As Ye Fan's fingertip barely touched the blood-stained words on the scrap of paper, a subtle tremor rippled through his Inner World. This was a newly awakened sensory perception he had gained after breaking through to the Jade Bone Realm—the ability to capture the fluctuations of vital energy from living things within a radius of a hundred zhang. At this moment, those fluctuations surged from the back of the cargo warehouse like a swarm of bees, every single wisp carrying the pungent stench unique to poisoned blades.
"Zhaoyue," he said in an extremely low voice, his other hand already pressing the secret letter against his chest, "Zhao Batian's backup has arrived."
Lin Zhaoyue was just swinging her sword to deflect the last guard's broadsword, and she turned her head at his words. The moonlight fell upon the green jade hairpin in her hair, reflecting a chilling, sudden flash in the depths of her eyes. As she spun around, her sword tassel brushed against Ye Fan's wrist, and she said softly, "I counted just now; the ones who have come are the Ghost Sect's 'Nine Killing Guards'." Before her voice even faded, thirteen dark figures burst through the reeds against the wind, each with a chain-bound black iron hook hanging at their waist—that was the Ghost Sect's signature "Soul-Locking Hook", specially designed to shatter internal Genuine Qi.
Chapter 18