Chapter 920: Chapter 921: Look up Then from the edges of his eyes, blood began to seep and run down his cheeks. He stood there frozen, staring upward, as if he had just laid eyes on something his mind could not comprehend. The soft soil below their feet was the first to flee. Even a region of the Evil Forest was scared of whatever was speaking in the trees, and so the soil withdrew along with the black roots, retracting violently underground. What changed was the texture of the black earth. It was now as hard and steady as Damon remembered from normal ground. Only now he felt dread. Damon saw Seras slowly turn around and begin forming hand signs. She gestured to the expedition force and then to Damon next to her. She made a sign that would have made any person refuse the order. Still, they all knew this was the only way. She moved her hand to her mouth. Without hesitation, she pulled out her own tongue and cut it off. The severed tongue fell to the ground. At the exact same moment, her voice echoed from the trees. "Everyone ready your weapons and attack the entities in the trees.." It was terrifying. They were all looking directly at Seras. She had not spoken a single word. Her mouth was full of blood. Yet her voice was coming from the trees. The trees, and whatever was perched within them, had been using her voice. If she had not acted fast, they would have been taken just like the first person. Damon bit his lip hard. It seemed they had somehow reached the Listening Canopy faster than they had thought. Or maybe it was the canopy that came to them. This was a region of the Evil Forest they had been poised to enter, but that would not have been for at least another three days of traveling. Seras’ tongue bled heavily as she glanced at him. Damon sighed internally. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶 He had to do it too. The Listening Canopy definitely had his voice now. He waved his hand, and the shadow around him materialized into a thin knife. Without hesitation, he pulled out his tongue and cut it off. Blood filled his mouth, rushing down his throat and along his chin and neck. The taste was fishy and metallic. Damon was not shaken. His expression remained calm as if he had not just mutilated himself. The rules of this place were simple according to Amadeus’ records. Once the canopy knew your name, your tongue was your greatest enemy. If you did not cut it off, it would grow green and begin to rot the more the forest spoke in your voice. Do not look into the trees. Something horrible was sitting there. When you saw it, it would break your mind and your soul would shatter. In some cases, it would steal something from you. Companions hear orders or cries that never happened. Some follow them into the woods and are never found. More importantly, this was the part most similar to the Whispering Forest. It must not know your name. If it did, it would command you to look up, and with each call it would weaken your will until you finally did. Renata had not been speaking, so the Listening Canopy did not know her voice. She did not cut off her tongue. Instead, she took out a rope and bound her mouth as tightly as possible. She did the same for Wendy, who kept her eyes firmly downcast. Some members of the expedition did not take chances. They cut off their tongues without hesitation. It was safer that way. The smell of blood filled the air thick and heavy. Damon saw a faint light shining down when he heard a voice urging him to look up. It was the voice of Seras asking him for help. He was not stupid. She was right next to him. He nudged her with his elbow slightly. Seras looked at him from the corner of her eye and gave him a small head sign that meant endure it. Damon glanced back at the path they had taken and saw strangely formed trees behind them. He looked down and noticed strange flowers growing around their roots. The flowers seemed to radiate faint spatial power. He narrowed his eyes. That was where they had passed. Were those displacement flowers. He appraised them carefully. They were. This was a type of flower in the Evil Forest that teleported and displaced people from one location to another using its spatial characteristics. ’I see... we skipped a few days of traveling without even meaning to..’ "Damon quick look up.." Seras screamed urgently. His neck tensed. He almost lifted his head. Then he stopped himself. "Dammit that was convincing almost fell for it.." Damon took a deep breath of cold air and started walking again from the trees. Sera’s soft voice tried to get him to look up. ""Don’t you want to know about your mother? If you look up, I can tell you. I’ll show you." The voice in the trees spoke in a gentle tone that belied anything that had ever come out of that woman’s mouth. Seras would never be that gentle with anyone, he was sure about that. She was as cold as steel and as swift and unrelenting as death. As if that madwoman would be gentle... "She wouldn’t, right? Damon thought, the blood on his chin drying up. He glanced at her walking slowly by his side with venom in her eyes. Yes, definitely, she would never be that soft-spoken. That was a woman raised in war for you. She glanced at him, then gestured aggressively for him to keep walking. Her glare told him so. If you let yourself get ensnared I will beat you to a pulp .. Damon bit his lips. He would’ve said something if he had a tongue. Plop. Someone fell to their knees, their face white. The Listening Canopy had taken them. He felt his hair stand on end.