The campfire inside the cave crackled, sending sparks dancing toward the cavern roof, casting swaying shadows across the uneven stone walls. Ye Fan leaned his back against the chilly rock face. The Black Jade Box was warmed by his palm, and the roots of the Heavenly Wood Bud gently brushed against his heart through his clothes—his Inner World was transmitting a steady, calming emotion.
"Ah-Ye, drink some water." Su Qingxue was kneeling beside him at some point, two snow-soul plums floating in a cyan porcelain bowl, their sweet fragrance mingling with the rising steam to drift into his nose. Her fingertips were moistened with water, and she quietly traced a vertical line on the back of his hand, just like they used to do to pass messages in the alleys of Qinglan City when they were children. Before she was backstabbed in his past life, his junior sister always loved using this method to soothe his nerves.
Ye Fan lowered his gaze and saw that the rouge at the corner of her eyes had been slightly faded by the mountain wind, revealing a faint indigo shadow underneath—no doubt she had spent another sleepless night poring over the old archives of Hanmei Pavilion. He reached out to take the bowl, his fingertips brushing against the silver bells tied around her wrist, the hallmark of a Hanmei Pavilion assassin. "Qingxue, didn't you say yesterday that the Ice-Soul Coffin requires seven days of tempering?"
Chapter 319