At the foot of Danglang Mountain lay a barren wood.
The soil was grayish black, and with winter's arrival, the trees had long since lost all their leaves.
At night, the bizarrely shaped, leafless trees with their twisted trunks added an eerie air to the place.
Yue Yan's Raven had returned to the Imperial City, leaving only Dou Xie's Raven circling overhead.
A Raven's symbolic value always outweighed its practical use. A lone Raven was mostly used to sound alarms.
But as a member of Ye Weiyang, one had to bring a Raven. To be seen without one would be a loss of face.
Despite his swollen face and black eyes, Dou Xie strode ahead in high spirits.
The Raven's flight path grew erratic as it circled in the air.
SCRATCH, SCRATCH, SCRATCH—
The scratching from the black Mao'er inside their Black Boxes grew louder and louder.
The Wimp, dazed as if he'd lost his soul, continued to walk at the head of the group, heading straight for Danglang Mountain.
"L-look... over there!"
