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Night lay heavy. Even within the underground fortress, the various lighting devices in the Warehouse Courtyard-the Glazed Gas Lamps, Blazing Fire Crystal Clusters, and even the Floating Rainbow Mother-of-Pearl-had all been dimmed to their lowest settings or switched off entirely. Only a few Black Oil Torches mounted at the passage corners cast a wavering yellow glow, barely driving back the dense shadows along the courtyard walls.
The air carried the cold damp unique to underground spaces, mingled with the faint scorched odor of burning black oil and the earthy smell of soil.
Inside one room, the delicate-featured woman registered as "Qingluo" quietly opened her eyes in the darkness, her pupils instantly adjusting to the dim light.
She propped herself halfway up and, like the most cautious nocturnal creature, slowly swept her gaze over the seven other sleeping "roommates" on the earthen sleeping platform.
They lay curled on a thick layer of Shadow Moss Grass-a fern that grew along underground rivers, its tough fibers effectively insulating against the chill of the ground. Their breathing was even; clearly, they were deep in their dreams.
Even in summer, the underground fortress remained damp and chilly.
After making certain everything was in order, "Qingluo" deftly parted the warm Shadow Moss Grass beneath her. Her fingers searched briefly along the edge of the platform until her fingertips touched a small, cold, hard object.
She pried it out. In the faint torchlight filtering through the window, it proved to be a peculiarly shaped Bone Key.
She precisely inserted the key into a hole on the side of the Soul Power Shackles around her wrist, then nimbly twisted and pulled.
"Click."
The silence magnified the faint snap of the mechanical mechanism.
The shackles sprang open and slipped onto the thick