"This village doesn't look inhabited." Not far from the village, Fang Hong suddenly stopped; he looked at the silent settlement, a low wall in front of them, and spoke.
"Indeed, it wasn't like this when we were here before, quite strange." A ranger from Silver Weslan flipped over the wall with one hand and took a few steps forward, then suddenly bent down and let out a ghostly scream: "What in the world is this!"
The group followed his gaze to the ground beneath his feet, where the gray soil was covered by a layer of swirling black smoke, flowing like water patterns and reaching just over the ankles. The smoke continued to spread out towards the distance—the direction of the Andrett Ratmen village.
Xi's face changed, and she too vaulted over the low wall and dashed forward. She entered the village and froze on the spot as if bewitched.
