The darkness inside the cave wrapped around the two of them like a physical presence. Although Lin Zhaoyue's Taichu Sword emitted a bright, clear light, it only carved out a palm-sized patch of brightness right in front of them. Ye Fan flicked a flint striker, but the spark was snuffed out the moment it flared by a chilling gust of wind from an unknown source. His fingertips pressed against the jade pendant at his waist—the pair of intertwined lotus flowers carved by Su Qingxue from her cold-plum ice-soul jade. At this moment, it pressed against his skin, growing hot as if responding to his unease.
"The slime on the cave walls smells of rotting corpses," Lin Zhaoyue suddenly spoke, the morning dew on her sword tassel condensing into icy beads that fell with a rustling sound. "My sword qi probed ahead; there are living things three yards out." Her voice was colder than usual, yet the hand holding her sword quietly edged half an inch closer to Ye Fan's side—in her past life, she had walked alone as a sword cultivator for a millennium, but now she found herself instinctively wanting to draw closer to this reborn man.
Ye Fan's throat moved. In his past life, he had perished in the Inquiry Realm and seen countless treacherous caves, yet never had his heart beaten so fast, as if trying to burst through his chest. It wasn't because of the danger, but rather the warmth of the jade hairpin in Lin Zhaoyue's hair brushing against the back of his hand, mixed with the sword qi radiating…
Chapter 273