The warmth in the spring faded to a comfortable heat, then to the chill of the mountain air as they finally stepped out. Su Lan dressed with efficient, clinical motions, but her fingers lingered on the clasp of her robe for a moment longer than necessary.
She met his eyes, gave a single, slow nod, and left without another word. The bond between them hummed, a steady, warm pulse in the back of his mind, right beside the cooler, silver thread that connected him to Xueya.
Lin Tian returned to the quarters assigned to him in the Heart of the Peaks. It was a spacious suite carved from living ice and dark stone, with a wide window overlooking the mist-shrouded valleys far below. A formation in the floor provided gentle, constant spiritual energy. It was a gilded cage, but for the first time, he felt strong enough to maybe, one day, bend the bars.
