Chapter 266: Chuychu's Discovery
On the other end of the Anemo network, Mavuika's heart, which had just brightened at Chuychu's analysis, sank once more as a deeper worry surged through her.
Underground contamination? That was a far more insidious problem than an overt World Gate.
"Chuychu, your discovery is of the utmost importance," Mavuika's voice connected with both approval and an unquestionable authority. "But for that very reason, you must evacuate the Qiaozhi Cliff area immediately! It's too dangerous there, and you are a doctor. Leave the investigation to our professional reconnaissance personnel!"
However, Chuychu firmly shook her head, an act of defiance unseen by the Pyro Archon miles away. Her voice, carried on the wind, was laced with an unshakeable resolve. "Lady Mavuika, please forgive my disobedience. My intuition is screaming that the Feather Society is like a gunpowder keg being steadily filled, on the very verge of exploding."
"We have to find this hidden source of contamination as quickly as possible," she insisted. "Otherwise, once it fully erupts, the entire Feather Society might… it might not survive! I cannot leave now."
"I will conduct a preliminary investigation while ensuring my own safety. Please, send support as soon as you can!"
Mavuika fell silent for a long moment. She could feel the raw determination in Chuychu's tone, the deep sense of responsibility and keen intuition that defined her as a healer. She knew Chuychu was not a reckless person.
"…I understand," Mavuika finally relented, her voice heavy. "I will immediately dispatch the Feather Society's most elite reconnaissance team to Qiaozhi Cliff. At the same time, I will notify the Traveler and Paimon, who are currently active near the Society, to be ready to provide you with support at a moment's notice."
Her tone sharpened with concern. "Chuychu… be extremely careful! Report any findings immediately. Do not venture deeper on your own!"
"Understood."
The instant the communication ended, Chuychu moved without a shred of hesitation. She slung her medical kit over her shoulder and, following the general direction the afflicted team had indicated, hurried toward the woodland where they had gone to gather wild fruits and water. Her movements were light and swift; years of practicing medicine in the wild had made the mountains and forests a second home.
After pushing through a dense thicket of shrubs that exuded a strangely withered scent, Chuychu's footsteps came to an abrupt halt.
Not far ahead, in a relatively open clearing, the ground had conspicuously collapsed. A deep, pitch-black pit, roughly three to four meters in diameter, gaped at the sky. The soil at its edge was an unhealthy, grayish-black, as if all vitality had been violently drained from it. The surrounding vegetation was either completely desiccated or twisted into an eerie, dark purple hue.
Chuychu's heart skipped a beat. She was certain that neither the Feather Society's topographical records nor her own memory contained any mention of such an obvious sinkhole near Qiaozhi Cliff.
"Found it… This might be the place…" she murmured, immediately reporting the exact location of her discovery through the Anemo network.
Once that was done, she took a deep, steadying breath. She retrieved a few calming, dried herbs from her medical kit, placing them in her mouth to chew. In her hand, she clutched a small bottle of homemade detoxifying and heart-cleansing medicine. A powerful sense of duty, combined with the chilling intuition of an impending crisis, urged her not to wait idly by.
She cautiously approached the edge of the pit. A foul stench—a nauseating mixture of earthy dampness and an indescribable, putrid odor—wafted up from below, making her head spin.
Gritting her teeth, Chuychu found a relatively gentle slope and began to carefully make her way down along the pit's edge.
The light inside the chasm was oppressively dim, with only a faint column of daylight filtering down from the opening far above. The rock walls were damp and cold, slick and greasy to the touch. The deeper she went, the more concentrated the putrid odor in the air became, growing so thick it was almost suffocating.
What truly alarmed Chuychu, however, were the faint whispers that began to manifest, seeming to echo directly inside her mind.
At first, it was just a blurry static, like the incessant buzzing of mosquitoes. But soon, the voices sharpened, becoming clearer, dripping with malice and temptation.
'Give up… you can't save everyone… your efforts are meaningless…'
'Your friends, your patients… they will all die sooner or later, wailing in agony… you can't protect anyone…'
'Tired? In pain? Resentful? Why bear it all…? Join us. Embrace the nothingness, and you will find eternal peace…'
These whispers were not simple noise; they were surgical, precisely probing Chuychu's deepest fears, her exhaustion, and her self-doubt. They sought to drag her into an abyss of despair, to ignite every last flicker of negativity within her.
Chuychu's face paled, her knuckles turning white from how tightly she was gripping the medicine bottle. She bit down hard on the herbs in her mouth, their bitter tang a lifeline that helped her maintain a sliver of clarity.
"Shut up…" she whispered, the command directed as much at the voices as it was at herself. "I am a doctor… my duty is to save people, to bring hope… I will never yield to you!"
She forcefully suppressed the maelstrom of negative emotions swirling in her mind and the instinctive tremors wracking her body. Though she had not yet reached the bottom of the pit, had not yet glimpsed the core secret festering in the darkness, her healer's intuition and the pervasive evil pressing in on her were enough. She was already convinced—the Abyss's scheme here was far from ordinary.
They weren't just establishing World Gates to spawn monsters. They were executing a far more insidious, more malicious plan—one very likely tied to contaminating the land and its water sources.
'I can't go any deeper!' a clear, sharp voice screamed in her heart. 'I have to get this information out immediately! Rushing blindly to my death would be irresponsible—to myself, to Lady Mavuika who is waiting for news, and to all of Natlan!'
With her resolve solidified, Chuychu immediately halted her descent. She turned without hesitation and began to scramble back up the steep slope, using both her hands and feet. She tried to make her movements as light as possible, hoping to escape the demonic lair unnoticed.
Her actions, however, were discovered.
Just as she had climbed less than five meters, the slick rock wall where she had just been standing suddenly erupted. With a sickening thump, a vine as thick as a baby's arm shot out. It was an ominous, dark purple, its surface covered in twisted, unnatural patterns. The tip, sharp as a spear and hissing with Abyssal energy, whipped past her, grazing her ankle before embedding itself deep into the opposite wall.
Chuychu's pupils constricted. Cold sweat instantly drenched her back.
Abandoning all pretense of stealth, she unleashed what little stamina she had left. At the fastest speed she could possibly manage, she began to frantically scramble upwards, heedless of anything but escape.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
As if a battle horn had been sounded, the surrounding rock walls and the rim of the pit above her came alive. Countless identical dark purple vines, like a swarm of awakened vipers, writhed and drilled out of the stone, lunging to intercept her. They wove themselves into dense, sprawling nets, attempting to entangle her ankles, bind her arms, and block her path to the light.
Relying on her agile movements and small stature, Chuychu weaved and dodged through the gaps in the grasping tendrils. Several times, the vines brushed against her skin, tearing away strips of fabric and leaving behind a stinging, burning sensation.
A deep chill crept into her heart. The vines' attacks seemed aimed more at capture and obstruction than immediate lethality.
They wanted to take her alive. The realization terrified her more than anything else.
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