Chapter 353: Key?

Although dilapidated, at least there is no obvious danger for now. The half‑open heavy gate also seems to provide a little psychological sense of safety.

"Here… I'll rest a moment," Lin Yifan, nearly exhausted, slid down to sit against a relatively clean section of the cabin wall, his face as pale as paper.

Lingling looked at him with worry, immediately channeling Moonlight energy again; the warm flow poured into Lin Yifan's body like a stream, nourishing his damaged flesh and easing the intense pain.

Lin Yifan closed his eyes, fully activating his Healing Heart method, cooperating with Lingling's power, striving to recover. He must regain some mobility quickly; in this dead end, weakness means death.

Time passed in silence. Inside the cabin, only the faint Moonlight emanating from Lingling and Lin Yifan's gradually steady breathing could be heard.

After an unknown length of time, when Lin Yifan felt a little better, at least his injuries were held from worsening, he opened his eyes again. Lingling also ceased transferring energy, standing guard nearby, watching the gate's exterior warily.

Lin Yifan's gaze fell again on the beacon fragment. He hesitated, then tried to focus his mind, querying the silent database in his head: "About the 'Key'… and the 'Breath of the End'… how much do you know?"

The database interface flickered laboriously a few times, as if retrieving this information was a huge burden for it. A fragmented stream, riddled with garbled code and missing data, surged into Lin Yifan's consciousness again:

【…'Key'… highest‑priority command linkage… information severely missing…】【…speculated connection to the 'Primordial Accord' and activation of the 'Final Frontline'… form unknown, energy signature unknown…】【…'Breath of the End'… high‑dimensional infiltration phenomenon… manifests as reality distortion, energy pollution, assimilation of living and non‑living matter… extremely dangerous…】【…historical record: war with 'they' led to the downfall of 'Aesos'… 'Forbidden Wall' is one of the final frontlines…】【…warning: any spatial fluctuation, high‑energy reaction, or resonant spiritual imprint may attract the 'Breath of the End'…】

The information remained incomplete, but a few keywords appeared that were absent before: 'Primordial Accord', 'Final Frontline', 'Aesos'… These terms seem to point to the core of that ancient war.

Just as Lin Yifan tried to make sense of the fragmented data, his eyes unintentionally swept over the wrecked cabin floor. Suddenly, his gaze was drawn to something half‑buried in dust beside a twisted metal skeleton in the corner.

It was a palm‑sized dark‑gold metal disc, its edges partially melted and deformed, bearing faint etched patterns and unreadable characters.

On a whim, Lin Yifan, bearing the pain, reached out with his left hand and picked it up.

Brushing away the thick dust, the disc revealed its true form. One side was relatively smooth; the other bore a Rough yet unsettling design: countless fine, tentacle‑like shadows extending from a cracked starry sky, entwining and devouring a few shattered stars. Beneath the illustration, an extremely ancient, twisted script etched a line of small characters.

Lin Yifan did not recognize the script at all, but when he focused his mind on it, the silent database in his head seemed triggered, automatically supplying a translation:

【——They come from the far side of the starry sky; their light is food, despair is a breeding ground. Remember, do not stare, do not listen, do not recall. ——】

A chill crawled up Lin Yifan's spine.

It sounded like a… warning? Or perhaps a dying message?

Almost the instant he grasped the meaning of those words!

The dark‑gold disc in his left hand suddenly trembled slightly! The Rough pattern on its surface flashed a barely perceptible stream of light, as if the final power had been activated!

Immediately after, a blurry, shaking, snow‑flake‑filled image—like a hologram—projected from above the disc, accompanied by a choppy recording punctuated with violent explosions and sharp alarm sounds!

In the footage, the viewpoint jolted wildly; it showed this very cabin, but during the disaster. The gate was sealed shut, red alarm lights spun wildly, and the screen flickered with countless error codes and cracks.

A non‑human creature clad in a severely torn, oddly styled uniform roared hoarsely at a recording device; its speech, after the database's arduous conversion, fragmented into thoughts Lin Yifan could comprehend:

【…record…the final…data…core forcibly stripped…we failed…the 'Barrier' is collapsing…】

【…they came in! Everywhere! Energy is being polluted… comrades… comrades are twisting! Ah—! Don't come closer!】

【…warning…to later arrivals…beware the 'Echo'… they will mimic… deceive… exploit the deepest part of you…】

【…the 'Key'… must… be sent out… must never fall into…】【…for… Aesos…】

At the recording's end came an extremely mournful scream and a horrible splattering sound of viscous liquid hitting the lens, then the image and audio abruptly cut off.

The dark‑gold disc's glow went out completely; with a "crack" sound, several fissures split its surface, turning it into scrap metal.

Inside the cabin, a death‑like silence.

Lin Yifan and Lingling froze in place, their faces ashen, as if frozen by the boundless despair and terror that spanned endless time and space.

That final dying message, though brief, revealed the truth of these ruins more than any terrifying vision could.

This place is not a simple tomb, but the ultimate battlefield resisting some incomprehensible, nameless 'them'! The enemy appears to be a horrific entity that can pollute everything, warp everything, even exploit memories and emotions!

"Echo"… the database mentioned the term repeatedly. They will mimic? Deceive?

Lin Yifan felt a chill emanating from the depths of his soul.

At that moment—

Wuh…

A faint, almost imperceptible… crying sound suddenly drifted softly from deep within the passage.

The voice sounded like a helpless, lost child, full of sorrow and fear, echoing in the dead‑silent metal corridor, unusually clear yet oddly… eerie.

Lin Yifan and Lingling's hair stood on end instantly!

How could a child's cry be here?!

【Warning! Abnormal spiritual wave detected! Feature analysis: match 71%… suspected 'Breath of the End' whisper (disguised form)!】【Warning! Do not respond! Do not listen!】 The database's alarm in his mind flared wildly again, filled with unprecedented urgency!

The crying seemed to hear their thoughts, becoming clearer and more sorrowful, as if moving along the passage, slowly, step by step… toward the cabin they occupied.

"…Save me… It's so dark… So scary…"

A youthful, sob‑tinged girl's voice rang directly in their minds, full of helplessness and pleading.

A flash of confusion and compassion crossed Lingling's eyes, and she instinctively took a small step forward.

"Lingling!" Lin Yifan barked sharply, grabbing her, "It's fake!"

The dark‑gold vines on his right arm seemed to sense the intangible Spiritual Pollution, beginning to writhe uneasily, emitting a wary pulse.

The crying paused briefly, then grew even more mournful and twisted, as if wounded:

"…Why won't you help me… Are you going to abandon me too… just like them…"

The voice began to degrade, the youthful tone gradually mixing with a non‑human, icy malice.

"…Come… stay with me…"

"…Give… the 'Key'… to me…"

The final sentence, like a cold venomous snake, slithered into both minds!

It was indeed targeting this!

Lin Yifan clenched the beacon fragment tightly, his other hand balled into a fist, cold sweat dripping from his temples. Lingling was fully alert, a flash of terror in her eyes, and Moonlight energy instinctively coalesced, shielding them.

In the cold metal cabin, the two pressed backs together, listening to the increasingly close, increasingly twisted "crying" as their hearts hammered.

The intangible spiritual assault was more terrifying than any snarling monster.

Can they endure it?

That twisted, child‑like helplessness fused with icy malice "crying" and whisper, like invisible tentacles, continuously burrowed into Lin Yifan and Lingling's minds, attempting to shatter their will and stir the deepest fears and frailties within them.

"So cold… It's so dark here…" "Why won't you… Why does everyone abandon me…" "Give… that… to me… if I have it I won't feel pain…"

Ling Ling's body trembled slightly, the protective halo formed by moonlight's power rippled under the shock of the voice; in her eyes a struggle unfolded, a mix of instinctive sympathy for the scene described by that "voice" and deep terror of its true nature. The ancestral memory fragments seemed to warn her of the horror of such an existence.

Lin Yifan clenched his teeth, the veins at his temples bulging. He had endured the pain of a soul torn apart, his will far tougher than an ordinary person's, yet the direct assault of Spiritual Pollution still made his head split, countless negative emotions and Illusions trying to sprout in his mind. The dark golden vines on his right arm quivered, conveying a cold feeling mixed with disgust and vigilance, as if a natural mortal enemy.

【Warning! Spiritual Pollution intensity rising! Recommendation: seal perception, force breakthrough!】The database alarm sounded cold and urgent.

Seal perception? Losing perception in a place like this is nothing short of suicide!

"Ling Ling! Guard your mind! It's fake!" Lin Yifan growled low, his voice hoarse from resistance. He thrust his left hand up, gripping the dark golden beacon fragment tightly, and poured a thread of weak Qi into it recklessly.

Hum!

The beacon fragment flared again, this time not a gentle resonance but a sharp, rapid pulse! The pulse was not an attack, but more like an interference—a disruption of a specific‑frequency energy field!

The ghostly wailing and whispering that had been swirling like a specter twisted and changed pitch under the sharp interference, sounding like a badly tuned broadcast, revealing a more chaotic, noisy true form beneath.

"…Screech… resistance… futile…" "…merge… eternity…"

The deceptive weakening in the voice gave way to a pure, nauseating malice that lay itself bare.

"Now! Go!" Lin Yifan hauled Ling Ling forward, ignoring the searing pain in his right arm, and burst out of the relatively safe, discarded cabin, stepping back onto the dim metal corridor.

They had to leave the relatively sealed space, or they would become turtles in a jar!

The corridor ahead remained dark, but the twisted wailing, after a brief interference, grew angrier, pursuing from behind like an invisible shadow pressed against their backs.

The two scrambled forward along the corridor. The beacon fragment in Lin Yifan's hand kept emitting interference waves, like a ringing alarm bell held in the darkness—temporarily repelling the mental invasion behind them, but possibly drawing more unknown danger.

The corridor began to fork like a maze. Lin Yifan had no time to discern; he could only rely on the beacon fragment, the faint, intermittent navigation prompts from the database (【"to the left… energy flow relatively stable…"】, 【"warning… collapse detected on the right side…"】) and Ling Ling's occasional sense of airflow, desperately choosing paths that seemed to lead forward.

The twisted whispers behind them, like a festering sore, did not recede but evolved into a new form. No longer just sound, they began to try to create Illusions.

In the corner shadow of the corridor, Lin Yifan's peripheral vision seemed to catch a crouching, crying little girl in tattered dress; Ling Ling appeared to hear a familiar call from an elder of their clan behind them…

"Don't look! Don't listen! It's all fake!" Lin Yifan warned sharply, gripping Ling Ling's hand tightly, forcing himself to stare ahead and pour all his strength into the beacon fragment.

The interference wave from the beacon fragment successfully twisted most Illusions, making them wobble and shatter like reflections on water, yet the mental pressure and fear continued to accumulate.

The corridor seemed endless, oppression and despair like cold tides trying to drown them.

Just as Lin Yifan felt the beacon fragment in his hand heating up and its interference effect waning under the ongoing erosion, his spirit on the brink of collapse—

At the far end of the corridor, a hazy, soft white glow appeared, different from the grim green indicator lights and the red alarm—

The light was not strong, but it carried an odd serenity and stability, like a lighthouse suddenly rising in a storm.

Simultaneously, the ever‑cold warning from the database in his mind delivered a new, completely different prompt:

【Warning: high‑intensity, pure order energy field detected ahead! Attribute: unknown, inconsistent with database records!】【Analysis: energy field has mental shielding effect… strongly repels the 'End's Breath' whispers…】【Risk: unknown. Opportunity: possible brief sanctuary.】

There was no time to hesitate! The twisted whispers behind them cleared again, raging with the fury of being toyed with!

"Go there!" Lin Yifan pointed toward the white light, using his last strength to sprint forward.

The two staggered out of the corridor's end.

The scene before them made them halt abruptly, eyes wide in astonishment.