Chapter 84: The Sacred Tree’s Wound
The cavity was supported by extensions of the Sacred Tree’s roots. Sweeping away the damp topsoil revealed the rough bark of the roots. Standing there, one could feel the powerful life pulse of the Sacred Tree, like a human heartbeat. Countless streams of magic flowed from here towards the tree’s crown, and the small amount of escaping magic gave the air a strangely smooth, lubricated feel.
Flora chanted the spell for Candlelight, and a pure white light source ignited at her fingertip, illuminating the gnarled, dragon-like roots within the cavity.
Abyss nodded gratefully to Flora and began carefully examining the roots.
“Ah, found it. Look here.”
After a short search, Abyss found a scar in a crevice between the roots.
The three girls quickly gathered around. On the root was a roughly circular scar, appearing to be a break point, facing upwards, with slight deformation around it. One could guess that something fruit-like had once grown here.
What was most intriguing was the state of this break point.
Unlike what they had expected – that it would gradually dry out after the root nodule containing the Sage’s Blood was removed – it remained moist. Upon closer inspection, they could clearly see that the break point was rhythmically oozing a small pool of fresh-smelling sap, then reabsorbing it. The back-and-forth frequency was constant, remarkably similar to a human pulse.
“This break point hasn’t healed yet,” Abyss mused, stroking his chin, observing the rhythmically pulsing sap. “The Sacred Tree is an extremely vigorous plant; normally, such a wound should scar over quickly. But apparently, that’s not the case. If no one has been here since then, this break point should be twenty-six years old.”
“A wound that hasn’t healed in twenty-six years? Isn’t that strange?” Flora stared curiously at the break point.
“Hmm… perhaps it’s not a wound,” Rebecca pondered for a moment, then said, “Could it be possible that the Sacred Tree intentionally left this break point?”
“Possible,” Abyss nodded. “This Sacred Tree is arguably one of the most powerful beings in the world; possessing some intelligence isn’t out of the question. This break point might hold some research value…”
Saying this, Abyss extended a finger, gently dipped it into the oozing sap, and licked it.
“How does it taste?” Leona immediately asked.
“Hmm… the taste is subtle, not particularly good. A bit salty, with a faint sweet aftertaste and a unique plant flavor,” Abyss savored it with his eyes closed. “My body isn’t reacting to this sap; it probably doesn’t have any medicinal effects.”
“Let me try,” Rebecca also dipped her finger and tasted the sap. “This is unlike any potion I’ve tasted before. I don’t sense any medicinal effects either, but it does contain a lot of nutrients. This might just be a simple nutrient solution. Someone weak could try taking it.”
“I thought the Sacred Tree’s sap would have some special effect,” Leona lost interest immediately upon hearing it didn’t taste good. “So, any other discoveries?”
“Have you noticed that the amount of sap here doesn’t decrease? No matter how much we wipe away, the amount that oozes out next time remains the same,” Flora pointed out. “Conversely, the sap here is in dynamic equilibrium. Perhaps we could try making it absorb water instead.”
“Good point,” Rebecca’s eyes lit up. She took a test tube and a dropper from her belt and began collecting the sap.
As Flora had said, no matter how much sap was removed, the amount oozing out during the pulse always returned to the previous level. Rebecca quickly filled the 20ml test tube. Timing it right, she inverted the test tube back onto the break point.
Soon, with the Sacred Tree’s pulse, the sap level in the test tube rapidly decreased. After about three pulses, the test tube was empty.
“Oh, look, it absorbed it all,” Abyss said with some surprise. “We’ve discovered another property of this break point.”
“Will this help us resurrect Agnes?” Flora looked at Abyss.
“Hmm… honestly, I don’t know yet, but knowing is better than not knowing,” Abyss smiled.
The four conducted various tests around the break point. Rebecca discovered it could absorb not only sap but also distilled water. She hesitated to use other reagents, fearing she might harm the Sacred Tree, which would cause significant trouble.
Just as Abyss was about to drip the sap into his own eye, a commotion erupted outside the cavity.
“Master! Master, are you free? A child in our village is feeling unwell, acting strangely. Could you take a look?”
A villager’s voice echoed down from above.
“Wait a moment, I’ll be right there,” Abyss immediately put down the dropper. Although he still had work to do, he dropped everything upon hearing this. Elves, unlike humans who often prioritize their own desires, valued reputation and were cautious about troubling others. For the villagers to specifically seek him out meant it wasn’t a minor issue.
Exiting the cavity and climbing the stairs back to the surface, Abyss saw several nearby villagers gathered around the hole he had dug. A female elf was supporting a young elf girl who was clutching her stomach, her face contorted in pain. Everyone looked worried.
“What happened?” Abyss immediately asked the villager who had called him.
“Master, apologies for interrupting your work, but the child suddenly developed severe stomach pain. Something is moving inside her stomach. Our village doctor is helpless. You are a Druid; can you save this child? The doctor said stopping whatever is in her stomach requires opening it, but he’s not confident about performing the surgery…”
“Master, it feels like my stomach is going to tear open…” the elf girl said to Abyss, her voice choked with tears.
“Don’t talk. Lie down. I need to open your stomach. Rebecca, anesthetize her,” Abyss didn’t hesitate. He immediately chanted an incantation, his right index finger rapidly petrifying and reshaping itself into a sharp scalpel.
The elf girl lay down, and Rebecca retrieved a pouch of anesthetic powder from her small bag.
At this moment, Abyss could clearly see a thumb-sized creature inside the girl’s stomach, constantly pushing against her belly wall, trying to get out, creating a horrifying, slowly moving bulge on her smooth upper abdomen.
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