Morning sunlight never fully reached Broken-Soul Peak.
It arrived in pale threads, thin and nervous, as if afraid to disturb whatever slept deeper in the mountain.
Lin Feng finished washing his bowl and set it on a crooked shelf.
The ghost child followed behind him, sweeping the floor with its splinter like it was performing serious sect duties.
The newly joined man—still pale, still shaking—sat by the courtyard pillar, staring at his glowing arm with exhausted fear.
Lin Feng approached him.
"Feeling alive?" he asked.
The man nodded slowly.
"Senior… thank you. I thought I would die last night."
"You might still. But not today."
The man choked on his own breath.
The ghost child patted his knee sympathetically.
Lin Feng crouched beside him again and tapped the fading mark.
"We need to fix this. It's like carrying a sign that says 'Eat Me, I'm Free.' Very inefficient."
The man swallowed hard.
"C-Can the mark really be removed?"
"Removed? No."
Lin Feng stood.
"But suppressed? Yes. And perhaps reversed."
The man blinked in confusion.
"W-What does that mean?"
Lin Feng looked toward the mountain ridge.
"It means the thing that marked you… also reacts to you. Weak spirits chase you. But something deeper in the mountain responded to your presence."
The man hugged himself tightly, trembling.
But then—
his expression twisted into something worse than fear.
Worry.
Regret.
Pain.
"…M-My daughter…" he whispered, voice cracking.
"She's waiting for the medicine… If I die here… she'll…"
He covered his face with shaking hands.
"I-I didn't come to die… I only wanted to save her…"
Lin Feng paused.
Even the fog held still.
Then he said calmly:
"She won't be left alone."
The man lowered his hands, eyes wet.
Lin Feng continued:
"If you die, it inconveniences me. And inconvenient people don't leave unfinished business."
The man wasn't sure if he should feel relieved or terrified—but he nodded weakly.
A cold chime rang in Lin Feng's mind.
---
[SYSTEM MISSION ISSUED]
Mission: Silence the Predatory Echo Mark
Objective:
• Find the root of the mark
• Neutralize its influence
• Stabilize the host
Bonus Objective: Acquire medicine for disciple's daughter
Reward:
• Life Essence Pellet (Low Grade)
• Spirit Suppression Charm
• Sect Points +5
Warning: Host survival chance: 42%
---
Lin Feng tapped the air lightly.
"Acceptable."
The man looked up nervously.
"S-Senior… is something wrong?"
"Nothing," Lin Feng replied calmly.
"Just organizing problems."
The Chained Woman's chains rattled once, agreeing.
Lin Feng gestured toward the inner mountain path.
"Well then. To weaken the mark, we must find its birthplace."
The man stiffened.
"T-The forest…?"
"No." Lin Feng pointed deeper into Broken-Soul Peak.
"This mark comes from here."
The man turned pale.
Even the ghost child paused its sweeping.
The mountain's inner ridge loomed—silent, heavy, waiting.
Lin Feng walked forward.
"Come. Guided tour."
The man almost collapsed.
"M-Must we go there…?"
"Yes."
"W-Why me…?!"
"Because the mountain likes you," Lin Feng said.
"Or wants to eat you. Hard to tell. We'll discover soon."
The ghost child floated to Lin Feng's side, gripping its splinter sword.
The Chained Woman followed silently, chains dragging on the stones like cold warnings.
Lin Feng gestured for the man to follow.
"You won't survive carrying that mark forever. Better to face the source than let it track you."
The man looked at his arm.
The mark pulsed faintly—alive.
"…I will go," he whispered.
Lin Feng nodded.
"Good. Courage is your first cultivation step. Breakfast is the second. Sadly, you only have the first."
The man wasn't sure if that was a compliment.
Lin Feng stepped toward the inner path.
"Let's meet our mysterious neighbor."
---
They passed the cracked altar, through a slanted archway, and onto a narrow trail between jagged rocks.
Fog curled around their ankles, cold and almost aware.
Every sound felt louder. Every shadow heavier.
The ghost child stayed close.
The Chained Woman's chains hovered, ready to strike.
The man whispered:
"Senior… what is this place?"
Lin Feng's voice stayed calm.
"A forgotten part of the sect. Erased for a reason."
The man shook.
Lin Feng kept walking.
"The mark on your arm responds to something inside. The system wants us to silence it. So we go."
Suddenly the wind shifted—
not blowing from the mountain,
but toward it.
As if something deeper was pulling.
The man froze.
"I-I don't think this is a good idea…"
Lin Feng placed a steady hand on his shoulder.
"Correct. But necessary."
The fog thinned—
revealing a stone structure half-buried under vines.
An abandoned shrine.
Cracked.
Silent.
Forgotten.
Lin Feng's eyes sharpened.
"We found the first clue."
The man swallowed.
Lin Feng brushed dust off the shrine.
Symbols were carved into the stone—
the same circular pattern as the mark on the man's arm.
The mark glowed instantly.
The shrine cracked—
—and a cold whisper drifted through the air:
"…come… back…"
The man screamed, falling backward.
The ghost child clung to Lin Feng.
The Chained Woman stepped forward, chains rising like iron serpents.
Lin Feng's eyes brightened with interest.
"Ah," he murmured.
"It wakes."
---