The eccentric doctor never makes a misdiagnosis!

Page 141

A long-coveted evil offspring of the Abyss stretched out its tentacles from the shadows behind her, about to wrap around her ankle in an instant.

It couldn't wait to tear fresh flesh into its mouthparts.

Due to its abundant spirituality, its body was much larger than that of its kind seen outside, almost bloated. But it was still fast; its scaly talons had already reached Fran's ankle in the blink of an eye, and it was about to drag him away.

Before the evil creature in the abyss could put its hunting plans into practice, Haida's power sword had already pierced its skull.

Although it had grown larger and become more resilient, it was now pinned to the ground from top to bottom by the power sword "Nirvana," unable to move.

"My new socks..."

Fran squinted and sighed softly, then lifted his heel and touched his ankle.

The black winter socks were now stained with the slime and blood from the evil offspring's tentacles, and were still dripping down. Although the slime from the Abyss Evil Creatures had paralyzing toxicity, it wouldn't take effect unless it came into contact with wounds or mucous membranes.

Fran roughly wiped away the slime with a few sterile towels before turning his gaze to the brand-new corpse of the evil offspring.

"There are also evil offspring from the Abyss within the Sanctuary... it's quite an unexpected find. Unlike the Central Library, this place isn't as urgent, so we can dissect it in detail to take a closer look..."

As she spoke, she licked her lips with a hint of excitement and began an impromptu dissection with a bone-setting scalpel from her medicine box.

The inscription on the Spirit Bone Willow Leaf Blade, bearing the inscription "Three Five ±∈", flickered slightly, and the mirror-like blade immediately glowed with intense white heat. Fran quickly pierced through its body's scales, revealing its blood-soaked interior.

"Twelve pairs of ribs. A stomach, a pair of lung lobes... very distinct human features."

The creature from the Abyss resembles a mollusk of the Octopus family and should theoretically lack bodily structures like bones and lungs. However, the current situation is... it possesses all the organs that humans should have.

Fran even dug out a blood-soaked, broken skull from the center of its head.

"Without a doubt, this evil creature from the Abyss was once human, just like those extra banyan-like creatures outside."

She lightly twirled the scalpel between her fingers, seemingly still wanting more.

Looking at the body of the evil heir, which had been dissected into a complete human skeleton, Haida couldn't help but think about some unclear situations from before.

Both mimics and evil offspring are partly transformed from humans. However, not every one of the massive number of banyan-beard mimics in the Central Library bled; most of them were hollow.

Even excluding mimics transformed from humans, their number far exceeds ten. In other words…

Albert's initial statement that "there will be no more than ten mimics" was a complete lie.

Just then, Vivian, who had been silent for a long time, spoke up.

“Ms. Flamel, there is a well-preserved library tower ahead. And... it is the tallest building in this underground ruin.”

She raised one hand to shield her eyes, sharing her view with the callbirds patrolling the sky.

In Mu Ning's eyes, a still-intact, towering spire stood amidst the ruins. So dazzling, like a candle in the night, it was impossible to ignore.

Upon hearing this, Fran slowly curved a meaningful smile onto his lips.

“Very good...it seems we will be the first to reach our destination.”

　Zhong qun: Jiu ≡'Shuang" \er Sanlin——

-

(Ahem, only 3k should go unnoticed, right?)

Chapter Thirty-Six: Aphids During Pregnancy

The central tower of the Old Sanctuary stands at the very center of the entire ruins, its strange and bizarre shape resembling a wedge inserted into an otherwise harmonious and orderly structure, making it extremely eye-catching.

Suddenly, the sound of shoes stepping on dust and gravel rang out.

The two sons of the tree staggered along the dilapidated street. Albert's thick coat was torn in many places, and his breathing was hurried and labored.

He was seriously injured in the initial fall, but fortunately Nigel used the Banyan Beard Technique to create several buffer nets, which saved his life.

"Albert, just a little longer, we're almost there. The tower of the Old Sanctuary is not far away."

Nigel walked steadily beside him, his eyes alertly scanning their surroundings in case of any dangerous emergencies.

On their way here, the two had already encountered several evil creatures from the Abyss. No one knew why these obviously non-native creatures would appear in a distant foreign land.

Fortunately, they lie dormant in the ruins year-round, so they do not have the habit of gathering in groups.

If they come one by one, the threat posed by these evil offspring is within a manageable range.

"Yes. Don't worry about me." Albert raised his hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead, his eyes revealing a hint of determination.

The once young and fair-skinned son of the sapling now had his face covered in mottled ash. His wounds had only been simply bandaged. But he didn't seem to care; on the contrary, his eyes shone with a high-spirited excitement.

“I can already hear the whispers of the ancient relics echoing in my ears.”

Albert slowly exhaled.

His psychic awareness was now highly activated, almost merging with the vast sanctuary. The second-class arcane art, [Wood Manipulation], which originally required the recitation of prayers, could now be activated with simple natural language, or even a single thought.

Along the way, the two encountered several evil creatures from the abyss, but now they have all turned into broken corpses covered with banyan tendrils.

“There were footsteps besides ours…there were other people around.”

Through the profound expansion of his psychic awareness, Albert's observational abilities were also enhanced to an almost substantial degree.

He suddenly looked at the shadow at the end of the road, a glimmer of fluorescent green light appearing in his eyes.

There were two people slowly advancing. Judging from their height and build, they should be two exorcists from the White Cup Order.

"I never expected to meet the sons of Suki here."

Terence stroked the ancient gold thread ornaments on his gloves, his expression indifferent, his tone flat and cold. His true state of mind was difficult to fathom.

"I thought you would stay hidden until we found the sacred object and then seize the spoils... Ha, aren't you going to offer any explanation? Why did the prayer that opened the door cause the ground to collapse?"

"And then there was that abnormally large number of mimics in the library... You assured us before we entered that there wouldn't be more than ten of them."

Faced with his questioning, Albert lowered his head slightly, looking somewhat guilty.

"I'm sorry, Professor Terence."

"My knowledge of the library's contents mostly comes from documents within the cult, and there may be discrepancies between them and the actual situation."

He shrugged slightly to indicate that he meant no harm, and then began to explain further.

"The ritual array for opening the door was engraved on the floor. Perhaps too much time had passed, and something went wrong when it was activated... which led to the collapse."

"As for those figurative banyan roots..."

Albert looked somewhat puzzled at this point.

The image of blood gushing out as Haida tore those humanoid creatures apart with her sword flashed through his mind again.

“Some of those creatures are not Ficus-beard mimics, but ‘evil offspring.’ True mimics are bloodless and fleshless, while those that bleed… are all transformed from humans. Perhaps they are survivors of the old sanctuary, or perhaps historians who came to explore later.”

"Um……"

Terence narrowed his eyes and pondered for a moment.

He had to admit that Albert's statement was indeed logically sound. If everything was as the other party said, then Suki no Ko shouldn't bear any responsibility for what happened before...

After all, everyone is a victim of unexpected events.

"Okay, I accept your explanation."

After much deliberation, Terence did not pursue the matter further.

The non-aggression pact between the two parties remains valid, and there is currently no irrefutable evidence to justify a falling out.

“But… Mr. Albert, your current state isn’t exactly ideal. Uncontrolled expansion of psychic awareness can easily lead to a loss of mental control. If you don’t want to become like those external things, you’d better control yourself.”

Clearly, he had noticed the visible spiritual radiance emanating from the son of the tree.

"That was the ancient banyan tree calling to me, not a malicious mental intrusion." - lin

Albert's expression showed a hint of excitement, but he quickly regained his composure under the suppression of reason.

"...No need to worry, my psychic awareness is still under control."

"Better so."

Terence squinted, carefully examining his condition. Only after confirming that he showed no obvious signs of losing control did he nod slightly.

Even so, he still had the sons of Suju walk at the front of the procession. This way, if the two did anything unusual, he could react immediately.

“By the way, you two.” Albert’s eyes narrowed slightly, as if he had thought of something.

"Did you see Ms. Flamel and the others on the way? They also fell into the sanctuary ruins, but we didn't see them along the way..."

Upon hearing this, Child shook his head, looking somewhat dejected.

"They fell directly to the bottom level, and we haven't found them here. There are also no signs of battle or falling nearby."

“I see…” Albert sighed, not pursuing the topic any further.

After a moment, Nigel spoke, breaking the silence.

"The main tower of the Old Sanctuary is just ahead. If they survived the fall, they should have gone there too. That Secret Court agent carries a Calling Bird, which makes it very convenient for him to scout the environment."

“We’ll wait here for a while. If they don’t come during this time… then we’ll go into the main tower, take the relics, and then go back and search carefully.”

He didn't seem to be in a hurry; he even picked up a few broken bricks and started a campfire.

"That's all."

Terence nodded. Then the group set up a makeshift camp for resting near the main tower of the old sanctuary.

During the two-hour break, nothing happened. Fran and his group did not appear, and neither the Banyan Beard Mimic nor the Abyss Evil was attracted by the firelight.

So calm...surprisingly calm.

Terence stared intently in the direction he had come from the entire time, but until the very last moment, he saw no sign of anyone appearing.

"It's time for us to go."

He loaded the copper-cased bullets into his revolver one by one, then put on the gold chain-like "Feast Hands," no longer intending to wait.

"Ah."

Although Albert was somewhat disappointed, he nodded in agreement.

"Let's leave some clear marks here. They should be able to see them if they follow us."

As he spoke, he manipulated several banyan branches nearby, transforming them into a makeshift road sign. ★'∪≌～‖∠

After making final preparations, the group entered the broken and decaying doors of the main tower of the sanctuary.

……

The main tower of the old sanctuary was spacious and dark. It wasn't until Albert spiritually activated the surrounding ritual array that the lamps around it lit up with a faint green glow, barely dispelling the dense, impenetrable darkness.

Although the two sons of the Susanoo only knew the sanctuary's internal structure from the cult's documents, they navigated the sanctuary with a strange familiarity, as if divinely aided, skillfully avoiding all the undamaged defensive ritual formations.

"The array of this ritual is very similar to that of the [Palmated Body], but the specific patterns are quite different... It seems more chaotic and wilder."

Terence began to examine the exposed ritual trap.

Albert, clearly familiar with the ritual, then explained it to him in detail. After all... not everyone could show off their knowledge in front of Professor White Cup.

"This ritual is much older; it is the [Treeification Syndrome] from the Dust Order era. Once a living organism is invaded, it will be transformed into a branch of a banyan tree within ten minutes... Although it is still alive, it will lose all abilities, including the ability to think."

"The ritual has been preserved to this day because it was imbued with the spirit of the ancient banyan tree."

"I see."

Terence's expression was knowing.

Although he longed to make a copy of this unfamiliar ritual array, the current situation was clearly not suitable. After giving it one last, reluctant look, he continued forward into the main tower.

The main tower's interior area is not large, and most of its defensive mechanisms have long since been destroyed over time.

Therefore, under Albert's guidance, the entire group arrived at the deepest part where the sacred relics were stored without much hindrance.

The ancient banyan tree's white tendrils transform into layers of tassels like curtains; only by parting them can one see the simple yet ornate decorations inside the central church. Everything here is composed of gnarled and winding wooden branches.

Perfect, brand new, spotless. It's as if time has left no trace.

On the central altar, adorned with numerous light pink banyan blossoms, lies an exquisitely crafted sealed box.

Nigel's eyes gleamed with ecstasy. If it weren't for the presence of the White Cup Exorcist beside him, he probably would have immediately knelt down and prayed.

"The miracles of nature and mystery of the Dust Order Era, the prosperity and the metamorphosis of the Banyan Tree of Time—to be able to witness them firsthand is truly an unparalleled honor..."

“Albert, go open it.”

He looked gently at his colleagues beside him.

"it is good."