Chapter 53 - It may be the Truth
Zhao hit the ground. "Why must our efforts go in vain?"
Green patted Zhao's shoulder. "No, Master. Rest assured, we will find a way to resolve this matter."
Zhao's face still didn't look good. He touched the ground and said, "No, you don't understand. Such a big piece of land, I planned to slowly improve it for farming, but now it seems that this plan would never be implemented."
Zhao stood up with a look of frustration. This time the blow was really too heavy. He simply couldn't transform such a large area of land within a short amount of time. If those spirit beasts come before he completed the transformation, then all of his efforts will come to nothing. Even if he completed the transformation, and those spirit beasts appeared, that would also tantamount to him doing useless work.
Green didn't know how to comfort Zhao. Obviously, after encountering such a situation, it would be hard to make his heart feel better.
Zhao looked at the Black Waste, and sighed. He turned around and walked towards the mountain, but he didn't take two steps before he stopped, and muttered, "No, this seems right."
Just when Meirin and Green were about to follow Zhao, Green was puzzled when he stopped. "Master, what's wrong?"
Zhao pointed at the mountain. "Grandpa Green, what do you see in that mountain?"
Green looked at the mountain, and frowned. "I only see weeds. Ah, wait, how can there be weeds on the mountain when the spirit beasts make black soil with their toxins? How could the soil on the mountain be unaffected?"
Meirin also reflected over this question. She looked puzzled thinking about how the spirit beasts trampled over the weeds, but after a few days of recovery, they would just crop up again. They were really tough with a tenacious vitality.
Seeing the weeds with restored vitality, Zhao felt that something was wrong. If the Black Waste was really contaminated by the touch of those spirit beasts, then it should be impossible for anything to grow on the mountain.
Looking at the patch of black land, Zhao murmured. "No, but if it isn't because of being touched by the toxins on the spirit beasts, then what is it?"
Green and Meirin also turned to look at the black land, seeing how far it stretched to the end. Originally, Meirin felt that her answer was right, but now that she saw those mountain weeds, she knew that it was the wrong answer.
Zhao walked in a circle, trying to figure out why the land had become like this, and thoughtlessly he ended up at the edge of the moat, where he unconsciously stopped, seeing the green moat while in a daze.
Meirin and Green saw Zhao standing motionless by the moat, and were a little nervous wondering what was happening to Zhao.
Zhao then forcefully clapped his hands. "I think I got it."
"Master, what are you thinking about?" Green was surprised.
Zhao pointed to the moat. "The water is flowing, but it is still green. That is to say, the underground lake where the water comes from must have been contaminated by the spirit beasts. But why should those spirit beasts go there? There's nothing to eat there. So I think that the purpose the spirit beasts go to the lake is to most likely take a bath."
"A bath? " Green and Meirin couldn't help but say. They both gave Zhao strange looks, thinking that he was frantic.
"Master must be distraught," Meirin quickly said.
Zhao turned around and looked at Meirin. "What? Grandma Meirin doesn't believe what I said?"
"Master, those spirit beasts came from the carrion swamp. It's a marshy place where there's no scarcity of water. Why would they come here to take a bath?"
Zhao snapped his fingers. "This is the problem. Although the carrion swamp does have water, that water is toxic. Like you said before, the air over there is toxic, so how could the water not be toxic? They wouldn't use that water for bathing. I think that they must be looking for some clean water to bathe in."
Hearing what Zhao said, Green and Meirin had never really thought about it.
Zhao looked at the two. "The reason that this land has become black is most likely related to those spirit beasts. Those creatures came from the carrion swamp, where everything, including the air and the water, is toxic. Maybe even the poison is too much for those spirit beasts to stand. So they will most likely go to the Black Waste, here, and try to flush out the excess toxins from their bodies. This will slowly make the Black Waste reach its current state."
What Zhao said made more and more sense to Green and Meirin.
But Green frowned. "But even if we can detoxify, when the spirit beasts come out of the carrion swamp with a high frequency, wouldn't we still be in trouble?"
Hearing what Green said, Zhao's look of excitement disappeared. He remembered that even if he found out a possible truth, he still didn't find a solution yet. Zhao took a deep breath and looked at the Black Waste. "We can't keep worrying about it since it's already happened. If there is a solution, we'll think about it eventually."
That being said, he walked towards the mountain. Green and Meirin took one last look at the Black Waste with a sigh, before they followed behind Zhao. They were afraid that there could be spirit beasts lingering around the underground lake, so it would be dangerous for Zhao.
The three made it to the entrance to the mines. Before Zhao could walk in, Meirin pulled him aside. "Master, let Green have a look first."
Zhao reluctantly stopped, but soon Green's voice could be heard coming from inside. "Master, Meirin, come in. There are no spirit beasts here."
Zhao and Meirin went into the mines, and eventually made it to the underground lake where Green was standing, looking at the lake in a daze. Meirin immediately used a lighting spell, now the three could clearly see the situation of the lake.
The lake was green. It was a deeper green than the moat.
Zhao sighed. "With such a good lake, I hate it when you guys take a bath in it." With these words, he opened up a hole, and the spatial water poured into the lake.
But Zhao didn't think that the moment the spatial water entered the lake, it would induce something like a chemical reaction. From the point of contact, the detoxification effect moved with a fast speed towards the center of the lake, and then beyond where Zhao could see.
Zhao was stunned. Although they suspected that the space could solve the water's poison, wasn't this too quick? From where the water flowed out of this lake, would it also react as fast?
Zhao was still uncertain. "I don't know if the water still contains toxins, Grandma Meirin. Could you look and see?" Since Meirin was a powerful water mage, this kind of thing was within her abilities.
Meirin nodded. She reached towards the lake and whispered a spell. A group of blue light emitted from her hand, like a sky full of stars, then they disappeared into the lake.
Eventually, the blue lights were brought together in Meirin's hands, then they slowly disappeared. Meirin opened her eyes with a look of shock. "That’s amazing! All the toxins had disappeared. There's nothing left."
Zhao at once said, "Let's go back to the castle and see."
The trio immediately walked out of the mines, as soon as they were out of the entrance, they could see smoke rising from the castle. Evidently, Meg was doing her job.
Once they made it to the castle, they saw Meg was setting some of the garbage, which they threw out of the castle, on fire. After seeing that, Zhao quickly walked to the moat, and sure enough, the water was clear. All the green had completely disappeared.
But Zhao still wasn't reassured. He told Meirin to float up a water bubble, and then he brought into his space to see if it was still poisonous. The voice came, and it told him that the water has been completely cleared of toxic compounds.
After waiting until after Meg threw out all of the garbage, Meirin magically used the water to clean the castle. Once it was done, the castle was finally livable again.
Translator Notes: This chapter was as confusing as fudge!
Translator Notes #2: This chapter was MTLed by Trung and edited by Kinokey. Please leave a comment if you've spotted anything that looks wrong.