🌲 [Mission: Silent Path] 🌲

The forest was endless. The deeper they went, the darker it became — the canopy swallowing every bit of sunlight until only fractured beams slipped through the mist. Every sound was sharper here: the snap of a twig, the whisper of leaves, the slow rhythm of footsteps against damp soil.

They had been walking for hours. No trail, no map, just instinct and the faint signal that kept flickering on Qiuyuan’s scanner. The device blinked in weak pulses — once, twice — before dying again.

Qiuyuan didn’t stop. His pace was steady, deliberate. The other followed in silence, their breathing soft, almost afraid to disturb the quiet around them. Somewhere far off, a raven called — one note, hollow and distant.

A clearing opened ahead. The air changed; colder, heavier. Moss covered what looked like ruins — fragments of stone, carved long ago, now swallowed by time. Qiuyuan knelt beside one, brushing away layers of dirt with his glove. Strange markings shimmered faintly beneath the grime, symbols that seemed to move when the light hit them just right.

The silence grew louder.

That was when Qiuyuan finally spoke — his voice calm, almost too calm for the weight of what lay before them.

Qiuyuan: “We’re not the first ones here.”

And then — nothing. The wind picked up, carrying the sound of distant footsteps that weren’t theirs.