Chapter 75: The Lost Reality

Darkness devoured everything.

Lin Han's consciousness felt as if it had been thrown into an endless abyss. He could no longer feel his body, nor could he be certain whether he still existed in any tangible space. His thoughts drifted aimlessly in a chaotic void, as if they had lost their anchor, pulled by an unseen force into an indescribable state of disorder.

"Lin Han—!"

A faint voice echoed from a distance, distorted as if it were traveling through water, intermittent and unreal, like a hallucination.

—Who was calling him?

Lin Han tried to focus his mind. His awareness slowly returned, and he felt a creeping coldness climbing up his spine as if the temperature around him had dropped to freezing. Then, suddenly, his eyes snapped open—

A twisted world unfolded before him.

The sky was shattered, like a broken mirror, each shard reflecting a different scene—one depicted a burning city, another showed countless figures kneeling before a massive serpent god statue, while another presented a familiar yet eerily altered street. The ground beneath him was a shifting, mercury-like black liquid, writhing as though it were alive, or perhaps something yet to fully take shape.

Lin Han's breath hitched for a moment.

He slowly lowered his gaze and found himself standing on a crumbling stone bridge. At the bridge's end stood a dilapidated temple, and on the ground before the entrance, strange, distorted ancient symbols were carved—symbols that seemed to serve as a warning.

"…Lin Han!"

This time, the voice was clearer.

He turned sharply and saw A Rong sitting not far away, his face pale, drenched in cold sweat. But Noya… she was nowhere to be seen.

Lin Han's heart sank.

"Where is Noya?" he asked hoarsely.

A Rong's expression darkened even further. He raised a trembling hand and pointed toward the temple. His voice shook as he said:

"She… she was right beside me just now. But the next second… she vanished."

Lin Han clenched his fists, his gaze growing colder.

This was not an illusion.

"This place is separating us."

They hadn't merely passed through a door—they had stepped into a realm beyond reality, a space that did not belong to the human world. And this space seemed to be rearranging their existence according to some unknown rule.

But that wasn't the worst part.

The worst part was that they still had no idea what kind of place they were trapped in.

The temple doors creaked open, and darkness poured out like an unstoppable tide.

Lin Han's gaze locked onto the entrance, and without hesitation, he stepped inside. A Rong hesitated for a moment before gritting his teeth and following.

The instant Lin Han crossed the threshold, an intense temporal distortion overwhelmed him—his mind was suddenly flooded with fragmented visions, as if memories that didn't belong to him were being forcibly implanted.

—He saw a man dressed in ancient Javanese royal attire, kneeling before the serpent god statue, trembling.

—He saw throngs of believers standing in a massive ceremonial plaza, chanting in an incomprehensible ancient language.

—He saw… Noya!

She stood within the hazy illusion, her face a mixture of shock and fear. But before her stood a tall figure—

A man who looked exactly like Lin Han.

Lin Han's breath caught.

"What… is this?"

He strained to see more, but the vision shattered in the next instant. A powerful, invisible force slammed into him, making his consciousness reel. When he regained focus, he found himself standing in the heart of the temple.

A Rong was nearby, his posture tense, eyes scanning their surroundings warily.

The air inside the temple was thick with the stench of dried blood. Dark red stains littered the floor, long since dried but still ominous. At the deepest end of the temple stood a massive serpent god statue, its hollow eyes staring directly at them.

Lin Han's gaze slowly moved downward—

At the foot of the statue lay a corpse.

A Rong sucked in a sharp breath, his voice trembling:

"Wh-what is this?"

Lin Han remained silent for a moment before stepping forward. He knelt beside the corpse, examining it closely.

Though the face was unrecognizable, the clothing… was modern.

Lin Han cautiously placed his fingers on the corpse's chest. Suddenly, a deep, whispering voice echoed in his mind—

"It… has returned…"

His pupils contracted sharply as he jerked back to his feet.

A Rong, noticing his reaction, asked hurriedly:

"What's wrong?"

Lin Han didn't answer immediately. Instead, he slowly turned his head—his gaze locking onto the hollow eyes of the serpent god statue.

And in that moment, he saw it.

An unfathomable consciousness peering at them from within the void.

Then, he heard its voice.

Low, ancient, filled with undeniable authority—

"Fate has been chosen."

"You must make a choice."

Lin Han's heart pounded violently.

He knew—

This choice would determine whether they lived… or perished.