Song Li's body froze at that moment!
Her forehead rested against Zhang Chu's fingertips, her entire person like an ice-frozen statue, even her breathing missing a beat.
Those eyes rippled with a complex emotion amidst the dark red light.
Something was violently churning deep within her pupils!
Zhang Chu's fingertips exerted no force, merely pressing lightly there, like a needle resting on the skin's surface—not piercing in, yet making it impossible to ignore its existence!
The silence lasted for about three breaths.
Then Song Li's body began to undergo changes.
The change was extremely subtle; if Zhang Chu's Spiritual Power had not been locked onto her the entire time, he would have barely noticed it.
Her bones moved slowly, as if gently pushed from within by something, every single joint silently adjusting its position.
Her face blurred slightly in the dark red light, resembling looking at her face across a layer of water ruffled by the wind.
Zhang Chu's fingers did not move.
He waited.
Another two breaths passed, and that blur dissipated.
Song Li's face returned to clarity, yet Zhang Chu's pupils contracted slightly at that moment!
That face was still Song Li's face.
Yet something had changed!
He could not articulate precisely what had changed; the shape of the eyebrows, the arc of the bridge of the nose, the thickness of the lips—every single detail was completely identical to before.
Yet there was simply an indescribable "wrongness".
It was like the same painting being mounted on a new backing paper; the brushstrokes remained unchanged, but the background hue had shifted.
"Dao Master has a sharp eye."
That voice issued from Song Li's mouth, yet it was no longer Song Li's voice.
The voice was deeper, colder, more detached, carrying a texture worn smooth by long stretches of time,