Chapter 397: Chapter 397: Plant Monster

As Elder Xianthe leads his teachers deeper towards the ghost city, the environment around them grows increasingly malevolent. The air thickens, a palpable tension settling over the once-peaceful landscape they had traversed earlier. Each step seems to echo against the silence that envelops the area, a silence too heavy, too expectant.

Without warning, the quiet is shattered by a low growl rumbling from the thickets to their left. The group halts, instinctively forming a defensive circle as they scan the underbrush. Out from the shadows lunges a creature, its scales glinting dully in the filtered sunlight—a forest drake, its eyes alight with a predatory gleam.