Clatter—
Dylan hauled himself up the trunk of the Xuanhuang Wood, inch by inch, gripping the chain. Yellow talisman paper covered his body, fluttering like yellow feathers. As it collided with the clear light falling from the Xuanhuang Wood, it gave off sizzling crackles, like a pane of glass slowly shattering.
Fatty Xin brought up the rear.
Out of the corner of his eye, he could clearly see that the higher they climbed, the more the surrounding air returned to the almost frozen state it had taken on after that dark shadow descended.
It was as though they were passing through a lump of amber.
Every movement came with a dragging sensation, as if they had sunk into a bog. As they climbed through it, the amber rapidly weathered and hardened, cracking little by little with their movements.
Crack, crack—
Even the crown of the tree seemed to sway under their pulling. The daylight filtering through the gaps between branches and leaves flickered as they swayed, falling across the group and making their figures blur, appearing and disappearing.
"I see it!"
Dylan's delighted voice came from above.
Then he vanished into thin air.
Right before Fatty Xin's eyes, he abruptly disappeared. The black chain still hung in the air, swaying slightly under the weight of the young wizards clinging to it. It had not vanished with Dylan. Its upper end disappeared into the shadows deep within the crown, making it impossible to tell what it was attached to.
Zhang Jixin was second in line.
He glanced down, his expression grim.
"I didn't catch how Dylan disappeared. One of the fissures beside me distracted me just now—there seemed to be something inside it. Watch out for them when you come up."
He gritted his teeth and blew two heavy breaths through