The sound of iron chains dragging along the ground grew clearer with each step, mingling with the dripping of water seeping from the damp stone walls, echoing sharply down the narrow corridor. The Jiuxiao Huanpei in Ye Fan's palm grew slightly warm, and the half-copper mask within his Inner World resonated in the exact rhythm of his heartbeat—a sign that the karma of his past life was about to be resolved.
"Three to the left, two to the right, the middle is empty." Chǔ Hóngzhuāng suddenly tugged at his sleeve, the silver bells in her hair chiming softly. "The Gu Insects have crawled to the fork. The left tunnel smells of rotting corpses, the right smells of rust, and the middle... the middle has the scent of living people!" As she tilted her head, the Qingfu Gu on her earrings fluttered its wings, its compound eyes reflecting the cracks in the stone wall ahead.
Lin Zhaoyue's sword had already cleared its scabbard by three inches, a cold gleam tracing a half-arc at her side. "I'll check the left." Without waiting for the sound of her voice to fade, the tips of her toes grazed the ground, her figure sweeping forward like a startled wild swan before vanishing into the shadows on the left in the blink of an eye.
Chapter 228