The Blue Stone Slab beneath their feet emitted a muffled thud with every step. Ye Fan gripped Qín Wǎnshuāng's hand tightly, his palms slightly slick with sweat. He could clearly hear her hurried breathing; every intake of air seemed to strike against his shoulder like the beating of a war drum.
The bloody stench of his past life's fall suddenly surged up in his memory, a rush of iron-tasting blood rising to his throat, but he forcibly swallowed it down. In this lifetime, he would never again allow the person he cherished to fall into mortal peril.
Rounding the final corridor, the battlements of the city wall came into view. The morning wind blew past, smelling of rust. Ye Fan was the first to leap onto the parapet, his dark robes fluttering in the wind, revealing the silver tassels of the Jiuxiao Huanpei at his waist.
Chapter 177