Chapter 146 — A Vicious Scheme

Mingli was slightly surprised; plainly he did not know who this so-called old acquaintance might be, but from his look, in his present frame of mind he did not care to know either. He turned and glanced once more at Bili, as though to carve that pale countenance deep into his eyes, never to change again. Then he turned and walked out.

Mingwang's gaze, too, rested lightly upon his daughter, with a kindly look in it; then he withdrew as well, and as he turned, no one could see that weakness any longer.

Yousi still stood outside the door; Mingli stood ahead, waiting. Mingwang took two steps, then suddenly turned his head and said to Yousi, "You come too."

Yousi nodded slightly and followed.

The three left the icy stone chamber, passed through winding corridors, and came to a secluded room deep within the mountain. Mingwang pushed the door open first and went in; Mingli followed him into the stone chamber, and saw that two men were already there—one, his face veiled in black, was none other than the mysterious Mr. Gui; the other, in a Daoist robe with a square face, was, astonishingly, Cangyan Daoren.

Hearing the footsteps, Cangyan Daoren and Mr. Gui turned to look as well.

When Mingli's eyes met Cangyan Daoren's, both were struck still; ten years of time seemed suddenly to halt, or as though Heaven, in mockery, had played a heartless joke upon men. Those people of the Canglan peak in former days—now they met again in such circumstances as this.

In the unseen workings of fate, who was it that pulled all the strings?

For a moment the atmosphere in the room was somewhat silent; no one spoke. Mingli and Cangyan Daoren looked at each other, both expressionless, yet the feeling in their eyes was so complex that no one could have sorted out its threads.

At last it was Mingwang who walked over and said with a smile, "What is this? Old friends meeting again is a rare thing. Sit, and let us talk."

At his words the atmosphere eased somewhat; Mingli and Cangyan Daoren each looked away and sat down.

Mingwang first said to Mingli, "Daoist Cang Song is now a presiding elder of our Mingwang Sect. From here on we are all of one path; should the chance arise, you two should grow better acquainted."

Mingli's eyes flickered. "Is the Daoist not of the Wandu Sect? How does he come to be at the Mingwang Sect?"

Cangyan Daoren had plainly expected this question long before; his expression did not change in the least, and he did not speak. Sure enough, Mingwang spoke up smiling from the side: "Because a great upheaval has taken place in the Wandu Sect."

"What, a great upheaval?" At these words, not only Mingli but even the two mysterious figures whose faces were veiled in black, Yousi and Mr. Gui, could be seen to be startled. Now the demon cult was split three ways, the three great factions holding one another in check; a great upheaval in the Wandu Sect would naturally be a great opportunity for the other two.

Yousi was the first to ask, "What upheaval?"

Mingwang smiled faintly. "The Poison God is dead."

"What?" This news was even more startling than Mingwang's words before. Mingli and the others were all people who well knew the stakes involved, and they understood at once what the death of this man meant.

Mingwang looked around at them all and smiled. "None of you are fools. You should all know that what we face now is an opportunity."

Mingli pondered a moment, glanced at Cangyan Daoren, and said, "Was this news brought by this... Daoist?"

Mingwang nodded. "Indeed. And these past few days I have secretly verified it—it is true."

Mingli drew a deep breath and said, "What is the state of the Ten Thousand Poison Sect now?"

The Ghost King glanced at Cangsong, who understood and said, "Before the Poison God died, he left the position of sect master to Qin Wujiu, but several of his other disciples refused to accept it. The Ten Thousand Poison Sect is in utter chaos now—to fight over the seat of sect master, the various masters within the sect have split into factions and struggle endlessly among themselves."

The Ghost King cut in, "Good that it's chaotic—the more chaos the better. This is precisely our grand opportunity to unify the Holy Cult." He paused, then suddenly smiled at Mingli and said, "Come to think of it, it was you who gravely wounded Qin Wujiu in the Dead Marsh that created this chaos. Your merit is no small thing."

Mingli's heart stirred. He raised his head to look at the Ghost King and saw his gaze as usual, his eyes glittering with keen light, yet he could discern nothing unusual in his expression, and so he could only remain silent.

The Ghost King did not dwell on the subject either, saying, "I have summoned you all here today chiefly because Daoist Cangsong has a stratagem that can help our Ghost King Sect crush the Ten Thousand Poison Sect in one stroke..."

Everyone was startled. The Ten Thousand Poison Sect had always been reckoned foremost among the three great factions of the Demonic Cult. Though the Poison God, their gravest scourge, was now dead, a centipede dies hard even when dead—even if the Ghost King Sect threw in all its strength, toppling the Ten Thousand Poison Sect in a single blow would still be fraught with difficulty; and even if it could be done, they themselves would likely be gravely weakened, profiting only the Enchanting Soul Sect, which stood by watching coldly from the sidelines.

Mingli knew the Ghost King had always been meticulous and would never fail to see a truth even he himself could easily grasp. For a moment, he grew somewhat curious about this so-called brilliant scheme of Daoist Cangyan and said, "Oh? There is such a wondrous plan—I must hear it."

Daoist Cangyan did not stand on ceremony. He gave the Ghost King a slight nod, looked about at the assembly, and said, "Do you know what the people of the world fear most at present?"

At this question, seemingly beside the point, Mingli and the others were all taken aback. Yousi said, "Naturally it is those man-devouring beasts and demons of the southern marches. Daoist, why ever bring up these monsters?"

Mr. Ghost, seated beside the Ghost King, after his initial surprise, now gave a slight nod beneath his black veil and let out a soft murmur, as though he had thought of something.

Daoist Cangyan said to Yousi, "This stratagem must be built upon those beasts and demons. Otherwise, given the Ten Thousand Poison Sect's strength, whoever wishes to swallow it will find themselves gravely weakened in the doing."

Most of those present had by now grasped the drift. Mingli nodded and said, "Indeed. It would be best if we could set the Ten Thousand Poison Sect and the beasts and demons to fighting each other—but how can it be done?"

Daoist Cangyan smiled slightly and said, "In truth it is very simple. Those beasts and demons kill every person they see, do they not? And many of them have keen noses and relish human flesh. We need only do thus..."

His voice gradually lowered, and the carefully laid scheme was revealed to the assembly bit by bit. Time slipped quietly away amid their deliberations.

When the secret meeting ended, none could say how long it had lasted. The Ghost King and Mr. Ghost departed first; Yousi glanced at Mingli and then quietly left as well. Soon only Mingli and Daoist Cangyan remained in the room, and neither showed any inclination to rise and go at once.

He drew his gaze back from elsewhere; it wandered slowly through the now silent stone chamber and at last fell upon the face of the man before him—only to find that he, too, was looking at him.

In the stone chamber all was still. Of a sudden, it seemed one could hear the sound of breathing and of heartbeats.

Mingli suddenly said, "Do you have something to say to me?"

Daoist Cangyan gazed at him, and after a long while said slowly, "Yes—but now I do not know what to say."

Mingli fell silent. After a moment he said mildly, "In these ten years, have you ever gone to Qingyun?"