163 Trap!

As soon as Theresa finished stating her observations, almost everyone felt a tingling sensation ripple across their scalps. Flora let out a sharp cry, exclaiming, "What on earth are these bugs? They actually use human bodies as incubators!"

Probably because women are inherently more sensitive to creepy-crawlies, Flora's reaction was exceptionally intense. Her voice pitched slightly higher, sounding rather grating to the ear.

This reaction caught Theresa somewhat off guard. Although Flora was a woman, she was, after all, a half-elf raised under the strict and rigorous education of a hunter. How could she react so violently to a mere insect?

Sensing Theresa's puzzled gaze, Flora realized her tone was abnormal. She paused for a moment to steady herself, returned to her regular register, and asked with standard composure, "What are these things?"

"They are the larval variants of the Black-Necked Azure Worm." The voice responding to Flora belonged to Li, the Vulpin. He was the only beastman who had remained uninjured, and remarkably, the only one who had not been implanted with worm eggs.

At that moment, Li's complexion was a mix of ashen pale and dark gray. Judging solely from his appearance, he seemed more severely struck by the situation than the injured beastmen themselves. He pressed his lips together, radiating an unmistakable aura of suppressed emotion, yet he maintained remarkable restraint as he looked at Theresa and asked, "Do you have any way to deal with these eggs?"

Hearing this, Theresa blinked in surprise. Since they had first met, this was the first time Li had ever used formal, respectful honorifics when addressing her.

They say that unearned favors always mask ulterior motives. While Li had merely changed his attitude rather than deliberately offering flattery, this sudden, abnormal shift clearly indicated that he was asking for a favor!

Naturally, under the current circumstances, whatever Li desired was simple: the treatment of the beastmen.

"To cure them completely is not difficult, but it is an extremely tedious process and simply cannot be done in a short span of time. However, if we only want to control the development of the eggs, preventing them from hatching and threatening everyone's safety, that won't be a problem."

Upon hearing this, Li's expression was not entirely satisfied, but he knew better than to push further. After all, their purpose in inviting Theresa to join them was to open a certain seal formation, not to hire her as the team's personal physician. Under these conditions, out of camaraderie, Theresa had an obligation to help diagnose and treat them, but she was under no obligation to guarantee a total recovery for the beastmen's injuries.

However, regardless of Li's attitude, from Theresa's perspective, she was quite willing to help treat the wounds. After all, such injuries were exceedingly rare. It posed a magnificent test of an alchemist's skills, filling her with a strong sense of eager anticipation.

The beastmen had numerous wounds, and the worm eggs were tiny, slender, and densely packed. Attempting to clear them out one by one was utterly impossible and a thankless task. Therefore, Theresa adopted a method of "reverse absorption" to deal with the eggs.

This treatment method actually drew inspiration from the worms themselves. Since the flying insects incubated their eggs by borrowing the body's energy, could the process be reversed to break the eggs down, transforming them into usable nutrients or energy that the human body could absorb?

With such an intriguing subject tempting her forward, Theresa performed the treatments with extraordinary enthusiasm. Her spiritual energy wrapped around the beastmen's wounds, filtering layer by layer. She meticulously applied a specialized alchemical potion over the eggs—one that inhibited their growth and even stimulated the "reverse absorption" process. She applied it coat after coat, feeling neither sluggish nor bored in the slightest.

To the beastmen and Flora, Theresa's actions appeared completely unremarkable—and frankly, rather dull...

All they saw was her applying the potion to the densely overlapping wounds, then staring wide-eyed at the treated area without doing anything else. She would stare for about three to five minutes—occasionally one or two minutes, sometimes stretching to five or six, with the duration directly proportional to the area covered by the potion. Afterward, she would move to another spot, apply the potion, and stare again... Repeating this monotonous process mechanically, she acted as though she were an untiring machine...

However, those exact same actions appeared entirely different and brilliant in Lambert's eyes. He could faintly perceive the sheer delicacy of the operations performed within that minuscule space. It was not the first time he had witnessed such masterful, effortless command over spiritual energy, yet he still watched with a sense of lingering awe...

This was because Theresa was simply too young, and her foundation in spiritual energy was far too weak!

Youth meant that Theresa's future was boundless, while a weak foundation meant that the technical difficulty of her precise spiritual control was even higher than that of an alchemist of equivalent skill!

Of course, a weak foundation also meant that Theresa was far more vulnerable to injury than an ordinary alchemist of the same level...

While everyone harbored their own thoughts, Theresa had already completed the preliminary treatment of the beastmen's injuries, wrapping them one by one like "mummies" using bandages soaked in the medicinal solution. Furthermore, she strictly warned these thoroughly uncomfortable beastmen that they were forbidden to remove the bandages on their own; if any abnormalities occurred with the eggs as a result, she would wash her hands of them entirely.

The beastmen obeyed her instructions, but this created a rather vexing situation: wrapped up like white mummies, the beastmen completely lost their combat capability. If they were to encounter those mutated Black-Necked Azure Worms again at this point, escaping would likely prove exceptionally difficult.

Seeing this, Li could only offer a bitter, helpless smile and sighed, "Man proposes, human plans are nothing compared to fate... Lord Lambert, everything from here on is in your hands."

Lambert smiled faintly, nodded in response, and immediately issued a new command: "Let's move out. This place is perilous, and our mission this time has a different objective. We shouldn't waste our combat strength here."

Li raised his head to stare at the milky-white waterfall, a trace of regret flashing across his face. Nevertheless, he followed Lambert's instructions, leading the beastmen, along with Theresa and Flora, away from the area...

...

When the stone door slowly closed behind them, locking the last trace of chilly wind on the other side, someone among the group let out a soft sigh—a breath filled with both lingering regret and relief. Having long since composed herself, Li kept his eyes straight ahead and nodded to the beastman who had been guiding them earlier. "Lead on."

The poor beastman, who was injured and denied any rest, yet forced to "charge at the vanguard" once more, acted as though he felt no fatigue at all. He snapped a crisp salute with a sharp click of his heels, then strode forward resolutely. It wasn't that he didn't want to run; he simply couldn't...

Affected by the injuries from the worm eggs, the group's efficiency noticeably dropped during this leg of the exploration. However, this unintentionally granted Theresa ample time to organize the general layout of the ruins in her mind. Structures from the same era shared similar architectural styles and design concepts; once the rough blueprint was understood and compared, one could easily deduce the beastmen's ultimate destination...

Yet, as they walked deeper into the ruins, Theresa's expression grew increasingly strange. Through various comparisons, she realized that their current direction was leading them straight toward the "Prayer District" of the sacrificial hall...

Of course, "dormitory district" was just Theresa's terminology for it, because the area they were currently in was clearly meant for the daily prayers of the priests. The beastmen held an extreme, almost fanatical reverence for their ancestors, practically deifying them! Consequently, during their daily spiritual practices, the priests were required to "report" their actions to the "ancestors" through prayer as a method of self-cultivation.

"Why are we coming here?" Finally, Theresa couldn't help but voice her question. Logically speaking, when searching for treasures, one should head to storerooms, alchemical chambers, private bedchambers, or even libraries and archives. Why on earth would they end up in a prayer district?

One had to know that the dozens of rooms in this section designated as prayer chambers were virtually identical—aside from a straw meditation mat, they contained almost nothing at all!

"That is where the true wealth lies," Lambert said with a smile in response to her question.

"True wealth?" Theresa tilted her head in bewilderment.

Lambert nodded, then pointed to the spatial ring on Theresa's hand. "Back at the viewing platform, their treasure was the 'Source of Vitality.' But for you, the greater treasure should be those powdered remains of the azure worms that have turned to earth, shouldn't they?"

Hearing this, Theresa grinned broadly and nodded vigorously. While the Source of Vitality was indeed wonderful, acquiring it was extremely difficult, and a moment of carelessness could cost one's life. Moreover, and more importantly, Theresa's current physical and mental state made her entirely incapable of utilizing the Source of Vitality. Therefore, as good as it was, it was as useless to her as a tasteless chicken rib. On the other hand, those earth-turned worm corpse powders could be put straight into alchemical use immediately. Not only could they enhance her abilities, but they could also be crafted into potions to nourish her body.

In short, what suited one best was always the finest choice~

As they spoke, the group halted outside one of the prayer chambers. The leading beastman stared fixedly at the door, his brow furrowed in hesitation, momentarily uncertain. The other beastmen saw this and refrained from rushing him. When the guide finally gritted his teeth and pushed the wooden door open, Theresa's acutely sensitive spiritual perception allowed her to instantly sense several razor-sharp auras bursting forth from within the room—

"Look out!" Theresa cried out involuntarily.

Almost simultaneously with her warning, the beastmen scattered in all directions. With several muffled *thud-thud-thud* sounds, a barrage of needles as fine as ox hair suddenly embedded themselves into the wooden door... Both the craftsmanship of the fine needles and the technique used to scatter them were only slightly inferior to the innate protective instincts of the wolf-folk.

A trap!

This was clearly a malicious trap!

Yet, who on earth would set such a trap outside a prayer room? Was it the ancients, or people from the present day?

If it were the ancients, weren't they afraid of the wrath of the beastman priests? One had to know that priests held an exalted status within the tribe; sometimes, a single rallying cry from a priest was enough to summon the vast majority of the clan to back them up without a second thought...

And if it were people from the present... the situation would only grow increasingly murky and unfathomable...