As dusk crept into the cave, the torches on the stone walls flared one by one, casting the shadows of everyone present against the rock like clusters of gnarled, intertwined old pines. Ye Fan leaned back against the cool stone wall, the warmth of the cinnabar on the scroll still lingering on his fingertips.
It was a page of ancient text he had dug out of the secret pavilion yesterday, its edges gnawed by insects into a few round holes that happened to reveal a record about the "Lord of the Nether Palace — Seven Emotions Heart Lock." When he died beneath her palms in his past life, the cinnabar mole at the corner of that woman's eye had still been stained with his blood. Looking at this line now, a taste of rust rose in the back of his throat.
"A-Ye." Su Qingxue's voice was like honey-dipped spider silk, gently wrapping around his thoughts. She had knelt down beside him at some point, a sandalwood box resting on her knees. Inside, arranged neatly, lay glass vials, a jade pestle, and half a silk handkerchief still stained with medicinal residue.
Chapter 323