The morning study bell at Qingyang City First Middle School was muffled by a fine, persistent drizzle. Su Yao gazed at the fragmented reflections of clouds in a puddle outside the window, her fingers unconsciously stroking the edges of an Ancient Tome. Since the battle at Moon-Watching Cliff, the mysterious book that had vanished felt like a thorn lodged deep in her heart, causing a dull, persistent ache. Suddenly, the printed characters on her textbook began to glow with a faint, ghostly blue light, rearranging themselves into a line of tiny script: "Secret passage in the Library, at the third quarter of the Zi hour."
"Su Yao?" Lin Yu’s voice came from beside her. The young man’s sword-like brows were slightly furrowed, and the cuffs of his school uniform still bore the scorched remnants of their last battle. "You look terrible." He reached out to check her forehead, but Su Yao turned away, evading his touch. She lowered her eyes to hide the complex emotions swirling within—last night, in a dream, she had seen that vanished book again, and the ferocious demonic sigils on its cover had transformed into her Mother’s tear-stained face.
As dusk fell, Su Yao slipped into the library alone. The damp air was thick with the musty scent of old paper. Following the fluctuations of Spiritual Power, she pushed aside the third row of bookshelves, revealing a stone staircase behind a hidden door that spiraled downward, ending in a glow of eerie green phosphorus. As her foot touched the …
Chapter 240