It took a while for my eyes to adjust to the dim light. But even without seeing, I could tell that wherever we landed wasn't East Village anymore. It was too warm for this time of the year, and too humid. The sound of a running river drifted into my ears, echoing faintly in the small space around us.
A surrounding like this felt a bit familiar. I squinted, and when I still couldn't make out anything in the darkness, I realized where we were. "Bai Ye," I whispered as he lowered me down onto the ground. "Are we … back at the Misty Mountains?"
He uttered a spell under his breath. A soft flicker of light pulsed from his palm—the glow of his spiritual power—and I sucked in a deep breath when the wet walls of a cave chamber came into view. We were back indeed. The entrance we took last time might have collapsed, but the rest of the massive cave system still appeared intact. Or at least intact enough to remain a maze in front of us.
