Chapter 144: Corridor Drift, Shepherd Pursued

A strange stillness pervaded the Thorn Corridor. Only the order-energy flowing within the vine walls emitted a low hum like blood coursing through veins, and Lei En's faint, labored breathing. The faint scent of grass and trees in the air wove together with a trace of elusive decay, forming a contradictory and heavy atmosphere.

Xiang Lingna leaned against the cold, gnarled thorn wall, exhaustion seeping into her very bones, yet her mind was wound tight from the earlier danger and the thought-transmission from the Thorn Corridor. She dared not relax her attention on Lei En's wounds. The jade fragment kept radiating a gentle emerald glow, like the most precise purification instrument, dispelling drop by drop the dark-green corrosive toxin that had seeped into his body. Lei En's complexion was still a sickly blue-white, but his breathing seemed to have steadied by a thread; the most lethal toxin had been temporarily held back from spreading.

Her right hand rested on her drawn-up knee. The dark-purple root-like veins coiling along her arm lay dormant, suppressed by the Thorn Corridor's relatively pure life aura, but the cold claw-mark brand on the back of her hand was like a venomous thorn embedded in bone, radiating a chilling, deathly stillness, constantly reminding her of the Doctor's ever-present threat.

"The veins of the forest… the pain of being eroded…" Xiang Lingna repeated softly the thought-transmission from the Thorn Corridor. She tried to sink her spirit deeper into this passage, to feel its "pulse." Her fingertips lightly touched the thorn vines beside her, which flowed with a faint halo; a rough, cold texture came back to her, yet within them there truly was a weary yet tenacious vitality. This vitality was being slowly devoured by an invisible dark-purple energy clinging like a maggot on bone; certain parts of the vines had already developed faint dark patches resembling rust.

She tried to channel the power of the jade fragment, injecting a wisp of pure life aura into the vine she touched. Hiss—! Like clear spring water flowing into a dried-up riverbed, the dark patch on that section of vine seemed to be washed slightly fainter, and the flowing halo grew a touch brighter! A faint, grateful pulse came from the vine.

"It really works!" Joy rose in Xiang Lingna's heart. Though the effect was slight, it proved her guess! The jade fragment's power could purify and strengthen this Thorn Corridor! This might be the key to their survival—to finding a way out!

Yet the joy was quickly diluted by the pressing weight of reality. She felt it clearly: the "ground" beneath her feet was moving! Not trembling, but the entire Thorn Corridor, like a great python swimming through an ocean of space, was slowly and steadily changing direction! Where did it lead? When would it drift near dangerous territory again? Completely unknown!

What tightened her heart even more was that the claw-mark brand on her arm would occasionally send a thread of extremely faint, yet bone-chilling throbbing! As if in some far, distant corner of space, something was following the brand's aura, tracking, watching! The Doctor? Or… those Rot-Pastors?

"I must find an exit as soon as possible, or… stabilize the corridor!" Xiang Lingna resolved. She could not sit and wait for death. She carefully settled the unconscious Lei En on a relatively flat root, making sure the fragment's light kept shining on him. Then she stood, one hand gripping the fragment, the other bracing against the cold thorn wall, and began to explore along the corridor's "downstream" direction.

The corridor was not straight, but winding and twisting, like the roots of a giant tree. Some places were wide, others barely let a single person squeeze through sideways. The vines on all four walls coiled and twisted into grotesque shapes. Xiang Lingna walked with extreme caution, her spirit highly focused; the fragment's light, like a searchlight, swept the dim passage ahead. She had to be on guard against possible danger, and at the same time constantly sense the Thorn Corridor's condition, searching for possible spatial nodes or weak points.

After walking for what felt like an eternity, the passage ahead seemed to widen a little. The scent of decay in the air also seemed to grow a touch stronger. Alert rose in Xiang Lingna's heart, and the fragment's light focused forward.

At the end of the passage was a relatively spacious "node" area. The thorn vines here were thicker, but the erosion was also far worse! Large swathes of vines had turned a deathly gray-black, their flowing halo extremely dim. And at the center of the node area, the ground was no longer made of roots, but a small patch of churning, viscous dark-purple mire! From the mire, several dark-green plants with even more twisted forms, radiating a strong stench of decay, were growing wildly; their roots plunged deep into the mire, seemingly greedily drawing on the corrupted energy and channeling it into the corridor's veins!

This corrupted node, like a poisonous tumor parasitic on the corridor's heart, was one of the sources of the erosion!

The very instant Xiang Lingna discovered the corrupted node—

Hum!

The claw-mark brand on her arm flared violently! A surge of intense thought, brimming with greed and malice, pierced into her mind like a venomous arrow crossing space!

"Found… you… key…"

"Corrupted… core… offer…"

It was the voice of the Rot-Pastor chieftain! They could actually lock onto her position through the brand, and even… project vague thoughts?!

Xiang Lingna's face changed drastically! Almost the instant the Rot-Pastor's thought came through, the dark-purple mire at the center of the corrupted node churned violently! The dark-green buds atop those twisted plants in the mire burst open in a flash! From the stamens, instead of pollen, they spewed great clumps of dark-green spore clouds, radiating intense psychic interference and a stench of corrosion! These spore clouds, as if alive, rapidly spread and surged toward Xiang Lingna to engulf her!

At the same time, the thorn vines around the corrupted node seemed to have been activated with hostility; several thick vines covered in dark-purple patches rose like venomous snakes, their tips splitting open to reveal fanged maws dripping with corrosive slime, and lashed viciously at Xiang Lingna!

The Rot-Pastor chieftain could actually control this corrupted node from afar! A trap! This was a trap aimed at her!