The glowing trail leading away from the shrine pulsed faintly, like a heartbeat hidden under stone.
Lin Feng followed it with the relaxed stride of a man strolling through a garden rather than into the throat of a haunted mountain.
The disciple stumbled behind him, clutching his nearly-faded mark like it might explode again.
"Senior," he whispered weakly, "is… is this really necessary…?"
"Yes," Lin Feng said.
"Can I say no?"
"No."
The disciple nodded miserably and kept walking.
The ghost child floated close to Lin Feng, gripping its tiny splinter sword like a brave, trembling soldier.
The Chained Woman drifted silently at the back, keeping the air cold by simply existing.
The deeper they went, the clearer it became:
This part of the mountain was alive.
The walls weren't stone—they were something like hardened bone, curved unnaturally.
Fog wrapped around their feet like ivy.
The air hummed faintly, as if something large was breathing beneath the rock.
The disciple whispered:
"Senior… I don't think this place is… man-made."
Lin Feng nodded.
"Correct."
The disciple shivered.
"Then who made it…?"
"The landlord."
The man didn't ask again.
---
The trail widened suddenly, opening into a long corridor carved by no tool the disciple recognized.
Curved grooves ran along the walls—like giant claw marks, or roots that had been ripped out long ago.
The ghost child tugged Lin Feng's sleeve and pointed ahead.
A faint glow flickered in the darkness.
Not lantern light.
Not spirit flame.
Something older.
Lin Feng stepped forward.
A shape sat at the far end of the corridor.
Not a ghost.
Not a human.
A statue, carved from dark stone… or perhaps shaped from compressed fog.
It depicted a kneeling figure with no face—only a wide, circular sigil carved deep into its head.
The same sigil on the disciple's arm.
The disciple fell to the floor in terror.
"T-This… Senior, this… this thing… it's like it's watching—"
"It is," Lin Feng said casually.
The statue's circle-sigil pulsed once.
The disciple screamed and crawled back.
The ghost child hid behind Lin Feng's leg.
The Chained Woman's chains rose silently, ready to strike.
Lin Feng walked up to the statue.
He placed one palm on its head.
The statue cracked.
Not from force.
From recognition.
A whisper spilled into the air, low and heavy:
"…return…"
The disciple sobbed. "SENIOR—please don't touch ancient cursed things!"
Lin Feng tapped the statue again.
"…return…"
Lin Feng tilted his head.
"No."
The air froze.
The walls stopped humming.
Even the fog stopped moving.
The whisper hesitated—like something not used to being disobeyed.
Lin Feng looked at the disciple.
"Show me your arm."
The man crawled forward, shaking.
Lin Feng pressed his palm against the mark and then against the statue's sigil.
For a moment…
…nothing happened.
Then—
The statue inhaled.
The corridor pulled inward, dragging cold wind from every direction.
The sigil lit up.
The disciple screamed.
The ghost child grabbed Lin Feng's robe.
The Chained Woman moved instantly, chains slamming into the ground to anchor everyone in place.
The statue whispered again—
"…traitor…
…you left us…
…why return alone…?"
Lin Feng brushed dust off the statue.
"I'm sightseeing."
The whisper faltered.
"…you… cannot leave… again…"
Lin Feng tapped the statue lightly.
Cracks shot across it.
"…wait—"
One more tap.
The statue shattered into fog.
The corridor exhaled in relief.
The disciple lay on the ground, panting like he'd run ten miles.
"Senior… w-what… what was that thing…?"
"A lock," Lin Feng said. "We just opened a door."
The disciple screamed again.
The fog at the corridor's end faded… revealing a downward staircase carved from black stone.
A staircase descending into darkness.
Lin Feng smiled calmly.
"Good. The landlord is home."
The ghost child trembled.
The Chained Woman's chains rattled like distant thunder.
The disciple nearly fainted again.
Lin Feng stepped toward the stairs.
"Come. We're close to the medicine."
Behind him, something deep below shifted—
a slow, ancient movement, like something large adjusting itself in its sleep.
Lin Feng's smile widened slightly.
"Ah. It noticed."
---