Bizarre Detective Agency

   Chapter 398 Three hundred and thirteen. Oliver's struggle

  Abominable blood-red clouds spread across the sky, and the rain of blood soaked the dark withered trees and the earth, forming blood-like veins, and there was no trace of vitality.

  Everything is dead.

  The rain of blood fell silently.

   "Hu...hu...hu..."

   At a certain moment, a low mound in the swamp sounded faint gasps and chaotic footsteps.

  The sound of footsteps quickly became clear, and then suddenly, a figure rushed out of the deep hole in the low hill and fell.

  Oliver fell into the silt mixed with blood and rain, the matchbox fell out of his hand, and two matches were scattered and slapped into the silt.

   "Huchi...ha..."

  Oliver turned around, gasping for breath, his wide eyes filled with fear, staring at the secret passage where he escaped.

  In the dark and dark passage, some kind of dark and evil, the existence that makes people want to escape recklessly dissipates.

   Oliver maintained this position for a long time, until his breathing became steady, and he was sure that nothing would suddenly rush out of the dark passage.

Snapped-

  Oliver let go of all his strength and smashed his upper body back into the mud.

  The wet and soft ground like a slug, the rancid smell that only comes from scum in the air, and the tree roots forming a dead forest, all told Oliver where he was at the moment.

  This is Shadowswamp.

  The rumored place where the locals talk about the discoloration, the six-legged monsters and Yingchuo people who are ravaging Shadow Town, and more monsters come from here.

   Oliver, who wanted to escape the danger, broke into the lair of the monsters.

   That's a good thing...that's a good thing...I can go to Swamp Road and get away from Shadow Town from there. Oliver, you have to calm down, you have to come back to Jojo alive...

   Oliver persuaded himself not to give up, propped up his trembling legs, and climbed up from the wet and disgusting mud.

   shook off the silt stuck to his hands, picked up the two scattered matches and put them back in the matchbox, Oliver looked up at the sky.

   This place is still shrouded in blood-colored clouds. Oliver doesn’t know how large it is, but he can be sure that the place shrouded in blood-colored clouds is not safe.

   "North...on the right..."

  Oliver confirmed the direction, and stumbled towards the swamp road with swamp silt of different shades flowing.

  The icy silt slowly took away Oliver's body temperature and physical strength, and every time he pulled out his foot stuck in the silt, Oliver had to do his best.

   He suddenly understood why the hexapod crawls instead of standing.

  What's more terrifying than these are the swamp blisters that are indistinguishable from the silt. They can be seen everywhere, disguised, and engulf you the moment you step in.

The branches that    Oliver picked up had pulled him back from the brink of death several times, saving him from turning into Shadowswamp fertiliser.

   But branches alone are not enough, some quagmire hides hideously in the silt, there is no difference when you step in, but it will continue to swallow you down, and when you wake up, it is difficult to escape.

  Oliver could only walk around the seemingly empty and flat open space, and walked around the exposed thorny roots of the dead trees.

  It would take him several minutes to cover the distance of 100 meters.

   To make matters worse, after walking for half an hour, Oliver realized that he had veered off course.

  According to the speed of travel, he should have seen the straight and long road that divided the north and south swamps and connected the inland and the Ellen Peninsula a few minutes ago.

   But aside from the shadowy dead trees, there is only a dead silence and a disturbing sense of voyeurism.

   There seems to be something peeping at him in the dark.

  Oliver had no time to pay attention to all of this. Just rushing on the road had exhausted all his energy and attention.

   He was tired.

   Luck opened her eyes to Oliver.

  Ten minutes later, when Oliver was about to collapse due to detachment and peeping, the outline of a house in the distance appeared in his eyes.

  The houses are different from the buildings that Oliver has seen. They are built on standing wood, like a tree house, away from the ground. The suspension bridge composed of vines and wood connects the houses and the houses. In the darkness where only the outlines are visible, vines like snakes and ropes hang from every part of every house.

   Oliver knew it, everyone who passed the Swamp Road knew him.

   Abandoned village in Shadowswamp, located by the swamp road.

   Seeing it means that Oliver is very close to Swamp Road.

   A power called hope emerged from the body of the detached force, and Oliver gasped as he approached the wooden house village.

   But Oliver was deliberately bypassing there. Abandoned villages have many bad rumors, such as ghosts, such as hexapods.

   Uninhabited abandoned villages are more frightening than empty plains.

   Hope the goddess is closing her eyes again.

  The earth began to tremble, as if the distant heartbeat from ancient times sounded slowly in the depths of the earth.

   Oliver knows what it is.

   He sat down among the roots of a tree and tried his best to hide himself against the trunk.

   The roar from nowhere echoed over the Shadow Swamp. There were monsters, which also meant that the Shadow Swamp was full of danger.

   rustle rustle—

   Something seemed to pass by in the distance, and there were whispers around.

  Oliver gradually became uneasy, and his hiding place at the moment was not concealed...

   looked at the peaceful abandoned village where there was no sound in the distance.

   Is it safe there?

  Oliver clenched his teeth, stood up from the roots of the tree, and stumbled into the abandoned village.

  The dead silence filled the houses. The ladders connecting the wooden houses might have rotted away. Oliver didn't have time to carefully search for their locations.

   The darkness without the door turned towards Oliver, and the uneasy feeling of being watched resurfaced.

   Oliver's breathing was trembling, perhaps because of fear, perhaps because of his loss of strength, perhaps because of the sound of the heartbeat in the ground.

  He climbed up to the wooden house in the center of the abandoned village, which looked the largest and the strongest.

  The shoes have long been swallowed by the swamp on the road, and the soles of the feet are stepping on the damp and shady wooden boards, making a sour squeak.

   There were no strange noises, the hut didn't collapse, and things didn't get any worse.

  Oliver curled up on the edge of the door frame, where he could not be swallowed by the darkness and would not reveal his body.

   He waited quietly, and after a few minutes, the slow beating sound as if pinching his heart fell silent, and Oliver's heart seemed to come alive, beating violently.

"Who can help me…"

   With his back against the cold wooden house wall, Oliver murmured in despair. Unwilling tears fell, but it was difficult to wash away a layer of silt on his face.

   He wanted to resent, but he didn't know what to resent.

  Oliver didn't even know why this happened, but at least he didn't die in despair like the townspeople who also didn't know what was going on.

"what do I do-"

   Oliver's sobbing and murmurs stopped suddenly.

   He tilted his head slightly, listening to the outside.

  The sound of wet treading water came from the swamp beneath the abandoned village.

   Something is nearby.

   (end of this chapter)