Chapter 356: Frozen Severed Limb

Xiao You… it's still alive? But it was swallowed by that terrifying being! What is it experiencing now?

An impotent anger and deep worry clenched Lin Yifan's heart.

Just then—

At the site of his left‑hand severed arm, the already cracked "ice crystal" seal, under the continual scour of the icy river water, finally shattered completely!

Sss!

The eerie azure starlight and dark‑gold scar that had enveloped it vanished instantly, and the blood long suppressed surged out as if finding an outlet! The intense pain blackened Lin Yifan's vision, nearly causing him to sink back into the water.

"Blood! Brother Yifan! It's bleeding again!" Ling Ling screamed in terror; she could feel Lin Yifan's life force draining rapidly.

Cold, blood loss, severe injury, rapids… each alone could be fatal.

Lin Yifan's consciousness began to blur, his paddling grew increasingly feeble, and his body slowly sank. The icy river water washed over his chin and poured into his mouth and nose…

Is it over? After struggling so long, in the end…

Just as his consciousness was about to be wholly devoured by darkness—

Mutation rebirth!

At the jagged, severed wound on his left wrist, after contacting the cold underground river water that contained some special mineral, the tiniest dark active residues of the Bloodsucking Vine, which had been hidden deep in flesh and not fully cleared by Xiao You's blood power, seemed to awaken their final instinct!

They could no longer reshape the vine bracelet, had no consciousness, only the most primal, most frantic… desire to survive and proliferate!

Sss sss sss—

Deep within the blood‑gushing wound on Lin Yifan's left shoulder, countless filaments finer than hair, forming dark‑red, granuloma‑like tissue, erupted like fungi drenched in a crazy growth agent!

They writhed, tangled, and interwove madly! Not to heal the wound, but to greedily devour the blood surging from Lin Yifan, using it as nourishment, and at a chilling speed they spread toward the severed arm!

Yet within just a few breaths, that terrifying gap was forcibly "covered" by a layer of constantly writhing, interlaced dark‑red granuloma! The bleeding was abruptly halted, but in its place emerged a horrific "severed limb" composed of countless frenzied, growing dark‑red granules, constantly twisting and morphing, a grotesque hybrid between plant and flesh!

This "severed limb" had no fixed shape; at times it resembled a cluster of writhing tentacles, at others it barely coalesced into a Rough limb form, its surface continuously secreting a viscous, corrosive dark‑red fluid, exuding a nauseating, sweet scent and a ferocious dark will that shared its origin with the Bloodsucking Vine!

"Ugh—aaah—!" Lin Yifan let out a wail even more mournful than when his arm was severed!

This was no longer mere pain, but a fear and repulsion rooted in the deepest instinct of life! He felt his flesh, his blood, his very soul being parasitized, eroded, and assimilated by some foreign, mad, dark entity!

This bizarre overgrowth seemed to drain the last of his internal energy; the agony and terror crashed over his fading consciousness like a tsunami.

However, after the frenzied dark‑red granules forcibly "sealed" the wound, their most instinctive drive to survive seemed to sense the host's impending death and the threat of the environment (the icy, rapid river).

They writhed, suddenly thrusting out several relatively thick, sharply tipped granule tendrils, as if possessing their own will, and jabbed fiercely into the nearest large object—a massive, heavily rusted metal wreck half‑submerged in the river! It seemed to be part of some ancient mechanism, its material unusually hard.

Clang! Sss—!

The granule tendrils crazily coiled and anchored onto the metal wreck like a ship's anchor, abruptly halting Lin Yifan's sinking in the rapids!

Meanwhile, the other granule tissues greedily siphoned the remaining flesh‑blood energy within Lin Yifan, sustaining this bizarre "symbiosis" and "anchoring".

Lin Yifan was suspended in the cold, rapid Dark River, held by that constantly writhing, life‑draining, horrific dark‑red "severed limb"; he did not sink to the bottom, yet he lost all ability to move. The excruciating pain, cold, parasitic terror, and the weakening from his life force draining felt like countless icy hands dragging him toward a hopeless abyss.

Ling Ling stared at the constantly writhing, morphing horror on Lin Yifan's left shoulder in sheer terror, nearly fainting, but she clutched his garment tightly, unwilling to let go for fear of being swept away by the current.

At the other end of the soul link, Xiao You's breath was so faint it was almost imperceptible, as if it could extinguish at any moment.

The underground Dark River rushed forward through endless darkness, its eerie azure moss like ghostly eyes, coldly watching the horrific, desperate scene in the water.

Lin Yifan's consciousness floated and sank in the painful tide, his final light about to be extinguished.

Just a second before he completely lost consciousness, the dark‑red granule severed limb, unable to draw more energy, slowed its writhing. Deep within its granule gaps, a faint, forcibly trapped speck of Xiao You's blood‑borne eerie azure starlight flickered weakly, like the last stubborn firefly in a storm.

Immediately, everything was again engulfed by darkness and pain.

Darkness, cold, excruciating pain, and a maddening sense of being parasitized, like an eternal curse, coiled around Lin Yifan's lingering consciousness.

He floated in the rapid Dark River like a corpse entangled by water spirits. At his left shoulder, the dark‑red granule "severed limb" formed from the Bloodsucking Vine residues clung greedily to the rusted metal wreck, anchoring his body while incessantly siphoning his already depleted life force.

Each twitch of the granules brought soul‑rending pain and bone‑deep terror. He could distinctly feel a dark, frenzied, destruction‑driven will crawling along the ever‑growing granules, slowly devouring his flesh and even attempting to corrupt his soul.

Ling Ling clung tightly to his right shoulder; the cold river made her shiver, her whimper drowned by the water's roar. She watched the constantly twisted horror on Lin Yifan's left shoulder, her eyes filled with helplessness and despair.

At the other end of the soul link, Xiao You's breath was as thin as a thread, intermittent, as if it could be completely erased at any moment within that terrifying presence's belly.

Dead end. A completely bottomless dead end.

Lin Yifan's consciousness bobbed in the painful waves, as if the next moment it would be utterly extinguished.

Yet, deep within this absolute darkness and despair, a faint, almost entirely overlooked odd sensation, like the last straw touched by a drowning person's fingertip, quietly emerged.

Is… light?

No, not visual light.

But a… perception? An extremely faint energy ripple with a strange affinity. It did not come from outside the body, but originated… from his left shoulder? From deep within that crazily writhing dark‑red granule?

Lin Yifan almost thought it was a near‑death hallucination. Yet the feeling grew clearer.

It was that speck of eerie azure starlight! The last fragment of the Vanishing Star of Silence power, sealed within Xiao You's blood, forcibly swallowed by the Bloodsucking Vine severed limb!

It hasn't vanished! It is like a diamond buried deep in sludge, stubbornly flashing a faint glow within this ultimate darkness and despair, within the maddening Bloodsucking Vine severed limb!

And it seems… attracted by something?

Lin Yifan gathered his last fragment of disintegrating consciousness and strained to "introspect" toward the horrific wound on his left shoulder.

He "saw"!

Deep within the constantly writhing, proliferating dark‑red granules, that speck of eerie azure starlight flickered extremely faintly, pulse by pulse. Each flash induced a minute, opposite, repulsive twitch in the granule tissue!

As if the power of that starlight conflicted fundamentally with the Bloodsucking Vine's dark proliferative nature!

What truly shook Lin Yifan's spirit was—the frequency of that eerie azure starlight's flickering subtly resonated with a distant… dark depth along the riverbank, an intangible presence's energy ripple, producing an extremely faint… resonance!

Like two distant stars in the endless void, emitting calls only the other could perceive!

It was… a spirit crystal? No, it felt entirely different! That resonance was older, more obscure, bearing a sense of… a Vanishing Star shared with Xiao You yet deeper and weightier!

It was something else! Something deeply buried in this underground world that could resonate with Xiao You's power!

This discovery was like a tiny spark cast into the endless dark abyss!

The will to survive, ignited by this spark, surged like a wildfire, instantly sweeping through Lin Yifan's collapsing consciousness!

Can't die! At least… can't die here! Not in this way!

That constantly writhing, life‑draining dark‑red flesh‑bud limb… it is now the most painful curse, yet it has also become the only tool he can rely on at this moment, connecting to the metal wreck that holds him in place!

A crazy and bold plan instantly formed in his mind!

He needs energy! Energy enough to temporarily suppress, even reverse‑use, this terrifying limb! Energy to head toward the direction that can resonate with the deep‑blue star ray!

His gaze suddenly snapped to Ling Ling, whom he had tightly cradled in the bend of his right arm!

"Ling Ling…" Lin Yifan's voice was hoarse to the point of being almost unintelligible; through his thoughts he transmitted his frantic plan piece by piece: "Watch me… forehead… mark… power… guidance… resonance… direction…"

Ling Ling lifted their head, the black‑shiny eyes full of confusion and fear, but they understood the near‑burning survival flame in Lin Yifan's eyes. They seemed to grasp something, a flash of resolve crossing their small face. They strained to concentrate, and the dim rune mark at the center of their forehead began, laboriously, strand by strand, to re‑condense a faint moonlight.

At the same time, Lin Yifan's intact right hand suddenly reached into the crude leather sack at his waist, long soaked by river water yet miraculously still whole — the place where he stores his most vital supplies!

He felt them! Several sharply edged, warm‑to‑the‑touch pieces — the highest‑quality spirit crystal fragments he had collected before! And… the core fragment obtained from a dark‑golden giant cocoon, containing pure dark energy!

Now!

A flash of wild, fierce light flashed in Lin Yifan's eyes!

He clenched those spirit crystals and dark core fragments in his right hand and, disregarding everything, slammed them hard onto the root of the constantly writhing dark‑red flesh‑bud limb on his left shoulder!

"Ugh—ahhh—!!!"

A pain more intense than any he had felt before erupted in an instant!

The pure bright life energy from the spirit crystal, the violent destructive energy from the dark core fragment, and the faint yet pure moon‑shadow fox primordial power guided by Ling Ling's forehead were, in a suicidal manner, simultaneously forced by Lin Yifan into the interior of the crazily proliferating Bloodsucking Vine limb!

It was no different from throwing ice water into boiling oil!

Sizzle—!!!

The dark‑red flesh‑bud tissue, like a living thing thrown into a steel‑melting furnace, twisted, convulsed, swelled, and even partially carbonized in a frenzy! The three mutually conflicting energies clashed violently inside, annihilating each other and erupting in a destructive turbulence!

This limb, sustained by a dark‑proliferation instinct, could not possibly endure this internally originated, fundamentally opposite‑type energy shock!

The tendril that anchored the metal wreck instantly loosened!

But just a heartbeat before it would completely collapse and backfire—

That speck of deep‑blue star ray hidden deep within the flesh‑bud core, as if struck by both the strong external resonance summons and the internal energy explosion, suddenly flared to life!

It was no longer a faint flicker, but burst forth a minuscule yet supremely pure, icy, void‑star ghost force!

This power, unlike the three chaotic energies Lin Yifan injected, seemed more like a… fuse? A… coordinate?

Buzz!

The deep‑blue star ray's power instantly triggered all the conflicting energies inside the flesh‑bud, not to harmonize but—in a nearly barbaric manner—forcefully twisting them into a single stream, then—toward the resonant dark direction, blasting out violently and uncontrollably!

Boom!

Lin Yifan's left shoulder seemed to explode! Dark‑red, milky‑white, pitch‑black, deep‑blue… a wildly unstable chaotic torrent of mixed energies surged violently from the limb's tip!

It was not an attack, but more like an… extremely terrible, agonizing… reverse thrust!

"Ah—!"

Lin Yifan and Ling Ling let out a wail at the same time!

Under the massive recoil, the flesh‑bud tendril that had wrapped the metal wreck shattered completely! Their bodies were struck as if by an invisible giant fist, instantly breaking free from the metal that had held them, and, propelled by this chaotic, raging energy flow, they surged toward the downstream of Dark River, toward the resonant dark direction, charging forward like an out‑of‑control torpedo!

The speed was extreme! Yet the process felt like a thousand cuts!

The mixed energy flow continuously burned and eroded Lin Yifan's body, especially around his left shoulder, which became almost a blur. Ling Ling kept their eyes tightly shut, enduring the massive shock.