Chapter 150 — Frenzy

Xiao Yichen, Lin Jinghong, and Lu Xueling of the Canglan Sect; Facheng and Fajing of the Fanyin Temple; Li Xun and Yan Fei of Fenxia Valley—seven in all. After leaving Canglan Mountain they traveled with utmost caution, resting by day and moving by night, avoiding clashes with the beast-demons on the road as best they could, racing at full speed toward the southwest, hoping to discover why great numbers of beast-demons had suddenly converged upon that region.

When these Orthodox disciples first set out, though they well knew the danger of the journey, not one of them showed any thought of turning back, for the sake of the common people of the world. But by the seventh day after their departure, every one of them had gone pale and fallen silent day and night—even Xiao Yichen, the most eloquent of them; even Facheng, whose composure was deepest; even Li Xun, who had meant all along to find occasion to speak with Lu Xueling—all had fallen silent.

A journey of a thousand li: the farther south they went, the more horrific the sights. Either whole villages and whole cities lay strewn with corpses and bleached bones, or village after village, city after city stood utterly deserted, fertile fields turned to scorched earth. No one knew why the beast-demons should set fires as well, why they were so cruel and bloodthirsty—just as no one knew when this great calamity would ever end.

Faint ghostly cries seemed to echo forever over the wild southern lands, telling of sorrowful, wretched things long past.

Once they entered the southwestern region, the party grew even more cautious, but now they faced a grave difficulty. First, they could find no local inhabitants at all: the common people had either fled north before the beast-demons came or perished miserably in this calamity. So the Orthodox disciples had no way to question locals about the beast-demons' movements. On the other hand, the beast-demons for the most part could not speak the human tongue; even when they risked capturing a few of the creatures, all they got in answer was roars and struggling—how could anything be learned from that?

At their wits' end, the party conferred and at last, on Xiao Yichen's proposal, resolved to risk shadowing the beast-demons in secret, going wherever the beasts gathered thickest, to see what they were actually about. Thus they tracked them through the southwest for three days and three nights, and several times came within a hair of being discovered by beasts with keen senses and sharp smell and hearing. Fortunately Xiao Yichen, Facheng, Lin Jinghong, and the rest were all people of the keenest intelligence, and each time, at the very brink of life and death, they slipped past without real danger. Even so, they gained little.

Just as they were beginning to lose heart, by pure accident they found in a forest the beast-demons had passed through a demon-sect disciple who had gone mad. Under careful questioning—or one might say patient coaxing—they gradually learned that the beast-demons' great incursion into the southwest had in fact been a great battle with the demon sects, and that the outcome was nothing less than a total victory for the beast-demons: the three great demon factions, once so arrogant and invincible, had been all but annihilated in that battle.

The news struck them all dumb with shock—and among them all, Lu Xueling, standing farthest away, went especially pale!

Looking at this pitiful wretch huddled into a ball, muttering "monster, monster" without cease, trembling all over and shrieking in fright from time to time, the hearts of the seven Orthodox disciples were all shadowed by a heavy gloom.

Xiao Yichen coughed and looked to Facheng. "Brother Facheng, we have a fair grasp of the situation now. What do you think we should do?"

Facheng's brows were tightly knit. He glanced at the poor soul huddled on the ground, sighed, and said, "Amitabha, such sin, such sin." After a pause he went on slowly, "Everyone, we now know roughly what we came to learn. This humble monk thinks we had best return to the mountain first and report this situation to our masters before anything else."

"We must not!"

Suddenly a cool, clear voice came from beside them. The others were startled: the speaker was Lu Xueling, the most silent and reticent of them all along the way. Facheng was somewhat surprised. "Does Junior Sister Lu have some other view? Please speak."

Lu Xueling's face was still very pale, but her voice was exceedingly calm as she said lightly, "Everything we know now was coaxed out of this demon-sect disciple who has already been frightened out of his wits, and when he spoke just now he was all confusion, turning things over and over; in many places we are only guessing ourselves. To think that on this basis alone we have completed the task our masters set us—that, I think, is unwise."

Facheng fell silent. The others exchanged glances. After a moment Facheng nodded. "You are right, Junior Sister Lu; what you say is indeed reasonable. Just now this humble monk was too impatient."

Xiao Yichen brooded a while, then said, "There is some sense in what Junior Sister Lu says, but we have spent these days searching the southwest day and night and found not the slightest clue. Are we to go on searching like this forever?"

Lu Xueling's lips moved, but no words came; clearly, faced with this dilemma, she too could think of no good solution. But just then Li Xun, who had all along been glancing at Lu Xueling from time to time, suddenly stepped forward and said, "I have an idea—perhaps there is some hope in it."

Everyone was taken aback; even Lu Xueling looked at Li Xun a few more times. Facheng said with delight, "Truly? Please tell us, Brother Li."

Li Xun drew a deep breath and forced himself not to meet Lu Xueling's eyes. "I listened carefully just now to this madman's talk, and several times I heard him speak a place name—'Snake Valley.' I wonder whether any of you noticed?"

Xiao Yichen nodded. "Yes, I noticed it too. I have heard of this Snake Valley before. Legend has it that it is a valley deep in the mountains here in the southwest, where countless venomous snakes gather, and the forest is filled with a deadly miasma that kills anyone who breathes it; no one has ever dared enter that wood. After long years, no one knows anymore just where the valley lies."

Lin Jinghong suddenly said, "Brother Li, do you mean to say that this great battle between the beast-demons and the demon sects took place in that legendary Snake Valley?"

Li Xun nodded and said decisively, "Yes. By my reckoning, the decisive battle was fought at Snake Valley; more than that, I believe Snake Valley may well be the headquarters of one of the three great demon factions. If only we can find the place, we will naturally be able to determine whether what this madman says is true."

Yan Fei, silent all this while, now suddenly spoke. "But Brother, many days have passed. Never mind whether we can find this Snake Valley—even if we do, what we find there may not have kept its original appearance…"

Li Xun said coldly, "Junior Sister, have you forgotten? Those cruel beast-demons do set fires and eat people—but after a fire there are still broken walls and ruined ramparts; and when beast-demons eat people, they do not eat the bones!"

Everyone's expression changed; Yan Fei turned even paler, and suddenly she looked as if she would retch. Clearly the horrors they had witnessed along the way had brought this young woman little by little to the limit of what she could bear.

Li Xun sighed and said no more. Facheng and Fajing murmured Buddhist invocations together. Xiao Yichen shook his head, walked over to Yan Fei's side, and comforted her in a low voice. Only when her expression had gradually steadied did he turn and slowly walk to the demon-sect disciple still huddled on the ground, trembling slightly, and squat down beside him.