Soulbound: Dual Cultivation

Chapter 484: infiltrating the station 3

Inside one of the converted storage buildings, far from the main residence yet heavily guarded as if it held something of great importance, Lady Isabelle moved restlessly across the confined space, her steps uneven as she paced from one end of the room to the other, her once elegant appearance now reduced to something far more worn and fragile, with her hair loose and tangled, strands falling messily over her face, and her skin marked with soot and dirt from days of confinement, yet despite her condition, there was still a quiet strength in her posture, something unbroken beneath the exhaustion.

She stopped briefly, her breathing slightly uneven as she pressed a hand against the cold wall, her eyes lowering as her thoughts drifted, not to despair, but to something far more uncertain, something she had felt earlier, something she could not explain yet could not ignore, and under her breath, barely audible even to herself, she murmured, "You came... didn’t you..."

It had happened the moment Lucas entered the town.

She had felt it.

Not through sight, not through sound, but through something deeper, something that resonated within her very being, a presence she had come to recognize, one that carried a distinct energy she could not mistake for anyone else, and for that brief moment, hope had surged within her, sudden and overwhelming, pushing back the suffocating weight of her captivity.

But then...

It disappeared.

Just as suddenly as it had come, his presence faded, slipping away beyond her reach, and the fragile hope she had felt was shaken, leaving behind uncertainty and a lingering question that refused to settle, and she remembered gripping her arm tightly at that moment, her brows drawn as she whispered, "No... don’t leave..."

She had not known then that he had gone to see Valerion.

She had only known that he was gone.

And with that, the silence returned, heavier than before.

But now...

Now it was different.

Her pacing slowed as she lifted her head slightly, her eyes widening just a fraction as she felt it again, clearer this time, stronger, no longer distant or fleeting, but steady, grounded, unmistakable, and her voice came out in a faint whisper, trembling with restrained emotion as she said, "Xavier..."

She took a step forward, then another, as if drawn toward something she could not see, her heartbeat quickening as the sensation grew stronger, closer, more defined, and she pressed her hand lightly against her chest as if to steady herself, her breath catching slightly as realization settled in.

"He’s here..."

Not somewhere in the town.

Not far away.

Close.

Very close.

Her gaze shifted toward the door instinctively, her body tensing slightly as a mixture of anticipation and disbelief coursed through her, because this was no longer just hope or imagination, this was real, and for the first time since her capture, something inside her began to stir again, not fear, not despair, but something stronger.

Expectation.

And as she stood there, her voice barely more than a breath, she whispered once more, "You found me..."

She remained standing near the wall, her body tense as the sensation of Lucas’ presence lingered around her like a distant echo that refused to fade, yet no matter how clearly she felt him, she could also sense something else pressing against her awareness, something suffocating and unnatural that dulled everything within the confines of the room. The air itself felt wrong, heavy in a way that had nothing to do with physical weight, but rather with suppression, as though an invisible force blanketed the entire space and stripped away the natural flow of energy, leaving behind an emptiness that made even breathing feel slightly restrained.

She clenched her hand slowly as her brows furrowed, her voice low and strained as she groaned. A suppression field designed specifically to nullify cultivation energy, cutting off any attempt to gather or circulate Qi, and more importantly, preventing anyone inside from projecting their presence outward. It was a cage not just for the body, but for power itself, ensuring that even the strongest cultivators would be reduced to nothing more than ordinary prisoners within its reach.

Yet despite that, she could still feel him.

Her lips parted slightly as she whispered, "Xavier... you’re really here..." her voice carrying a fragile mixture of relief and disbelief, because even with the suppression field in place, whatever connection allowed her to sense him was not entirely severed, as though something deeper than cultivation bound that awareness together, something the barrier could not fully erase.

Outside, however, the situation was entirely different.

Lucas stood at his assigned post, his posture relaxed to maintain appearances, his eyes casually scanning the area as expected of a guard, yet beneath that controlled exterior, his senses were constantly probing, searching, extending outward in careful threads as he tried to locate any trace of Sage Raph or Lady Isabelle within the surrounding structures. His perception moved through the environment, brushing against the presence of other guards, the faint disturbances of movement, and the subtle fluctuations of energy that lingered in open spaces, but the moment his awareness reached toward the storage buildings, it met something unnatural.

Nothing.

Not emptiness in the ordinary sense, but a complete absence.

A dead zone.

His eyes narrowed slightly as he kept his head forward, his voice low as he muttered just enough for Darmian to hear, "I can’t sense anything inside those buildings," his tone controlled, but carrying a hint of tension that had not been there before, and Darmian responded quietly, "Nothing at all," to which Lucas replied, "Not even a trace, it’s like everything inside is cut off completely."

Patrick, standing a short distance away, shifted slightly as he joined in subtly, his voice low and casual as he said, "That’s not normal, even prisoners leave some kind of presence," and Lucas gave a faint nod before answering, "They’ve suppressed it, completely, no cultivation, no aura, nothing escapes from inside," his expression hardening slightly as he added, "Which means we won’t be able to locate them from out here."

Inside the cell, Lady Isabelle pressed her hand against the wall again, her breathing steadier now, though her heart still raced as she held onto that faint connection she could feel, her voice barely more than a whisper as she said, "You can’t feel me... can you..." not as a question expecting an answer, but as a realization she had already come to accept, because if he could, he would have found her already.

Still, despite that, her eyes lifted, a quiet determination forming beneath the exhaustion as she murmured, "Then I’ll wait... just a little longer," her fingers curling slightly as she held onto that fragile thread of hope, because even if he could not sense her, she could feel him drawing closer, step by step, and for the first time since her capture, the darkness of the cell did not feel quite as suffocating as it had before.