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墨書 Inktalez
Just as I was about to be completely pulled in, suddenly, a hand grabbed my shoulder and yanked me upward. It felt like a drowning person finally grasping a lifeline; I instinctively clung to that hand, terrified it might let go halfway. My vision rewound like a film on fast reverse, the swirling vortex began to spin rapidly counterclockwise, making me dizzy and nauseous, my stomach churning violently.
Old Qiao's voice came through muffled, as if he were wearing a thick mask. “Damn it, stop pulling… let go!”
I was puzzled, groggily opening my eyes to find myself with my legs dangling over a branch shaped like a person. One hand clutched the trunk above me while the other gripped Old Qiao’s hand tightly, draining the color from his knuckles.
I gasped and quickly released my grip. Old Qiao shook his hand in pain, grimacing, but he didn’t dare move too much on the tree. The pain had nowhere to escape, twisting his facial expression further. My mind was foggy, filled with confusion and guilt. As I watched the blood return to Old Qiao's hand, I finally asked, “What just happened? I clearly saw a green withered hand resting on my shoulder…”
Old Qiao covered his hand and gritted his teeth. “What green hand? The moment you saw me, you started pulling me—where did this green hand come from?”
I paused, wondering if I had just imagined it. But that dizzy feeling had been so real.
“Ah, forget it; maybe I really did see things. This tree is seriously creepy; we should leave as soon as possible.” I swiftly cut through the vines entangled behind Old Qiao’s back and looked around. “This cliff is too steep; unless we can turn into geckos, climbing up is impossible. We can only descend along this tree and look for A Li. If we reach the bottom and there’s no way out, we can use my junior brother's Wu Si lotus head to lower ourselves down. I refuse to believe this cliff has no bottom!”
Old Qiao nodded in agreement. We both looked up at our junior brother, who seemed to be dawdling above without making any noise. Given his usual temperament, he would have lost patience by now after all this time; it was strange that he could hold out for so long.
I called out in a rough voice, “Dui, stop playing around and come down!” For some reason, I felt like Dui was now much farther away from me than before, edging further back along the cliff.
Considering my past issues with vision, I asked Old Qiao to take a look. He stared for a few seconds and said, “Damn it, I hadn’t noticed that before! Plus, with all these leaves blocking the view, it’s hard to see clearly. How about we go up and check? No offense intended, but Dui not responding is quite unusual. If there’s something wrong, at least we won’t have come here for nothing; if there’s nothing wrong, then everyone will be happy when we bring Dui along.”
I thought about it and agreed. I reminded Old Qiao to stay close behind me and only step where I had already been. Although Old Qiao moved slowly alongside me, we made good progress and soon reached the nearest tree trunk beside our junior brother.
I saw my junior brother hanging upside down from a tree, his face turning a dark red, veins of bloodshot glaring in his eyes, and his eyelids twitching uncontrollably. He looked anything but amused.
The place that couldn't trap me certainly couldn't hold my junior brother either. Besides, this was just a false alarm; his behavior was truly bizarre.
However, now wasn't the time to dwell on these issues—saving him was the priority. I pulled out my staff, ready to "unbind" him, when Old Qiao tugged at my sleeve, signaling me to look behind.
Following Old Qiao's gaze, I gasped in shock. My junior brother's back was covered in palm-sized dark green leaves. The direction of those leaves was strange; it looked as if they were growing out of his back rather than crawling up from outside. At first glance, it resembled a giant green-skinned frog, sending chills down my spine.
I reached out to push aside the leaves on my junior brother's waist to see if they had already embedded themselves into his flesh. But just as my hand extended, Old Qiao stopped me. He shook his head and cautiously broke off a bare branch from the trunk beneath us. He poked it toward my junior brother's waist, and immediately the branch was completely ensnared by the leaves. If Old Qiao hadn't reacted quickly and released his grip in time, he would have been caught too.
I was utterly astonished and dared not speak too loudly. "What is going on?"
Old Qiao stroked his chin thoughtfully, his gaze sharp. "This is the real Bloodsucking Tree. Once anything touches it, it will be tightly ensnared until all its blood is drained."
A chill ran down my spine. "What should we do? What about my junior brother?" Cold sweat broke out all over me as panic set in.
Old Qiao placed a reassuring hand on my shoulder. "Calm down for now. A tree thrives on its environment; if something were going to happen, it would have happened long ago. I believe our previous analysis still holds some value. This Bloodsucking Tree is merely a Spider Web meant to trap prey; the real spider is still behind it. Look at him—his complexion is rosy and shiny, almost healthier than both of us combined! He doesn't look like someone about to be drained dry."
I glanced at Old Qiao's face and then at my junior brother's; it did seem that way, so I breathed a temporary sigh of relief. "Then let's figure out how to turn him right side up. If that pig brain of his swells any more, it'll be bigger than a pig's head." At that moment, I vaguely saw my junior brother roll his eyes dramatically.
Old Qiao nodded and began searching for a way to help him. After looking around, he found that only the area above the waist in front was temporarily free of leaves and could be approached.
All our gear had been blown up in the van earlier; now we were left with just our staffs, Ze Zhang, a Safety Rope, and a compass.
I observed the environment around me. About five or six meters behind my junior brother was a nearly vertical cliff, which could serve as a support point.
An idea struck me. I took the Ze Zhang from my junior brother's waist and unfastened the carabiner from my Safety Rope. This equipment, originally from Germany, was incredibly sturdy; it could withstand being hacked at a hundred times with the sharpest dagger without breaking, and its safety rating justified its price. I secured it to the thickest part of my junior brother's belt and attached the other end to the Lotus Head Silk. This way, I wouldn't have to worry about Wu Si cutting through the belt. Soon, all I needed to do was throw the other end of the lotus head against the cliff face to secure it and adjust Wu Si's length, allowing my junior brother to be pulled horizontally.
While I was busy tying the knot with the Lotus Head Silk on my junior brother's belt, he was flaring his nostrils and his lips were moving without sound. From what I knew of him, he was undoubtedly worried that I might accidentally injure some important part of him, causing an immeasurable loss to his future romantic endeavors.
But life is strange; the more you fear something, the more likely it is to happen. However, I, Qian Yi, swear it was not intentional. Just as I was tying Wu Si, the Eight-Clawed Lotus Head suddenly opened, startling me so much that I reflexively let go. In that split second, about eight pounds of Ze Zhang came crashing down right on my junior brother's most sensitive area. He let out a horrifying scream from deep in his throat, sounding like a final cry before death. My goodness, it sent chills down my spine and left me at a loss for what to do. "I'm sorry! I'm really sorry! It was just a slip of the hand..."
At that moment, Old Qiao suddenly shouted, "Oh no!"
I turned to look and saw that the opened Eight-Clawed Lotus Head had actually caught onto a leaf behind my junior brother. Instantly, that green ink-like leaf spread out and wrapped around him completely.
My heart sank; I was in a complete panic, feeling worse than if I had wrapped up Zongzi. Without waiting for anyone to say another word or exchange another glance, my junior brother suddenly retreated quickly as if an invisible hand was pulling him madly toward the cliff.
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