The steam from the tea condensed into strange shapes between them, sometimes like a struggling human figure, sometimes like a coiled python.
"Every tree is a living chain."
Serance tapped the rim of the cup with a teaspoon, and the crisp sound of the collision actually brought out the echo of metal hitting metal.
"They will reorganize and move according to 'certain rules,' emitting..."
He suddenly grasped his left arm, and Blore noticed the faint shape of a chain protruding from under his sleeve.
"Like the sound of thousands of keys turning in a lock."
The vines of the Puslo rose suddenly shook violently, and a few petals fell on Serans's notes.
Blore saw a scribbled sketch emerging from the open pages:
Some kind of dark vine was entwined between the branches of the trees made of chains, and the flowers blooming on the thorns were so bright that they were almost hideous.
"But the weirdest thing..."
Serance suddenly lifted his collar, revealing an unhealed wound on his collarbone. A closer look revealed it was pierced by thorns, and the edge of the wound glowed an ominous dark gold.
"It's the black thorns. They produce rotten flowers whose fragrance crystallizes memories."
The chain around Blore's wrist suddenly tightened, and a sticky shadow seeped out from the gaps in the chain.
He seemed to see black buds growing from his fingertips, and then disappearing in an instant.
"I wandered there for a full forty days."
Serance's voice began to have strange overlapping sounds, as if there was another voice narrating at the same time.
"Until the Chained Forest suddenly stopped—as if it had been paused."
His fingertips dipped in tea and drew intricate patterns on the tabletop.
"Then I saw the coffin."
The pattern formed by the water marks suddenly stood up, projecting a holographic image in the air:
The transparent coffin is guarded by thorns and chains, and a mysterious substance like liquid gold flows inside.
Blore's temples throbbed. The shape of the coffin reminded him inexplicably of a baby's cradle.
"Those golden waters..."
Serance suddenly coughed violently, and the gold dust he coughed up formed a vague outline of a baby in the air.
"When it sensed my presence, it suddenly appeared..."
A muffled "bang" from the roof interrupted his words.
The two looked up at the same time and saw the Pixiu using its broken horn to push against the skylight glass, with stars flashing wildly in its eyes.
Serance's expression suddenly became serious: "It seems they discovered that I was leaking..."
Blore suddenly pressed his aching temple, and as the chains on his body rattled, he clearly heard the golden water in the coffin making a baby cry.
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