The Ye Clan estate stood battered beneath a twilight sky streaked with violet and shadow, the air thick with an ethereal hum that lingered after the Abyss Eternal's retreat. The courtyard pulsed with unease, the fire crackling weakly as Ye Hua clutched a patched cloak, her gray eyes wide with dread at the rift where the Abyss's silhouette had shimmered and faded, its parting words—"my true self" and "your secret"—hanging like a curse. Ye Qing leaned on his spear at the gate, his grizzled face etched with exhaustion, his voice a ragged growl as he urged Ye Jun and Ye Mei to stay behind the barricade, their small figures trembling in the fading gloom. Ye Chen sat by the western wall, his ward-stone gripped tight, his twisted leg braced as the earth quivered faintly with residual chaos. Ye Ling paced the gatehouse, her dagger a restless gleam, her braid swaying like a whip, her breath sharp with defiance and suspicion.