Chapter 72 A Narrow Escape: His Heartbeat Is My Life!

Chapter 72 A Narrow Escape: His Heartbeat Is My Life!

After drifting in the darkness for an unknown amount of time, Su Wanqing's consciousness finally broke free from its slumber, and she opened her eyes.

The continuous roaring sound of water disappeared.

The world fell into a deathly silence.

The chilling, malevolent aura that lingered deep underground, almost freezing the soul, had also vanished.

She moved her fingertips, and a tearing pain came from all parts of her body, but the excruciating pain that originated from her soul was gone.

She is still alive.

The thought flashed through her mind, and she immediately struggled to turn her head to look to her side.

Lu Zhanting lay quietly beside her.

The golden aura that had been protecting them had faded, and they seemed to have re-integrated into each other's bodies.

His breathing was even and long, his chest rising and falling steadily.

Su Wanqing's fingertips trembled as she probed for his carotid artery.

There, a regular and steady pulse, one beat after another, clearly reached her fingertips.

He is still alive.

Moreover, his vital signs were much stronger than before she fell into a coma.

Su Wanqing's heart, which had been hanging on the edge of a cliff, finally settled down.

She felt completely exhausted and relaxed, leaning against Lu Zhanting, breathing rapidly and greedily absorbing the peace.

She closed her eyes, letting her mind sink into her body.

Within the Divine Soul Space, the scene remained one of apocalyptic devastation, with the sky covered in spiderweb-like cracks and the earth scorched and parched.

But at the very center of the entire space, a golden seed floated.

It became the only source of light in this shattered world, and with each pulse, it rippled out a circle of gentle energy, slowly repairing the crumbling spatial barriers around it.

It's slow, but it's definitely getting better.

Su Wanqing was completely relieved.

As long as the core that she and he forged together remains, her space will one day heal.

She mobilized the little spiritual energy she had recovered and tried to activate the golden seed.

A drop of spiritual spring water, shimmering with a faint golden light, seeped from the surface of the seed.

Without the slightest hesitation, Su Wanqing first drew the drop of spiritual spring water and drank it herself.

A warm current instantly flowed into my limbs and bones, dispelling the fatigue and weakness deep within my body.

After regaining some strength, she activated the seed again, condensing a second drop of golden spiritual spring water.

She bent down and fed the drop of golden spring water to Lu Zhanting's lips.

After doing all this, she quietly lay down beside him, regaining her strength and protecting him.

This process became the only ritual in the days that followed.

Whenever Su Wanqing accumulates enough spiritual power, she will generate two drops of golden spiritual spring water, one for herself and one for Lu Zhanting.

In this secluded underground cave, the two of them, in an unprecedented way, supported each other and slowly moved towards a new life.

I don't know if it was the fifth or the sixth day.

When Su Wanqing fed the spiritual spring water to Lu Zhanting again, his thick, dark eyelashes trembled almost imperceptibly.

Su Wanqing held her breath instantly, her gaze fixed on his face.

Lu Zhanting opened his eyes.

After his eyes adjusted to the darkness, they immediately fixed on Su Wanqing, who was standing right in front of him.

Their eyes met, and all was silent.

But the ecstatic joy of regaining what they had lost, the lingering fear of surviving a catastrophe, and the deep-seated tenderness in their eyes spoke volumes that far surpassed any words.

"you……"

Lu Zhanting's lips moved, and the first word he uttered was spoken with a voice full of the texture of gritty friction.

"I'm fine." Su Wanqing's eyes instantly reddened. She shook her head, her voice choked, "We're all fine now."

Lu Zhanting stared at her silently for a long time, then reached out his still weak arm and pulled her into his arms tightly with all his might.

He didn't say anything.

He simply buried his face in the crook of her neck, using every ounce of his strength to feel her presence, to feel her body temperature and heartbeat.

Only in this way can we confirm that this is not a beautiful dream that will eventually shatter.

Su Wan-qing also reached out and hugged him back.

In this dark cave that had witnessed their life and death, the two embraced quietly, savoring this hard-won peace.

After calming down, the two began to check each other's injuries.

Lu Zhanting's broken bones in his back had begun to heal under the nourishment of the golden spiritual spring. The knife wound on his chest had also formed a thick scab.

Su Wanqing had no external injuries, but the depletion of her mental energy left her still weak.

They huddled together, talking in hushed tones, piecing together what had happened after they fell unconscious.

When Lu Zhanting heard how Su Wanqing had used the combined power of the two of them to purify the monster, the shock in his eyes was almost impossible to hide.

"The power of fusion?"

"Mm." Su Wanqing nodded, trying to re-establish that mental connection. "Close your eyes and feel it."

She revealed a corner of her spiritual space to him through that mysterious link.

Lu Zhanting's body trembled slightly.

For the first time, a "worldview" that did not belong to him clearly emerged in his mind.

He "saw" the shattered sky and the parched earth.

And suspended in the center, that golden seed radiating endless vitality.

"This is……"

“My space,” Su Wanqing explained softly, “Now… it should be called our space. It is stabilized because of your bloodline, and it has also undergone a qualitative change because of your bloodline.”

Lu Zhanting opened his eyes and took Su Wanqing's hand.

A shared power flowed silently between the two, merging them and blurring their lines.

Their lives have been completely intertwined in a way that transcends conventional understanding.

This became the first unspoken, entirely new secret between them.

After resting for several more days, the two finally regained their basic mobility.

They began exploring the enormous underground cavern in search of a way out.

The cave was deathly silent. The eerie plants that had once emitted a ghostly glow had lost all their light and withered and rotted after the "Heart of Immortality" was destroyed.

The only remaining smell in the air was the damp earth.

The two walked to the spot where they had previously purified the monster, where only a fine black dust remained.

Lu Zhanting used his military boots to push aside the dust, and a hard object emerged from the silt below.

It was a metal box that had been scorched and was somewhat deformed.

Lu Zhanting picked it up; it was extremely heavy, seemingly made of lead, and tightly sealed. He painstakingly pried open the lid with his military knife.

Inside the box, two things were wrapped in oilcloth.

A palm-sized black notebook and a uniquely shaped star-shaped metal compass.

Su Wanqing took the notebook and opened it.

The handwriting above belongs to the Lynx.

This is not a diary, but a well-organized log of actions and observations.

The log details everything the Ouroboros organization did for this operation in southern Xinjiang. Lynx, as the organization's highest-ranking insider within the military, was tasked with guiding "Key" Lu Zhanting to the location of the "Southern Ark" and using his bloodline to complete the final "divine descent ritual."

The "Southern Ark" undoubtedly refers to that "Immortal Heart".

What sent chills down their spines was that the last few pages of the log contained a list.

"Northern Glaciers - The Sleeping Core"

"Abyssal Trench - Eye of the Void"

"The Desert Sea - The City of Gold"

...

Each place name is followed by a code name with no clear meaning.

"The Immortal Heart" is just one of them.

The schemes of this organization known as "Ouroboros" are far more extensive and terrifying than they imagined.

“They have found similar things to the ‘Heart of Immortality’ all over the world.” Su Wanqing’s voice was a little dry.

Lu Zhanting's expression was extremely solemn as he picked up the star-shaped compass.

The compass was intricately constructed and covered with enigmatic symbols. When his finger touched the center of the compass, the codes following the place names in the notebook simultaneously emitted a faint red glow.

This compass is not only a token, but also a map, or rather, a detector.

A heavier and more dangerous mystery was suddenly presented to the two of them.

Just then, Lu Zhanting paused.

"Can you feel it?" He looked up.

"What?"

“Wind,” Lu Zhanting said. “There’s air moving.”

Su Wanqing focused her senses and, sure enough, a very faint wisp of air was blowing from a certain direction in the cave.

That was definitely fresh air!

The two looked at each other and saw the light in each other's eyes.

They immediately followed the direction of the airflow.

At the other end of the cave, in a corner covered by collapsed boulders, they discovered a narrow, upward-facing rock fissure.

The current of life that led to life came from this bottomless crack.

There is an exit!

Standing before the crevice, the two looked back at the enormous cavern that held countless secrets.

The crisis is temporarily over, but they will return to the surface carrying an even heavier secret.

The road ahead is destined to be anything but peaceful.

Lu Zhanting carefully put away the notebook and compass, turned around, and extended his hand to Su Wanqing.

“Let’s go,” he said, his voice not loud, but full of reassuring strength, “Let’s go home.”

Su Wanqing nodded vigorously and placed her hand into his broad palm.

"Okay, let's go home."

Supporting each other, the two entered the narrow crevice and began a long and arduous climb toward the light.