Jiang Wang stood at the boundary between the corridor and the cell. Behind him lay the translucent corridor; before him sat Ren Qiuli and her chair of lines. The lines that divided their sight carried a dangerous feeling, as though they might tear Ren Qiuli herself to pieces.
On the walls lining both sides of the corridor, the inscriptions Jiang Wang had once brushed with his fingers had, at some unknown moment, ignited with white flames.
The "qi fire" of the Three Samadhis.
The flames burned without a sound, kindled within the empty, narrow corridor like some mysterious ritual.
Jiang Wang looked at the Heavenly Secret True Person before him and shook his head. "You have it precisely backward. Nothing about Lu Shuanghe is worth my trust—I trust only his devotion to the Dao."
Ren Qiuli instinctively wanted to refute him, but in the end, only a bitter laugh remained. "I never expected your understanding of Lu Shuanghe to run so deep."
Jiang Wang gently rubbed the sword hilt. "My understanding of him... it would be difficult for it not to run deep."
He smiled faintly. "In exchange, shouldn't you answer my question?"
Ren Qiuli was quite willing to prolong this exchange of questions and answers, because she was waiting for the Spacetime Mirror River Heavenly Secret Array to evolve.
Jiang Wang was also quite willing to converse with her, because he needed more Knowledge and Insight.
Two people intending to decide life and death between them shared an unspoken understanding at this moment.
Both were very calm.
"You truly are... unexpectedly composed. So composed that I feel as though I am the one trapped deep in a killing trap." Ren Qiuli's eyes shone like mirrors, as if determined to reflect some emotion from him. "Your friend is still outside.