Morning mist veiled the mountain path like a sheer curtain. Su Wan had carried Ji Chen on her back the entire night. Her legs felt as heavy as lead. Ji Chen drifted in and out of consciousness, each time mumbling only a few words before falling back into a feverish sleep.
"Water..." he whispered faintly beside her ear.
Su Wan stopped and gently propped him against a large rock. A nearby stream flowed softly. She cupped some of the cold water and brought it to his lips. His lips were cracked, his complexion pale as a corpse, but at least his temperature had dropped slightly.
"Where are we...?" he rasped, forcing his eyes open.
"Almost at the foot of the mountain," Su Wan replied, wiping the sweat from her brow. "There should be an old teahouse ahead. We can rest there for a bit."
Ji Chen tried to stand, but his legs gave out. Su Wan caught him immediately. "Don't rush. Your spiritual power is completely depleted."
"The power of the Scripture..."
"I don't know what it was, but it saved us." She helped him lean against her shoulder. "Can you walk?"
He nodded, and the two of them trudged on slowly. The fog gradually lifted, revealing a cluster of dilapidated buildings in the distance—the teahouse Su Wan had mentioned. Long abandoned, most windows and doors were broken, but it was enough to shield them from the wind and rain.
The main hall was still relatively intact. Su Wan cleared a clean space and helped Ji Chen lie down. From her storage ring, she retrieved a blanket and some medicine, quickly assessing his condition.
"Your ring..." Ji Chen noticed the simple silver band on her finger—it wasn't the one she usually wore.
"Couldn't run away from home empty-handed," she said with a bitter smile. "I brought the essentials, though not much."
She removed his jacket and froze. A strange black mark had spread across his right arm, extending from the jade scroll imprint in his palm to his elbow, like branching veins or twisted roots.
"What is this?" she touched it gently, and Ji Chen sucked in a sharp breath from the pain.
"No idea... It showed up after the Scripture Realm," he said weakly. "Feels like... some kind of seal."
Su Wan poured out some green ointment and carefully applied it to the mark. It hissed as it touched his skin, releasing a wisp of white smoke.
"It's working!" she said, relieved to see the mark fade slightly.
But Ji Chen's expression changed drastically. He grabbed her wrist. "Stop! Don't use that!"
"Why? It's helping—"
"It's feeding on the medicine!" Ji Chen pointed at the mark, where the branches were visibly spreading. "I can feel it... trying to take control of the Scripture."
Su Wan hurriedly wiped off the ointment, but it was too late—the black veins had reached his shoulder. Ji Chen's whole body tensed, sweat dripping down his face as he struggled against the agony.
"What should I do?" Su Wan asked, panic in her voice.
"Spiritual power... help me suppress it," he gritted out.
Without hesitation, Su Wan placed her hands on his chest and channeled her own energy into his body. Her spiritual power was silver-white, flowing like a clear stream through Ji Chen's meridians, intertwining with his golden light to encircle the spreading darkness.
As their powers merged, Su Wan trembled. She had never connected with someone on such a deep level—the sensation was intimate, foreign, as though their very souls brushed. Ji Chen winced, holding back a cry. Su Wan's energy reminded him of what the old master had said in the Scripture Realm: The nine scrolls are one—they resonate with each other.
Could it be that Su Wan was also—
Before he could finish the thought, the black mark violently reacted, surging in a dark backlash. Ji Chen screamed, arching his body as blood trickled from his eyes, ears, and nose.
"Ji Chen! Hold on!" Su Wan increased her output, but the black mark absorbed her strength and swelled further.
In that desperate moment, the jade scroll imprint on Ji Chen's right hand flared with golden light, shooting a beam directly into Su Wan's forehead. Her vision went dark—her consciousness pulled into an unfamiliar space.
The Scripture Realm.
Amid swirling white mist, the faint image of the old master, Taixu, appeared.
"Dual spirit fusion... yin and yang in harmony..." His voice echoed in the void. "I see now... this girl has..."
Suddenly, the voice cut off and Su Wan was snapped back to reality. Startled, she looked down to find the birthmark on her left arm glowing with a turquoise hue, intertwining with Ji Chen's golden light to form a net that sealed the black mark in place.
"This is...?"
"Your blood..." Ji Chen gasped. "It can suppress it..."
Without hesitation, Su Wan bit her finger and let the blood drip onto the black veins. The moment her blood touched his skin, it turned into a wisp of cyan smoke and sank in. The black mark recoiled like it had been struck by lightning, retreating back to Ji Chen's palm and finally solidifying into a tiny black dot.
Ji Chen exhaled heavily and collapsed. Su Wan was also drained, and the two of them lay side by side on the floor, too weak to even lift a finger.
"Thank you," Ji Chen said softly.
Su Wan turned to look at him, only to find him staring back. Their eyes met. Something unspoken stirred in the air. Ji Chen reached out slowly and covered her hand with his. She didn't pull away.
"Rest now," Su Wan whispered. "We'll figure out how to reach Lin Mo tomorrow."
Night deepened. Mountain winds howled outside the broken teahouse, but the two of them unconsciously drew closer, eventually falling asleep in each other's arms. In his half-conscious state, Ji Chen could smell the faint fragrance of her hair and feel her gentle breath against his neck. For a fleeting moment, he nearly leaned in to kiss her forehead—but instead, he only tightened his hold.
That night, they shared the same dream—a colossal door of light, with nine grooves inlaid across its surface. One of them... faintly glowing.