Chapter 282: The Wooden Sculpture

It wasn’t until Helag pointed it out that Wendy snapped out of her daze.

After opening the box, she had been immediately captivated by the wooden sculpture, unable to put it down.

The sculpture’s upper half was a faceless head, seemingly of a woman, while the lower half resembled an iron barrel.

There was no aesthetic appeal to the sculpture at all, and for someone like Wendy, it was something she normally wouldn’t even like.

Yet, the moment she laid eyes on it, she was inexplicably drawn to it.

Realizing this, Wendy felt a wave of fear wash over her. She quickly placed the sculpture back into the box and slammed the lid shut.

However, even after doing so, she found herself still wanting to look at the box, to take the sculpture out and play with it again.

It was as if the sculpture had some kind of magical allure, pulling at her, teasing her curiosity.

“This thing is strange. Even after putting it in the box, I still want to take it out and play with it. Mr. Helag, please help me,” Wendy turned to Helag, pleading.

Since Helag had been able to sense something wrong with the sculpture and advised her to get rid of it, perhaps he had a way to solve the problem.

Helag frowned. “You’re saying that even after closing the box, you still feel the urge to take it out?”

“Yes, exactly. I don’t know why, but the feeling is so strong, it’s hard to resist.”

Wendy glanced fearfully at the box, a deep sense of dread filling her.

Over the years, she had faced many challenges without losing her composure, but this was the first time she had felt genuine fear.

Wendy was a first-level gaseous wizard, though her talent wasn’t great.

She had only reached this level through the use of various resources and the assistance of her family’s wizards.

Even though her strength wasn’t remarkable, she was still a wizard.

If even she couldn’t resist the strange allure of the sculpture, it was clear that something was seriously wrong.

Helag furrowed his brow, deep in thought, without saying a word.

As Wendy waited anxiously for Helag to come to a conclusion, something happened.

*Click.*

The box silently opened on its own.

Wendy turned her head at the sound, her eyes widening in terror.

She realized that her hand had somehow opened the box without her even noticing.

Not only that, but her hand had also taken the sculpture out of the box and was gently caressing it, as if it were a precious treasure.

But while her hand moved lovingly over the sculpture, Wendy’s face was filled with horror.

Tears welled up in her eyes, and her voice choked as she tried to speak, but no words came out.

It was unclear whether it was due to fear or because she was physically unable to speak.

Seeing this, Helag acted swiftly. He reached out and grabbed the sculpture from Wendy’s hand.

Of course, before doing so, he had already cast several protective and enhancement spells on himself, except for the Giant’s Body spell, as the space was too small to use it effectively.

Besides, Helag had a gut feeling that he wasn’t afraid of whatever was inside the sculpture.

The abyssal aura it emitted didn’t evoke fear in him.

Wendy’s hand didn’t even have time to react before the sculpture was in Helag’s grasp.

As soon as Helag held the sculpture, the abyssal aura it emitted grew stronger.

At the same time, Wendy found that her hand was moving on its own, reaching out toward Helag.

Seeing that she couldn’t reach him, her legs seemed to want to stand up and walk over.

She fought hard to control her body, suppressing the urge to stand and move closer.

Helag glanced at the sculpture and quietly set up a soundproof barrier around himself. Then, in a low voice, he said, “Quiet.”

In the next instant, the abyssal aura from the sculpture completely vanished, and Wendy’s hand fell back to her side.

Wendy looked at her hands, flexing her fingers. She realized she had regained control.

At that moment, she felt an overwhelming sense of relief.

At the same time, her body ached as if she had just finished a day of hard labor, leaving her utterly exhausted.

“Mr. Helag, what’s going on?” Wendy asked, ignoring the pain in her hands.

The events of the day had been so bizarre that she couldn’t rest until she understood what had happened.

In the past, she had dealt with various assassination attempts and attacks, but at least those were tangible threats.

This wooden sculpture, however, was something entirely different—strange and impossible to defend against.

Wendy didn’t even want to imagine what might have happened if Helag hadn’t been there to notice the problem with the sculpture.

The mere thought of it sent a chill down her spine, and she was drenched in sweat, her thin dress clinging to her back, revealing her smooth skin underneath.

“I’m still observing. Let me take a closer look,” Helag replied.

Wendy nodded, no longer concerned about her sweat-soaked dress, her attention entirely focused on Helag, hoping he could provide some answers.

“Deep Blue, scan and analyze the sculpture.”

Helag realized that his magic couldn’t penetrate the sculpture, making it impossible to see what was inside. He had no choice but to rely on Deep Blue’s environmental scanning.

“Scanning in progress…”

Deep Blue quickly completed the scan and provided the results.

Inside the sculpture, there was a blood-red worm wriggling around.

Seeing the worm, Helag took out a test tube and set it aside.

Then, he pulled out a dagger and carefully began cutting into the sculpture.

The material of the sculpture was harder than Helag had expected, and cutting into it felt like trying to slice through stone.

But with enough force, Helag managed to cut the sculpture in half, revealing the red worm inside.

Helag pinched the worm between his fingers and lifted it up.

The worm seemed to struggle for a moment, but then it went completely still, as if it were dead.

It didn’t dare move, remaining motionless in Helag’s hand.

From the worm, Helag could sense a strong abyssal aura, confirming that it was indeed a creature from the Abyss Plane.

However, he couldn’t identify what kind of creature it was or what it was called.

“This… what is that?” Wendy gasped, her hands trembling as she stared at the blood-red worm.

The thought that such a terrifying creature had been inside the sculpture she had been playing with sent another wave of fear through her.

“It’s likely some kind of magical creature, but I don’t recognize it. I’ll hand it over to the organization for investigation. This thing is probably not simple,” Helag said, placing the worm into the test tube.