The instant the blood-red world shattered inch by inch like spilled ink, Huo Yuhao's consciousness snapped back into place.
A soft, warm-yellow glow filled his vision. A faint medicinal scent mingled with a woman's delicate fragrance, and a gentle, breathtakingly beautiful face hovered close to his, its brows and eyes clouded with worry.
It was not Gu Yue. It was Zhang Lexuan!
He was half-cradled in her arms, his back resting against her warm, soft arm. In her other hand, she held a clean cotton cloth, apparently about to wipe the fine sweat from his brow.
The Baleful Qi around him had not fully subsided, but the moment it touched that gentle presence, it melted away like snow beneath the warm sun. Huo Yuhao's urge to kill quickly settled.
For a moment, he was completely bewildered.
Hadn't he been awakening the Asura Hell Domain? How had he opened his eyes somewhere else? The dense Spiritual Aura of life around him was unmistakably familiar. This was clearly a cultivation chamber within the Sea God Pavilion's Golden Tree!
Questions exploded through his mind, but his first priority was to steady himself.
The last traces of scarlet vanished from his eyes. Huo Yuhao forced the cold, murderous aura around him back into the depths of his meridians and tried to regain his usual mild, harmless appearance.
"Senior Zhang, could you... let go of me first?"
He shifted awkwardly, the tips of his ears reddening slightly.
Apart from his mother and, later, Xiao Meng, Gu Yue, and Ning Tian, he had rarely been this close to a woman. His whole body had gone stiff with uncertainty...
Zhang Lexuan came to her senses too. A blush swept across her lovely face, and she hurriedly released him, gently settling him back onto the cushion. The boy's