Warriors will die if they charge.

"I don't recognize this script," Jenny said, her voice tinged with frustration.

"It's not Elvish, not Dragon language, and it doesn't even resemble any of the ancient writing systems I've ever seen at the academy..."

Trish glanced at the parchment but offered no comment; she had no knowledge of ancient surface writing.

Bardin was quite interested in the mysterious parchment, but his understanding of the writing was not much better than that of the sorcerer's apprentice; he could only guess based on experience.

"Is it a curse? In the mountains, protective runes are placed on the hidden ancestral tombs. If some bearded creatures accidentally wander in, they will first receive a warning and leave, otherwise the curse will come true."

"As you just saw, the guardian suddenly fell into the pool and dissolved. I think it may have touched something."

Trissy gripped the hilt of her knife and said in a low voice, "Bloodline...you mean we may have crossed the safe zone and entered the most dangerous Bloodline area in the rainforest?"

Bardin nodded: "Yeah, very likely, just like my adventures with the tough guy... there are always unexpected things that happen."

The dwarf asked Marcus, who stood silently at the edge of the pool, gripping his obsidian dagger, "Hardman, what's your opinion?"

Marcus paid no attention to what they were talking about, finding the whole thing strange.

First of all, why was he able to hear that sad and lingering woman's singing?

Moreover, the singing voice clearly recited the contents of the parchment...

What's the difference between me and Bardin and the others?

Traveler?

It shouldn't be this distinction. The woman singing and the deceased guarding the pool are clearly closely connected, and unless they are also time travelers, it's impossible for them to resonate with me on this point.

So the biggest difference... might be their status as locals of Linhe Town?

Marcus grinned, his lips dry. "Bardin, Trish, Jenny, do you believe in the existence of the Water Queen?"

"Stop fooling yourself, tough guy. The Water Ghost Queen is just a smokescreen you use to scare outsiders." Bardin waved his hand, seemingly revealing the truth.

Jenny nodded in response: "Water ghosts are found in many regions. Their scientific name is half-fish. They are magical monsters that have been modified by flesh and blood. They have only a very weak sense of blood ties and it is impossible for them to have rulers like kings."

Trish didn't respond, clearly not caring much about the legend of the Water Queen; no matter how many water ghosts came, she could kill them all.

The three of them vehemently denied the existence of the Water Ghost Queen, which made Marcus realize something.

The Queen of the Water Ghosts does exist; otherwise, who would sing a mournful song from an unnamed pool in the rainforest?

Because these outsiders did not believe in her existence, they could not hear her singing or understand the writing on the parchment.

Only those who believe this land has a memory can receive her message.

It's not that you believe because you hear it, but that you hear it because you believe it.

He turned around by the pool, his expression solemn, and stated, "There's a sentence written on the parchment—this is the end of the world, the death of the known world."

"How did you know?" Jenny's face was full of suspicion. Marcus was just a straightforward and foul-mouthed warrior; he couldn't possibly be more knowledgeable than a mage apprentice.

"The Water Ghost Queen told me."

The warrior's straightforward and unvarnished statement plunged the cave into a long silence. The three men looked at each other, unsure how to respond to Marcus's words.

Bardin coughed twice and quickly changed the subject.

He was also puzzled by the superstitious traditions of the town of Linhe, because people genuinely believed that a water queen ruled the Nileka River and the forests on both sides.

On the one hand, they despised and cursed this bitch, but on the other hand, they respected her so much that when the militia dealt with foreign adventurers, they would sacrifice the troublemakers to the Nileca River in the name of the Water Queen.

"Ahem, well then, let's just say Her Majesty the Queen has delivered a decree to you. What should we do next? We've lost our backpack supplies and our map. Continuing to fight the snake people isn't a wise choice."

Trissy interjected at the opportune moment: "I remember the way back."

The two made their stance clear: stop dwelling on the golden scales; they couldn't afford to take a real risk.

Marcus nodded in agreement, saying that they could find a way to get the coupons later and earn money slowly, while they would continue to fight the snake people without a map or supplies.

This isn't gambling; it's suicide.

"Let's rest for a while and go back once the storm stops."

Jenny opened her mouth as if to say something, but she was just a mage apprentice who had hitched a ride on the rye wine, and knew that she had no influence on the decision.

She clutched the old, sturdy parchment, intending to put it into the wallet hanging from her belt, when she saw Marcus extend his right hand, his expression extremely serious.

Jenny laughed awkwardly, hiding the parchment behind her back: "Perhaps I'm part of the Rye Wine crew too, and the rewards of the adventure should be split equally."

"Don't take what you shouldn't take, Jenny. Bardin and I know this all too well. You did a great job in the fight just now, but you were a bit too scheming."

Jenny looked at the large hand that was gradually approaching, and then at Trish, who had been protecting her all the way.

Upon noticing that Sister Zhuoer was coldly watching Marcus's coercion, she knew that she couldn't keep this parchment, which contained immense research value, to herself.

She puffed out her cheeks and sullenly handed the item to Marcus: "Hmph, it's useless for you to take it. Do you think the Water Ghost Queen will guide you to this mysterious ancient civilization?"

"Perhaps."

The team took a break at the cave pool to recover from the fatigue of the battle and the long run.

Even Marcus and Bardeen, who usually love to liven things up and chat, chose to remain silent in this ancient tomb, leaning against the wall and frowning as they pondered something.

I don't know how much time passed, but the feeling of hunger began to creep up from my stomach, like a slow ant crawling over my ribs.

Marcus dusted off his trousers, stood up, and gestured with his chin toward the tunnel entrance:

"Let's go out and take a look."

As the group stepped out of the tunnel, the walls remained damp and covered in moss, and mosquitoes swarmed everywhere. However, the air entering the cave from outside carried a hot, earthy smell—

It smells like a swamp being baked in the sun.

Marcus was the first to step out of the cave where he was hiding, and the intense, urine-yellow sunlight hit his eyes, creating a momentary exposure.

His vision blurred for a moment as a thick, almost tangible stench of decay filled his nostrils. The air was dry as sand, and a gentle breeze made his skin sting slightly.

The rainforest has disappeared.

In the storm, it turned into a boundless swamp, pale fires flickered at the horizon, huge beast skeletons were hardened and blackened by the sun and lay in the sticky mud, and withered plants were blown aside by the breeze and scattered in the folds of silt.

The world, after the storm, becomes a creased bed, stretching to the end of time.

The cave that once sheltered from the storm has been transformed into an isolated island surrounded by a withered swamp.

Jenny, with the lowest tolerance, was the first to plop down. She inhaled the ancient, decaying stench filling her nostrils, gazed at the fading sunlight that could dry flesh and blood, and whispered in despair:

"The bloodline... We've crossed the bloodline and arrived at the forbidden zone of life..."

"No." Marcus shook his head, gripping the bone handle of the obsidian dagger on his belt.

The sacrificial knife that the pool guardian used to cut open his own chest was slightly warm in the sunlight, as if it had been soaking in his blood vessels and was still warm when it was first taken out.

He gazed at the dark red sun that was about to go out, looking at it for a long time, as if confirming a painting he had only heard rumors about.

"This is the end of the world, the death of the known world."