Chapter 31: The Realm Beyond the Door

The night was deep, and the stone stele behind Jile Temple trembled slightly. The inscriptions carved into it seemed to be awakened by an invisible force, as dark red cracks slowly spread across its surface, like fate itself was being rewritten.

Lin Han's heartbeat quickened, and a thin layer of sweat formed on his palms. He could feel it—the space beyond the stele was severed from reality, an unknown void beyond comprehension, like the reflection of an abyss swallowing every sense of security.

Boom—

A low, resonant tremor echoed in the silent night. A fine crack emerged at the center of the stone stele, and from within, a wisp of black mist slowly seeped out, diffusing into the air with a suffocating chill.

Su Xueqing's fingers formed a silent mudra, her brows furrowing in solemnity. "It's testing us."

Lin Han held his breath, eyes fixed on the growing fissure.

Then, something emerged—a pale, withered hand extending from the darkness within, its fingers skeletal and frail, as if ravaged by the passage of countless years.

The fingers twitched slightly, like they were adjusting to the air of this world.

"You… have finally arrived…"

A distorted whisper drifted from the fissure, carrying an ancient and unfamiliar cadence, a voice not merely speaking—but summoning.

Lin Han's body tensed, instincts screaming at him. That voice was not just addressing them. It was pulling them in.

"Step forward… or regret."

Su Xueqing cast Lin Han a deep glance, her expression unreadable. Without hesitation, she raised her palm in the air, pressing against an unseen force. The skeletal hand instantly recoiled, and the black mist wavered, as if it feared her presence.

"There's no turning back," she murmured. "The door is open."

Lin Han took a steady breath. He understood—there was no more room for doubt.

He stepped forward.

With his movement, the crack in the stone stele widened, an unseen force wrapping around them like countless invisible threads, severing their connection to the real world.

Then, the world collapsed.

Light and shadow intertwined. Existence and nothingness overlapped. Lin Han's consciousness felt as if it was being torn apart and reconstructed at the same time.

Distantly, he heard Su Xueqing's voice, but direction had lost all meaning. Every sound seemed far away, and even his own sense of self was unraveling.

Then, in the fog of unreality, a silhouette emerged—

A figure dressed in black robes stood motionless ahead, their face shrouded in darkness. Only a pair of deep, knowing eyes slowly opened, locking onto Lin Han.

"You have finally arrived."

Lin Han's pupils contracted, a suffocating pressure weighing down on him.

That voice… He had heard it before.

And now, it was real.

In the darkness, Lin Han's consciousness drifted, as if he had been cast into an endless void. Time lost its meaning, and even his own existence felt uncertain.

He had no idea how long he remained like this, until a faint light flickered in the distance, weak like a candle in the wind.

"Wake up."

The voice was deep and distant, yet it echoed right beside his ear.

Lin Han's eyes snapped open.

The world around him was an eerie, dim space. The surroundings twisted like broken mirrors pieced together, distorting reality itself. Su Xueqing stood beside him, her brows slightly furrowed—she, too, sensed the overwhelming strangeness.

They were still inside the door. Or rather… were they in the world beyond it?

"You've finally arrived."

A voice—both familiar and foreign—spoke again.

Lin Han turned sharply.

A figure in a black robe stood not far away, his face shrouded in darkness. Only his deep, piercing eyes were visible, like a void staring into the depths of all secrets.

"Who are you?" Lin Han asked warily.

The figure did not respond. Instead, he raised his hand and pointed behind them.

Lin Han and Su Xueqing turned.

The rift they had stepped through—was gone.

They were trapped here.

"What is this place?" Su Xueqing murmured, reaching out with her fingers. The air itself rippled at her touch, as though she had brushed against an unseen barrier.

The black-robed figure let out a faint chuckle. "This is the 'shadow' of the door—outside reality, within a dream."

"A dream?" Lin Han's heart tightened.

He recalled the unbearable tearing sensation from before and realized they might have crossed into something far beyond their comprehension—something that wasn't merely part of the real world.

The figure stepped closer, his movements eerily silent, as if he walked upon nothingness itself.

"You seek the truth," he said, his tone carrying an odd trace of pity, "but the truth does not belong to you."

Su Xueqing's expression remained cold. "If that's the case, then why let us in?"

The black-robed man paused before smiling slightly.

"Because this door… was never closed."

The moment his words fell, the space around them trembled violently. Blood-red cracks spread across the void, interweaving like a fractured web.

Lin Han clenched his fists, an uneasy premonition creeping into his mind.

The black-robed figure sighed, his voice as soft as the wind. "Now… you shall witness the beginning of everything."

As soon as he finished speaking, the entire world shattered.

Lin Han and Su Xueqing lost their footing, pulled into an unseen vortex that dragged them into the depths of the unknown.

In the abyss, a shadowy figure slowly emerged. Its form took shape, and a deep voice whispered in their ears:

"This… is the truth of the world."

The sensation of falling was endless. Lin Han could not see the bottom, nor could he grasp anything to stop his descent. The world around him was neither light nor dark, but a suffocating void where time felt stretched and distorted.

Su Xueqing's presence was near, but he could not reach her. Every time he extended his hand, the space between them expanded like an invisible force keeping them apart.

Suddenly—

A cold surface.

Lin Han landed. Not with an impact, but as if he had been gently placed down by unseen hands. The surroundings were eerily silent, the air carrying the scent of something ancient, something forgotten.

Su Xueqing stood nearby, her gaze sharp. "This place… is different from before."

Lin Han nodded. They were no longer in the twisted, mirrored dimension. Instead, towering stone pillars surrounded them, their surfaces engraved with intricate symbols that glowed faintly, as though whispering secrets of an age long past.

Then, a sound.

A slow, rhythmic thud.

Footsteps.

A figure emerged from the shadows—a tall, slender silhouette draped in ceremonial robes. The cloth was old, frayed at the edges, yet the aura it carried was heavy, as if it had endured countless lifetimes.

"You should not be here," the figure spoke, its voice calm but firm.

Lin Han met its gaze. Though the face was partially concealed beneath a hood, he could see hollow, sunken eyes that reflected nothing but abyssal darkness.

"Where is this place?" Su Xueqing asked, her posture tense.

The figure did not answer immediately. Instead, it raised a single hand, tracing invisible patterns in the air. The symbols on the stone pillars pulsed in response, sending soft ripples through the space.

"This is the beginning," the figure finally said. "And the end."

Lin Han frowned. "That doesn't explain anything."

The figure tilted its head slightly, as if amused by his impatience.

"You seek answers," it murmured, "but answers demand a price."

A sudden gust of wind swept through the chamber, and in its wake, a massive stone door slowly came into view behind the figure. Unlike the previous doors they had encountered, this one bore no keyhole, no handle—just a carved inscription:

To Open is to Forget. To Cross is to Be Rewritten.

Su Xueqing's fingers curled into a fist. "What does that mean?"

The figure stepped aside, allowing them a clearer view of the door.

"It means," the voice carried a note of finality, "that beyond this threshold, nothing remains the same."

Lin Han exchanged a glance with Su Xueqing. There was no turning back.

Without hesitation, they stepped forward.

And the door began to open.

The night was deep, and the salty breeze from the sea lingered over the streets of Penang. Lin Han stood at the entrance of the Snake Temple, tilting his head slightly as he examined the faded wooden couplets above the door. The temple was ancient, its incense still burning strong, yet in this silent hour, the serpents inside seemed particularly restless. In the dense forest behind the temple, an eerie rustling sound emerged, as if something unseen was lurking in the shadows.

"This place... is stranger than I expected," Noya murmured, her right hand instinctively reaching for the gun at her waist. Her instincts screamed that they wouldn't be leaving this place so easily tonight.

Su Xueqing stood a few steps away, closing her eyes momentarily, her lips moving as if reciting an ancient incantation. When she opened them again, a sharp glint flashed in her gaze. "Something inside the temple has awakened. The energy here is... unnatural."

Just then, a low, guttural hissing echoed from within the temple. The sound was deep, as though it had traveled from an abyss far beneath the earth, reverberating through the night, sending a chill down their spines.

Lin Han instinctively took a step back, his fingertips trembling slightly. That familiar sensation was back—the subtle stinging in his right eye. In that moment, he glimpsed faint golden threads weaving between the temple and the dark forest beyond, forming an unseen tether that seemed to bind reality to something far more unfathomable.

"We're going in," Lin Han exhaled slowly, stepping forward to cross the threshold.

But the moment his foot landed inside, an invisible force surged in from all directions. The air thickened instantly, as if an unseen barrier had wrapped around them. He froze mid-step, cold sweat beading on his forehead.

"Something's wrong," Noya muttered, her tone sharp with alertness. She swiftly drew her gun, finger resting lightly on the trigger, eyes scanning their surroundings.

Su Xueqing raised a hand and traced an arc in the air with her fingertip, as if touching an intangible ripple. A moment later, she spoke with certainty, "The formation has been activated."

Lin Han's expression darkened. He finally understood—the Snake Temple was not merely a place of worship. It was a seal, a prison meant to contain something that was never meant to walk this world.

And from within the temple's depths, the darkness was beginning to stir…

The night deepened, and though the incense in the Serpent Temple still burned, the air had grown heavier, like an invisible net slowly tightening around them. Lin Han tilted his head slightly. The wind that had been whispering past his ears suddenly ceased, as if the entire space had been drained of sound. Even his heartbeat seemed unnaturally loud.

Su Xueqing raised her hand, her fingers tracing an imperceptible rune in the air. A faint glow flickered for a moment before being instantly swallowed into nothingness. Her brows knitted together as she muttered in a low voice, "The power here… it's older than we thought."

"Enough stalling." Noya gripped the handle of her gun tightly, her sharp gaze scanning the surroundings. Her other hand rested lightly on the short blade at her waist. She took a step forward—then suddenly froze as a faint yet piercing hiss rose from beneath her feet.

Everyone stopped.

The ground trembled ever so slightly, as if countless unseen creatures were shifting below. The sensation of something writhing beneath them seeped through their soles and crawled up their spines like a whisper of impending doom.

Lin Han exhaled slowly, his gaze drifting toward the temple's central hall. The main door was ajar, a sliver of eerie light spilling through the gap. It beckoned them forward—yet at the same time, it warned them to stay away.

"We have to go in," Su Xueqing said firmly.

"Are you sure?" Noya smirked. "Because usually, when people do… they don't come back out."

Lin Han said nothing. He simply stepped toward the door.

As his palm pressed against the wooden surface, he felt it—an almost imperceptible resistance. It wasn't physical, but rather a force, a whisper of a warning, urging him to turn back.

And yet, he pushed the door open.

In that instant, the darkness surged forward like a tidal wave, swallowing every last flicker of light.