The road stretched endlessly ahead.Long.Empty.Quiet in a way that felt almost unnatural.Ethan sat in the back seat, his gaze fixed on the passing scenery as the city slowly disappeared behind them, replaced by open roads, scattered buildings, and wide stretches of land that felt disconnected from everything familiar.Sofia sat beside him, her posture relaxed but her eyes alert, occasionally glancing out the window as if she was memorizing every detail of their surroundings.Shen Fei sat in the front.Silent.Still.Her presence alone was enough to keep the atmosphere grounded, even as everything around them felt uncertain.“…This place feels different,” Sofia said softly, breaking the silence as she leaned slightly toward the window.“It is,” Ethan replied.He didn’t elaborate.Because he didn’t need to.They could all feel it.Something about this trip wasn’t normal.Something about where they were going—Carried weight.But that wasn’t the only thing that felt off.Ethan’s gaze

The sky was bleeding into orange.Not the soft, peaceful kind of sunset people took pictures of—But something heavier.Something that made the world feel slower.Muted.Like everything was holding its breath.Ethan stood still for a moment as the car came to a gradual stop, his eyes fixed on what lay ahead of them.“…This is it,” he said quietly.No one responded immediately.Because there was nothing simple about what they were looking at.The estate stood in front of them like something pulled out of a forgotten memory.Massive.Silent.Wrong.Tall iron gates stretched across the entrance, their dark metal twisted with age and rust, vines crawling through the gaps like they had been left to grow for decades without interruption. Beyond them, the property extended further than the eye could comfortably follow, surrounded by towering trees that blocked out most of the fading light.And at the center—The house.No.Not a house.Something bigger.Older.Its walls were cracked in place

The deeper they went—The heavier the air became.It wasn’t just the dust anymore.It wasn’t just the silence.It was something else.Something that made every step feel like it mattered more than it should.Ethan moved ahead again, his pace steady, his direction almost instinctive now, even though he still couldn’t explain it. Sofia followed closely, her phone in hand as she quietly documented everything—walls, symbols, footprints, even the faint wiring that ran along parts of the structure.“This is too organized to be abandoned,” she said softly, her voice low but certain. “Someone’s maintaining sections of this place.”Shen Fei didn’t respond immediately.Her attention had shifted.Focused.Sharp.She stood in front of a large bookshelf, her gaze scanning it carefully, not the books themselves, but the structure behind them.“…Something’s off,” she murmured.Ethan paused, glancing back at her.“What is it?” he asked.Shen Fei stepped closer, her fingers brushing lightly along the

Chapter 27 – The PhotographThe deeper they went—The heavier the air became.It wasn’t just the dust anymore.It wasn’t just the silence.It was something else.Something that made every step feel like it mattered more than it should.Ethan moved ahead again, his pace steady, his direction almost instinctive now, even though he still couldn’t explain it. Sofia followed closely, her phone in hand as she quietly documented everything—walls, symbols, footprints, even the faint wiring that ran along parts of the structure.“This is too organized to be abandoned,” she said softly, her voice low but certain. “Someone’s maintaining sections of this place.”Shen Fei didn’t respond immediately.Her attention had shifted.Focused.Sharp.She stood in front of a large bookshelf, her gaze scanning it carefully, not the books themselves, but the structure behind them.“…Something’s off,” she murmured.Ethan paused, glancing back at her.“What is it?” he asked.Shen Fei stepped closer, her fingers

Chapter 27 – The PhotographThe deeper they went—The heavier the air became.It wasn’t just the dust anymore.It wasn’t just the silence.It was something else.Something that made every step feel like it mattered more than it should.Ethan moved ahead again, his pace steady, his direction almost instinctive now, even though he still couldn’t explain it. Sofia followed closely, her phone in hand as she quietly documented everything—walls, symbols, footprints, even the faint wiring that ran along parts of the structure.“This is too organized to be abandoned,” she said softly, her voice low but certain. “Someone’s maintaining sections of this place.”Shen Fei didn’t respond immediately.Her attention had shifted.Focused.Sharp.She stood in front of a large bookshelf, her gaze scanning it carefully, not the books themselves, but the structure behind them.“…Something’s off,” she murmured.Ethan paused, glancing back at her.“What is it?” he asked.Shen Fei stepped closer, her fingers