Night fell quietly over Blackstone Village.
The village was silent.
Most of the villagers had already gone to sleep, their homes dark beneath the pale moonlight.
But Lin Ye lay awake on his bed, staring into the darkness.
Sleep refused to come.
Everything that had happened during the day replayed again and again in his mind.
The Shadow Wolf.
The Demon Hunters.
The underground ruins.
And most of all—
That book.
Slowly, Lin Ye sat up.
The room was dim, lit only by a thin beam of moonlight shining through the window. Dust floated faintly in the air, and shadows stretched long across the wooden floor.
His shadow lay quietly beside him.
Still.
Silent.
Lin Ye stared at it for a long time.
"If last night was real…" he murmured softly.
"Then the power should still be there."
He raised his hand slowly.
The shadow moved with him, lifting along the wall and floor.
But nothing unusual happened.
Lin Ye frowned.
Could it all have been a hallucination?
Had fear and exhaustion simply tricked his mind?
Just as that thought crossed his mind—
A voice suddenly echoed inside his head.
Low.
Distant.
As if it came from somewhere unimaginably deep.
"Power…"
Lin Ye jumped to his feet.
"Who's there?!"
His voice echoed in the small room.
But there was no one.
Outside the window, the wind rustled gently through the trees.
Then the voice came again.
Soft.
Whispering.
"Use it…"
Lin Ye's breathing quickened.
Slowly, he lowered his gaze toward the floor.
Toward his shadow.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then—
The edge of the shadow trembled.
A thin black line began to stretch outward.
Lin Ye's eyes widened.
"It's real…"
He raised his hand again, focusing his thoughts.
The shadow obeyed.
Like black liquid, it slid across the wooden floor, flowing silently toward the center of the room.
Lin Ye's heartbeat grew faster.
His excitement mixed with fear.
He slowly pointed toward the wooden table nearby.
The shadow suddenly rose.
Sharp.
Thin.
Like a spear made of darkness.
"Crack!"
The shadow struck the corner of the table.
A deep crack split across the wood.
Lin Ye stumbled backward in shock.
The shadow instantly shrank back, retreating to its normal shape on the floor.
The room fell silent again.
Lin Ye stood there, breathing heavily.
His chest rose and fell as he stared at the damaged table.
That attack…
It had been real.
Not a dream.
Not an illusion.
He truly possessed some kind of power.
A power that should not exist.
But before he could fully process the thought—
A violent pain exploded in his head.
"Ah—!"
Lin Ye grabbed the wall to steady himself.
His vision blurred.
Fragments of strange images flooded his mind.
Darkness.
Endless darkness.
A bottomless abyss stretching into nothingness.
Then—
An enormous eye slowly opened within that darkness.
The eye was ancient.
Cold.
Watching him from the depths of the void.
"More power…" the voice whispered.
Low.
Tempting.
Dangerous.
Lin Ye gritted his teeth.
"Shut up!"
He slammed his fist against the wooden table.
The vision shattered instantly.
The darkness disappeared.
The room returned.
Quiet.
Still.
Lin Ye stood there, breathing heavily.
Cold sweat covered his forehead.
His hands trembled slightly.
After a long while, he slowly sat down on the edge of the bed.
"This power… isn't normal," he said quietly.
There was something wrong with it.
Something dark.
Something alive.
But just as that thought formed—
Footsteps sounded outside the house.
Someone had stopped at his door.
Lin Ye's body immediately tensed.
"Who's there?" he called out cautiously.
There was a brief moment of silence outside.
Then a girl's voice answered.
Cool.
Clear.
"Lin Ye."
"May I come in?"
Lin Ye froze.
He recognized the voice.
It belonged to the mysterious girl he had seen earlier that day.
Her name was—
Su Li.
Lin Ye slowly walked to the door and opened it.
Moonlight spilled into the room.
Su Li stood outside.
Her long hair moved gently in the night breeze, and her eyes shone faintly under the silver light of the moon.
They were bright.
Sharp.
Almost as if they could see through the darkness.
Or worse—
See through him.
She looked at Lin Ye quietly.
Several seconds passed before she spoke.
"You were in the forest last night," she said softly.
Her gaze never left his face.
"Tell me the truth."
"What did you take from that place?"
Lin Ye felt his heart sink.