第21章

I could hear sounds now. Not the natural sounds of the forest, but something else. Faint scraping, clicking, rustling sounds, coming from the shadows.

They were here.

I gripped the wood雕 tighter. Its warmth was the only thing keeping the cold at bay.

I moved carefully, my senses on high alert. Every shadow seemed to writhe, every rustle of leaves sending a jolt of fear up my spine.

The wood雕 continued to guide me, leading me deeper into this eerie, unnatural part of the forest.

As I rounded a particularly large, twisted tree, I saw it.

A clearing. But not a natural one. The trees in the clearing had been snapped or twisted off at the base, leaving jagged stumps. And in the center of the clearing, on a raised mound of earth, was another stone sculpture.

It was larger than the one in the village, and it looked older, more worn. But the carving on it was unmistakable – the same twisted, unnatural creature from the wood雕.

This must be one of the pieces of the林灵’s heart.

But the clearing was not empty.