Chapter 70: Echoes of the Abyss

A profound silence covered the land, the air still heavy with the remnants of battle. Lin Han knelt on one knee, cold sweat dripping down his forehead. His chest rose and fell erratically, as if he had just escaped from a nightmare.

He could still feel it—the power that did not belong to him—lingering inside his body like embers that had yet to die out, waiting for the moment to ignite once more.

"Are you… really back?"

Noah's voice was low, laced with an almost imperceptible tension. Her hand remained firmly gripping her sword, knuckles slightly pale, as if ready to strike again at any moment.

Lin Han lifted his head, meeting her gaze.

His eyes were clear, yet beneath their surface, a shadow flickered—faint but undeniable.

"It's me." His voice was hoarse but resolute.

Aron studied him, his expression unreadable. After a brief silence, he finally frowned and asked, "Can you control it?"

Lin Han didn't answer immediately. He slowly opened his palm—his skin still bore traces of the dark markings, but they no longer writhed. They had withered, like dead vines, stripped of their vitality.

"For now… yes."

"For now?" Noah's frown deepened. "So, it's still there?"

Lin Han nodded slightly.

"Then… will it return?" Aron's voice was grave.

Lin Han stared at his own hand, lost in thought.

"It might."

The air turned still.

Noah's fingers tightened subtly around the hilt of her sword. She hesitated for a moment before finally speaking: "Then what do you plan to do?"

Lin Han closed his eyes. In his mind, the whispers from before resurfaced—the haunting voice, the abyssal gaze. He could still feel its presence, lurking in the depths of his soul.

Taking a deep breath, he replied in a steady tone, "I need to find its source… and cut it off completely."

Aron let out a scoff. "Do you even know where that is?"

"…Maybe," Lin Han murmured. His voice was quiet, but his determination was unwavering.

Noah and Aron exchanged glances.

Finally, Noah lowered her sword. She looked at Lin Han, her eyes sharp as blades. "If that thing takes over again, we won't hesitate to kill you."

Lin Han wasn't surprised. Instead, he let out a faint smile, as if he had already expected such a response.

"If that happens…" He paused briefly, his gaze unwavering. "I'll handle it myself."

The tension in the air eased, if only slightly. But they all knew—the real danger had not yet passed.

The abyss was still watching. Waiting. Preparing for its next attempt to consume its host.

The night was as dark as ink, the sky swallowed by thick, oppressive clouds. The moonlight was weak, as if something had absorbed it completely. Lin Han stood at the edge of the cliff, looking down into the bottomless darkness below. It felt like a hungry beast, waiting to devour anything that dared to fall.

A cold wind swept past, carrying whispers that were neither clear nor entirely illusory. The eerie murmurs made one's skin crawl.

Behind Lin Han, Noya and A'Rong stood a short distance away, their expressions tense. Noya, in particular, kept her gaze fixed on Lin Han's back, as if fearing that at any moment, some unknown force would drag him into the abyss.

"Are you sure... it's here?" A'Rong's voice was dry, his unease apparent.

Lin Han did not answer immediately. Instead, he closed his eyes, focusing on the strange pulse in the air. Ever since that last encounter, he had noticed that his soul had developed a strange resonance with something beyond human comprehension. And now, that resonance was stronger than ever.

"It's calling me."

His eyes snapped open, a flicker of something unreadable flashing through them. He knew this place was not ordinary—it was a forbidden site that had been erased from memory.

Noya frowned, tightening her grip on the dagger in her hand. Lin Han's presence was growing increasingly unfamiliar. The subtle changes in his demeanor made her deeply uneasy.

"Lin Han..." she finally spoke, her voice firm. "What exactly are you trying to do?"

Lin Han slowly turned to face her, his expression eerily calm. "Find it."

"Find what?" A'Rong pressed.

Lin Han lifted his hand and pointed toward the endless black void below.

"The source of the abyss."

Noya and A'Rong exchanged uneasy glances, their eyes filled with hesitation.

"You're insane." A'Rong muttered under his breath. "We don't even know what's down there. If we go in blindly, we'll—"

"—We'll finally have answers." Lin Han cut him off, his tone unwavering.

He couldn't keep running. From the moment he first encountered it, the unknown entity had been watching, waiting, whispering to him. If he didn't take the initiative, he would eventually lose himself completely.

Noya took a deep breath, suppressing the anxiety in her chest. "If you're really going to do this... at least tell us how you plan to get down there."

Lin Han's gaze flickered slightly. Without a word, he stepped back, positioning his foot precisely on a barely noticeable depression on the cliff's edge.

The ground trembled ever so slightly, as if some ancient mechanism had been awakened.

A deep, rumbling sound echoed from the abyss below. Moments later, a set of ancient stone steps, faintly glowing with a ghostly light, slowly emerged from the cliffside, descending into the void.

Noya and A'Rong's eyes widened in shock.

"You..." A'Rong's voice was hoarse. "How did you know?"

Lin Han didn't answer. His gaze remained fixed on the stairs, a shadow of unreadable emotion flickering in his eyes.

"Because it told me."

Somewhere in the depths of his mind, a voice whispered softly.

At that moment, the unknown lurking in the abyss awaited their descent.

And now, there was no turning back.