The smoke in the valley gradually dissipated, and the sunlight pierced through the lingering mist, casting mottled shadows across the desolate ruin. Shattered bronze lamps lay scattered across the scorched earth, their unburnt wicks still smoldering. The wisps of smoke twisted into eerie shapes in the air, weaving a chilling tableau with the dried blood on the altar’s stone pillars. That blood snaked down along the ancient totem patterns, looking like the bloody tears of some primordial deity. Gu Jinghong carefully placed the unconscious Shen Mingyue beside a dry rock covered in moss that shimmered with a ghostly green sheen in the sunlight. Her pale face still bore the marks of the battle, and the dried blood at the corner of her lips stung his eyes—a reminder of the brutal slaughter they had just endured. He reached out to brush a stray lock of hair from her forehead; his fingertips touched her scorching skin, and a wave of worry washed over him, as if countless fine needles were pricking his heart, or as if an invisible hand were gripping it tight.
Just then, a faint moan emanated from the ruins of the altar. The sound was intermittent, like a candle flickering in the wind, each breath labored and agonizing, on the verge of being extinguished. Gu Jinghong gripped his sword hilt, the blade sliding slightly from its scabbard with a faint metallic scrape that rang out clearly in the silent valley. Following the sound, he saw the Mysterious Woman struggling to crawl out from …
Chapter 144