Chapter 157 — The Secret

Ming Li gave a low whistle, beckoned with his right hand, and the Soul-devouring Black Staff flew back, stabbing into the clod from behind; the earth burst apart in an instant, and a black-clad figure darted out, drifting light as a specter to settle upon that mysterious coffin deep in the room—it was plainly none other than Master Ghost.

The Soul-devourer slowly descended and returned to Ming Li's hand. Ming Li fixed his gaze on Master Ghost and did not strike; Master Ghost likewise turned slowly to look at Ming Li, and suddenly said, "How did you see where I was hiding?"

Ming Li was silent and made no answer, only watching him coldly. Master Ghost's black veil stirred slightly; he nodded and said, "Very well. You and I may not be friends hereafter, so it is only natural you will not tell me. But tonight is not yet over—I would like to see just how deep the cultivation runs in this man who is said to command the true arts of all three great factions."

Ming Li's pupils contracted slightly. Though just now he had caught Master Ghost off guard and driven the Soul-devourer into the place where he secretly hid, counting it as the upper hand, his expression had not eased in the least. He had struck the unintended with the intended, driving the Soul-devourer into the clod of earth—yet Master Ghost was truly like a specter, hollow and empty, and no trace could be seen of the Blood-devouring Bead's demonic power working upon him. This man was so mysterious and unfathomable as to be unlike any Ming Li had ever met.

Seeing the two locked in confrontation, and sensing that another fierce exchange of arts was imminent, Zhou Yixuan, his panic somewhat settled, hastily tugged at Xiaowan and the Wild Wolf Daoist. The two came to their senses and realized that with two men of such uncanny arts dueling here, the danger was extreme; they hurriedly found a gap in the already crumbling wall and squeezed through. Just before leaving, Xiaowan seemed to remember something, reached out a hand, and took Zhou Xingyun's spirit tablet with her.

The three left the house one after another, and of course Ming Li and Master Ghost both knew it perfectly well—but Ming Li gave no sign, and Master Ghost, with a great enemy before him, seemed to have no attention to spare for them now. They had barely gotten away when the house was once again seized by a great wind, sand flying and stones scattering; standing beyond the breach in the wall, Zhou Yixuan and the other two were still pushed back several feet by the violent gale.

Zhou Yixuan pulled Xiaowan far back, a full three zhang away, before turning to look back at the house. Yet from this distance he could no longer feel that two masters were fighting fiercely within—it seemed they had kept their power confined to the house all along. And seen from afar, the house now flickered with strange lights: besides the ghostly green glow that had been there from the start, there now flashed from time to time gold, red, deathly white, azure, and many another uncanny hue. Had it not been for the spectral gloom and the thick killing intent, it might almost have seemed a gay and pretty sight.

Xiaowan gazed at the house and said softly to Zhou Yixuan, who seemed about ready to run for it, "Grandpa, isn't it rather bad for us to just leave like this?"

Zhou Yixuan and the Wild Wolf Daoist walking beside him both started, and turned to look at Xiaowan. Zhou Yixuan frowned and said, "Silly girl, what are you thinking? Those two are murderous great demons. We're lucky just to have escaped with our lives—what would we stay here for?"

Xiaowan hesitated a moment, then said, "But—but he did it to save us, after all, that's why he..."

The Wild Wolf Daoist looked at her and said nothing. Zhou Yixuan said impatiently, "How can you be so muddled? Ming Li's cultivation is very high—what does he have to fear? Besides, it's dog eat dog—no, wait, one's called Ming Li and the other's Master Ghost, so I suppose it's ghost eat ghost. Ghost eat ghost, what's that got to do with us? Go, go, hurry!"

With that he seized Xiaowan's hand and pulled her along. Xiaowan hesitated a moment, but in the end let Zhou Yixuan drag her away. The Wild Wolf Daoist glanced back once at the house of flickering lights, where the wild beams flashed and a fierce wind seemed faintly to howl. His eyes held a complicated expression, and he was silent; after a moment he turned and hurried after Zhou Yixuan and the others.

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Within the gloomy house, a little over half a cup of tea's time had now passed. The room, already cluttered to begin with, was now a scene of utter ruin: broken stone and rubble lay everywhere, and even the floor, dilapidated before, now looked as though an earthquake had passed and then an ox had dragged a plow across it—earth heaved into ridges and hollows, stones jutting up, scarcely a spot left to stand.

Ming Li and Master Ghost both hovered in midair now, having paused for the moment, gazing at each other; both seemed to be breathing slightly hard. Only Little Grey on Ming Li's shoulder seemed a little impatient—it yawned idly, then stretched.

Master Ghost suddenly said, "I never imagined your cultivation would advance so fast. In but ten years' time you have actually fused the true arts of Daoism, Buddhism, and the Demonic Path into one—truly no small thing."

Ming Li looked at this mysterious black-robed man and said coldly, "Nor did I imagine that you were not of the demonic sect at all, but a man of the southern frontier's shamanic ghost-path."

At this point a dark red light suddenly kindled in his eyes. Staring at Master Ghost, his voice turning icy, he said, "Since you know the ghost-path so well, then the art of recalling Bi Li's soul—you..."

Before he could finish, Master Ghost cut in: "You are wrong. Though I know a little of the ghost-path's strange arts, the method of recalling a soul is a secret art of the southern frontier's Black Shaman clan. I do not know it—otherwise, given my friendship with the Nether King, I would long ago have brought Miss Bi Li back."

Ming Li watched him coldly, the red light flickering uncertainly in his eyes, as though weighing whether Master Ghost's words could be believed. Master Ghost, for his part, was silent a moment, then suddenly said, "Since you are determined to protect those three tonight, then for the sake of our both belonging to the Nether King Sect, I will let them off this once. There is little point in you and me fighting here—better that we stop."

Ming Li sneered inwardly. He was long past the ignorant youth he had once been; in that harrowing exchange just now, had his cultivation been the least bit lacking, or had he been careless but once, he would have died a thousand times over—and at such a moment no one would have spoken of their both belonging to the Nether King Sect. But Master Ghost was truly a mysterious and unfathomable figure. Though Ming Li did not fear him, that exchange had shown him that this man's arts were uncanny and that he was in truth an exceedingly difficult foe; unwilling to press him rashly, he nodded and said mildly, "So be it."

Master Ghost drifted slowly down. The house was now a shambles; most of the original coffins lay split and shattered, and only that coffin set upon the yin ground remained whole. Master Ghost alighted upon it and was silent a moment, then said, "What do you mean to do, coming to Mount Canglan this time?"

Ming Li said coldly, "And what business is yours?"

Master Ghost said mildly, "The world is in chaos—a time of turmoil, with the beast-demons running rampant. The inevitable battle between the orthodox path and the beast-demons at Qingyun is at hand. Such a grand spectacle—how could I not come to see it?"

Ming Li looked at him and said, "As you say, then—between the orthodox path and the beast-demons, who will prevail?"