Chapter 195: Horror
Deep within the Land of Hot Springs, the moon cast an eerie glow over the landscape, illuminating the thin mist.
There, in the heart of an open forest, a man and a woman abruptly woke. They felt a sudden haze of confusion.
The man, his features rugged but kind, squinted through the darkness. He turned towards his wife, who was terrified at what they were doing there.
"Relax, honey," he said, but his own voice trembled slightly, betraying his unease.
"Where are we?!" she asked, quaking with fear. "I can't move!"
The man tried to shift his body but found it immobilized, bound by some unseen force. Panic threatened as he attempted to piece together the situation.
Looking around, he noticed strange black circular patterns etched into the ground surrounding them. They looked oddly unnatural.
The woman's breath quickened, and as the fear suffocated her, her heart began to race. She looked as if she was about to have a heart attack.
"What's happening?!" she cried out. "Someone, please help us!"
Before the man could say anything, a jolt of excruciating pain gripped his body like a vice. He screamed into the night, the woman's eyes widening in horror as she watched him convulse, his form shrouded in swirling dust.
After a moment, the dust settled, revealing not her husband but a boy—young, with disheveled black hair, his skin marred with cracks akin to shattered porcelain, and his face devoid of eyes.