Pillar of Yita

At this place, they had already discovered many secrets. Fang Hong nodded: ”Of course, we must.” He had a feeling that the deepest part here must be hiding an even greater secret.

The torch went out, Fang Hong replaced it with another. The road ahead seemed somewhat monotonous, remnants from combat, relics from the Xinsas Era, and wall carvings, like walking through a corridor of time, but nothing new. Suddenly, the space in front of the three of them opened up, and they entered into a circular deep gorge wherein an arched stone bridge extended far ahead to a distant rocky platform. They had seen similar structures in the underground of Fenris Isle; the Xinsas Serpentfolk seemed inclined to build such constructions in the Abyss — this enclosed circular deep gorge was the final stretch of this long road — the stone platform appeared round, surrounded by a ring of tall stone columns.

Fang Hong looked in that direction. When he and the others stepped onto that stone bridge, a strange thought suddenly occurred to him:

That is to immediately leave this place, best not to even look back. Quickly get off the bridge and return the way they came.

It was as if the next step would confront them with unimaginable terror. But they had come this far, how could they return?

Fang Hong overcame this unfounded notion and moved forward. But the step he took halted mid-air, and at that moment — a boundless fear instantly seized his soul.

A massive pressure descended from above, and Fang Hong stiffly raised his head, almost losing hold of the torch in his hand. The flickering flame seemed as though it could not produce any light, and he watched as the weak flame appeared attracted by some invisible force, inexplicably leaning to one side.

He felt something getting closer and closer, yet he couldn’t lift his head to see. It was as if he was detached from reality, with half his mind able to think normally in the Spirit World, but his body was like a stone statue, immobile.

A green light glowed from inside his coat, the radiant light seemed to drive away all the darkness in an instant, flowing into his heart like a warm current. The fear in his heart vanished without a trace, and Fang Hong suddenly felt he had regained control of his body.

He reacted sharply, but immediately felt someone pulling him, it was Miss Maid. Miss Maid grabbed him, dashed across the stone bridge, with the Papalarians following closely on their short legs, the three of them leaped, landing steadily on the platform.

Fang Hong rolled several times on the ground before realizing what had happened. Then he heard a deep, piercing shriek from above, the sound seemed to penetrate the meninges, causing the entire underground to hum. The surrounding rock pillars even shook, sand cascaded down like a waterfall, creating a rustling sound.

Fang Hong instinctively looked in that direction, but only saw a massive tail, at least a hundred meters long, sweep through the darkness and disappear above the cliff, with a few rocks dropping, crashing loudly.

The pressure disappeared, but Fang Hong was drenched, as if pulled out from water. In a brief moment, he was covered in cold sweat.

He lay on the ground gasping for air, feeling as though he had just died and been reborn.

The Papalarians were also lying on the ground, struggling to catch their breath: ”That green light... what was that, if not for that, we’d all be dead here.”

Fang Hong then remembered, turned over to take out the object, which was actually two items, not just one — one was the amulet Mr. Anluose had given him.

And the other was an unassuming piece of withered wood.

It was the Heart of World Tree given to them by Moenyalit. Upon seeing this object, Fang Hong almost instantly realized that what had appeared before was likely another Guardian.

Crystal.

He looked towards that direction with lingering fear, always feeling as though there was still a gaze in the darkness, watching them — this lingering eerie feeling made it hard to breathe.

Crystal might still be there, but why hadn’t it come down to kill them? Fang Hong didn’t believe that a mere withered Heart of World Tree could make it so fearful.

He stared long and hard into the darkness and depth of that direction, silent.

Among the three, only Xiesta remained standing, looking up in the same direction. But suddenly Parker looked behind her and exclaimed in surprise:

”What is that!?”

A wobbly light orb emerged from behind a stone pillar, circled around them, and then paused, stopping not far from them.

Fang Hong also curiously observed this thing, but it was indeed just a cluster of light, with nothing inside. He hesitated, reaching out to touch the light orb, but it gently retreated, refusing to let him touch it.

The three of them exchanged glances for a moment, even their fear of Crystal diminished somewhat. What was this? Light Spirit? Some kind of Elemental Creature? Spiritual Aura?

But what happened next surprised them even more, when they tried to ignore the light orb, wherever they went, the orb followed them there.