Chapter 145 — Meeting

It should be to save Bili. If he could bring her back to life, he would die content! How many times, through how many nights over ten years, had this thought passed through his mind? And yet that face like frost—he could never bring himself to cast it aside; it drifted gently in some quiet corner of his heart...

For a while he was lost entirely. The night wind sighed, and he knew not how much time had passed. When he came to himself, the youth had vanished, and Taotie too seemed to have just leapt into the sky, merging with the dark curtain of night; from far off came its low, deep roar.

Little Gray sprang onto his shoulder and squeaked twice. Mingli slowly lifted his head to the sky and suddenly said in a low voice, "Little Gray, I still have to see her once, don't I?"

Little Gray did not seem to understand, nor did it much care. It raised its monkey head and gazed at the sky too, as though still searching for Taotie's figure.

The dying embers of the fire gradually thinned to a wisp of smoke that drifted gently away. Mingli and Little Gray stood in silence amid the deep mountain forest, for a long, long while. In the night wind, only a faint, low murmur could be heard.

"...I still have to see her once..."

As time passed, this catastrophe upon the world grew ever more terrible. Monstrous beasts and alien races had already breached the Central Plains, and the common people suffered grievous casualties. Most of the disciples the righteous sects sent out to investigate simply vanished; the few with somewhat deeper cultivation who returned were all wounded, and when they reported to their masters they spoke in the extremest terms of the monsters' horrors.

The world was drowning in blood and ruin, and the righteous path stood helpless. Just then word spread that the three great orthodox sects—the Canglan Sect, the Brahma Sound Temple, and the Fenyin Valley—would convene an alliance at Canglan Mountain and invite all the righteous cultivators of the world to join together against this calamity. At once cultivators from every corner flocked toward Canglan Mountain. Within mere days, tens of thousands had gathered near the mountain—a throng never before seen—and most of them were refugees from the Central Plains. In their eyes, these immortal-like cultivators of Canglan Mountain were their last hope.

The Canglan Sect, charged with receiving them, was run off its feet. More and more fellow cultivators and common folk arrived at Qingyun, and soon the guest quarters on Jietian Peak could hold no more; the other branches were forced to open their doors as well. Fortunately, the Canglan Sect was, after all, a thousand-year great sect with deep roots and vast resources, and in the end it managed to accommodate them all. Only the Xiaozhu Peak branch among the seven was not opened to outsiders, since it had always been a dwelling of female disciples and Abbess Shuijing was of a peculiar temperament—to the great regret of many young disciples from other sects who had long admired the place.

Still, however one looked at it, despite the looming calamity this was an unprecedented gathering of the righteous path. The Canglan Sect, as host, saw its prestige rise higher than ever, and it began to seem that the world was looking to Qingyun for leadership. And the Canglan Sect's master, the Perfected One Daoyan, now sat firmly in the position of the foremost man under heaven.

As night fell, every peak of the Canglan range blazed with lights—a spectacle unseen in a thousand years. Even far below the mountain, as the mountain wind carried it, one could seem to hear the loud laughter and talk of the people above. In such circumstances, those who had been frightened by the catastrophe seemed to have grown lighter of heart. After all, even if the sky were to fall, was there not a Canglan Mountain overhead?

And now the quietest place on Canglan Mountain was surely Xiaozhu Peak. After the Canglan Sect's courteous explanations, every sect strictly restrained its disciples and forbade them to approach Xiaozhu Peak; after all, if under the present circumstances some farce of a lecherous dandy were to play out, no one's face would look good.

Compared with the bustle on the other peaks, Xiaozhu Peak seemed far more peaceful. Now and then two or three comely young female disciples of Xiaozhu Peak passed along the mountain path; the mountain breeze blew softly, and the tear-bamboo covering the slopes swayed together, rustling in the wind.

That night the moonlight was cold and clear, falling upon the paths of Xiaozhu Peak. The bamboo shadows swayed, wavering across the stone steps. Four or five female disciples came walking from the distance, and at their head was Wenpei. All of them, Wenpei included, wore somewhat somber expressions, brows furrowed, as though burdened by heavy thoughts.

A cold wind blew through the bamboo grove, and something seemed to stir in the shadows.

Beside Wenpei was the youngest girl, who looked to be only about thirteen and was rather timid. She glanced toward the dark patch, her face somewhat pale, and drew close to Wenpei, clutching at her clothes. "B-Big Senior Sister, there—there seems to be someone over there!"

Wenpei and the others were startled and all looked at once. After a moment Wenpei's face broke into a smile; she patted the little girl's cheek. "Xiaoshi, that's just the mountain wind stirring the bamboo, the shadows of the branches swaying. It's like that every night. You've only been up the mountain a short while—you'll understand after a few more days."

The girl called Xiaoshi breathed a sigh of relief, though she was still somewhat afraid. Then, as though recalling something, she suddenly turned and looked toward the rear mountain. "Big Senior Sister, there isn't a soul around that Moon-Watching Terrace on the rear mountain, and those—those gloomy things are everywhere. We've left Senior Sister Xueqi there all alone—won't she be scared?"

Wenpei's face fell, and she sighed. "It was the Sect Master, our martial uncle, who ordered your Senior Sister Xueqi to reflect there. There's nothing we can do. But I doubt Senior Sister Xueqi will be afraid."

Another woman standing behind Wenpei gave a sudden snort, plainly indignant. "I truly cannot understand why the Sect Master would treat Xueqi this way—simply because she refused the marriage proposal from Fenyin Valley?"

"Pat." Deep in the bamboo grove there seemed to be a faint sound, as though some small creature had snapped a bamboo branch. But the women's attention was all drawn elsewhere and none of them heard it. Only little Xiaoshi seemed to suspect something, but when she peered into the depths of the grove and saw only shifting shadows, her face paled again and she quickly looked away.

Wenpei sighed. "Actually, that Senior Brother Li Xun is truly not a bad man—handsome and well-born, and most likely the position of Fenyin Valley's master will pass to him in time. And from the look of him, he cherishes Xueqi greatly. But the word 'love'—that is one thing that truly cannot be forced."

Another woman muttered in complaint, "Master is really too much. She knows Xueqi's temper well enough—why won't she speak up for her to the Sect Master?"

The woman who had spoken first shook her head. "I don't think that's it. Xueqi always obeyed Master above all, and she respected the Sect Master, the Perfected One Daoyan, deeply as well. But this time she openly defied them both on Jietian Peak. I think..." She suddenly lowered her voice. "Could it be that Xueqi already has someone in her heart..."

"Silence!" Wenpei snapped in a low voice. Everyone started. Wenpei's expression eased slightly, but her tone remained severe. "We must never make such guesses carelessly. If word of this reached the Sect Master's or Master's ears, the consequences would be unthinkable."