Chapter 21 — Realm of Forgotten Echoes

Light swallowed them.

Not the clean, warm light of the sun, nor the golden hum of spirit arrays.

This was light laced with whispers—cold, fractured, and laced with memory. Wang Lin's vision blurred as he felt himself stretch and contract in all directions, as though the world couldn't decide if he was body or soul.

Then he hit ground.

Hard.

He coughed, rolled, and gasped for breath.

Around him, the others stirred. Lian Hua clutched her blade like a lifeline, eyes wild. Jin Tao groaned and sat up, his shirt soaked in blood. Vaen knelt, his robes tattered, one arm glowing with fading runes.

But it was the world around them that stilled their tongues.

The sky was a deep violet, studded with broken stars that drifted like lost ships. Towers of stone floated overhead, chained by invisible force. Trees grew upside down, their roots tangled in clouds of ash. And beneath their feet, the ground pulsed—not with life, but with memory.

Faint voices echoed beneath every step.

> "Don't leave me…" "The Gate was never meant to open…" "They burned the names from the stone…"

Jin Tao stood shakily, blades drawn. "Where… the hell are we?"

Vaen's expression darkened. "This is not where the array was supposed to lead."

Wang Lin steadied himself, sensing. "I feel… everything. Every step I've taken. Every power I've touched. It's like… the Path is echoing."

Lian Hua looked around, face pale. "This place. I read about it once. A forbidden realm once used to trap failed cultivations—souls too broken or dangerous to pass on. The Realm of Forgotten Echoes."

Jin Tao whistled. "Lovely. So we've escaped death… into a graveyard of regret."

Suddenly, the ground shifted.

Stone rose like a wave, forming shapes—humanoid, twisted, their faces blurred and ever-changing.

Wang Lin tensed. "They're not real."

"They're memories," Vaen whispered. "Reflections… of those who tried to steal fate."

The nearest figure turned its head.

It had Wang Lin's face.

Eyes hollow. Lips cracked open in a silent scream.

> "You will become me," it whispered. "If you keep stealing what was never yours…"

Lian Hua lunged and slashed it apart. It dissolved into mist.

More figures rose—some resembling Jin Tao, others Lian Hua, even Vaen. Some wore Temple robes. Others bore chains.

This place knew them.

It knew their regrets.

Knew their sins.

And it would test them all.

Wang Lin closed his eyes briefly. Then reopened them with calm fire. "We survive this. Together."

The Abduction Path pulsed. This realm wanted to feed on memory—but it had no idea it had just welcomed a thief of fate.

And Wang Lin was about to steal from the dead.