Chapter 358: The Fountain of Youth (15)
Just as Everly had expected, Grant Megan successfully passed the third trial.
After she summoned the banyan tree and concealed herself behind it, she had been waiting for less than two minutes when an invisible ripple spread across the empty space not far away.
Immediately afterward, the air in that spot seemed to be sliced open by an invisible pair of scissors, suddenly splitting into a narrow crack. A blond man drenched in sweat stumbled out through the opening, breathing heavily as he stepped onto the ground.
It was none other than Grant Megan, having completed the trial!
Everly had initially expected him to appear alongside the Thorn Witch, since the two of them had been together every moment since they first encountered each other on the island. But after thinking about it, she realized that the assessment of one’s “merits” was relatively individualistic. Perhaps the two had been separated in the white world.
So, should she make her move against Grant?
Everly’s fingers lingered over the trigger of her pistol for a moment, but in the end, she decided against shooting.
All along, compared with the violent and flamboyant witch, Grant had made a very inconspicuous impression. He was like a shadow, or an exquisite yet fragile antique vase. Whenever something happened, he primarily relied on verbal communication and had never openly demonstrated his true strength.
Everly suspected that, compared with physically powerful, combat-oriented villains, Grant might be more of a highly intelligent villain who specialized in brainwashing and possessed an extraordinary charisma. Villains of this type generally weren’t particularly good fighters. Their way of making trouble for the protagonists was to confuse others with their words and manipulate them into charging into battle on their behalf.
Of course, considering that Grant was constantly changing bodies, he might possess some supernatural abilities as well. But his abilities were most likely auxiliary in nature. Otherwise, this villain would be far too overpowered.
So, if Everly launched a surprise attack on him here, with the true form of the Sacred Tree on her side, her chances of success would remain quite high even if Grant had some life-saving artifact on him.
The difficult part was what came after the ambush. Everly would need to dispose of the body and clean up the blood as quickly as possible. Otherwise, if the Thorn Witch also passed the trial and successfully emerged from the white world, she would discover Grant’s corpse and realize that Everly was here.
At that point, Everly wouldn’t just lose the advantage of having launched a surprise attack—she would also have to face the witch’s fury at losing her lover. Never forget that the Thorn Witch grew stronger through pain. Once she unleashed that power, Everly killing Grant wouldn’t bring her any benefit whatsoever. Instead, it would invite endless trouble.
On the other hand, if she spared Grant’s life, then after Everly and the witch got into a full-blown fight, she might even be able to use Grant as a hostage and turn the tables on the Thorn Witch…
Wait a second. Who exactly was the villain here?
Whatever. This was no time to worry about honor. She was fighting two against one. What was wrong with playing dirty?
After a fierce internal struggle, Everly ultimately decided to spare Grant for the time being and continue observing the situation.
As it turned out, her decision had been absolutely correct.
Not long after Grant appeared, another ripple passed through the air, and the Thorn Witch, Savannie, also emerged from a crack in space.
It was the first time Everly had ever seen Savannie looking so miserable.
Everly had no idea what the witch had gone through in the white space, but half of her body had transformed from flesh and blood into red thorns—including half of her beautiful face.
The bridge of her nose divided her face down the middle. The left side remained as bright and beautiful as ever, while the right side no longer even had skin. Red thorns crisscrossed one another, forming an internal framework. Between the gaps in the thorns was a bloodshot eyeball, along with two rows of white teeth, making what had once been a beautiful woman look particularly grotesque.
“Savannie, are you all right?” Seeing her condition, Grant immediately stepped forward and supported the witch from the side.
“It’s nothing serious. I just used up some flesh to build a path… You know, the items we carried with us disappeared in that special space, so I couldn’t use my necklace.”
As she spoke, perhaps worried that Grant might be repulsed by her appearance, Savannie covered half of her face with one hand and gave him a shy smile.
“Don’t worry. I only look like this temporarily. If I rest for a while, I’ll be able to return to my original appearance.”
Grant’s eyes flickered, and a relieved expression quickly crossed his face.
“That’s good…”
Savannie didn’t really want Grant to see her ugly appearance. Intentionally changing the subject, she scanned their surroundings and asked Grant, “Did you see that young girl from before?”
During this, the witch’s gaze briefly swept toward the direction where Everly was hiding. Realizing this, Everly held her breath behind the tree, every muscle in her body tensed as she remained completely motionless.
Fortunately, neither the extra banyan tree nor the hidden Everly was discovered. It seemed that the only reason Everly had been spotted earlier was because Grant and Savannie had seen her moving while she had the skull in her mouth.
Grant hadn’t noticed anything unusual either. He replied, “When I came out, it was just me and the guardian here. The staircase was empty too. I didn’t see anyone else.”
“Could she have failed the trial and died?”
“That’s possible. She might also have used that concealment item from before. But she doesn’t look like a psychic. Perhaps she just happened to acquire a few items by chance, so she isn’t much of a threat… We’re short on time. We should get the Fountain of Youth first. We can deal with everything else after we leave.”
Savannie thought Grant had a point.
The two of them proceeded cautiously toward the guardian.
Like Everly, they didn’t immediately hand over the keys. Instead, they first had a conversation with the guardian, asking questions such as whether Everly had successfully passed the trial and whether she had already gone up the staircase ahead of them.
Fortunately, the guardian would only answer questions related to the Fountain of Youth. For anything irrelevant, its response was always, “That question is beyond my authorization level. No answer will be provided.” Thus, after asking questions for quite some time, the two of them failed to obtain any useful information.
“Forget it. Let’s go.”
Grant reached into his clothes and took out a small wooden box. He opened it and removed the two black stones inside.
“My dear, you go first… I want to witness the moment you obtain immortality with my own eyes.”
Holding Savannie’s hand, he gazed at her affectionately and placed one of the black stones into her palm.
Savannie’s pale face instantly flushed bright red.
“Oh, Grant, darling… I swear, I’ve never been happier in my entire life!”
Her eyes sparkled with tears of joy. She rose onto her toes, instinctively wanting to kiss the man before her. But remembering what she looked like now, the witch immediately covered her face with one hand and awkwardly turned away.
At that moment, all her previous ruthlessness and cruelty had vanished. She looked completely like an ordinary woman hopelessly in love.
The two of them continued their display of affection for a while. By the time even Everly was getting impatient, the witch finally handed the stone in her hand to the guardian.
The robot guardian’s chest cavity opened, and two red tendrils extended outward. They clamped onto the stone from either side and drew it into the hollow cavity in its chest. The chest compartment then closed, and a band of pale-red light rapidly swept across it from left to right.
Before long, the light disappeared. The guardian lowered its head slightly and nodded at Savannie with remarkably human-like mannerisms.
“Scanning complete. Thank you for bringing news from afar. On behalf of Aurelbis, I convey its sincere regards. You are qualified to ascend the staircase.”
After saying this, it raised one arm and made a gesture inviting the witch to proceed.
Savannie looked at Grant.
The young man wore a gentle smile and nodded encouragingly at her.
Whatever his character might have been, there was one thing that couldn’t be denied: Grant was exceptionally handsome. When he gazed at someone with such deep affection, it was easy to make them feel as though they were the only person in the world who mattered.
Savannie’s face had finally cooled down, only to flush crimson all over again.
She took Grant’s hand and lingered with him for quite some time, gazing at him with obvious affection. Only then did she reluctantly say goodbye to her lover and walk ahead to the entrance of the staircase.
—Now!
Everly had been waiting for this very moment.
As the witch passed beside the banyan tree, exposing her completely unguarded back, Everly immediately issued an attack command to the Sacred Tree’s true form concealed within the tree’s canopy. At the same time, she took a voodoo doll from her clothes and viciously drove a rusty iron nail into its eye socket.
“Ugh…”
The witch stopped abruptly before the staircase and clutched her eyes, letting out a pained cry.
With all her attention drawn to the strange sensation in her eyes, she failed to notice the slender gray-white figure suddenly springing from the branches behind her and silently attacking—
“Thud!”
The sound of something piercing flesh rang out. One of the Sacred Tree’s sharp, branch-like fingers struck the witch’s human form in the chest and passed straight through, sending blood splattering outward.
“Urgh…” The witch coughed up blood, her eyes widening in disbelief as she collapsed forward.
By then, the Sacred Tree’s true form had already wrapped all four limbs around the woman below. Just as it had done to Chupacabra and Oseiwa, it forcibly drove its vine-like tendrils into the witch’s head, using its roots to attack her from within.
……Had it worked?
Everly glanced down at the doll in her hand.
The voodoo doll and the iron nail had both been given to her by the dying shaman.
At the entrance to the silver-white passage, when Everly had been examining the corpses, the dying shaman had suddenly grabbed her ankle.
“Voodoo doll… doll… nail… Savannie… eyes…”
The shaman had already been at the end of her strength. First, she’d been forced to overdraw her life force while crossing the lake, and then, after clearing the silver-white corridor, she’d been ambushed by the Thorn Witch and had her chest pierced by thorns. By then, she could barely string a sentence together.
Even so, Everly managed to understand what the shaman was trying to tell her through his broken words.
Following the shaman’s instructions, she searched the hidden compartment of his backpack and found a crudely made voodoo doll along with a matching iron nail.
Everly had no idea where that nail had come from, but it radiated an unnerving chill. She had barely held it for a few moments before her fingers grew cold and stiff, almost to the point where she could no longer keep hold of it.
“Do you want me to use this nail to pierce the doll’s eyes?”
She held the items up to the shaman and asked how they were supposed to be used.
The moment he saw the doll, an astonishing spark appeared in the shaman’s dull eyes.
“Yes. Remember… remember to use it… near the witch…”
With difficulty, the shaman raised his blood-covered hand and touched the doll’s forehead with his fingertip. Her eyes shifted as she stared intently at Everly, her gaze burning like red-hot coals.
Everly understood.
She nodded and cooperated with his explanation. “I understand. If I pierce the doll’s eyes with the iron nail while I’m near the witch, it’ll make her blind. Is that what you mean?”
“Ha… hahaha… Yes, yes… Pierce her… pierce… pierce…”
Hearing Everly’s answer, the shaman broke into a crazed laugh while coughing up mouthful after mouthful of blood. Her hoarse, unpleasant laughter gradually weakened. Before long, the shaman stared blankly ahead and completely lost consciousness.
She was dead.
Just like that, through a strange combination of coincidence and inevitability, Everly had obtained a curse item with astonishing effects.
And now, the witch lying facedown on the ground had been completely pierced through the head, reduced to a headless corpse.
The ambush seemed to have succeeded… but could things really go this smoothly?