Falling.

An endless fall.

Darkness, like a viscous liquid, enveloped Su Nian's senses. The wound on her left shoulder was constantly torn apart during the fall, sending waves of excruciating pain through her. Warm blood soaked half of her clothes, bringing a bone-chilling cold. Deep within her soul, the excessive exertion and the impact of the final roar from the earth's source caused throbbing pains, and her consciousness repeatedly teetered on the edge of unconsciousness.

She didn't know how long she had been falling; time had lost its meaning here. She could only feel the wind whistling past her ears, gradually carrying a hint of… the scent of grass and damp earth?

finally--

"Thump!"

She crashed heavily onto something soft and elastic, the impact so great that her vision went black and she nearly passed out. Beneath her came the crackling sound of breaking branches and the sensation of some huge, thick leaf being crushed.

She did not die immediately, nor did she fall onto the hard rock.

Despite the excruciating pain that felt like her whole body was falling apart and the intense dizziness, Su Nian struggled to sit up and looked around.

This is no longer the cold and magnificent stone environment of the ancient castle, but a... dark and almost eerie forest.

Ancient trees rose abruptly from the ground, their canopies so dense they almost completely obscured the sky. Only faint, eerie blue or pale green specks of light, like will-o'-the-wisps, floated and flickered among the trees, providing the sole source of light. The air was damp and cold, thick with the stench of humus, a strange floral fragrance, and a faint, almost imperceptible odor of blood. The "ground" beneath their feet was composed of layers upon layers of enormous, black fallen leaves, accumulated over countless years, and some kind of shimmering moss, soft and slippery.

Eternal Night Forest.

She instantly realized where she was. The secret passage Derrick had mentioned led directly to the Evernight Forest outside the castle! This should have been a hunting ground for vampires, full of unknown dangers, but for Su Nian, who had just escaped from Xie Chen's clutches, it had become a temporary respite.

The crisis was far from over. Her shoulder wound was still bleeding, and the pungent smell of blood, like a beacon in the silent forest, could attract bloodthirsty predators at any moment. She had to treat her wound immediately and find a relatively safe place to hide.

She tore off the relatively clean lining of her skirt and, using her teeth and right hand, clumsily and laboriously bandaged the wound on her left shoulder. Her Ice Soul Power was almost completely exhausted; she could only muster a sliver of it, focusing it on the wound to barely achieve a little bit of freezing, hemostasis, and relief from the excruciating pain.

After doing all this, she was panting heavily, her back soaked with cold sweat. She leaned against the back of an ancient tree with rough, black bark that would require several people to encircle, listening alertly to any sounds around her.

The forest was not deathly silent. In the distance came the low howls of unknown creatures, and nearby there were faint rustling sounds, as if something was moving beneath the fallen leaves. The floating specks of eerie blue and pale green light were not still either; they seemed to have a life of their own, sometimes gathering together, sometimes scattering, and occasionally settling on a strangely shaped, brightly colored mushroom or flower.

Everything here exudes an eeriness and an ominous atmosphere.

Su Nian tried to sense the depths of her soul. The Ice Soul Mark was dim, and the cracks in her soul seemed to be widening again due to the previous overexertion and impact; the road to repair would be long. What worried her most was that her connection with the source of the earth had become extremely weak, as if separated by thousands of mountains and rivers. She could only feel a faint, weary, and worried fluctuation. The seal seemed to have been solidified again; the source of the earth had paid a huge price to help her escape.

And then there's Xie Chen's dark side... His furious roar still seems to echo in my ears. He will never give up easily; the pursuers may have already entered the forest, or are searching for her in other ways.

She must leave this area as soon as possible, find a more secluded hiding place, and find a way to restore her strength.

After resting for a while and regaining some strength, Su Nian struggled to her feet and chose a direction opposite to the castle, where the forest seemed denser. She trudged forward, her steps uneven and unsteady. The fallen leaves beneath her feet were soft and slippery, making each step exceptionally difficult. There were no paths in the forest, only tangled tree roots, hanging vines, and ubiquitous, strange plants with sharp thorns.

She didn't know how long she had walked; time remained a blur here. Hunger, thirst, exhaustion, and pain constantly eroded her will. She found some dew condensed on leaves, carrying a slightly sweet scent, to quench her thirst, but dared not easily try the brightly colored berries or mushrooms.

Just when she felt she was about to give up, she faintly heard the sound of flowing water ahead.

There is a water source!

She perked up, quickened her pace, and parted the layers of hanging, curtain-like dark green vines, revealing a bright and open view.

A narrow stream meanders through the forest, its water an unnatural dark silver, shimmering eerily in the surrounding specks of pale blue light. On the opposite bank, a cave-like depression, naturally formed by massive tree roots and vines, appears to be a place to temporarily take refuge.

Su Nian was overjoyed and was about to wade across the stream when she suddenly stopped.

wrong!

It's so quiet!

Near the stream, the faint chirping and rustling sounds of insects had completely disappeared! Only the gurgling of the dark silver stream flowed, sounding particularly jarring.

She cautiously took a step back, hiding behind a giant tree, and observed carefully.

Tiny bubbles began to silently rise from the surface of the dark silver stream. Then, translucent, elusive creatures, resembling jellyfish, slowly floated to the surface. They had no facial features, only a single, eerie green core at their center, emanating a chilling aura that seemed to penetrate the very soul.

These creatures seemed to sense Su Nian's presence, and all turned towards the direction where she was hiding, their eerie green light cores flickering uncertainly.

Su Nian's hair stood on end! She could sense that these creatures weren't targeting her physical body, but rather the fragmented soul energy she couldn't fully suppress after her injury! They were... Soul-Eating Demons? Or something similar!

Just as she was considering a solution, the translucent creatures suddenly accelerated, like arrows released from a bow, silently darting across the stream and rushing towards her! Their speed was astonishing!

Su Nian's expression changed. She was in extremely poor condition and had no power to fight against these strange creatures! She turned to run away, but the sharp pain in her left shoulder and her exhausted body slowed her down.

Just then, the cold tentacles of the nearest Soul Eater were about to touch her back—

Buzz!

A hazy, not dazzling light, yet carrying a strange purifying power, suddenly appeared behind Su Nian like a barrier, blocking all the Soul-Devouring Demons that rushed towards her!

The Soul-Eating Demon touched by the gray light let out a silent shriek, its translucent body emitting blue smoke as if it were being burned, and quickly shrank back into the stream. The other Soul-Eating Demons also seemed to be frightened, sinking to the bottom of the water and disappearing.

Su Nian turned around in astonishment.

Not far from her, a hunched figure stood, draped in a grey cloak. The cloak's hood was pulled low, obscuring most of the face, revealing only the aged skin of the chin and a wrinkled hand gripping a simple wooden staff. The grey light that had saved her life had emanated from an inconspicuous grey gem at the tip of the staff.

"An outsider soul...carrying pain and...ancient marks..."

An aged, hoarse voice, as if it hadn't spoken in a long time, came from under the hood. The voice resonated directly in Su Nian's mind, not through the air.

Su Nian was extremely wary. Who was this suddenly appearing old man? Was he friend or foe? Did he mean the Ice Soul Mark, or the soul link with Xie Chen, when he spoke of the "ancient mark"?

"Thank you for saving me." She spoke cautiously, her body slightly tense, ready to deal with any unexpected situation.

The gray-robed old man did not answer, but simply tapped the ground lightly with his wooden cane. A gentle yet irresistible force lifted Su Nian, carrying her across the eerie dark silver stream and to the entrance of the tree root cave on the other side.

"It's safe here for now." The old man's thoughts came again. "The forest... does not welcome strange souls, especially... those marked by 'He'."

"Him?" Su Nian immediately realized that the old man was referring to Xie Chen!

"Do you know the prince in the castle?" she asked hastily.

The gray-robed old man raised his head, and from the shadow of his hood, an extremely sharp gaze seemed to sweep across Su Nian's face, finally settling on her injured left shoulder, where, besides bloodstains, there seemed to be a trace of Xie Chen's dark energy aura remaining.

“Forgetting… is perhaps the price of survival.” The old man answered irrelevantly, his voice carrying an ancient compassion, “But some bonds… are etched deep in the soul, impossible to forget, only to be faced… or… devoured by them.”

He extended his withered finger and pointed it at Su Nian's forehead.

"Sleep, wounded bird. In the dreams of eternal night... you will see... what you have forgotten, and... what you are destined to face."

An irresistible drowsiness swept over Su Nian's consciousness like a tide. Before she could even react, her eyelids closed heavily, and her body slumped softly into the dry fallen leaves inside the tree root cave, falling into a deep sleep.

In the last second before she completely lost consciousness, she seemed to see the figure of the gray-robed old man slowly dissipating into the darkness of the forest, as if merging into the mist.

And in her mind, fragmented, seemingly long-sealed memories began to surface uncontrollably... belonging to her own memory.

(End of Chapter 62)

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Next Chapter Preview: Is the mysterious gray-robed elder friend or foe? What exactly does he mean by "forgetting" and "being destined to face"? What sealed memories will Su Nian see in her dreams? What secrets are hidden deep within the Eternal Night Forest? And how will Xie Chen's pursuit unfold towards the ancient castle? After awakening, will Su Nian possess new powers or... new understanding?