At dawn, the waning moon hung like a hook, stabbing the last sliver of cold light into the ink-black sky. The carved lattice window cast a web-like shadow across the blue-brick floor.
Su Fan sat cross-legged in the guest room. Today, he had not returned to his Portable Secret Realm.
Because for some reason, that feeling of being watched from last night, like a thorn pressed against his back, had already spread a dark cloud through his heart.
Yet he had used every means at his disposal. Even after sweeping his Spiritual Sense across a hundred-mile radius, he had not detected the slightest trace of the source watching him.
But he trusted his instincts.
That keen intuition toward danger had been tempered through countless battles fought on the edge of life and death.
Su Fan narrowed his eyes slightly, drawing his aura into his marrow. His breathing was so faint it was nearly inaudible.
In this cultivation world, where undercurrents surged everywhere, the slightest negligence could invite disaster. He had to remain vigilant, like a hunter lurking in the darkness, waiting for his prey to reveal an opening.
That was why he had remained sitting cross-legged in the guest room without even entering his Portable Secret Realm. He wanted to figure out exactly what he had sensed just now.
Just as Su Fan was at a loss, he felt the Secret Realm Jade Key at his waist—He Ling's—flash with spiritual light.
A graceful figure tumbled out of the radiance. It was that girl, He Lin.
Su Fan did not think much of it. He assumed the girl simply wanted to come out for a stroll, so he had no intention of paying her any attention.
Who could have known that He Ling would stagger and kneel on the floor? The