On the street outside the corridor, dim daylight filtered through cracks in the rock overhead, washing the road in a murky gray.
This underground space had no true sun or moon. Its light came entirely from the radiant ore embedded in the vaulted ceiling and walls, its even brightness giving no indication of the passing hours.
Most of the houses lining the road were low stone buildings, their walls pitted by age and damp, with dark green traces of moss creeping over them.
Here and there, small pieces of lighting ore were set into the lintels of a few houses. Their dim yellow halos stood out sharply against the darkness.
There were few pedestrians on the street. Occasionally, a figure in a dark cloak hurried past with their head lowered. Whenever they saw Sikong Hongyue, they edged aside to let her pass, only resuming their steps once she was far away.
Shen Fei walked beside Sikong Hongyue, the two of them roughly an arm's length apart. She maintained an unhurried, steady pace, her skirt brushing lightly over the ground with a faint rustle.
The tassels on her silver hairpin swayed gently with her steps, occasionally catching tiny glimmers of light in the gloom.
Shen Fei matched her pace, neither moving half a step ahead nor falling behind. His hands hung naturally at his sides, his gaze fixed straight ahead. Now and then, his peripheral vision swept over the alleys on either side and the shadows at the corners of walls as he committed their route to memory.
The two walked in silence for a while.
The buildings on either side gradually grew more sparse, and the road changed from hard-packed gravel to compacted earth. It felt softer underfoot, their footsteps leaving shallow impressions behind.
Shen Fei glanced sideways at Sikong