Chapter 27: Echoes of the Deep

The group moved swiftly through the mist-laced forest, silence their shared agreement. The lingering tension from the battle still weighed on them, every snapped twig beneath their feet sending a ripple of unease. Lin Ho took the lead, his senses tuned like taut strings. The Chaos Qi within him pulsed faintly, not in warning, but anticipation — as if it too knew this realm was no ordinary trial ground.

They climbed over broken roots and weaved past vines thick with spiritual moss. Strange symbols were etched into some of the larger stones — ancient runes glowing with faded light.

> "These weren't made by the sect," the green-robed girl said quietly, trailing her fingers along a glowing sigil.

> "Old realm markers," Lin Ho replied. "From before Qingye Sect even existed."

She looked at him, eyebrows raised. "How do you know?"

> "My grandfather taught me to read them."

She didn't press further, though her curiosity flickered in her eyes.

Behind them, the boy in the tiger cloak muttered to himself. "This place… it hums. Like something is alive beneath the ground."

> "That's because something is," Lin Ho said without turning. "Keep walking."

They reached a clearing where the mist had thinned. In the center stood a crumbled altar, half-swallowed by earth and vine. Around it, shattered statues of unknown beasts lay in ruin, their features twisted by time.

A faint hum vibrated in the air, rhythmic — like a pulse. Lin Ho stepped forward. The altar reacted immediately. A shimmer of Qi rippled from its surface and struck him in the chest.

Images filled his mind — flashes of a long-lost civilization, temples beneath oceans, and titanic beasts with glowing eyes bowing before a throne carved from starstone. He staggered back, breath caught in his throat.

> "What happened?" the saber-wielder asked, catching Lin Ho by the arm.

> "I saw… the Deep Court," Lin Ho murmured. "A kingdom under the ocean. Dead, but not forgotten."

Suddenly, the ground shook. A chasm cracked open beside the altar with a roar, releasing a wave of spiritual pressure that sent everyone sprawling.

From the dark, more creatures emerged — not beasts this time, but humanoid figures covered in barnacle armor, their faces obscured by coral masks. They held rusted weapons and moved in eerie coordination.

> "Those aren't sea beasts," the green-robed girl whispered, eyes wide. "They're…"

> "Revenants," Lin Ho said grimly. "The drowned dead. Bound to this realm."

The first revenant attacked, its blade swinging with unnatural speed. Lin Ho blocked it with his spiritual blade, the impact ringing like a bell. Chaos Qi surged around his body as he struck back, splitting the revenant in two — only for its pieces to dissolve into mist.

The others formed a tight circle. "How do we kill them?" the tiger-cloaked boy shouted.

> "We don't!" Lin Ho called. "We escape!"

They backed toward the trees, striking where they could, but the revenants kept reforming, drawn to the altar's pulse. Lin Ho looked back at the ancient stone — the heartbeat was louder now, drawing something bigger from below.

> "RUN!" he yelled.

Just as they reached the forest's edge, the altar cracked completely. A massive claw — three times the size of a man — reached through the stone, dragging with it a shadowed form from the earth.

They didn't stay to look. The group fled into the trees, breath heaving, hearts racing. Behind them, the scream of something ancient and angry tore through the sky.

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End of Chapter 27.