The aftershocks of the fissure slowly dissipated in the air, but the oppressive and dull feeling lingered for a long time. Kale stood in front of the void left by the shattered Blood Source Heart and felt an unusual chill slowly spreading from his feet, as if something was watching them in the darkness.
Dailin tightly gripped her staff, and a blue magical glow swirled in her palm. However, her face was still pale, and it was obvious that she could sense the remaining evil aura in the air.
"Although the fissure is closed, the abyss is still there..." Dailin said in a low voice, looking solemnly into the distant darkness, as if she could see through the stone wall and glimpse the horror hidden deeper.
"Don't be such a pessimist, Dailin," Yize stood on the edge of the fissure, playfully kicking a broken stone. His scimitar spun between his fingers, and the cynical smile still hung on his lips. "As for the abyss and all that, at least it hasn't emerged for now. We can take a sigh of relief."
"Underestimating the enemy will eventually get you killed without knowing why," Cangzhua snorted, and his sharp claws left deep marks on the ground.
Yize raised his eyebrows. "Hey, I've lived a lot longer than you, Lord Cangzhua."
Kale didn't bother to pay attention to their argument. His gaze remained fixed on the center of the fissure, and an unshakable sense of unease welled up in his heart. The Blood Source Heart had been shattered, but that feeling of being on the verge of collapse had never gone away.
"Sykes," Kale's voice was cold and low. He slowly turned around and looked at Sykes, who had been silent all this time. "You know what else is hidden here, don't you?"
Sykes slowly raised his head, his eyes as black as the reflection of the abyss. "Although the seal of the fissure has been restored briefly, the will of the abyss won't fall asleep easily. The Blood Source Heart is just a chain it left behind. The real core is deeper—the Wolf Soul Cemetery."
"The Wolf Soul Cemetery?" Dailin was taken aback when she heard this, and a trace of shock appeared in her eyes. "You mean, the real secret of the Wolf Soul Mountains is beneath the cemetery?"
"Exactly," Sykes slowly stepped down from the altar, and his cape dragged on the ground, making a slight sound. "The Wolf Soul Cemetery is the place where the ancestors of the wolf clan were buried, and it's also the source of the abyss curse."
The air seemed to freeze at this moment, and everyone's face turned extremely pale.
Kale took a deep breath and his voice was steady. "In that case, we'll head to the Wolf Soul Cemetery. No matter where the abyss is hidden, I must find it and eliminate it completely."
"Hmph, admirable courage, but are you really ready?" Sykes looked at Kale coldly. "The Wolf Soul Cemetery isn't a place that ordinary people can set foot in. It's buried with thousands of years of resentful souls and curses. Once you really enter, there will be no turning back."
Kale met his gaze without flinching. "I've had no way back for a long time."
Sykes stared at him. After a moment, a sneer appeared at the corner of his mouth. "I hope you
won't regret it."
After leaving the fissure, the group slowly walked along the ancient and dilapidated Wolf Soul Path in the direction of the Wolf Soul Cemetery. As night fell, the entire mountain range was shrouded in darkness, and the howls of wolves could be faintly heard echoing in the valley in the distance.
"This area feels strange," Cangzhua sniffed the air, and his face gradually became solemn. "There's no smell of other beasts. It's as if all living things are deliberately avoiding this place."
Dailin looked around and said in a low voice, "Maybe the power of the abyss has affected this place."
Kale narrowed his eyes and gradually slowed down his steps. Just then, a faint sound came from the forest, as if someone was quietly following them in the dark.
"Stop," Kale raised his hand to signal and looked towards the dense forest on the right. "Come out."
After a moment of silence, a figure slowly crawled out of the pile of dry leaves. It was a pale-faced teenager, dressed in rags, with dirt and bloodstains on his face and fear in his eyes.
"Please... save me..." The teenager's voice trembled, and he fell to the ground, seemingly extremely weak.
"Who are you?" Yize frowned and looked at him warily.
The teenager gasped and replied, "I'm from the town... I followed the merchant caravan here to gather medicinal herbs, but... but we encountered monsters deep in the mountains..."
"Monsters?" Kale took a step forward, his gaze sharp. "What kind of monsters?"
The teenager's eyes suddenly filled with fear, as if he remembered some indescribable scene. His lips trembled slightly. "They were like people... but not people... Those dead people stood up one after another, and they... were calling out the name of the abyss..."
The air suddenly turned cold, and everyone fell silent.
"The abyss has started to spread," Sykes said coldly, his eyes as black as ink. "These'monsters' are nothing else but the undead that escaped from the fissure."
Kale pondered for a moment, then helped the teenager up. "Stay close to us. We'll take you out of this mountain range."
The teenager nodded repeatedly, and a trace of gratitude appeared in his eyes. But the moment he lowered his head, a strange red light flashed deep in his pupils.
Not far away, Sykes slowly narrowed his eyes, as if he had sensed something.
...
The night grew darker, and Kale and the others continued to move forward. An indescribable sense of tension filled the air.
When crossing a withered forest, Cangzhua suddenly stopped and said in a low voice, "Something's wrong... We're surrounded."
In an instant, blurry shadows emerged from the darkness around them. Those shadows dragged their broken bodies and slowly approached them.
"The undead... They've really caught up," Dailin raised her staff, and the magical light shone brightly in the night.
Yize licked his lips and drew his scimitar. "Just in time to stretch my muscles."
Kale gripped his long sword tightly and calmly watched the approaching undead. "Form a formation and prepare for battle."
Not far away, the teenager stood in the shadows, and a strange arc slowly appeared at the corner of his mouth. A low voice came from his mouth. "You... will eventually become a part of the abyss..."