Chapter 33: The Twilight Curse
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
McGrenn was covered with a thick blanket and snored slightly from time to time. He seemed to be sound asleep.
But his face was unusually pale, as if without a trace of blood. His eyes were deeply sunken and his face was ghastly thin. If it hadn’t been for Ina’s words, Lin Li wouldn’t have been able to connect him with the McGrenn he knew.
McGrenn’s physical condition had actually weakened to this extent even though he was a warrior above level-six, and his physical quality was ten times stronger than an average person’s.
Lin Li frowned and cast a Detection Spell.
But the result was disappointing—McGrenn had no residual magical wave on him. That was to say, his slumber had nothing to do with magical attacks.
Lin Li looked at the gaunt McGrenn, unsure what to do.
“Have you called for a doctor?”
“I’ve called for them a few days ago, but they all said that father is very healthy.” Tears were brimming in Ina’s eyes; she fought hard not to let them fall.
“Don’t worry, Mr McGrenn will be fine,” Lin Li consoled Ina before shifting his attention back onto McGrenn.
“Eh?” This time, Lin Li had found something different.
It was an inconspicuous black line on McGrenn’s right hand. It was thin and indistinct—if Lin Li had not looked carefully, he might not have discovered it.
Lin Li had a foreboding feeling in his heart as soon as he saw the black line.
Without bothering to explain it to Ina, he grabbed McGrenn’s shirt’s sleeve, and with a sniffle, he tore it apart.Taking another look at the arm, there was indeed a thin black line spreading to chest…
“It’s actually this thing!” Lin Li felt troubled all of a sudden as his speculation was confirmed.
Never had he thought that it was the Twilight Curse that had put McGrenn to sleep.
The reason why Lin Li remembered the name of this curse was because of a herb called Heart of Death.
The Heart of Death usually grew only in places with strong death aura. The stronger the death aura, the easier it was for the Heart of Death to spawn. The places where the Heart of Death grew would usually be haunted by high-level undead creatures. After it spawned, the Heart of Death would need the power of a curse to grow; the Twilight Curse was one of the several curses that could breed the Heart of Death.
Lin Li had taken a look at some curses when he was studying herb knowledge, and among them was the Twilight Curse.
It would take at least a powerful level-twenty existence to master the Twilight Curse.They used their own blood and strength as a guide before they died, cursing all creatures which stepped into the realm and making them fall into eternal sleep.
At the thought of this, Lin Li knew that the black castle was not that simple as mentioned in the quest…
Lin Li heaved a sigh of relief as he found the cause of McGrenn’s deep slumber. Although the Twilight Curse was formidable, it was not entirely unbreakable—at least he knew of two ways that could resolve it.
Of course, strictly speaking, one of the ways was slightly boring—using a flame to purify the bones of the cursed person in order to break the power source of the curse.
This was indeed boring. Casting the Twilight Curse before death would almost 100 percent turn someone into an undead creature. Just think about a strong existence above level-twenty turning into an undead; if he was a mage before he died, then congratulations, you might have encountered a Lich. Commiting a suicide would be easier than purifying his bones…
The other way was undoubtedly much more practical. One bottle of Purifying Potion would solve the problem completely.
“It’s okay, Ina. I’ve found a way.”
“Really?” Ina’s eyes were full of tears, but there was a smile of surprise across her pretty face.
Ina had been in a panic ever since McGrenn fell into deep sleep. She had tried everything that she could think of, and looking for Lin Li was only a matter of hope. In her heart, this young mage had always been so reliable. He had saved her from the talons of the Wyvern, and then again from the hands of the Leviathan Gorilla. Perhaps he could save her father this time again.
So, she went to the Guild of Magic. In fact, she knew that hope was slim even when she went there. She had thought of so many ways, but her father was still in deep slumber. Although Mr Felic was an impressive mage, could he really wake her father up?
“No problem.” Lin Li counted the herbs in his pockets and nodded affirmatively.
Just then, there was a knock on the door downstairs.
“It should be Doctor Rowling. Mr Felic, please wait while I get the door.” Ina shyly wiped away the tears in her eyes, then ran briskly down the stairs.
Lin Li was in a pretty good mood seeing Ina had regained her vigor. He fumbled through his pockets and placed the herbs on the table. There were four ingredients required to make the Purifying Potion—silver hairgrass, sungrass, dreampetal, and terocone. Among them, the effects of the silver hairgrass and sungrass were similar: both had strong divine purifying effect. Using one alone would enable you to concoct a potion that could amplify the divine power; using two at the same time would enable you to purify almost every negative effect.
But it was also because the purifying power was overly strong that it had to be accompanied by the dreampetal and terocone. The dreampetal was used to calm the mind, while the terocone was used to protect the consumer’s body from harm due to the overly strong divine power.
The four herbs complemented yet restrained each other. An ordinary pharmacist usually would not dare to concoct the Purifying Potion, because the dosage of herbs had to be accurately controlled. A small mistake could hurt the consumer.
Of course, to Lin Li, this was not a big problem. Besides, the preparation process was very easy. It only involved simple extraction and blending, and did not even require assistive tools.
Considering that he didn’t even need any tools to aid him, Lin Li decided not to return to the Guild of Magic. He took out four glass bottles from his pocket and set them on the table.
Just as he was beginning to extract the succus, he heard footsteps coming from the stairs.
Lin Li turned around and saw a head of long, fiery-red hair.
Underneath the long hair was a stunningly beautiful face.
Lin Li glanced in a hurry, but he could only describe it as amazing…
It was an almost-fatal kind of aesthetic—proud yet cold. A person couldn’t help but feel the desire to conquer her, and even with Lin Li’s mental cultivation, he had gotten momentarily lost the moment he looked back.