Time crawled by in the suffocating silence of the storage room. Fear hung heavy in the air, thick enough to taste.

After about a quarter of an hour, the sound of hurried, chaotic footsteps echoed from the corridor outside.

Lin Xuanwei and Lu Yao shot to their feet instantly, weapons drawn, knuckles white.

The footsteps grew louder, closer. Then, a familiar voice rang out before the figure even appeared—a distinct cultural marker of urgency.

“Junior Sister!”

Ouyang Chen and Lu Shu burst into view. They looked disheveled but unharmed.

“Senior Brother!” Lu Yao gasped, looking at Ouyang Chen as if he were a savior descended from the heavens. “What happened? Why did you crush the emergency communication talisman?”

“I saw [Hatred]!” Lu Yao’s voice trembled.

“What?”

“[Hatred]?”

The color drained from Ouyang Chen’s face. Beside him, Lu Shu stiffened.

“Miss Lu!” Lin Xuanwei suddenly shrieked, cowering behind her. “Watch out! Check them! What if they’re possessed?”

His panicked outburst snapped Lu Yao back to reality. She immediately raised the milky-white unpolished jade she had used earlier. Spiritual light flared as she scanned Ouyang Chen and Lu Shu from head to toe. Only when the jade remained pure white, confirming no trace of the dark corruption, did she finally exhale.

Ouyang Chen, realizing the gravity of the situation, pulled out his own detection artifact. He swept it over Lu Yao and Lin Xuanwei, confirming their safety in turn.

The group huddled together, their nerves fraying. Lu Yao recounted the encounter in the meditation chamber—the skeleton, the purple-black threads, the overwhelming malice. Her description left the others shaken to the core.

“So that explains it,” Ouyang Chen muttered, his expression grim. “The moment we entered the cave, we were trapped in a bizarre illusion formation. No matter which direction we chose, we ended up walking in circles. If the light from your emergency talisman hadn’t pierced the array, we would still be wandering blindly right now.”

A heavy silence fell. No one dared suggest checking the meditation chamber again.

They gathered in the center of the storage room. Ouyang Chen set up a simple defensive formation at the entrance. It hummed with faint spiritual light, offering a sliver of psychological comfort against the encroaching darkness.

Seeing the dejected, terrified looks on their faces, Ouyang Chen forced a confident expression. “Everyone, pull yourselves together. Discovering traces of [Hatred] is a massive merit in itself. The Sect will reward us heavily for this intelligence. The value of this information far exceeds whatever scrapings we might have found in an ordinary cave.”

Hearing the promise of sect contribution points and rewards, the gloom lifted slightly. Heads nodded in agreement.

“Then what about my trial?” Lin Xuanwei interjected, his voice whiny. “Does this count as a pass? I paid good money for this slot.”

Ma Kun, who had been nursing a grudge against the rich playboy since the beginning, snapped. “You should be thanking the heavens you’re still breathing! You’re worried about a pass grade? That ghostly thing could tear us to shreds in the next second!”

Lin Xuanwei shrank back, muttering resentfully under his breath, acting the part of the scolded child perfectly.

“Damn it,” Ma Kun’s voice rang out in the private Sound Transmission channel shared by the Guiyuan Sect disciples. “How could [Hatred] appear in the Guiyuan Mountains? This is too sinister! Could this kid be behind it?”

“Unlikely,” Lu Yao replied via transmission. “I saw it clearly. The [Hatred] manifested directly from Daoist Long Wu’s skeleton. Besides, this guy has been a jittery coward the entire way. No matter how good his acting is, surely he couldn’t fake that level of incompetence?”

“There’s something fishy going on,” Ouyang Chen’s voice cut in, cool and calculating. “We must remain vigilant. Don’t forget, the conflict between our Guiyuan Sect and the Heavenly Abyss Alliance has been escalating. He came from their territory. The more profound an old monster’s cultivation, the more they enjoy ‘playing the pig to eat the tiger.’ We need to find an opportunity to test him.”

In the storage room, time seemed to stretch.

The group sat within the defensive circle, senses extended, watching the dark corridor that led to the boss room.

A faint rustle broke the silence.

A small paper effigy, folded from yellow talisman paper, fluttered back from the darkness. It landed on Zheng Tong’s open palm, scorched and trembling.

Zheng Tong shook his head, his face ugly. “No good. The way back is blocked again. It’s that illusion array—my paper scout can’t find a way out.” He paused, pointing toward the meditation chamber. “And whenever the scout gets close to that room… it’s instantly annihilated by an invisible force. It didn’t even have time to react.”

Ma Kun’s expression turned thunderous. “This is completely abnormal. Junior Sister Lu sent the emergency signal ages ago. By all rights, a Nascent Soul Elder should have arrived by now. Why is it dead silent outside?”

Ouyang Chen scanned the room. His gaze lingered on Lin Xuanwei, who was huddled in the corner, pale-faced and avoiding eye contact.

He took a deep breath, suppressing the rising panic in his chest. “We can’t wait any longer. The [Hatred] entity has trapped us here; it likely has a scheme in motion. The longer we delay, the more danger we’re in.”

He switched to a commanding tone. “Based on Junior Sister Lu’s report, the [Hatred] in the meditation room is currently anchored to a corpse. It hasn’t shown active aggression yet—it seems to be dormant or gestating.”

“Add in Brother Lin’s rogue puppet, and the enemy’s active combat power should be manageable. There are six of us. As long as we are cautious, avoid direct corruption, and strike together, we can suppress it.”

The mention of the rogue puppet made Ma Kun’s temper flare again. He pointed a trembling finger at Lin Xuanwei. “It’s all because of this useless good-for-nothing! If not for him, how would we have provoked that ghost?”

Lin Xuanwei stiffened his neck, shouting back with false bravado. “How was I supposed to know?! I didn’t do it on purpose! Look, if it’s a big deal, I’ll just give you guys more Spirit Stones as compensation when we get out!”

“You think this is about Spirit Stones?!” Ma Kun roared. “We might all be buried here today!”

“Enough!” Ouyang Chen barked. “No internal strife! Brother Lin, that puppet of yours—what are its specs? Realm? Special abilities?”

“Uh… Golden Core seventh layer,” Lin Xuanwei stammered. “Water-attribute core. Skilled in sword arts. It… uh… it has a few Xuan-grade defensive talismans stuck to it. And… in a pinch, it can self-destruct a few of its magical artifacts.”

“Self-destruct magical artifacts?!” Ma Kun looked ready to have an aneurysm. “You rich bastard, I ought to—”

“Silence!” Ouyang Chen cut him off again. “Daoist Long Wu was only at the eighth layer of the Golden Core in life. Even enhanced by [Hatred], he can’t have become a god out of thin air. I will handle the skeleton and the [Hatred] corruption.”

“Junior Brother Ma, Junior Sister Lu Shu—the puppet is close to your cultivation level. You two handle it. Junior Brother Zheng, Junior Sister Lu Yao—you provide support from the center. Keep your distance. Do not engage in melee. Silently recite the Heart-Cleansing Mantra to stabilize your minds against the corruption.”

Ouyang Chen assigned tasks with rapid clarity. The Guiyuan Sect disciples, being inner sect elites, quickly shook off their panic and nodded, readying their weapons.

Suddenly, a weak voice piped up from the corner.

“Um… I don’t know the Heart-Cleansing Mantra…”

A vein throbbed violently on Ouyang Chen’s temple. He squeezed his eyes shut, fighting the urge to scream. “Then stay far away! Junior Sister Lu Yao, keep an eye on him. Don’t let him cause trouble!”

Lu Yao sighed and nodded helplessly.

After confirming the final details, the group mustered their courage. Step by step, they began to creep toward the meditation chamber.