The Fourth Life She Guarded Me Chapter 26
The red glow floated slowly toward us.
Paloma lifted a hand and caught it.
When the light dispersed, I saw what was in her hand.
A thousand-soul vine root.
This was the magical plant the Mother of the Snake-vines had guarded for over a thousand years, fed on countless lives.
Anyone dragged down by her would have their soul extracted and fed to this root.
Only after devouring a thousand souls did it mature.
If consumed, it would grant power over the dead.
Paloma looked at me.
“Do you want it?”
I looked at it for a while, then shook my head.
“It’s not much use to me. I don’t want to be a necromancer.”
“Then it’s useless.”
As soon as Paloma said that, her gaze returned to the Mother of the Snake-vines.
Only then did I realize that when she said useless, she hadn’t meant the root.
She meant the Mother of the Snake-vines herself.
Paloma curled one corner of her mouth.
“You’ve lived this long and that’s all you have to offer?”
I said nothing.
The Mother of the Snake-vines said nothing.
The two of us stared at Paloma, and for a moment, neither of us could speak.
How could she say something like that in such a matter-of-fact tone?
Paloma couldn’t have cared less how we looked at her.
“Since you have no value, then—”
Before she could finish, the Mother of the Snake-vines let out a shrill hiss.