The eastern region of the ruins was eerily silent. The ground beneath Yun Lintian's feet alternated between solid stone and patches of quicksand-like temporal energy. The air itself seed to ripple, distorting the surroundings unpredictably.
Linlin clung to Yun Lintian's shoulder, her ears twitching nervously. "Big Brother Yun, this place feels... wrong."
Qingqing nodded, unusually quiet. "Yeah. Like we're being watched."
Yun Lintian's expression remained calm. "Stay close."
He continued forward, his divine sense scanning the environnt. The so-called Garden of Lost Souls should be nearby.
Suddenly, the space in front of him twisted violently. A figure erged—a man in tattered robes, his face frozen in eternal horror. He was caught in a ti loop, repeating the sa motion over and over: running, stumbling, screaming soundlessly before resetting.
Qingqing shivered. "That guy... he's stuck?"
Yun Lintian examined the anomaly. "A ti fracture. He's been trapped here for who knows how long."
He stepped around the distortion, uninterested in interfering.
As they ventured deeper, the vegetation grew denser—twisted trees with bark that shimred like liquid, flowers that blood and withered in seconds. The Garden of Lost Souls lived up to its na.
Yue Zhihe walked silently beside Yun Lintian, her sharp eyes scanning their surroundings. After a long silence, she finally spoke.
"Senior Yun... what exactly are we looking for here?"
Yun Lintian didn't stop walking. "Honestly, I have no idea."
Yue Zhihe blinked.
"As you know, this is my first ti here," Yun Lintian continued casually. "I just want to see how mysterious this place is."
Qingqing, perched on his shoulder, giggled. "Big Brother Yun is just exploring for fun!"
Linlin nodded sagely. "Yeah! Like an adventure!"
Yun Lintian didn't deny it.
As they wandered deeper into the forest, the trees grew denser, their branches twisting unnaturally. The air humd with distorted ti, making the surroundings flicker like an illusion.
Suddenly—
Rustling.
Three figures stumbled out from behind a massive, gnarled tree.
A man and two won, their robes tattered, their faces haggard. Their eyes were sunken, their skin pale from prolonged exhaustion. The mont they saw Yun Lintian and Yue Zhihe—pristine and unhard—their expressions brightened with desperate hope.
The man, clearly the leader, stepped forward and cupped his fists. "Esteed cultivators... have you just arrived here? Has the entrance opened?"
Yun Lintian studied them briefly before answering truthfully. "Yes. We just entered."
The three strangers' faces lit up with joy.
"Praise the heavens!" one of the won gasped.
The man bowed deeply. "Might we trouble you to guide us back the way you ca? We've been trapped here for..." His voice cracked. "For too long."
Yun Lintian didn't respond imdiately. Instead, he turned to glance at the path behind him.
Qingqing's tiny hands clutched his sleeve. "Uh-oh..."
The path was gone.
Where there had once been a clear trail, now stood an impenetrable wall of thorned vines and shifting mist. The landscape had changed completely.
Linlin frowned. "Big Brother Yun, we can't go back the sa way."
The man and the two won paled.
One of the won, her face twisted in frustration, snapped, "You—you didn't leave any markers? You just wandered in blindly?"
Yun Lintian remained silent, but Linlin's golden eyes flashed coldly.
"Whether we left markers or not has nothing to do with you," she said sharply.
The woman recoiled, her anger fading into sha.
The man quickly intervened, bowing again. "Please forgive her, Senior. We've been trapped here for a hundred years. Our minds... aren't what they used to be."
A hundred years?
Yun Lintian's gaze sharpened slightly.
The man took a deep breath and composed himself. "Allow us to introduce ourselves. I am Zhou Xuan, elder disciple of the Flying Sword Sect. These are my junior sisters, i Ling and Bai Xue."
i Ling—the woman who had spoken out—lowered her head in apology. Bai Xue, the quieter of the two, simply nodded weakly.
Zhou Xuan continued, voice heavy. "We entered the ruins with our master and fellow disciples a century ago. But we got separated in this forest... and never found our way out."
Yue Zhihe frowned. "A hundred years? How have you survived?"
Zhou Xuan smiled bitterly. "Ti flows differently here. So days feel like years, others like minutes. We've survived by eating the strange fruits of this forest, though..." He touched his wrinkled face. "I suspect they've aged us prematurely."
Qingqing tilted her head. "If you've been here so long, do you know anything about this place?"
Zhou Xuan's expression darkened. "Only that it's a prison. The trees move. The paths shift. And there are... things in the shadows."
As if on cue, a low growl echoed through the forest.
i Ling shuddered. "They're coming."
Bai Xue's hands trembled. "We should run."
Yun Lintian, however, didn't move. His gaze fixed on the deepening shadows between the trees.
"Senior Yun?" Yue Zhihe gripped her sword.
Zhou Xuan grabbed Yun Lintian's arm in panic. "Please, we must flee! Those creatures—they hunt in packs! Even True Gods have fallen to them!"
Yun Lintian glanced at Zhou Xuan's hand, then back at the shadows.
"No need to run."
A dozen pairs of glowing red eyes erged from the darkness.
Ti-warped beasts—their bodies twisted, their forms flickering between past and future versions of themselves. Saliva dripped from their fangs as they stalked closer.
Zhou Xuan and his companions backed away, their faces ashen.
Yun Lintian raised his brow slightly as he studied the strange beasts.
"ROAR!"
Suddenly, the group of strange beasts imdiately lunged toward Yun Lintian hungrily.
"Let's fight!" Zhou Xuan gritted his teeth and prepared to fight.
i Ling and Bai Xue were no exception. They knew that it was too late to run now.
At this mont, Yun Lintian raised his hand and snapped his fingers.
BOOM!
A wave of invisible force erupted outward, obliterating the beasts instantly. Their remains disintegrated before they even hit the ground.
Silence.
Zhou Xuan, i Ling, and Bai Xue stood frozen, their mouths agape.
Yun Lintian stepped forward, examining the dissipating remains of the ti-warped beasts. A faint temporal energy lingered in the air—these creatures had sohow adapted to absorb the distortions in this realm.
Zhou Xuan and his companions finally snapped out of their shock and imdiately dropped to their knees, kowtowing deeply.
"Senior! Please allow us to follow you!" Zhou Xuan begged, his voice trembling.
i Ling and Bai Xue echoed his plea, their faces filled with desperation.
They had never seen anyone as powerful as Yun Lintian before. Even a True God would struggle against those beasts, yet Yun Lintian had erased them with a re snap of his fingers.
Yun Lintian glanced at them. "What else do you know about this place?"
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