The door slid shut with a soft click, sealing Lin Tian alone with the cold.
He stared at the pale wood grain, his right arm a frozen weight at his side. The black veins beneath his sleeve felt like worms burrowing into his muscle, a deep, insistent ache that pulsed with every heartbeat.
Su Lan's warmth had vanished, leaving the room's natural chill to seep back into his bones. He looked down at the maintenance token in his left hand. The metal was smooth and cool, stamped with a character for 'North.'
Three days.
He had seventy-two hours before she returned, before the Medical Hall's scrutiny became unavoidable. The geothermal vents were his only real lead, a hidden source of Yang heat to mask the curse's symptoms. But going there was a risk. It was a restricted area. If he was caught, the punishment would be severe. If the curse reacted badly to the heat, it could kill him.
His thoughts turned, as they always did, to her.
