Yu Lin, Ruo Lan, and the witch stood frozen in the black fog. Their bodies shivered from the cold, their minds spinning from fear. Just when they thought things couldn't get worse…
They couldn't breathe.
Yu Lin was the first to notice. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out.
No air.
Ruo Lan clutched her throat, her eyes wide. She gasped again and again, but there was nothing to breathe.
The witch floated nearby, her dark cloak trembling. Even without a face, she looked afraid.
Yu Lin dropped to his knees. Ruo Lan fell beside him, her hands scraping the ground. The witch flinched and bent over, as if something was pressing hard on her skull.
The shadowy creatures in the fog watched silently at first.
Then they began to laugh. Not loud laughter. Soft, dry chuckles.
"Look at them... wriggling..."
"Like fish pulled from the sea… gasping, gasping..."
Yu Lin's vision blurred. Ruo Lan's arms trembled.
They were dying.
Then, suddenly, oxygen returned.
