Ye Fan slowly opened his eyes on the rush mat in the secret chamber, sweat like morning dew still clinging to his eyelashes. The Rivers and Mountains Map within his Inner World rose and fell with his breath, causing even the Jiuxiao Huanpei at his waist to emit a soft, warm jade-like glow. Gazing at the flickering candle flame on the stone wall, he gently tapped the jade pendant with his knuckle. When he made his breakthrough last night, this ancient jade had actually unfolded a brand-new space deep within his Sea of Consciousness, as if its spiritual intelligence had been "fed" open by his cultivation.
With a soft creak, the carved wooden door was pushed open a fraction. Su Qingxue's embroidered shoes stepped in first, her moon-white skirt brushing against the Blue Stone Slab and stirring up a faint, elusive trace of agarwood. Supporting the doorframe with one hand, the begonia hairpin at her temple swayed slightly. "I've been standing outside the door for half a incense stick's time."
Ye Fan raised his head, running straight into her gaze, which was rippling with concern. In those slightly upturned eyes, the sharp edge of the previous night had faded into spring water, yet it harbored a tight tension that pained him even more—ever since Zhao Batian led the Hēifēng bandits to massacre the Qinglan mine three days ago, she hadn't closed her eyes once, leaving very faint dark circles under them.
Chapter 236