Chapter 195 — Old Ground

At the thought, Ming Li felt as though a needle had pricked his back, and a faint shock ran through his heart. With his cultivation and strength of will at this stage, to still be caught unawares while facing this statue of the Linglong Shamaness—the strange power contained in this stone image was truly no small matter.

Ming Li steadied himself and turned to look at Jin Pingyue. Had she not warned him just now, he did not know how long he might have remained lost before this statue. But how was it that Jin Pingyue had been on guard against this statue without anyone knowing? Could it be that this woman had, unexpectedly, some hidden strength?

Ming Li turned to look—and could not help starting. Though Jin Pingyue stood beside him and had reached out to pat his shoulder, her whole body faced the opposite way from him: toward the cave mouth of the Ancient Cave of Demon Suppression, her back to the statue, not looking at its face at all.

Ming Li frowned. "What are you doing?"

Jin Pingyue smiled faintly. "This statue is very dangerous. Didn't I tell you?"

Ming Li frowned again and gave a soft snort, drawing a deep breath. Just then Little Gray, who had been lying on his shoulder all along, seemed to grow impatient; the monkey's tail swayed, and with a sudden leap it sprang from Ming Li's shoulder onto the statue, scrambled a few times, and finally sat atop the statue's head.

Ming Li's expression changed. "Little Gray," he said in a low, stern voice. "Come here."

The monkey looked at Ming Li, scratched its head, and chittered twice—but in the end it leapt back from the statue onto Ming Li's shoulder. Beside them Jin Pingyue laughed softly. "Why are you frightening the monkey? It's only playing—"

Before she could finish, a look of surprise crossed Jin Pingyue's face. Ming Li was straightening his expression and smoothing his robes, and was in fact bowing—quite reverently—to the stone statue.

Astonished, Jin Pingyue asked, "What are you doing now?"

Ming Li's face was indifferent and he did not answer, only gazing deeply at the statue once. He raised his hands in salute, then turned and said blandly, "Nothing. Let's go in."

The ancient cave lay deep and dim, and a chill wind blew in gusts—right there before them.

Jin Pingyue followed behind Ming Li, glanced at the little monkey Xiao Hui, who looked rather bored, then fixed her gaze on Ming Li and said, "Why did you bow to that stone statue just now?"

Ming Li's steps paused briefly, then he walked on and said mildly, "The bearing of those who came before—even if they have long since passed into oblivion, there is always something in the human heart worthy of respect."

Jin Pingyue's brows knitted sharply; she plainly found Ming Li's riddle-like words deeply baffling, and was about to press him further when Ming Li had already drawn near the cave mouth. She hurried after him and said with a frown, "Hey, I'm talking to you—why are you walking so fast? I haven't even told you yet: last time I came here there was a vicious spirit, and though it was probably dealt with by that Beast Sovereign afterward, this cave mouth most likely—"

Here her voice suddenly trailed off, and almost at the same instant Ming Li's footsteps came to a halt as well.

The two of them stood a few feet from the entrance of the Ancient Cave of Demon Suppression, watching as a white chill slowly rose from within that gloomy, dark cavern; under the fierce buffeting of the biting wind, it showed not the slightest sign of dispersing.

The white vapor gathered ever thicker and grew ever larger before their eyes, and at last gradually took form, a vast silhouette faintly emerging within it, its roars deep and rumbling, its bellows rolling on and on, mingling with the howling of the cold wind to redouble its menace—like some fierce ghost or dread deity.

Jin Pingyue gazed at that white vapor, sighed, and shook her head. "All right, now you see it—there is a formidable and foul-tempered vicious spirit here!"