The morning mist at the third quarter of the Mao hour had not yet dissipated. Ye Fan stood beneath the stone steps in front of Nether Palace, looking up at the cyan-grey palace. The bronze bells at the eaves chimed without wind, their "ding-dong" tails like a rusted blade scraping across his eardrums, overlapping for a fleeting second with the buzzing in his ears before he drew his last breath in his past life.
His Adam's apple bobbed. He reached out to press the jade vial at his waist; the vial still held the warmth Su Qingxue had infused it with by keeping it pressed against herself half the night.
"A-Ye." Su Qingxue's voice was wrapped in the coolness of the morning dew, her fingertips hooking the hem of his drooping sleeve to give it a gentle tug. When she turned her head, the rouge at the corners of her eyes had been slightly faded by the night wind, making her blood-red lips stand out all the more: "The Heart-Lock Gate is about to open."
Chapter 324