Chapter 30: Parasitic Plant
Equino had always been Jin Lin's goal throughout the years. There is nothing he didn't sacrifice all in the name of seeing his older brother. All the ins and outs of Equino were known to him like the back of his hand so when he saw Fen Hao's injury he had some idea what it could be.
The boy's ankle was swollen with reddish-yellow spikes sticking out but there was no blood. From his gaming experience, he easily identified this parasitic plant as Ogret. From its trunk and leaves, one would mistake it for a regular plant unworthy of a single glance.
That's because its seedlings adapt themselves to look like the trees around them but its vileness lurked on the surface of the earth. Its thorny roots spread in all directions concealing their presence in the dense shrubbery awaiting its next victim.
Once an unfortunate soul gets tripped by the roots the jagged thorny spikes lodge themselves underneath the skin and move right into the bone making them impossible to take out. These thorns were equivalent to earth tree's plant pods carrying millions of microscopic seeds.
For successful seed dispersal, the thorns would need flesh and blood to expand the seeds inside. It didn't discriminate in choosing its host. Even a passerby fly minding its own business could be a perfect candidate though its usual target were beasts casually roaming around in the forest.
One can only imagine the excruciating pain the victim would feel as the thorns expand cutting through their muscle tissue. The infected area would grow five times larger like a cyst ready to explode and when it finally does, it shreds flesh into chunks of meat. There is no need to even explain what happens after that.
It's safe to say everything in Equino is out to kill. Even a fuckin plant has beef with any living thing and the unfortunate victim today was Fen Hao. Jin Lin couldn't touch the wound. It was already starting to swell with the spikes vanishing into Fen Hao's leg at a visible rate. Each time they moved, Fen Hao couldn't help but cry out in pain.
His cries echoed through the air and out the rabbit hole attracting Cream Shot's attention. Though the cries were mixed with the wails and shrieks of the victims falling under her spear she could hear it. Her head abruptly turned towards that direction as a sinister smile gradually formed on her face. Her emerald eyes darkened as she wiped the blood on her plump cheek.
"Someone actually thinks they can get away from me... HAHAHAH.... you want to play hide and seek then this auntie will oblige you," she said before leaping in that direction.
Hovering above what she thought was the place where the sound came from she swung her spear and a white arc descended towards the forest giving the once lush greenery a bald patch in one move.
It was at this moment the spikes reached Fen Hao's bone. His entire body convulsed in pain with the veins on his reddened neck and face throbbing. In this kind of situation, it was hard for Fen Hao not to express his torment in the form of anguished screams.
Jin Lin hurriedly covered his mouth but he could tell from Fen Hao's expression that he was trying to be strong which was the hardest thing to do in this situation. Dust soon filled the tiny rabbit hole as it shook from the cut trees crashing to the ground.
The two were soon covered in dust but dared not to make a single sound otherwise they would die a miserable death before they even had a chance to venture into Equino. But wanting to do something and actually doing it is a whole different thing.
Fen Hao tried but as the thorns burrowed deep in his bone he couldn't hold on. Just as he thought he was going to bite Jin Lin's hand and cry out loud, a blue shield suddenly surrounded them.
"Your sound barrier skill level one has been activated. It will last for five minutes so please use it wisely. Have a lovely day," said the cold female voice reverberating in his ears but to be honest, he couldn't hear shit because he was howling in pain with a tear streaming down his face.
Jin Lin realised then that there was a sound barrier and guessed it was part of Fen Hao's skill. "How long do we have?" he asked hurriedly scrolling through his inventory with sweat pouring down his forehead.
Fen Hao who had calmed down a bit checked the progress bar and lifted his four fingers with his entire body leaning against the wall. His chest was violently heaving dreading the next wave of pain.
Using his experience of playing this game for years Jin Lin recalled an elixir that was said to kill ogret thorns. Because he had never personally experienced this kind of situation he remembered watching a Livestream where the anchor's in-game character was a victim. All he remembers was that it was in a yellow bottle with a weird symbol on it but he couldn't recall its name.
In his inventory, he had only one yellow bottle but the symbol wasn't familiar to him. He wanted to help Fen Hao but he wasn't sure if this was what he was looking for. Running out of time he went into the store provided by the system and schemed through the elixir catalogue at light speed.
He could hear the system welcoming him to the store but he turned a deaf ear to it. If his friend dies here he would never forgive himself. It was for this reason that his speed of searching accelerated.
Seeing the countdown approach the sixty-second mark, Fen Hao couldn't bear it anymore. Once that sound barrier collapses he wouldn't be able to guarantee their safety. At least if one of them makes it out alive then that would be good enough.
"Dage..... just go," whispered Fen Hao in a hoarse voice with deep grievance in his eyes.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone