Outside the Bronze Gate, the sunlight was blinding.
Holding Mu Ling'er in his arms, Lin Shisan leaned half his body against Zi Yuner and crossed the threshold one step at a time. When his feet touched the greenstone paving outside the Nine Yang Pavilion, he heard a very faint sigh behind him. It sounded as though someone had finally let something go, or finally made a choice.
He did not look back. Sunlight fell across his bloodstained face, casting a thin sheen over his dark golden pupils.
Mu Ling'er lay quietly in his arms. The wound that had pierced through her beneath her left ribs no longer seeped blood, and the bloodstains on her robes had dried to a dark brown. Her eyes were closed, that last faint curve still lingering at the corners of her mouth, as though she had finally accomplished something she had always wanted to do.
Zi Yuner leaned against his shoulder, every step unsteady.
Deep purple and dark red light surged alternately in her pupils. The Cursed Pattern on her forehead had already spread to just below the space between her brows. She glanced ahead, her voice so weak it was almost inaudible. "Shisan... where do we go...?"
"Let's get out of the Danyang Sect first."
Lin Shisan took a step forward. His entire body swayed violently, but he gritted his teeth and forced himself to stay upright. The bloody hole below his left shoulder was still seeping blood, though it was much better than before, thanks to the wisp of grayish-white spiritual power Han Yansong had sent into him at the last moment.
He was just about to take another step when hurried footsteps suddenly came from the end of the mountain path.
"Saint Child... Lord Saint Child..."
A young disciple wearing the uniform