The Ominous Prelude of Shadow Marsh
Clutching the tattered diary tightly, Lin Yu and his two companions slowly departed from the ancient courtyard that had weathered so many storms and returned to a deathly stillness. They knew full well that the Shadow Marsh ahead was like a dormant prehistoric beast, its bloody maw agape, quietly waiting for them to step into its unknown and perilous territory. Yet, to thoroughly unravel the dark mystery and nip the terrifying shadow of the reviving dark forces in the bud, their gazes were resolute, devoid of any trace of retreat. With steady and firm strides, they headed straight toward the Shadow Marsh.
As the distance between them and the Shadow Marsh gradually closed, everything around them began to take on a hair-raising, eerie transformation. The sky, originally as clear and blue as the sea, now seemed as though an invisible dark hand were slowly pulling a thick and oppressive curtain of haze across it. Sunlight struggled like a trapped beast in a cage, squeezing desperately through the gaps in the clouds, yet the light that fell was so murky and dim that the whole world seemed draped in a decayed and desperate shadow of death. The trees by the roadside looked as though they had been ravaged by an evil curse; their leaves withered and shriveled at a visible rate, and their branches twisted and turned like the contorted limbs of demons, emitting a wailing moan in the whistling wind, like wronged souls softly weeping over the ominous …
Chapter 278