Chapter 966 Halo
Finally, on a moonless night, Xiaohu, Qi Tongwei, Li Xin and several brave young people walked towards the mysterious woods with nervousness and expectation. When they came to the edge of the woods, a gloomy atmosphere came over them, making people shudder. The woods were pitch black, as if they were a huge black hole, swallowing up all the light.
"Everyone, be careful." Xiaohu whispered, and then led the way into the woods. They walked forward carefully, and the torches in their hands illuminated a small path ahead. The surrounding trees were tall and dense, with branches and leaves intertwined, and the sky was almost invisible. Occasionally, a breeze blew, and the leaves rustled, as if whispering something.
As they walked, Li Xin suddenly stopped and asked, "Did you hear any sound?" Everyone quieted down and listened carefully. Sure enough, a faint sound came from the depths of the woods, like someone crying, or someone calling softly. Xiaohu's heartbeat quickened, but he still mustered up the courage and said, "Let's go over and take a look."
They walked in the direction of the sound, which became clearer and clearer. When they came to an open space, they saw a figure standing there with its back to them. The figure looked like a woman wearing a tattered white dress and with long hair that covered her face.
"Who are you?" Xiao Hu asked loudly. The woman did not answer, but trembled slightly. Qi Tongwei raised his weapon vigilantly: "Be careful, it may be a trap." At this moment, the woman suddenly turned around slowly, revealing a pale face. There were no eyeballs in her eyes, only two empty holes, and blood flowed out of the holes and slid down her cheeks.
"Ah!" Li Xin screamed in fear and turned to run. Xiao Hu was also frightened by the horrific scene, but he still suppressed his fear and clenched his weapon tightly. The woman opened her mouth, let out a shrill cry, and then pounced towards them.
Xiaohu reacted quickly and swung his sword at the woman. However, the sword went straight through the woman's body, as if she was just an illusion. The woman passed through Xiaohu's body and continued to rush forward, aiming at Li Xin. Seeing this, Qi Tongwei rushed over and blocked the woman with the torch in his hand. The woman screamed in pain under the light of the torch, and her body gradually dissipated.
"What is going on?" Li Xin asked in horror. Qi Tongwei frowned, "It seems that these are the ghosts in the woods. They will use our fear to attack us. We can't be scared by them. We must stay calm."
They continued to move forward, encountering all kinds of strange things along the way. Sometimes, they saw some strange shadows moving through the woods; sometimes, they heard someone whispering in their ears, but when they turned around, they saw nothing. But they did not retreat, and walked step by step towards the center of the woods.
Finally, they arrived in front of the legendary "Tree of Judgment". The tree was huge, with a trunk diameter of more than ten meters, and covered with densely packed eyes. Those eyes flashed with strange light, as if they were watching them.
Xiaohu took a deep breath, mustered up his courage and walked forward. He looked at the eyes on the tree trunk and said loudly, "We are here to lift the curse of this forest. Don't stop us." Suddenly, the eyes on the tree trunk began to move, making a buzzing sound. Then, the ground began to shake, and the surrounding trees seemed to come alive, stretching out branches towards them, trying to trap them.
Everyone quickly waved their weapons to resist the attack of the branches. Xiaohu concentrated his mind and tried to find a way to break the curse. He remembered what Qi Tongwei had said before, that the curse of this forest was related to the soul of the elves, and perhaps only by finding the soul of the elves could the curse be lifted.
"Don't panic, let's find the spirit of the elf together!" Xiaohu shouted. They began to look around, but after searching for a long time, they found nothing. Just when they felt desperate, Xiaohu suddenly saw a small hole in the tree trunk, with a faint light flashing inside.
He hurried over, reached into the tree hole, and took out a crystal ball that emitted a soft glow. In the crystal ball, there seemed to be a small figure floating. Xiaohu took a closer look and found that it was the soul of an elf.
"I found the spirit of the elf!" Xiaohu shouted excitedly. At this moment, the surrounding trees stopped attacking, and the ground stopped shaking. The eyes on the tree trunks gradually closed, and the whole forest became quiet.
Xiaohu held the crystal ball and came to the ancient tree: "Elf soul, we are here to help you. Please tell us how to lift the curse of this forest?" The elf soul in the crystal ball flickered a few times, and then a faint voice came out: "Put my soul back to the Elf Spring, which is the source of our power and the source of the curse. Only there can the curse be lifted."
Xiaohu nodded, and under the guidance of the spirit soul, they walked towards the direction of the spirit spring. Along the way, they did not encounter any danger, as if the evil power in the woods had been temporarily suppressed.
Finally, they came to a clear spring. The spring was surrounded by a soft light, as if it was a sacred place. Xiaohu carefully placed the crystal ball into the spring, and saw the crystal ball slowly sinking and then merged into the spring water.
Suddenly, the spring water emitted a dazzling light, which spread in all directions and enveloped the entire forest. As the light spread, a cheerful song came from the forest, which was the song of the elves. The trees regained vitality, the flowers and plants became more colorful, and the birds sang happily on the branches.
"We succeeded!" Everyone cheered, knowing that the curse of the mysterious forest had finally been lifted. On the way back, they found that the road in the forest had become clearly visible, and they no longer had to worry about getting lost. When they walked out of the forest, it was already daybreak, and the sun shone on them, warm and comfortable.
The villagers gathered around them when they saw them return safely. Xiaohu told them how he lifted the curse on the forest, and they were all amazed at them.
However, just as everyone was immersed in joy, Qi Tongwei looked solemn. He pulled Xiaohu, Li Xin and others aside and whispered, "I'm afraid things are not that simple."
Xiaohu looked at Qi Tongwei in confusion: "What's wrong? Hasn't the curse of the forest been lifted?" Qi Tongwei shook his head and took out a golden feather from his arms. The feather was sparkling with strange light in the sun, and there was a faint halo on the edge.