Chapter 97 — An Omen

Beneath such a spectacle, heaven and earth stood in solemn awe, as though something supremely exalted and precious were present, and one could not but feel reverence rise in the heart.

After a long while, this suddenly appearing pillar of golden light slowly subsided, then swiftly faded—sudden in its coming, swift in its going. In but a short space, the scene that had just shaken heaven and stirred the winds was drawn back into the darkness like a great whale drinking in water.

After the dazzling brilliance passed, a darkness deeper than before descended upon the earth.

Jin Pingyue and Xiao Yichen were both people of nimble wit, and in an instant they realized that this was plainly the omen of the wondrous treasure's appearance spoken of in rumor. Now that they had seen it with their own eyes, the sheer scale of this omen could only be described in four words: beyond all imagining. What manner of thing, then, must the treasure itself be?

Compared with this, the quarrel at hand was utterly trivial. Almost without prior agreement, Jin Pingyue, Xiao Yichen, and Yan Fei rose into the air at the same moment and flew toward where the golden pillar had been, while Fajing, slightly slower, followed close behind.

In the darkness they became four streaks of faint light, speeding away. The pillar of golden light just now had been on too vast a scale for them to determine its precise location, but the treasure's appearance was plainly at hand—and at that thought, how could these people who toiled so diligently at cultivation on the path of the immortals fail to feel their hearts race?

At another corner of the Dead Marsh's inner reaches, the fierce wind driven before the golden pillar swept the dense forest, bending its branches and leaves as one to a single side; only Qinglong and Yousi, standing upon the treetops, rose and fell with the wind, unmoved.

As that magnificent prodigy of heaven and earth slowly gathered itself in, Qinglong let out a long breath and sighed softly, "The creations of heaven and earth are endless and inexhaustible—truly beyond we mortals to fathom in full. I once prided myself on my learning, yet seeing this marvel now, I know that of all things under heaven, there is always a heaven beyond heaven!"

Yousi slowly withdrew her gaze. Because her face was veiled in black gauze, her expression could not be seen; only after a good while did she say faintly, "'When the golden radiance appears in the world, the Yellow Bird must come forth'—this is the inscription carved upon the Fudong Cauldron. But that Yellow Bird is an ancient divine beast, the Nine Heavens Spirit Bird; even the ancient fragmentary scroll *Record of Gods and Demons* praises it without stint. Can we truly deal with it?"

Qinglong smiled faintly. "Third Sister, why trouble yourself with such worries? Years ago on Liubo Mountain in the Eastern Sea, when the Lord of the Underworld first employed the 'Dragon-Trapping Gate' inscribed upon the body of the Fudong Cauldron, with that cauldron's primordial divine power he subdued the strange beast Kui Niu in a single stroke—and thus we know that the 'Four Spirits Blood Array' upon the Fudong Cauldron has truly wondrous effects beyond the reckoning of gods or ghosts. Now all is in readiness, and even the Lord of the Underworld has seen fit to send us here. What have you still to fear? Do you doubt the Lord of the Underworld?"

Yousi was silent for a long while, then said quietly, "The Lord is a man of grand strategy and great talent, and I have always revered him—how could I doubt him? It is only that I cannot help feeling that a thing so strange and unfathomable as the 'Four Spirits Blood Array'—why must we..."

Qinglong's expression changed, and he cut in abruptly, "Third Sister, such matters are not for the likes of us to discuss. Before outsiders, you must never speak of them again!"

Yousi's veil stirred slightly as she looked toward Qinglong, and seeing his brow tightly knit and his face grave, she fell silent and then slowly nodded.

Only then did Qinglong feel reassured. He went on unhurriedly, "Third Sister, do not fault me for being long-winded. In truth, over these years—especially since the matter with Miss Bili—the Lord of the Underworld's temper has gradually changed. Courteous and respectful as he remains toward us in daily life, I can see that in his dealings he grows ever more decisive, and his heart for slaughter ever stronger. We are, after all, his subordinates; the will of those above is hard to fathom, and we would do well to be careful."

Yousi said quietly, "Yes, Elder Brother. I understand."

Qinglong glanced at her, then slowly turned away again. After a long silence he said suddenly, "I wonder where Ming Li has got to in the Dead Marsh by now?"

Yousi, behind him, gazed forward. At this moment the night was a vast darkness; the pillar of golden light that had just shaken heaven and earth was gone, leaving only blackness. She could not help asking, "Elder Brother, has the Lord of the Underworld not always trusted Ming Li above all others? Why then has he not told him this time that we would come to this place—nor what we have come for?"

Qinglong turned his head and glanced at Yousi, and said nothing.

Yousi seemed to start, as though recalling something; then she raised her head slightly and gazed into the distance, and her voice came faint and low, drifting on the air: "Something we cannot speak of again..."