Chapter 190 40. Wonderful encounter (still)
Dorian got close to the river. Although the time was shorter than he expected, he was not feeling well either. He kept losing his balance and stumbling and rolling on the thorny hillside. down. At this time, his face and hands were in tatters and bleeding, and the broken thorns were still stuck in his cheeks and chin. He had no time to pay attention to these trivial injuries, for the light was fading and the sun was setting.
Unfortunately, as Dorian got closer to the river, the bushes became thicker and thicker, so dense that it was impossible to move through. He stood for a while, watching the river flow by, and suddenly made a decision. He drew out his sword and tested the depth of the water. After finding that the water was not too deep, he stepped into the torrent that was as deep as his knees and began to move upstream cautiously.
An hour passed and the sky began to darken. Dorian struggled with the rapids. He was already very tired, and his calves and feet were numb from the cold. He rounded another bend in the river, and there was another sharp turn in the river ahead.
Rising from the narrow stretch of land where the river made a sharp bend was a broad black barrier against the leaden sky. It was a huge old black willow tree, standing tall on the river bank. Even at this distance, Dorian could see a mass of twisted roots spreading like a tangled web into the icy water.
Dorian felt like he was freezing to death and struggled to hold back his screams of pain as the icy water stung his thighs. I forced myself to stop and think about the terrain carefully. After a moment of thinking, it became obvious that there was no good solution. Thick bushes along the river bank obscured the land beyond, and he could see the tops of the trees but not what was below. He could only move slowly, so as not to make more noise than the river itself, toward the peculiar willow tree.
Night had fallen as Dorian approached. The willow trees glowed in the dark night, as if emitting a malevolent aura. He smelled a smell wafting in the wind, the smell of rotting flesh, coming from the willow tree. Then the wind picked up, and he realized that the branches of the willow tree were not swaying in the breeze, but seemed to be crouching there motionless, like a predator waiting for its next meal.
The closer Dorian got to the willow tree, the louder the sound of running water became. Under the moonlight, he could see traces of foam and churning water whirlpools on the downstream side of the willow tree. The rushing water is forced through the tangled roots, creating strange countercurrents.
"No wonder this witch can eat people." Dorian estimated that there would also be a turbulent whirlpool on the upstream side. After thinking for a while, he decided to enter from the downstream side.
Dorian soon discovered that the closer he got to the willow tree, the deeper the water became until he was forcing himself to wade through the water above his waist. The water hit him first in one direction, then the other, trying to spin him around. He forced himself closer and closer to the willow until he could finally lunge forward and grab hold of a thick root.
"Like rotten meat! Cold rotten meat!" The smooth and sticky skin gave him a strange touch, and Dorian shuddered in disgust.
Using the slimy roots as support, Dorian began to explore deep into the roots. Soon he was up to his neck in the icy water, roots bringing him closer and closer to the surface. He may have entered the roots of the tree, and he was completely engulfed in this maze. As he continued deeper, he was surprised to find a pale green light glowing from inside, glowing like the mold of a tomb and providing faint illumination.
After a few minutes, Dorian came to a place where he was blocked by a thick tree root wider than his leg. The only way out was to swim under the thick roots, and for the first time, the thought stopped his thoughts. He felt that the damp air smelled like a crypt where the dead were buried, and an atmosphere of fear hung over him like a shroud.
"I didn't come this far just to drown under a damn old tree!" Dorian was a little angry. The purpose of coming here was not to let his followers be eaten by those savage guys. Thinking of this, he bowed down directly. The body swam through the roots of the big tree.
But the underwater space was much narrower than Dorian imagined, barely enough to support his head. He reluctantly took a breath, but he exhaled again, and the biting cold made him take another breath. Vaguely aware that the cramped space was lit by green mold. He filled his lungs with air and dived again, propelling himself forward.
"Further!" Dorian's head hit a stretchy tree root, and he tried his best to push himself lower and farther, his hands pressing against the mess above his head.
"Go back?" Dorian's lungs began to burn, and he resisted the panic.
The tree roots bent downwards sharply, with no end in sight, and Dorian's chest turned from burning to pain. It was all he could do not to open his mouth and gasp for air that wasn't there.
Dorian turned around, struggling to keep his bearings in the darkness, when suddenly his ears were filled with a slow, painful groan. The entire tree roots around him moved, the water moved with them, and a powerful force suddenly pulled him up. He rolled in the whirlpool and hit a tree root as hard as iron. His hands and feet were caught in loops and sharp turns, his ears were ringing, and the last breaths from his lungs burst out in trickles from his mouth and nose.
"I will not give in to fear!" Dorian's eyes suddenly opened in the chaos. The severe pain and numbness made him blink violently. He caught a glimpse of green light ahead. This time he clung to it like a drowning man, with all his strength.
Dorian's head surged out of the churning water, the sickly sweet smell of putridity filling the air, and he began to pant violently, sucking the foul smell into his lungs.
Suddenly, a pair of cold, rotten hands grabbed Dorian's throat, and his eyes widened in shock. The light did not come from the mold, but from the figure of a woman.
The rotting skin sagged like melted wax on the woman's bones, which darkened with age like dead tree bark. Most of her hair was gone, and beneath her shriveled cheeks, her lips had completely rotted away, leaving only a deathly snarl and struggle. Her eye sockets were empty, but Dorian could still see the burn scars around the edges and the rusty iron collar around her withered neck. The woman said nothing and pushed Dorian down with hatred, until the sound of surging water sounded in Dorian's ears. She is not strong, but she seems to have a strange magic about her, and she is tireless. Dorian struck at her rotting arm, feeling the bones bend like tree roots. Dorian's strength was rapidly draining away, and her bony fingers relentlessly tightened around Dorian's neck.
"Let me go! I'm not those mountain people. I'm Druchi from Naggarond, not those shadows that make you blind! Save my life!" Desperate Dorian held the woman's hand. , until he could draw out a faint breath.
In that terrible second, nothing happened, but it was extremely long for Dorian. Then there was another muffled groan, and he felt his surroundings change again. The churning water calmed down, and the hand holding his throat loosened at an eerie slowness.
Freed, Dorian began to stride backwards, putting as much space between himself and the woman as possible. He was in a hollow of sorts, probably in the heart of a tree, where the walls, ceiling and floor were a network of sturdy roots.
Dozens of skeletons were pieced together, and the stench of decay filled the air, coating Dorian's nostrils and throat. He felt as if his hand touched something and sank into a soft, pulpy mush. Gel-like bodily fluids oozed from around his splayed fingers. He turned around to find his hand buried in the stomach of a dead Shadow, and he pulled his hand out of the mess with a disgusted frown.
The chief's eldest son, like the other victims, was stretched out against the roots of a tree. Under the tattered throat hangs the ruby Extinguishing Phoenix Binding Curse, and the Asuryan emblem engraved on it is still vivid.
Dorian turned to face the woman, his mind racing wildly. It is clear that the woman was a former hate-filled slave who escaped her captors only to fall blindly into the river and die under a willow tree. He looked over the woman's rotting body, and he could tell from the tattered katan that the woman was wearing that she had once been a noble.
In the hazy light and shadow, the tree roots seemed to penetrate the woman's body in dozens of places. It was difficult to tell where the willow tree ended and the woman began. The willow tree and the woman had become one.
"Listen to me, even when I walk out of your room, another son of the chief will be waiting nearby and kill me. He plans to make slaves of my warriors, just like he enslaved you. I want to watch him A painful death, and I will gladly leave him in your hands. If you will allow me to leave here with the binding spell around this body's neck, I will hand him and his men over to you. As a person with you, The same Druchi noble, I swear to you!" Dorian said hoarsely.
The dark water lapped at the tree roots gently, insects crawled on the rotting corpse of the leader's eldest son, and the woman's empty eyes stared at Dorian silently for a long time.
Suddenly the roots moved again, stretching and contracting, pushing Dorian inexorably toward the woman.
When the movement finally stopped, the woman stood less than ten centimeters away from Dorian, pointing a tree-like finger at Dorian's heart. Dorian knelt on the ground and screamed in pain.
After a while, the cold air fell from above. Dorian looked up and saw a passage opening at a slight angle, leading to the dark sky outside. With the crunching of sinew and skin, the woman silently pointed upward.
"Your wish is my command, my lady!" Dorian lowered his head to the woman and said with a cruel smile.
The hanging branches and long black tendrils of the willow tree formed a curtain. Dorian hid the sword. When everything was ready, he turned and ran out.
"I know you are there! I got the binding spell!" Dorian shouted, sounding tired and hurt. He took a few more steps and fell to his knees.
Soon, the leader's second son and his men met a cruel fate, but the curse on Dorian's heart still existed.
"The statue, the binding curse, Dorian's curse, there are good things in that woman, and the black willow tree is definitely a treasure from heaven and earth!"
While Darkus was still thinking about Dorian's story, there was a sudden sound outside the cave. .
(End of chapter)