Chapter 128: 126. The Gem is Also Alive

126. The Gem is Also Alive

Drake stared at Li Nuowei blankly for a moment, "You really don't stand on ceremony with me at all."

After saying this, he walked down the corner with a heart pounding with agitation.

The green halo that entered his vision struck his eyes directly. Drake felt his spirit being pierced through by that green hue, and a wave of unbearable numbness surged through his body, followed by a sense of dizziness. Yet, he did not collapse; a strange force was compelling his swaying body to continue moving forward.

There was a quagmire formed by the intertwining and mixing of souls who had died unjustly, churning endlessly underground. As Drake stepped closer, the seemingly sleeping quagmire reacted noticeably due to the sudden, high-pitched shrieks of the spirits within its body. It first "sniffed" the approach of prey and instinctively lunged toward Drake.

The overwhelming, demonic quagmire, laden with a foul stench and the shrill roars of dead souls, was more violent than a fierce tide, crashing down upon Drake in sheets.

Drake subconsciously squeezed his eyes shut, raised his hands to cross them in front of him, and felt despair in his heart.

But just as he thought he would die with hatred, Drake waited for a long time without feeling any pain or other sensations of being touched. He opened his eyes and discovered that the quagmire, which had been rolling in like a tidal wave, had stopped right before his eyes, delaying its strike. The spirits floating and sinking within the body of the quagmire were all staring at him in terror—or, to be precise, at the "Anhai Ancient Records" in his hand.

"Uh, is it... really useful?" Drake was somewhat bewildered. He gradually began to adapt to the noisy, strange cries emitted by the quagmire, and his consciousness was no longer hazy; the boundary between reality and illusion became clear, even though the terrifying scene before his eyes was no better than his illusory imagination.

He began to believe in the mysterious power contained within the "Anhai Ancient Records"; it might even be the power of the God of Anhai.

The power released by the Anhai Ancient Records was invisible, but as Drake drew closer to the quagmire, he gradually saw the boundary of the power, like a spherical protective shield, shielding him inside.

The quagmire avoided him. Although the quagmire might not have eyes of its own, every dead soul on the quagmire was its eyes, and every pair of evil spirits' gazes was an angry death stare.

Drake felt uneasy. He reached the last step before him and lifted his foot, about to step onto the quagmire that was bubbling with strange bubbles. Those quagmires were like startled kittens, actively retracting the mud beneath Drake's feet, sticking tightly just at the boundary of the protection range of the Ancient Book in Drake's hand, both wary and unwilling to leave just like that.

Seeing this, Drake suddenly seemed no longer so panicked or nervous.

When you discover that the thing you fear is also fearing you, you naturally feel surprised, and subsequently, your awe greatly diminishes, and instead, you have the urge to jump in their face and release your remaining fear.

However, Drake dared not actually court death like that. He told himself that what he needed to do was to obtain the Green Light Gem that was being tightly protected by the quagmire, use the power of the Green Light Gem to help him expel the Curse, and at the same time, help Li Nuowei to kill the God of Anhai who was about to awaken from the sea.

Although he learned the truth that the giant fish from outer space might be his own biological father, Drake stated that he would rather stage a drama of "fatherly kindness and filial piety" than acknowledge this kinship.

Watching Drake get closer and closer to the Green Light Gem she carefully protected, the quagmire began to grow impatient. Although Drake could not see the true intent of the quagmire, he could judge from the frantic and urgent roars of the souls around him that the quagmire was nervous about his actions.

Detecting Drake's "theft," the quagmire quickly moved the Green Light Gem, and Drake gave chase with all his might.

"Give that thing to me!" Drake shouted. He tried to negotiate with the quagmire, "Don't you want to take revenge on the big fish that sealed you here? Give it to me, and I will help you take revenge."

The quagmire was unmoved by Drake's words; it continued to accelerate the relocation of the Green Light Gem.

Regarding this, Drake felt deeply suspicious. He naturally would not doubt the intelligence of the quagmire—that is, the sea monster. As an immortal individual, it certainly did not lack intelligence and should have been able to understand his meaning, yet the quagmire still refused to hand over the Green Light Gem.

Either the quagmire did not trust Drake's ability, or the Green Light Gem was incredibly important to the quagmire, important to the point of being inseparable.

Drake suspected that the Green Light Gem might be a vital component of the quagmire, much like a human's brain, heart, or other key organs; once lost, it would die.

Moreover, the speed at which the quagmire moved the Green Light Gem was too fast, and the quagmire's own amorphous state of existence made its methods of moving the Green Light Gem ever-changing and elusive. Drake felt that even if he ran until he died, it would be difficult to get the Green Light Gem into his hands.

Standing wearily in place, Drake was pondering how to act next.

Suddenly, the evil spirits that had merged into one with the quagmire let out miserable screams. Drake was so disturbed by these intense screams that he nearly lost his soul; he could not help but kneel to the ground, and immediately, blood began to seep from his Seven Orifices. Drake watched as his vision turned crimson, and fresh blood dripped and poured from his face, landing on the ground.

"I was careless. Although the Anhai Ancient Records can allow me to resist the mental influence of the quagmire, it is completely useless regarding the physiological aspect," Drake thought to himself. He covered his ears, feeling the scalding hot blood slipping out from between his fingers. He felt his movements were completely restricted, making it difficult to act.

Drake barely opened his eyes and looked at the stiff-looking quagmire. Although they surged with violent waves from time to time, the churning "spray" would occasionally "glitch" abnormally. Kneeling in the abnormal quagmire, he looked around and finally saw the reason for the quagmire's sudden abnormality.

He saw Li Nuowei holding several pieces of metal hardware that had appeared from nowhere. He threw the metal pieces into the quagmire one after another. Those quagmires were unable to move as if they had been pinned down. As more and more metal treasures were thrown into the quagmire, the quagmire lost its previous violent vitality.

Seeing the quagmire that could no longer move violently, Drake resolutely took advantage of this good opportunity to snatch the Green Light Gem protected by the quagmire into his hands.

The moment the Green Light Gem was in his hand, Drake felt a softness. When feeling those soft substances at close range, he felt his own body also changing in response.

His body was twisting unnaturally, out of control, as if something was about to run out of his body.

In addition, Drake also discovered a horrifying fact: although the softness in his hand could not be seen as a clear entity, and a green hue covered the original appearance of the Green Light Gem, when he touched it, he felt as if he heard countless little things whispering and cursing him, and the Green Light Gem seemed to have a heartbeat.

This Green Light Gem, it's actually alive?!