chu Feng didn’t get rid of it, Xia Yan and Xiao Yu wouldn’t be able to pass through it.
“This feeling...”
But soon, Chu Feng’s face warped in horror. He immediately turned around and shouted to Xia Yan, who had entered the palace, “Brother Xia Yan, you need to hurry up! We need to leave right away!”
After saying those words, he quickly flitted over to where Xiao Yu headed to.
Chu Feng sensed an even more terrifying power hiding in the depth of the marsh. They had to quickly leave this area, or else even he would face difficulties trying to fend against that terrifying power.
It was fortunate that Xiao Yu didn’t head too far away, so Chu Feng was able to find him fast enough.
Xiao Yu was had taken out a palace that was similar to Xia Yan’s some distance away. Basically, it was a treasure that was used to isolate himself and give him some privacy when he was out in the open.
As the situation was too urgent, Chu Feng was worried that Xiao Yu wouldn’t be able to hear him through the palace. Thus, he used the powers of the Thousand Transformation Illusory Palace to pass right through the walls of the palace to enter its depths.
“This!!!”
However, shortly after he entered the palace, he found himself faced with a sight that left him stunned.
There was someone bathing inside the palace, but it wasn’t Xia Yu but an incredibly beautiful woman.
“Chu Feng?”
As soon as that woman saw Chu Feng, her face immediately warped in horror. She quickly turned around and wrapped her robe around herself. At the same time, her appearance began warping, returning back to Xiao Yu’s looks.
It was then that Chu Feng realized that Xiao Yu was a woman disguised as a man.
“Ah, I didn’t see anything at all.”
Chu Feng hurriedly turned over.
“What are you doing in here?” Xiao Yu asked in displeasure.
Even though he was very unhappy about this, perhaps it was due to the disparity in power between the two of them, he didn’t act up.
“I came here to tell you to hurry up. We need to leave this area quickly,” Chu Feng said.
“I got it. You should head out first,” Xiao Yu said.
“Alright.”
Chu Feng quickly left the palace without any hesitation, but in truth, he was in a very discomposed state at the moment. It was only a quick peek, but Xiao Yu’s true appearance and figure simply wouldn’t fade from his mind.
“You aren’t out yet?”
In a moment of daze, Chu Feng walked back to the area where the marsh was at, only to notice that Xia Yan was still in his palace at the moment. Out of anxiety, he entered the palace to rush Xia Yan.
“This...”
But once again, Chu Feng found himself stunned.
It was almost like a replication of what happened over at Xiao Yu’s palace earlier, but it was yet another different beautiful woman standing there.
“Brother, you are... Xia Yan?” Chu Feng asked.
It was only upon hearing these words that the beautiful woman realized that someone had entered the palace.
“AH!!!!”
A piercing scream ensued.
----
It’s a bit confusing but I’ll stick with ‘he’ whenever Xia Yan and Xiao Yu are in their male forms/