novelraw Chapter 202: Wings in the Darkness
Chapter 202: Wings in the Darkness
Consciousness was sinking.
Lin Jie felt himself falling faster toward a boundless, ice-cold void where neither light nor sound existed.
The concepts of time and space were stripped away here;
he lost all sense of his body and all ability to judge the outside world.
He was like a ghost stripped of thought and memory, drifting alone in this dark ocean that represented "nothingness."
He did not know who he was.
He did not know where he had come from.
He did not know where he was going.
The only thing he felt was cold.
This was not a chill acting on the flesh;
it was an absolute zero that froze the soul directly.
That cold was stripping away everything that made him "Lin Jie" in an irreversible way.His memories, emotions, and logical thinking—every cornerstone that built his self-awareness—were being ruthlessly dissolved and destroyed before this pure darkness.
Just as his consciousness was being continuously assimilated by the darkness, nearly forgetting who he was and about to become another speck of dust in this void,
something appeared before him.
It was a diamond.
A diamond without any brilliance, quietly suspended in that endless dark void, like a miniature black hole connecting to an antimatter universe, greedily radiating pure negative energy.
Tear of Apophis!
It was the origin of this dark void!
Lin Jie's nearly dissipated consciousness was fatally attracted, uncontrollably drifting slowly toward that diamond.
He could feel that if he got just a little closer, his last remaining awareness would be sucked in and consumed by that diamond, then forever become part of its endless darkness.
But gradually, a scalding warm current spread from the back of his right hand, which had lost sensation.
That warmth pierced through layer after layer of darkness, violently yanking Lin Jie's sinking consciousness back from the edge of that "black hole"!
Then, in Lin Jie's blurred vision, a magnificent scene appeared that he would never forget.
The totem burned onto the back of his right hand—the ominous, cursed black cobra mark—"came alive." It raised its flattened triangular head.
Under Lin Jie's shocked gaze, its form began to change and reorganize.
The black scales that represented curse and venom shed piece by piece, replaced by white feathers that carried a sacred meaning.
The cold, vicious snake pupil closed and opened again.
But in the reopened eye, all evil had vanished, leaving only merciful, maternal golden divine light.
Finally, the black cobra completely disappeared.
An apparition of a great goddess appeared, wearing the ancient Egyptian white crown that symbolized divine and royal power, clothed in a magnificent divine robe woven from white feathers!
Lin Jie recognized her. She was one of the ancient and respected guardian deities of Egyptian mythology.
She was the protector of Upper Egypt before the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt.
She was the "Divine Mother" of every pharaoh, the one who placed the crown on the pharaoh at coronation and conferred the power of sacred rulership.
She was the vulture goddess Nehebkhet!!
The goddess apparition, born from the curse on Lin Jie's hand, opened her arms the instant her form manifested.
Immediately behind her, a pair of vulture wings made entirely of gentle white light unfolded with a rumbling sound!
Those wings were so holy and majestic!
Every strand of light they emitted felt like warm sunlight, dispelling the soul-freezing cold of this void.
The breeze when they fluttered was like a mother's tender caress, reassembling and soothing Lin Jie's soul that had lost direction and was about to shatter in the darkness.
The goddess apparition did not speak a word.
She turned and gently shielded Lin Jie's fragile soul beneath her radiant feathered wings, then fearlessly stood before the Tear of Apophis that radiated negative energy!
She blocked all the deadly corrosion coming from the Tear of the Serpent!
"Ugh—"
With a hoarse gasp of relief, Lin Jie's body leapt up from the soft sickbed.
He panted heavily, drenched in cold sweat.
The endless dark void was gone from before his eyes;
instead, he saw the ceiling of the medical room in the Cairo Second Branch.
Sunlight lazily streamed through the small window barred with iron grilles and fell on him, bringing the long-missed, solid warmth of the real world.
"You finally woke up."
A tired familiar voice sounded at his bedside.
Lin Jie turned his head with difficulty and saw Ethan's handsome face, haggard and full of deep guilt.
The British noble, usually concerned with appearance and manners, looked disheveled now.
He still wore dirty, torn hunting clothes;
his golden curls were greasy and messy from days without care, his eye sockets were sunken and bloodshot, and a layer of stubble had grown on his chin.
He stared at Lin Jie, newly awakened from unconsciousness, with eyes full of regret, gratitude, and unease.
"Sorry..." Ethan's voice was dry, "If it weren't for me... if it hadn't been me carrying that damned diamond... you wouldn't have..."
Lin Jie did not speak. He raised his right hand to signal Ethan to stop this self-reproach.
His throat felt as if scorched by flame, too dry to speak.
When he lifted his right hand, his movement suddenly froze.
That... dream?
No, not a dream!
There was a real totem imprinted on the back of his right hand!
The mark of the vulture goddess Nehebkhet, wearing the white crown of Upper Egypt!!
"This is..." Lin Jie's voice showed disbelief.
"It seems like it saved you." Ethan's eyes also displayed awe and incredulity as he pointed at the new mark on Lin Jie's hand and explained with difficulty, "You might need to ask Julian for the specific details. But given the circumstances, all I can call it is a miracle."
The door to the medical room was gently pushed open.
Julian entered with a local veteran physician from the Cairo Branch who smelled strongly of herbs and alchemical potions.
When Julian saw Lin Jie awake, the tension that had been pulling his face finally eased into a look of relief.
"Thank God... no, thank Nehebkhet." Julian looked extremely exhausted, "You've been unconscious for three full days."
"Three days?"
"To be precise, seventy-six hours." The old physician took over, handing Julian a diagnostic report written in Egyptian script and symbols that looked like scribbles to Lin Jie.
Then, with a tone of astonished puzzlement, he told Lin Jie, "Young man, your body is the most unbelievable 'battlefield' I've seen in my life."
"When we brought you back, we immediately performed a full examination. From the spiritual perspective, your soul looks like it has just gone through a war! Two at least Kingdom-class opposing conceptual forces collided violently within you!"
"Under normal circumstances, any mortal's consciousness would have vaporized instantly under the tearing of those two horrific powers! Not even a trace would remain!"
"But you..." The old physician shook his head, his face written with incomprehension, "your body became a perfect balance scale, miraculously maintaining an extremely fragile equilibrium in that storm."
"There was nothing we could do." The old physician spread his hands helplessly, "We only used Life Spring diluent to maintain your already exhausted vital signs, then prayed that you could pull through on your own."
Hearing that mystically tinged medical diagnosis, Lin Jie felt a tremendous shock in his heart.
He finally understood what had happened after he fell into unconsciousness.
He finally understood how real and perilous that "dream" he experienced truly was!
"Julian," Lin Jie turned his gaze to his teammate, "what exactly happened back then? How did we get back?"
Julian sighed, his face still showing the lingering terror.
"When you were struck by that dark aura and suddenly bled from the seven orifices and fainted," he slowly narrated, "the mark on the back of your hand suddenly burst out with a white light."
"It was like the nemesis of that dark aura. When that white light touched it, the black qi that had been wrapped around you immediately shrank back into its box!"
"Ethan also recovered at that moment." Julian glanced at the guilty-faced noble beside him. "After that, William carried you out from that underground temple."
"Luckily the mission finally came to an end." Lin Jie forced a bitter smile.