Daomu Biji: The Southern Archives

Side Story 9: Gonka

Zhang Haiyan looked at Wade. Only creatures like lizards blinked vertically. It was absolutely impossible for humans to blink vertically.

Why do you want to find these kinds of people? Are they valuable?

The Europeans appetite had long been enlarged by the diamond mines in the Borneo rainforests. Even though the cost of funding expedition teams was high, it was unlikely that the Royal Academy of Sciences would take part in projects where they captured a few strange people and made them join the circus.

Wade laughed. Do you think those people blink vertically because of eyelid deformities? Have you ever seen such a deformity?

Explain it properly. Whats your reason? Zhang Haiyan asked.

Wade coughed a few times and said, Its just a piece of skin. Theyre not the ones who blink vertically, its the things in their skin that blink vertically.

Zhang Haiyan frowned and Wade continued, We arent an expedition team seeking truth or treasures. Were a suicide squad. Were all murderers and scumbags. That tribe is parasitized by devils. Were going to destroy those devils.

Why didnt you follow them? Zhang Haiyan looked at Wade.

Wade laughed. Because Im a coward. I tore off my toenail and made myself unable to walk so that I could stay here. Im not going to give up my life.

Wade looked at Madison. Now you understand. Theyll do anything along the way to reward themselves because theyre going to fight the devils and most wont come back alive.

Madison looked at Wade coldly, but Zhang Haiyans eyes lit up. His instincts told him that although the information Wade had told him wasnt necessarily true, it certainly wasn't without reason. There had to be real information hidden in this legend of devils.

He straightened Wades body and looked at him. Come on. Tell me more.

You want to know more? Wade laughed. Then you have to fix me since I cant move my hands or feet. After that, youre going to send me back to Perak.

Zhang Haiyan immediately slapped Wade's face, but Wade continued to laugh. Now that I have a bargaining chip, no matter how you torture me, Ill force you to fulfill your promise. I can read the messages that your eyes are conveying. This information is very important to you, so you have to cooperate with me.

Zhang Haiyan looked at Wades expression. He had honestly never seen such an annoying person before. He stared at Wade for a while, his expression slowly turning cold and indifferent.

Wades smile slowly disappeared as he realized that this person had lost interest in the story he was about to tell. In other words, Zhang Haiyans disgust in having to communicate with him had exceeded his desire to know the truth.

Wade immediately said, Im sorry. I understand now. Ill talk.

Zhang Haiyan said coldly, Start from the beginning and finish the whole story in one go.

Wades eyes glazed over as he seemed to recall everything that had happened before he came here. Eventually, he started telling the whole story.

Contrary to what Madison had heard, the thing Herman obtained from the old library wasnt an ancient map.

A few years ago, Herman returned to his country and was honored for his outstanding performance in Borneo. He stayed in the UK for six months before he was transferred to Perak. The diamond trade in Borneo had made his family rich, so his next target was the precious woods in the Perak rainforests.

Herman was a very cautious and meticulous person. Everyone who knew him thought that he was decent and reserved. Everything he did was carefully planned and almost foolproof. This was also how he got along with people. He would smile politely at everyone while keeping a comfortable and friendly distance from them.

Before going to Perak, Herman visited all the old libraries in London to find research reports that the first generation of explorers had written about the distribution of plants in Perak. It was in these books that he saw the record of the magic drug called gonka for the first time.

He was very curious about this drug, but he also knew that gonka was completely extinct. It was possible that there were strains in the depths of the rainforests even though it couldnt be obtained elsewhere.

At that time, the opium trade profits made him unable to forget about this miraculous drug. On that day, he found a small description in a library report.

In addition to ingesting it, gonka had a wide range of functions. The local natives used it to dye leather and other things. It was at this time that Herman discovered that the cover of the book that had recorded these things had a strange red color to it.

Herman had a sudden flash of inspiration and cut off the strange cover. He then scraped the red off of it, poured it into his red wine, and drank it.

Half an hour later, his vision began to distort. Then, he saw an illusion that changed everything he had ever believed in.