The roar echoed across the Borderlands like a storm ripping the sky in half. Stones rattled, dust shot up, and Li Ming clung to the cracked altar like it was his last hope.
"Okay, okay, it's fine!" he shouted, voice cracking. "Big scary sound, collapsing ground, totally normal!"
Lan Yue pulled him upright. "Move! We can't stay here!"
From the broken altar, dark mist burst out in spirals, each wave colder than the last. Inside that swirling blackness, a pair of glowing eyes opened again—gold, ancient, watching.
Li Ming froze. "Oh no. It's looking at me. Why is it looking at me? Tell it to look somewhere else!"
Bai Guo fluttered nervously, feathers ruffled. "Descendant, don't panic! It can smell fear!"
"I'm made of fear!" Li Ming squeaked, backing up.
