Chapter 80: Chapter 79: Land Abandoned by God
Seeing the imposing figure before him, Mr. Fang Zheng couldn’t help but whistle. Lady Fina, even more surprised, widened her eyes and opened her mouth, unable to speak.
In front of the two, stood a massive black bear. However, compared to the bears Mr. Fang Zheng had seen in the animal world, this black bear was enormous, with its body lying flat on the ground measuring nearly two meters tall. It stood there in front of Mr. Fang Zheng and Lady Fina, watching the two humans. Shortly afterward, Mr. Fang Zheng saw the Little Angel with blue hair come around from behind the giant bear.
“How about it, Master? Look, this is what I just found. I’ve already made an arrangement with it, and it has agreed to serve temporarily as your mount to carry both of you down the mountain.”
Mr. Fang Zheng patted the Nymph’s little head, and the Little Angel revealed a delighted smile. Then, she reached out, placed her hand on top of the giant bear’s head, as if to communicate. Subsequently, the giant bear obediently crouched down, signaling for the two to mount its back. Since such a useful mode of transportation was available, Mr. Fang Zheng naturally did not hesitate to mount it. As for Lady Fina, the Cleric Maiden hesitated for a moment but eventually gingerly seated herself behind Mr. Fang Zheng.
Then, the giant bear stood up and swiftly ran towards the base of the mountain with the two on its back.
The bear was massive, but its run was very steady, making Mr. Fang Zheng and Lady Fina feel even more stable than riding on horseback. Mr. Fang Zheng wondered where the Nymph had found this giant bear and how she had “convinced” it to serve as their mount.
Regardless, with this giant bear, the journey ahead was much easier. As one of the top predators in the forest, this bear obviously belonged to the category of the kings of the mountain, with no animal daring to provoke it. And despite its huge size, the bear’s speed was also surprisingly swift, making Mr. Fang Zheng even think that if it were equipped with battle armor, it could probably go directly to Zu Oman to serve as a mount…
Ever heard of the Amani War Bear?
Of course, that was just Mr. Fang Zheng’s idle thoughts to pass the time. The bear obviously lived comfortably in the forest and had no intentions of wandering into a wretched place like Zu Oman. In fact, in less than an hour, it had carried Mr. Fang Zheng and Lady Fina through the forest and arrived at the Dark Marsh.
This was a dark swamp.
Though he had heard about the Dark Marsh from Garrison and Knight Conan, and Lady Fina had introduced its history to him, when Mr. Fang Zheng actually saw this pitch-black land, he couldn’t help but feel a bit dazed.
Snow was still falling, the pristine snowflakes landing on the ground, enveloping the entire land in a blanket of white. However, this was limited to the mountains and forest where Mr. Fang Zheng was located. In front of him, at the foot of the mountain bordering the Dark Marsh, a clear black-and-white boundary stretched forth. The snowflakes seemed to leave no mark whatsoever on the swamp, only the pitch-black soil and the sporadic ruins in the distance.
The Dark Marsh was indeed dark.
Standing at the foot of the hillside, the giant bear also stopped moving, opened its mouth, and let out a low growl towards the dark swamp, as if it was facing some terrifying enemy. The Nymph flew to its side, placed her hand on the bear’s head, and after a moment, turned around to face Mr. Fang Zheng, shaking her head.
“This child can only take Master this far; it doesn’t want to enter that swamp…”
Hearing Nymph’s response filled with unease and apology, Mr. Fang Zheng waved his hand. Then, he flipped off the bear’s back, came in front of it, and stealthily patted it. The next moment, he had a salmon in his hand.
“I really don’t have anything better; consider this as the fare.”
As Fang Zheng held the salmon in his hands, the giant bear paused, then cautiously approached. It first sniffed the salmon in Fang Zheng’s hand and, after confirming there was nothing wrong, took it in one bite. Then, with a low growl, the bear nodded at Fang Zheng and turned to disappear into the forest.
“Indeed, having a mount does feel quite nice.”
Watching the bear’s figure vanish, Fang Zheng shrugged his shoulders, then turned to look at the young girls beside him.
The path through the Dark Marsh was not easy to navigate. In fact, if Fang Zheng were to describe it, walking on the marsh felt similar to walking on a Zerg fungal carpet. The ground underfoot was not hard but rather soft and squishy soil. Even through leather boots, one could feel a warm pulsation beneath, as if walking not on land but on the body of a foul-smelling creature.
The fluttering snowflakes had also disappeared. In fact, upon entering the marsh, it felt as though he had stepped into another world. Dense clouds above nearly blocked out all light, making it appear gloomy and dark even during the day. The cold wind passing through the marsh wailed like the mournful cries of ghosts, as if vengeful spirits from centuries ago still lingered over this land.
“This place was once a prosperous nation…”
Lady Fina looked complexly at a ruin beside her, its appearance still vaguely resembling a manor. But now, the manor was completely burned into pitch-black ruins. The columns had collapsed, leaving only a few walls still standing, which continued to tell of its former glory.
“But it was humans who destroyed it, not devils.”
After scanning his surroundings, Fang Zheng took out a map to check their bearings and casually answered. Hearing Fang Zheng’s reply, Fina’s expression turned complex; she hesitated for a moment before speaking.
“Mr. Fang Zheng, do you think wars will ever cease?”
“War, war never changes,” he said, comparing directions and continuing forward without looking back.
“Frankly, from my standpoint, I’d of course hope for a lifetime of peace and stability where I can comfortably idle at home, not caring for or doing anything, and enjoy my days in leisure. However, unfortunately, the world will never offer such good fortunes. Conflict is everywhere, and sometimes, you must fight for something. Honestly, I can somewhat understand that nation’s thinking—their only mistake was underestimating the opposing side’s resolution to resist till the end.”
“And what about the battle between order and chaos?”
“Chaos… frankly, it’s still too far away from me at the moment, although I have encountered a Child of Chaos once…”
As he spoke, Fang Zheng paused for a moment, then turned his head to look at Fina, flashing an intriguing smile.
“By the way, Miss Fina, have you ever thought about one thing?”
Perhaps it was Fang Zheng’s somewhat “malicious” gaze, so Fina also tensed up instinctively and asked.
“Could it be… that Chaos might also be a part of order?”
This time, Fina seemed utterly shocked, her eyes widened, and she screamed even before Mr. Fang Zheng had finished speaking.
“How could that be possible? Order and Chaos are mortal enemies! Moreover, they are completely different!”
“Oh? Then tell me, according to your understanding, what is Order? What is Chaos?”
Perhaps Mr. Fang Zheng’s question was too bizarre, so much so that Fina did not know how to respond for a moment. She opened her mouth, stunned for a while, before it seemed like she remembered something and clapped her hands.
“Order has identifiable features, and it conforms to rules and regularities. Meanwhile, Chaos is disorganized and has no law or regularity… How could they be the same?”
“According to what you just said, then Chaos indeed is a part of order.”
“How could that be possible? Chaos has absolutely no regularity and…”
“The characteristics of Chaos, didn’t you just mention them?”
At this point, Mr. Fang Zheng winked playfully at Fina.
“You said Chaos is disorganized, without laws or regularities… Isn’t that its identifiable characteristic?”
At this point, Fina was completely thrown, her mouth agape, staring at Mr. Fang Zheng as if he had declared something utterly sacrilegious.
Seeing Fina’s puzzled expression, Mr. Fang Zheng couldn’t help but smile. He stretched out his hand, pointed at the ground beneath their feet, and then to the distant mountains shrouded in Shirayuki.
“Just like black and white, even though they are so different, aren’t they both part of color?”
This time, Fina did not counter, she lowered her head, her expression fluctuating. Mr. Fang Zheng, meanwhile, turned and continued walking forward… thankfully, Nymph was on watch above, otherwise, Fina’s scream might have drawn the Cultist.
Watching Mr. Fang Zheng’s receding figure, Fina bit her lower lip, then followed him.
“So, Mr. Fang Zheng… do you think our war against Chaos is wrong?”
“But you just mentioned that Chaos is also a part of order…”
“I also said that they are like black and white.”
Mr. Fang Zheng wasn’t a Cultist, so he naturally had no intention of brainwashing this poor girl. He just suddenly thought of this paradox and decided to tease her a bit. Leading her astray would be quite troublesome.
“If compared to nations, then we are citizens of White Kingdom, and Chaos is from Black Kingdom. They want to turn us black, and we naturally refuse… I suppose, Lady Fina, you wouldn’t want to be dyed black either, it wouldn’t look good.”
“Of course… Hehe, Mr. Fang Zheng, your words are really interesting.”
At this, a smile finally appeared on Fina’s face, but her eyes looking at Mr. Fang Zheng were increasingly complex.
“So, Mr. Fang Zheng, if we are the citizens of the White Kingdom, who is the painter then?”
“I don’t know that. Perhaps the Goddess knows the answer.”
This time, Fina did not say anything else. She lowered her head to look at her toes and then murmured softly to herself.
“Perhaps… even the Goddess…”
But before Fina finished speaking, Mr. Fang Zheng suddenly changed his expression and pulled Fina to hide behind the nearby ruins’ shadow.
As Fina looked astonished, Mr. Fang Zheng made a gesture while looking upward to the sky.
Soon, under their gaze, a pitch-black shadow with flapping wings soared through the sky.
It had a head resembling a hyena’s, the wings of a bat, a humanoid body, and a long black tail. In fact, when he saw this creature, Mr. Fang Zheng knew its identity without Fina having to explain.