The starlight path felt like nothing. It was neither warm nor cold, neither solid nor insubstantial. When Yingluo took her first hesitant step onto it, her foot met a surface that offered perfect, unnerving resistance, yet she could see the alien black glass swirling inches beneath it. It was like walking on frozen air, a bridge of pure concept laid across an impossible world.
She adjusted Shen Miao's weight on her shoulders, the girl's limp form a constant, heavy reminder of her failure. The silence that had fallen after the Warden's consumption was thick enough to taste, a metallic tang of fear and the ozone-scent of spent qi. It was Gao Lian who finally broke it, her voice a low, pained rasp.
