The air was damp, cool against Xia Lun's nose.
Holding up the tower shield, Xia Lun ran deeper into the Snake Passage. After a few minutes, a chilly breeze met him, carrying the scent of plants and the clear burble of river water over pebbles.
Curled roots hung from the cavern ceiling. Weathered hollows dotted the gray-blue stone, and mushrooms with caps like dead umbrellas sprang from them. A hazy, dreamlike glow filled the air.
Xia Lun blinked. The scene was magnificent, the plants so lush they seemed to overflow with vitality. The oppressive feeling left by the Withered Dead's Aura of Decay vanished.
Though only a door separated them, the Snake Passage and the Black Desert outside felt like different worlds: one misty and dreamlike, the other dry and ruined.
He glanced back. The yellow sandstorm still raged through the tunnel, grit rattling against the murals like maddened ghosts hunting for prey. Yet not one grain crossed the Snake Passage's gate.
The fierce Withered Dead seemed afraid of something too. They did not dare follow, merely watching him from a distance.
"Why aren't those Undead coming after us?" White Line asked, puzzled. "Could there be another Ritual on the gate that keeps Undead out?"
Xia Lun was about to say he did not know, but a bubble of text appeared beside the gate. The temporary Wilderness Survival Specialization granted by his Identity Badge had come through again.
[The Withered Dead, cursed for their greed, drain life. Yet abundant life is also the only way to drive them away. Perhaps they travel with the Black Sandstorm because it can destroy trees.]
"The vegetation in the Snake Passage can stop Undead." Xia Lun looked away. "We should be safe for now."
The corner of the Dancer's eye twitched as she dragged