**Chapter Six: Whispers in the Shadow Cave**
The entrance to the Southern Caves was nothing more than a dark crevice in the rocky mountainside—like a silently groaning mouth. The air at the threshold was cold and heavy, devoid of the usual sounds of wildlife. Even insects seemed to avoid this place. Rhein paused for a moment, sensing the environment around him. He could already feel the **spiritual pressure** the old man had warned about—not a physical force, but a subtle, creeping sensation pressing against the mind, whispering promises of nightmares.
*"So, this is the place,"* he murmured coolly and stepped into the darkness without hesitation.
The moment he crossed the threshold, the pressure **attacked** in full force. Not with visual hallucinations—but something far more violent. It was an assault on his **memories** and **emotions**. The echoes of betrayal from his past life—the face of his "friend" driving a blade into his back, the helplessness of watching his family captured—all of it surged to the surface of his consciousness, trying to drown him in despair and rage.
Any ordinary cultivator at his level would have collapsed or fled in terror.
But Rhein was **not** ordinary.
Instead of fear, he felt a strange **comfort**. The mental chaos induced by the cave was like white noise, drowning out the overthinking and relentless analysis that never ceased in his mind. In the midst of this psychological assault, Rhein found **clarity**. Everything became simple. There was **him**, and there was the **objective**.
*"They call this a nightmare?"* he thought, a faint smile tugging at his lips. *"I call it... peace."*
In this eerie mental stillness, his ability to **see souls** grew sharper. He glanced around the dark cavern and began perceiving what should have been invisible. There were no literal "eyes" watching him—but **clusters of dark spiritual energy**, pulsing with silent malice, forming focal points of pressure in the shadows.
He found the **Shadow Moss** easily. It wasn't just a plant—it **fed** on this spiritual pressure. Each specimen glowed with a faint violet aura, visible only to spiritual sight.
He collected the samples carefully, one by one. But as he ventured deeper, he noticed something **strange**.
A corpse.
A cave beast, the size of a bear, lay dead on the ground. That alone wasn't unusual—but the **manner** of its death was.
A **single, perfectly clean hole** pierced its forehead. The edges of the wound were **frosted**, covered in a thin layer of **spiritual ice** that hadn't melted despite the cave's relative warmth.
Rhein stopped and examined the corpse.
*"This wasn't done by an ordinary mercenary,"* he analyzed coldly. *"This level of precision and ice-element control means whoever did this is **far** beyond me—at least Golden Core stage. And someone at that level wouldn't come here for a 20-copper mission."*
He grew more cautious. There was **another player** in the cave.
A **strong**, **mysterious** one.
He continued, collecting the tenth and final sample of Shadow Moss. His primary mission was complete. **Logic dictated he should leave immediately.** Staying here with an unknown, powerful entity present was an unnecessary risk.
But he hesitated.
**Curiosity**—an emotion he rarely indulged—stirred within him. This unknown figure wasn't reckless. They were **precise**, **efficient**. That meant they had a **specific objective**.
*"Risk carries opportunity,"* Rhein thought, his hand tightening around his knife's hilt. *"Knowing who this person is and what they're after in these caves could be far more valuable than my temporary safety."*
At that moment, he heard a faint sound from deeper within the cave.
Not the growl of a beast—but the **scrape of metal against stone**.
He didn't retreat.
Instead, with an icy smile barely visible in the dark, he began moving **toward** the sound.
The **rat's** mission was over.
Now, it was time for the **predator** to observe **bigger prey**.