Unveiling the Mystic Gateway
Everyone looked up at the sky, where a mysterious portal hung like a giant whirlpool, radiating a soul-shaking aura.
It hovered in midair, distorting the surrounding air and creating an inexplicable sense of oppression. It really looked like an Anywhere Door opened straight out of another dimension.
Lu Yao took a deep breath, feeling the surging power within her. Her eyes flickered with curiosity and excitement, mixed with a trace of unnoticeable tension.
"What the hell is there to be afraid of? Let's just do it!" she thought to herself, taking the lead and stepping forward.
The air seemed to freeze instantly, and all the surrounding commotion vanished, leaving only the sound of everyone's tense breathing, like the calm before a storm.
Ma Lin wanted to pull Lu Yao back, but seeing the resolute gleam in her eyes, he abruptly stopped in his tracks.
*Oh well,* he thought, *you gotta spoil your own wife. If she wants to go, let her go. I've got her back anyway.*
He silently followed behind Lu Yao. Meanwhile, Xuanjizi stood to the side with narrowed eyes, carefully observing the portal with furrowed brows, as if pondering some cosmic-level enigma.
"This door... has some depth to it," he muttered under his breath. The wise Suyi and Lin Yue also put away their usual recklessness, cautiously approaching the gateway. The two usually giggly companions were now as quiet as quails, and the atmosphere grew uncharacteristically solemn, the sound of everyone's heartbeat clearly audible.
The moment they stepped through the portal, the world before them instantly darkened, making it feel just like *Silent Hill*.
Before they could even adapt to the sudden pitch-blackness, a fierce attack tore through the air!
"What the hell! An ambush?" Before Lu Yao even had time to complain, a black energy arrow shot straight toward her.
Before she could dodge, a blur flashed before her eyes, and Ma Lin had already stepped in front of her, raising a shield to block the strike.
A dull, muffled "bang" echoed through the air like exploding fireworks, and the tension at the scene instantly spiked.
"Tsk tsk, looks like the good show is about to start!" An icy voice came from the darkness as Yingfeng slowly materialized. Without another word, he launched another assault, sending a tempest of black magical arts hurtling toward the group.
Ma Lin swung his sword to meet the attack, his blade flashing like lightning as he blocked the majority of the blows.
Suyi and Lin Yue hastily joined the fray, and the three of them engaged in a fierce clash with Yingfeng. The surrounding airflow was whipped into such chaos that it felt like a tornado sweeping through, accompanied by a rapid succession of booming sounds. For a moment, the multicolored lights of various spells intertwined in a dazzling display.
Suddenly, Yingfeng delivered a heavy strike, slamming fiercely into Suyi. Failing to dodge in time, Suyi took the blow square in the chest, let out a muffled groan, and went flying backward.
Suyi crashed heavily to the ground with a loud thud, kicking up a cloud of dust as a trickle of bright red blood spilled from the corner of his mouth.
Seeing this, Lin Yue let out a cry of alarm: "Suyi!" She tried to rush over to help him up, but Yingfeng blocked her path with a wall of black energy.
"Little girl, your opponent is me!" Yingfeng sneered, launching his offensive once more.
Lin Yue clenched her teeth, forced to deal with the enemy right in front of her first.
Watching Suyi lying on the ground, Lu Yao felt a sharp, needle-like pain in her heart.
She wanted to rush over to help, but found herself bound by an invisible force, unable to move a muscle as if immobilized by a paralysis spell.
She struggled, her face etched with anxiety and helplessness, her teeth biting down hard on her bright red lips. The surrounding atmosphere grew oppressive to the extreme, feeling like the end of the world.
Right at that moment, Xuanjizi finally made his move.
He formed hand seals and chanted an incantation. A blinding brilliance burst forth from his body, instantly illuminating the entire dim space like a massive searchlight, turning the surroundings as bright as day.
Blinded by the sudden, piercing light, Yingfeng squeezed his eyes shut and stumbled back a few steps in agony, temporarily robbed of his ability to attack.
"Now's our chance!" Seizing the moment, Lu Yao fought free from the mysterious binding force, channeled all her strength into her ultimate strike, and unleashed a dazzling beam of light that pierced the sky like a shooting star, slamming straight into Yingfeng's chest!
Yingfeng let out a miserable scream, crashing miserably to the ground as black blood spilled from the corner of his mouth.
Seeing this, the group cheered, filled with the joy of surviving a catastrophe, just like soldiers celebrating a victorious battle.
Ma Lin walked over to Lu Yao, gently smoothing down the hair that the wind had messed up, his fingertips brushing across her cheek with a trace of tenderness.
Lu Yao looked up at Ma Lin, her eyes brimming with adoration as her inner fan-girl expression was laid completely bare.
Ma Lin gently lifted Lu Yao's chin, their gazes locking. The air around them seemed filled with a sweet fragrance, and pink bubbles practically floated through the atmosphere.
Seeing this scene, Suyi and Lin Yue exchanged a smile, thinking that this mouthful of dog food tasted genuinely sweet.
Just as everyone thought the crisis was averted, a powerful suction force suddenly erupted from deep within the portal, acting like a giant black hole intent on devouring everything in its path.
Losing their footing instantly, everyone was pulled uncontrollably toward the depths.
Ma Lin gripped Lu Yao's hand tightly, but even he was powerless against the overwhelming suction.
They could only watch helplessly as the scenery around them blurred, their bodies irresistibly dragged into the unknown darkness...