Chapter 208 — Terror

Ming Li said calmly, "This Crimson Flame Beast is plainly the guardian spirit beast of the Eight Fierce Profound Fire Formation handed down by the Witch Clan. So long as this formation remains and can still be activated, it can summon this peerless beast. Only, the Crimson Flame Beast is a soul-beast confined within the formation; the greater the profound fire power the formation contains, the greater its might."

He glanced at the brazier before the Beast Venerable. "This brazier—is it the legendary Fire-Gathering Brazier that can gather the essence of heaven and earth's Li Fire?"

The Beast Venerable smiled. "Correct, it is the Fire-Gathering Brazier."

Ming Li nodded and said indifferently, "With this Fire-Gathering Brazier, you can use the Li Fire within to drive the profound fire and activate the formation to summon the Crimson Flame Beast. But though this treasure is wondrous, it cannot compare to the thousand-year store of firepower in the molten lava beneath the Profound Fire Altar of Fenxia Valley, which supplied the formation ceaselessly. So the Crimson Flame Beast you summoned this time, though it looks imposing, is nothing but an empty shell."

"Haha, good, good." The Beast Venerable laughed heartily and clapped his hands. "Well said—'nothing but an empty shell.' Well said indeed. A pity that in this world, apart from you, I wonder who else could say such a thing?"

Ming Li looked at him deeply. "At the very least, the one who wounded you so gravely is qualified to say it."

The Beast Venerable's smile suddenly vanished. His face darkened, and his gaze turned cold as he looked at Ming Li. Ming Li met his eyes directly, calmly returning his stare, yet he too felt a daunting presence radiating from that sickly, frail body.

The Beast Venerable looked at Ming Li and spoke slowly. "I have heard that the one who wounded me seems to have some grievance with you as well?"

Ming Li's expression changed at once.

The two men faced each other, and neither spoke again, yet the atmosphere in the stone chamber seemed to have dropped to freezing point.

Just then, both of them seemed to sense something at the same time. The Beast Venerable raised his eyes slightly, while Ming Li turned his body and looked toward the entrance of the stone chamber.

That glance, like a startled swan sweeping through the darkness, left a mark upon the heart…

The Crimson Flame Beast was gone, and the vast stone chamber had once again fallen into darkness. Only in the brazier before the Beast Venerable did a cluster of flame still burn quietly, illuminating the small space nearby, giving off a little light and warmth. Even the halo of the Eight Fierce Deities slowly revolving above the brazier was not particularly dazzling.

Yet in that instant, deep in the darkness, a figure stood quietly, gently veiled in a soft pale blue radiance. A familiar face came into view, and for one stunned moment it was as if a thousand years, ten thousand years, had passed.

In a daze, he looked at her.

One step, another step, slowly drawing near.

Lu Xueling's hand looked very pale in the dim light of the darkness—perhaps because she gripped Tianxuan too tightly. Yet upon her face there seemed not the slightest stir of emotion, just like that icy, frost-cold woman at their first meeting.

Slowly, she drew near.

She came to his side, and stood.

No words, no speech. In her eyes now there remained only the reflected light and shadow of that flame. How much time had passed in that moment?

The Beast Venerable watched in silence the somewhat strange behavior of this man and woman, but said nothing and did nothing. In those deep eyes of his that could never be fathomed, complex feelings flickered—but who could understand them?

She stood shoulder to shoulder with him.

Since walking over, Lu Xueling had not looked at Ming Li again. After a long while, in the silence that had grown faintly strange, she was heard to say, low and calm—yet within that calm there seemed a feeling beyond words—"So… it really is you…"

Ming Li did not speak. He gazed at the gentle, beautiful, exquisite face of the woman before him, and after a long time, there was only one thing he did.

Slowly, he smiled at her.

Then he stood at her side, shoulder to shoulder, and drew a deep breath. That flame surging up from the depths of his chest seemed to warm his whole heart.

Lu Xueling seemed to sense something. Gradually, a faint red crept into her somewhat pale face—yet she made no attempt to hide it. Upon her frost-like features, she merely smiled faintly, toward what lay ahead, toward that blazing flame reflected in her eyes.

Such a warm smile!

The two figures stood side by side, looking at the Beast Venerable, facing this peerless demon lord of the present age.

Yet a look as of pain swept across the Beast Venerable's eyes, and he slowly lowered his head.

The flame burned quietly, and the scene in the stone chamber seemed to grow hazy in the firelight. The three figures stood there for a long while.

Until at last the Beast Venerable raised his head again. After his gaze rested a moment on Lu Xueling, it fell upon Ming Li, and he said suddenly, "Will you promise me one thing?"

Ming Li was taken aback. He had not expected such words, and for a moment did not know how to answer. He could only say, "What is it?"

Deep, deep weariness lay upon the Beast Venerable's face. He said mildly, "Whatever your purpose, the two of you will fight me in the end. If you die by my hand, then there is nothing more to be said. If I am defeated, I will not blame you—I only ask that after you leave this ancient cave, you do one thing for me."

Ming Li said, "Speak."

The Beast Venerable was silent a moment. "You remember there is a stone statue at the cave mouth."

A strange expression flickered across Ming Li's face, and he nodded slowly. "Yes."

The Beast Venerable's voice grew low and mournful. "If you have the chance to leave, then gather a bouquet of the lilies she loved most in those days, and lay them before her."

"Lilies… I understand." Ming Li nodded slowly, but there seemed something unusual in his tone. Lu Xueling sensed it, but said nothing, only glancing at him in silence.

The Beast Venerable shook his head and gave what seemed a self-mocking smile. Then, looking at Ming Li, he smiled and said, "But what of you two? If you remain here and never have the chance to leave again, what wish would you have?" His gaze drifted slowly from Ming Li to Lu Xueling's face. Smiling faintly, a strange light seeming still to flicker in his eyes, he said, "And you? Do you have a wish to speak of as well?"

Ming Li was silent, and Lu Xueling did not speak either. After a moment, she stole a glance at Ming Li and saw upon his face a veiled, complex expression tinged with pain.

She drew a deep breath and said suddenly, "I have no greater wish!"

Though her tone was plain, the words were uttered with absolute finality, leaving herself not the slightest room to turn back.

Perhaps she truly did not want—did not want at all—to leave herself any room anymore.

Ming Li's body shuddered.

Then he looked at the woman beside him.

A long, deep gaze.

Without a word.

The Beast Venerable looked at Lu Xueling, and the strange light in his eyes grew brighter and brighter. Suddenly he clapped his hands together, and though his body still swayed somewhat, he rose to his feet nonetheless. His brilliant silken robes swept around him, and the Taotie, that vicious beast, stood up as well, growling low at its master's side.

"Good, good, well said!"

The Beast Venerable fixed his gaze on Lu Xueling, and what slowly radiated from his eyes was an inexplicable fervor. "Just so, just so—there truly are women in this world like her still."