Lin Mo stepped in front of Qin Yue and her brother, his body relaxed, eyes sharp. He could feel the pressure leaking from the veiled woman's body—the kind of corrupted spiritual energy that twisted qi and shattered reason. She was no ordinary cultivator. Her energy was unstable, her foundation likely artificial. A ritualist. A dark path cultivator.
But Lin Mo wasn't afraid.
His body might still be weak, but his experience was absolute. He didn't need full strength. He needed a heartbeat, an opening—and the will to strike.
The woman extended her hand. Black qi swirled from her fingertips and snaked through the air toward him. Lin Mo grabbed a nearby crate, ripped a broken plank free, and swept it through the air to intercept. The wood hissed and disintegrated in an instant, but it had slowed the attack just enough.
He turned quickly and pushed Qin Yue and Xiao Lei behind a cracked concrete column.
"Stay down. No matter what happens, don't come out."
Qin Yue nodded silently, her arms wrapped tightly around her brother.
"You've got spirit," the woman said, her voice sharp and cold. "But no qi. No core. No foundation. You're pretending to be a cultivator, boy."
"Pretending?" Lin Mo tilted his head. "You're right."
The woman blinked.
"I'm not a cultivator. I'm an immortal… starting over."
Before she could speak again, Lin Mo charged.
He ducked low, grabbing a rusted rebar rod from the ground and hurling it at her chest. She batted it away with a slash of black energy, but the move forced her to shift. That was enough. Lin Mo closed the distance, slipping into her guard, and drove his elbow toward her ribs.
She was fast—faster than he'd anticipated. Her other hand whipped forward and struck him in the shoulder. Black energy burned through his hoodie, searing flesh.
Lin Mo gritted his teeth, ignored the pain, and twisted with his whole body, slamming his knee into her midsection.
She gasped. The impact forced her back.
Lin Mo didn't let up. He followed with a punch aimed at her neck, but this time she dodged. Her body flickered—qi enhancement on her movement.
She countered with a sharp palm strike.
He couldn't block it.
The hit landed squarely on his chest, sending him tumbling backward across the chamber. He hit the ground hard, coughed, and spat blood.
His breathing slowed. He closed his eyes for half a second. His meridians weren't open yet. His qi was barely moving. But his body was already stronger than most mortals.
He stood.
"You're still alive?" the woman hissed.
Lin Mo wiped the blood from his lips.
"You hit like a training dummy."
Her eyes narrowed.
She raised her hand again, but this time the energy around her flared violently. Too violently.
Lin Mo saw it.
Her cultivation wasn't stable.
He sprinted forward again.
The ground cracked beneath him as he drove his weight into one leg and twisted around her next attack. She overcommitted. Her footing slipped. Lin Mo turned, grabbed her robe, and yanked her downward.
She fell off-balance—and he slammed his elbow into the base of her neck.
She dropped to one knee, gasping.
Lin Mo pressed two fingers into the side of her throat. A precise strike. Her vision flickered, and she groaned.
"Who are you working for?" Lin Mo asked.
She looked up, sweat dripping from her brow, black qi leaking from her fingertips.
"You think this is over? You're just the first. Earth's changing. The ley lines are waking up. You're not the only one who's returned."
Lin Mo's heart skipped.
Returned?
He grabbed her shoulder.
"What do you mean by returned? You're not—"
But her lips curled into a twisted smile.
"I was sent back too. You're not alone, Lin Mo."
He froze.
Then she bit her tongue.
Her mouth filled with blood. She chanted a word Lin Mo didn't recognize—and her body erupted in black mist.
"No!"
He reached forward, but it was too late.
The mist exploded outward. When it cleared, her body was gone. Only scorched concrete and a smear of blood remained.
Lin Mo stood in silence, his heart pounding.
She knew his name.
She knew he had returned.
And she wasn't the only one.
Behind him, Qin Yue let out a shaky breath. "Is… is she gone?"
Lin Mo turned. Her brother was still clinging to her, his cheeks stained with tears.
"She's gone," he said. "But more will come."
Qin Yue's eyes were red, her face pale. "Lin Mo… who are you?"
He looked at her for a long moment.
In his past life, he had walked away from people like her. Too busy chasing the path to care about the ones struggling just a step behind him.
"I'm someone who failed once," he said. "And I won't fail again."
He turned toward the altar in the center of the room. Blood soaked into the stone. The dark qi had already begun to fade, but the smell of rot still lingered.
He could feel something deeper.
This place wasn't just a ritual site. It was a node. A corrupted leyline fragment buried under the city. And someone had been feeding on it.
This was just the beginning.
He glanced back at Qin Yue and Xiao Lei.
"I'll walk you both home. Then I have work to do."
As they stepped out of the underground chamber and into the cool night air, Lin Mo raised his gaze to the city skyline.
Lights glittered like stars. Normal people slept peacefully in their beds.
But in the shadows beneath, monsters had already begun to move.