Chapter 71: Leaving so soon?

Max and Sarah pushed their way through the forest, the pendant weighing heavily in Sarah's pocket. The forest felt alive with tension, each rustling leaf and snapping twig seeming louder in the eerie silence. She couldn't shake the image of the spirit they had encountered at the shrine—his desperate, pain-filled eyes haunting her every step.

Max's voice broke the silence. "Sarah, do you feel it too? Like… we're being watched?"

Sarah nodded, her throat tight. "Yes… I feel like something's following us. But I can't see anything."

Max's hand drifted protectively toward her shoulder. "Stay close to me, no matter what, okay?"

A sudden chill swept through the forest, and they both froze as the shadows around them began to shift and swirl. A low, echoing laugh rang out, cutting through the quiet, cold and mocking.