The floor beneath Salas's feet bulged upward. Dozens of dark red roots pierced the boards, sealing off every escape route around him.
A charred vine crept along the floor. Blood-red patterns lit up from its base to its tip, and the Soul Power in the room vanished. Even the moonlight was shut out by branches and leaves crisscrossing the window.
Salas had no time to worry about Tang San. He turned his right palm toward the floor and brought the full force of his level eighty-nine Soul Power down upon it.
The floor did not break.
His palm strike landed in the area covered by roots and was scattered and swallowed in an instant. Not even a tremor escaped the room.
"What is that?"
Salas had barely spoken when a thick vine wrapped around his neck. The remaining roots seized his wrists and ankles and lifted him bodily off the floor.
He tried to call for Flender.
Only a muffled breath escaped his throat.
Soul Power surged wildly through his body. The moment his first Soul Ring lit up, barbs sprouted from the roots around his right arm, pierced his night clothes, and sank into his meridians.
The powers of ice and fire poison flooded in together.
Salas lost all feeling in his right arm, and the Soul Skill he had just gathered dissolved.
At last, he saw what stood before him.
The charred vine had grown as high as the ceiling beams. Dark red leaves unfurled in layers, each edged with blood-colored patterns.
These vines had not come from Tang San's Blue Silver Grass.
The Blue Silver Grass still rested against the base of the wall, its leaves hanging quietly. It neither attacked Salas nor sent Tang San any warning.
This monster had been hiding beside Tang San all