Chapter 124: Roots Whisper, Emerald Prisoner

Rotting roots surged in from all directions like countless starving pythons! The writhing wall of vines closed in with a teeth-grinding crunch, and darkness swallowed the last sliver of light like a tangible tide! The cloying stench of decay and clouds of spores flooded the cramped space!

Despair! Utter despair!

"No—!" Wrench let out a death rattle, the metal wrench with its "Survival Arm" smashing wildly at the oncoming roots, but it was like a mayfly trying to topple a tree, leaving only shallow white marks on the hardened, rotted wood. Xiang Lingna clutched the unconscious Lin Mo tightly, her little face buried against her brother's charred chest, her body trembling violently with fear.

Copper Whiskers struggled to get up, but the tearing agony and searing heat from his crystallized severed arm nearly made him pass out, every breath tinged with the taste of blood. Uncle Suolin leaned back against the ever-pressing vine wall, his silver-grey eyes filled with helplessness, his bowstring already snapped, his strength spent.

Roots coiled around Wrench's ankles and dragged him hard to the ground! More roots surged toward Xiang Lingna and Lin Mo!

At this critical, hair-raising moment—

Hmm!

An extremely faint yet unusually clear emerald-green light blazed suddenly from between Xiang Lingna's fingers pressed tight against Lin Mo's chest!

It was the Heart of Jade fragment!

The fragment seemed to sense Xiang Lingna's absolute terror and her fierce will to protect Lin Mo, and also sensed the overwhelmingly thick power of decay around them, and lit up on its own! The gentle yet resilient emerald light, like a tiny bubble, instantly enveloped Xiang Lingna and Lin Mo within it!

Sizzle sizzle sizzle—!

The rotting roots that touched this emerald light recoiled violently as if burned, letting out agonized hisses! Where the light covered, the surging stench of decay was driven back, forming a small, relatively safe "cleared zone"!

"The fragment! It's the fragment!" Xiang Lingna cried out in surprise, as if seizing the last lifeline! She instinctively focused more of her spirit on the fragment, trying to maintain and expand the range of this light.

As Xiang Lingna's will concentrated, the light of the jade fragment seemed to stabilize a fraction, and the cleared zone expanded slightly, barely covering the struggling Wrench and the nearby Copper Whiskers as well. The rotting roots writhed and hissed madly outside the light, but for the moment could not breach this pure protection originating from the ancient elven core.

Temporarily safe. But the price was tremendous pressure. Xiang Lingna's little face quickly went pale; maintaining this light was an enormous drain on her, like holding up a thousand-pound weight.

"Girl... hold on..." Copper Whiskers leaned against the edge of the light, gasping, the searing pain of his severed arm making even his voice tremble. He looked at the wildly dancing roots outside the light, then at the fragment with its flowing light in Xiang Lingna's hand, and a flash of resolve crossed his single eye. "Uncle Suolin... the power of the fragment... can it reach... deep within Wang Ting?"

Uncle Suolin stared intently at the fragment, feeling the familiar and pure aura within it, his eyes glinting: "... Perhaps... we can try... it's part of the outpost's core... shares the same origin as Wang Ting's source... Xiang Lingna's natural affinity... is the bridge..."

"How do we do it?" Wrench panted heavily, his soul still unsettled.

"Xiang Lingna... hold the fragment... close your eyes... don't fear those... rotted voices... listen... to the calling... from deeper within..." Uncle Suolin's voice carried a guiding rhythm, "... feel that drumbeat... feel that emerald-gold light... imagine them... as... the forest's song..."

Xiang Lingna looked into Uncle Suolin's eyes, then at the unconscious Lin Mo in her arms, her little face tight with tension, but she still nodded firmly. She took a deep breath, gripped the warm jade fragment tightly in both hands, closed her eyes, and strove to sink her entire mind into it.

Blocking out the terrifying sounds of the roots writhing, blocking out the suffocating feel of the rotting stench, Xiang Lingna focused her spirit to feel the faint pulse deep within the fragment, to seek out the mournful, ancient drumbeat that pierced through layer upon layer of obstruction, to catch that unyielding point of emerald-gold light deep within Wang Ting...

At first, only a cacophony of malicious whispers churned in her mind, as if countless rotting roots were hissing in her ears. Xiang Lingna's little face scrunched up, her body trembling slightly.

"Don't be afraid... pass through them... the forest awaits you..." Uncle Suolin's low voice was like a calming pill.

Xiang Lingna clenched her teeth, striving to imagine the beautiful forest Sister Liyana had described, imagining sunlight and clear springs... gradually, those rotted whispers seemed to be separated by a layer of warm halo. She "heard" it! That muffled drumbeat, like the heartbeat of the earth, grew clearer! She "saw" it! That point of emerald-gold light, like a lighthouse in the darkness, radiated a warm and resilient summons!

She tried to transform her own will, through the jade fragment, into a faint signal filled with prayer, and cast it toward the source of that drumbeat and light...

The very instant Xiang Lingna's will established a faint connection with the existence deep within Wang Ting—

A sudden change occurred!

The entire root cage shook violently! Those wildly dancing rotting roots, as if struck by an invisible force, instantly froze! The squeezing pressure around the emerald light shield also abruptly lessened!

Immediately after, a grand, ancient shard of will, filled with endless sorrow and fury, like floodwaters bursting a dam, surged along the connection Xiang Lingna had established and crashed violently into her mind!

【... Betrayal... Rotclaw... theft...】

【... Core... seal... shackles...】

【... Key... return... release... me...】

【... Jade... Heart... fragment... guide...】

Countless broken images and information flooded in instantly: the ancient elven Wang Ting bathed in sacred moonlight; dark purple corruption gushing up from underground like a plague; fierce battles, the wailing of giant trees; an emerald-gold orb of light wrapped and imprisoned in countless dark purple chains within a massive crystal; and... a larger Heart of Jade core suspended before the orb, its shape a perfect match for the fragment in Xiang Lingna's hand!

The core will of Wang Ting had been sealed and imprisoned by the power of Rotclaw! And it had sensed the fragment in Xiang Lingna's hand and sent out a distress signal! It needed the key—the complete Heart of Jade core—to break the seal and shackles!

"The core... is sealed... needs a key... the fragment is a waymark..." Xiang Lingna's eyes snapped open, her little face pale as paper from receiving such vast information, her voice filled with shock and urgency, "It's... in the direction of Moon Tear Lake! The core area of Wang Ting! It's telling us... to go find it!"

A clue! The only clue to survival!

However, before the group could digest this astonishing information—

Hmm!

The entire root cage shook violently once more! This time, instead of lessening the pressure, it contracted even more savagely! Those frozen rotting roots began to twist madly again, and grew even thicker, even more grotesque! On the surface of the roots, countless fine runes flowing with dark purple energy appeared! A will far colder than before and far more filled with malice descended!

It was the Doctor! He had detected Xiang Lingna's brief communication with the Wang Ting core! He was no longer content with slowly crushing them to death, but intended to utterly smash this last spark and the "key" that might threaten his plans!

On the walls of the root cage, countless sharp, spear-like spikes of rotted wood slowly formed, aimed at everyone inside the emerald light shield! A terrifying aura of destruction instantly locked onto every single person!

"It's over... the Doctor... has stepped in personally..." Wrench closed his eyes in despair.

The light of the jade fragment in Xiang Lingna's hand, under the suppression of the Doctor's will, began to flicker violently and dim!

The true killing blow descended!