Over the night sky of the outer sect, the clouds moved thick as ink, choking the faint glow of the moon. Within Jiang Chen's residence, the scent of burnt flesh and incense tangled together like venomous snakes, clinging to the air without dispersing.
"Cough, cough..." Meng Kai's body twitched in Jiang Chen's grasp. His chest heaved as he suddenly let loose a series of ragged, weak coughs.
Meng Ruyan's eyes widened.
'Alive… he is still alive.'
For a fleeting instant, relief surged through her heart like a spring breaking through frozen earth. Yet it was quickly swallowed by a rising tide of dread when her gaze darted toward Jiang Chen.
'No... no, there must be a way. There must be a way out of this situation.' Meng Ruyan's mind raced for ways out of this difficult predicament, like a deer struggling to escape a forest fire.
