The group pressed onward and finally reached the edge of the Death Swamp.
Far from appearing menacing, the swamp was breathtakingly beautiful.
Its vegetation blazed in every hue—scarlet, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and violet—each shade shimmering radiantly under the sunlight, vying for splendor as if painted by a divine hand.
At first glance, this was no realm of death, but a paradise on earth.
Overjoyed, several guards stepped forward, spellbound by the enchanting scenery, drinking in its beauty greedily.
Only Gao Han and Rou Qing remained unentranced, and they quickly stopped the other disciples of the Misty Sect and Serene Lotus Sect from straying too close.
Yi Yingying was no fool; she would never have been appointed leader of this expedition if she lacked sense.
The spirit herbs they sought were vital to the Yi family's interests, and the clan patriarch would never entrust such a crucial mission to someone reckless.
"Stop! All of you! Do you know where you stand? Keep away from those plants!" Yi Yingying shouted sharply, her face dark with urgency, jolting the mesmerized guards back to their senses.
The guards stared at her in confusion, unable to comprehend why she forbade them from touching the lovely flora.
Their puzzlement did not last long. A piercing scream tore through the air, drawing everyone's gaze.
One of the Yi family guards was clutching his right hand with his left, his face contorted in agony as he writhed on the ground. Beside him lay a freshly plucked branch, its entire body a vivid, seductive crimson.
Thin wisps of smoke curled from his right hand, where the skin had already begun to rot and fester. The necrosis spread rapidly, creeping up his arm and consuming it entirely.
Gao Han moved with lightning speed, appearing before the poisoned guard in an instant. With a single, decisive slash of his sword, he severed the man's infected arm clean off.
The guards surrounded Gao Han at once, drawing their weapons and pointing them at him.
"He was already poisoned—why did you cut off his arm? If you do not explain yourself today, we will fight you to the death, even if we are no match!" one guard roared. The others nodded grimly in agreement.
Gao Han smiled disdainfully. "Must I explain myself to you? If you wish to fight, then come." He sheathed his sword, folded his hands behind his back, and gazed indifferently into the distance, paying no heed to the weapons aimed at him.
With his current strength, he needed not even draw upon his Cold Mountain Palm to defeat these Qi Condensation warriors; sheer physical power would suffice. He saw no need to justify his actions.
"Calm yourselves! Gao Han did the right thing! He was stopping the poison from spreading further!" Yi Yingying stepped forward, snapping furiously at the foolish guards.
She had watched the poison spread the moment the man was infected—it had raced from his hand to his armpit in an instant. Another minute, and it would have reached his heart, killing him for certain.
Chastened by Yi Yingying's rebuke, the guards thought it over and realized she spoke the truth. Ashamed, they lowered their swords.
Yi Yingying glided gracefully toward Gao Han and asked softly, "What of him…?"
Gao Han glanced at her, his heart softening despite himself. He softened his tone as much as he could. "He cannot be saved. While you surrounded me, his other hand touched the poison by accident. It has already reached his heart."
"Aah!" The guards gasped in shock and spun around. Sure enough, the skin around the man's chest had already begun to fester.
The guards were overcome with both shame and terror.
Their interference had cost their comrade his life—not directly, but because they had blocked Gao Han.
Yet they now understood the true horror of the Death Swamp: it wore a beautiful mask, but hid a murderous demon beneath. One misstep, and their lives would be forfeit.
Gao Han looked at them, shook his head slightly, and sighed, saying nothing more.
The guards had lost all courage and resolve; their hearts were consumed by fear and guilt, and they now longed only to flee. To stay meant certain death.
Though Gao Han saw their broken spirits, he possessed no talent for rousing speeches and said nothing to lift their morale.
"Listen to me, warriors of the Yi family! His death was not in vain. He is a true martial artist. He gave his life to warn us of this place's danger, and in doing so, he protected every one of us! He is a hero of the Yi clan!"
Yi Yingying stepped forward and delivered a rousing address. As she spoke, Gao Han watched the guards' shame melt into profound gratitude.
"May his soul rest in peace. The Yi family will provide for his parents and wife, and we will give his son the finest upbringing. I shall also grant his family one thousand taels of silver as compensation!"
She spun around sharply. "He was a true warrior. Look at yourselves—you are nothing but cowards!"
"We are not cowards! Miss, we swear to protect you with our lives!"
"The Death Swamp means nothing! We will guard you!"
"Yes! We are men—true martial artists!"
The guards erupted in a roar the moment Yi Yingying finished speaking, their fear cast aside as they shouted with fiery resolve.
Gao Han stared at Yi Yingying in surprise. The young woman possessed remarkable leadership; with a few simple words, she had reignited their morale completely.
Yi Yingying turned to face Gao Han, only to meet his astonished gaze. Their eyes locked, and she blushed, lowering her head before lifting it again to shoot him a playful, defiant glance.
Beneath the defiance, however, her affection was plain to see. Her lovely expression and flustered gaze stirred a strange feeling in Gao Han's heart—a feeling he had once felt in the presence of Situ Yan.
It was a quiet, gentle excitement, a sense that nothing else mattered so long as she was there.
Coughing lightly, Gao Han quickly restored his usual icy composure. He turned away and spoke in his typical cold, sharp tone. "Let us move on. I have no time to waste here."
With that, he strode into the swamp without looking back. Yi Yingying noticed his hesitation at once, and her heart swelled with sweetness—it meant she held a place in his heart.
The group continued forward, but this time with extreme caution; even Gao Han remained vigilant.
Six more guards perished along the way—not to poisonous plants or powerful demonic beasts, but to spiders, insects, snakes, and even mosquitoes.
This was a cursed land. Every living thing carried a deadly venom; even tiny mosquitoes, mutated by long exposure to the swamp's miasma, had become lethal carriers of poison.
They struck without warning, and with each attack, another life was snuffed out.
Gao Han would never forget the sight: one moment a man was walking beside them, the next he collapsed lifelessly to the ground, his body turning pitch-black, his face and lips as dark as charcoal—his death identical to that of the Ground-Turning Rat.
A mere five-centimeter-long centipede then crawled out from beneath his body and slithered deeper into the swamp.
Gao Han's scalp prickled in horror. This was a Venomous Myriad Centipede. A single bite meant certain death within ten seconds without an antidote.
Only Spirit Fusion realm warriors could suppress the poison with their immense power and seek a cure later—and even then, only those at the Third Layer of Spirit Fusion or higher could purge it using their own cultivation alone.
More lives were lost. Four more men died, leaving barely a dozen of the original twenty guards and ten coachmen alive.
Yi Yingying's expression grew grimmer by the moment, her heart sinking deeper into despair.
The death toll had already exceeded what the Yi family could bear; these men were the backbone of the clan's forces.
They walked for what felt like an eternity, and just as Yi Yingying too was losing hope, the world before them suddenly brightened.
The kaleidoscopic nightmare of the swamp vanished, replaced by a familiar, serene landscape.
Lush green trees rose high, and birds chirped merrily as they flitted between the branches. To Gao Han and his companions, the scene was more beautiful than anything they had ever seen.
They had reached the heart of the Death Swamp—the sacred sanctuary where precious spirit herbs flourished.