The next day at midnight, Yun Qingyue arrived on time.
Pushing open the door, she found Lu Chen sitting cross-legged on the bed, his eyes closed and his breathing steady.
She stood in the doorway and watched him for a while. Seeing nothing unusual, she was about to close the door and leave when she suddenly saw his right shoulder flash.
A ghostly green light.
It was faint, but it had definitely flashed.
Her steps halted as she stared at that spot.
It flashed again.
This time, it was brighter than before and lasted a little longer.
Lu Chen's brow furrowed slightly, but he did not open his eyes.
Yun Qingyue stood where she was, slipping a hand into her robes and gripping the porcelain bottle.
The ghostly green light flashed again, then again, and again—growing brighter and more frequent, like a heartbeat.
Lu Chen's brow drew tighter and tighter, beads of sweat seeping across his forehead.
Yun Qingyue took the porcelain bottle from her robes and pulled out the stopper.
Just then, Lu Chen opened his eyes.
Gold-purple and ghostly green swirled together in those eyes, like two masses of color locked in battle. One moment the gold-purple gained the upper hand; the next, the ghostly green surged back.
Yun Qingyue clenched the porcelain bottle but did not move.
Lu Chen looked at her, his lips twitching as he forced out two words:
"Wait... wait."
Yun Qingyue did not move.
Lu Chen shut his eyes, and his entire body began to tremble.
The ghostly green light on his right shoulder blazed, nearly dyeing the whole room green. Beneath his skin, that pattern raced wildly about, as if it were about to burst from his body.
Yun Qingyue's hand trembled, but she clutched the porcelain bottle in a death grip,