The Shadow Draws Near

The light from the campfire flickered.

Lin Xiao stared at the token in Lu Yuan's hand, his tongue unconsciously licking his canine teeth. "This thing... you've seen it before?"

"No." Lu Yuan turned the token over, his fingertips tracing the cold metal surface. "But Yun Youzi mentioned the ' Secret Keepers.' He recognizes it."

He turned to Su Yan. "Go. Take Li Wangye and return to the upper level the way you came. Find Elder Yun's men and ask him to come down immediately. Tell them... we found what he warned us about."

Su Yan nodded, then turned and left.

"Wait," Lu Yuan called out to him, "Don't stop on the road. If you encounter anything unusual, send a signal immediately."

"Clear."

Su Yan's figure disappeared into the darkness of the passage. Li Wangye and another team member quickly followed.

The camp fell silent, save for the crackling of the campfire and the faint sound of the underground river flowing in the distance. Lu Qinghe squeezed in from behind, glanced at the corpse, and frowned deeply. "This wound..."

"This isn't an ordinary Soul Skill." Shen Moxin crouched down, her fingertips hovering an inch above the wound, not daring to touch it. "The edges are too neat. It's like... some extremely fine energy beam pierced through instantly, simultaneously draining the surrounding life force."

She pushed up her glasses, her face pale. "Such methods are unheard of."

Lu Yuan didn't speak. He bent down, picked up the tattered cloak that had covered the corpse, and covered it again. His movements were steady.

"Lin Xiao, take some men and move the body to the innermost stone chamber in the camp. Keep it alone and don't let anyone else near it." He paused. "Mo Chen, check all the warning runes at our entrances, especially the hidden vents and cracks. Shi Jian, divide the patrols into three shifts. From now on, all sentries must be in pairs, with a distance of no more than fifty paces between them."

One order after another was issued.

No one questioned it. The atmosphere was so oppressive it was suffocating.

Half an hour later, footsteps came from the upper passage. Yun Youzi walked in front, his gray robe stained with fresh mud, and his gaunt face looked particularly serious in the firelight. Behind him were two young people, a man and a woman, both dressed in similar simple gray clothes, their eyes wary.

The old man immediately noticed the cloak covering the entrance to the stone chamber.

"Where was it found?" he asked, his voice hoarse.

Lu Yuan gestured to Li Wangye. The young Soul Master swallowed hard and recounted the discovery process again. After listening, Yun Youzi closed his eyes.

"Where's the token?"

Lu Yuan handed it over.

The old man took it, his thumb tracing the deeply etched eye. Firelight danced on the metal surface, and the eye seemed to come alive, coldly surveying the crowd.

"Eye of Shadow." He uttered the four words as if spitting out a block of ice.

Lin Xiao frowned. "What the hell?"

"An organization. Or rather, a group of madmen." Yun Youzi's voice was low, but every word was clear. "They call themselves 'guardians of knowledge,' believing that certain ancient relics and forbidden knowledge are too dangerous and must be buried forever. Once they discover someone has touched them, they will track them down, intervene, and even... eradicate them."

He raised his eyes and glanced at Lu Yuan and the others.

"They are notorious among archaeologists, but they rarely leave survivors or evidence. In my decades of travel, I have only heard of three instances of them taking action. Each time, the entire exploration team vanished without a trace, leaving the scene as clean as if no one had ever been there."

Shen Moxin gasped. "They... are very strong?"

"It's not a matter of strength or weakness," Yun Youzi shook his head, "It's strange. They are masters of concealment, tracking, and assassination, and are especially adept at utilizing the environment and traps within the ruins themselves. Moreover, they seem to possess some... techniques that don't belong to this era."

He pointed to the token. "This eye pattern is the identifier of their core members. The smooth back indicates that this is just peripheral reconnaissance or execution. If it were a formal member, the back would be engraved with a number."

Lu Yuan remained silent for a moment.

"Their target is the ' Source Seed '?"

"Most likely," Yun Youzi nodded. "' Source Seed ' involves the ancient exploration of ' Key ' and 'doors,' precisely the kind of knowledge they feared most. You activated the crystal here, and the energy fluctuations have likely already been detected."

He paused, his tone heavy.

"The body was found on the outskirts of the safe zone, and the time of death was less than two hours ago. This indicates that their people have already arrived and are nearby. This body... could be a reconnaissance outpost, or it could be a deliberate warning left behind."

The stone chamber was deathly silent.

Lu Yuan raised his eyes. "Does Elder Yun have any suggestions?"

The old man stared at him, and after a few seconds, slowly exhaled.

"Cooperation," he said. "Neither you alone, nor even my side alone, can stop the ' Eye of Shadow.' But if we share intelligence and monitor all known entrances and weak points of the ruins, perhaps we can hold out for a while."

He added, "Of course, this is a temporary measure. Once we get through this crisis, the deal will proceed as usual."

Lu Yuan didn't answer immediately. He looked at Shen Moxin, Shen Moxin nodded slightly; he looked at Mo Chen, Mo Chen also nodded; Lin Xiao pursed his lips but didn't object.

"Okay," Lu Yuan said, "But our people must know the exact location and triggering mechanism of all the defense points. The deployment of early warning and defensive formations will be led by Mo Chen, with your people assisting."

"That makes sense," Yun Youzi agreed readily.

For the next two days, the atmosphere in the ruins was as tense as a fully drawn bow.

Mo Chen barely slept. He led the two young men from Yun Youzi's side to set up the various simple soul-guiding formations that Lu Yuan had deduced based on ancient rune knowledge—the "Spiderweb" for early warning, the "Mire" for delayed triggering, and the "Thunderclap" for small-scale energy impact—one by one at all known passageways and ventilation cracks.

When materials ran out, they resorted to patching things up from scratch. Yun Youzi contributed a significant amount of their existing stock.

Shi Jian trained the defense team even harder. Every day, in addition to patrolling, they practiced coordination and retreat routes in case of encounters. Lu Qinghe, along with several experienced and prudent men, inventoried the food, water, and medicine in the camp, divided them into three portions, and hid them in different hidden stone chambers.

Lu Yuan himself spent time with Yun Youzi.

The two exchanged information about the ruins' structure and pieced together a more complete map on parchment. Yun Youzi had a profound understanding of ancient runes, while Lu Yuan's theoretical framework provided a completely new perspective. The old man and the young man would often discuss the map and the fragments of runes for hours on end.

But pressure is everywhere.

The patrols would occasionally report suspicious signs—a slightly moved piece of gravel, an unnatural scratch on the wall, or a faint, unfamiliar aura of Soul Power lingering in the air. Each time, it would put the entire camp on edge for half a day.

Lin Xiao was the most annoyed.

He was used to taking the initiative, and this feeling of passively waiting made him uncomfortable. On the afternoon of the third day, he slipped into the stone chamber where Lu Yuan and Yun Youzi were discussing things and leaned against the door frame.

"Are we just going to wait like this?" he asked, his voice barely concealing his anger.

Lu Yuan looked up from the map. "Do you have a better idea?"

"Go out and search," Lin Xiao said. "They've definitely set up camp somewhere outside the ruins. Find them, figure them out, and make your move."

Yun Youzi shook his head. "Too risky. ' The Eye of Shadow ' excels at counter-tracking and traps. If you go out, you might not come back."

"That's still better than suffocating here."

Lu Yuan looked at him for a while.

"Let's wait one more day," he said. "If there's still no concrete progress by tomorrow, I'll go with you to investigate."

Lin Xiao paused for a moment, then grinned. "Okay."

But he didn't live to see the next day.

Late that night, the warning array was triggered.

It wasn't the main entrance, nor any passage marked on the map. The trigger point was located in a very hidden crack in the mountainside on the side of the ruins—a place covered by thick vines and stalactites, not even marked on the map. Mo Chen discovered it by chance while setting up defenses and casually planted a "Spiderweb" there as well.

The moment it was triggered, the formation only had time to emit an extremely weak Soul Power fluctuation alarm before it was interrupted.

Lin Xiao and Su Yan were in charge of that area.

The two pounced almost the instant the alarm sounded. Lin Xiao went at full speed, leaving a trail of afterimages in the dark passage; Su Yan followed closely behind, concentrating her Soul Power in her feet, landing silently.

When they arrived at the entrance of the crevice, they only saw vines that had been violently torn apart, and faint traces of cold, eerie Soul Power, the same as that from the wounds on the corpse, remained on the stone wall.

There were still a few drops of blood on the ground.

Fresh, not yet fully solidified, it appears dark red under the dim light reflecting off the rock face.

Lin Xiao squatted down, dipped his finger in the sap, and brought it to his nose to smell. The fishy smell had a very faint, strange odor, similar to metallic rust.

"It's not ours." His voice was deep.

Su Yan had already checked the surroundings. "The entrance is too small, only enough for one person to squeeze in. The passage inside is narrow, but there are fresh signs of wear. The person went in."

He looked up at the impenetrable darkness deep within the crack.

"Furthermore, they know exactly how to avoid our regular patrol routes."

Lin Xiao stood up, his face grim.

He licked his canine teeth, his amber vertical pupils shrinking to pinpoints in the darkness.

"They're coming in."

When the message reached the camp's core, Lu Yuan and Yun Youzi had just finalized the adjustment plan for the last few defense nodes.

After listening to Su Yan's brief report, Lu Yuan remained silent for a few seconds.

Then he walked to the unfolded diagram of the ruins, his finger tracing several key passage nodes. The firelight flickered on his face, making his eyes appear unfathomable.

Shen Moxin, Mo Chen, Shi Jian, Yun Youzi... everyone gathered around.

"We can't continue with passive defense." Lu Yuan spoke, his voice calm, a calmness that sent chills down one's spine.

He raised his head and glanced at the crowd.

"Now that they're in... let's turn these ruins into our territory."

He looked at Mo Chen.

"Initiating the first phase of Project Hive."