劍問蒼天 - 第3章 迷局 - 翰墨軒

Puzhao gave a great shout, like a lion's roar, shaking the four wilds. The emerald beads before him, driven by the power of the Buddha, shone all the brighter. Suddenly one bead burst with a "puff," transformed in midair into the character "Buddha," and hurtled forward, striking the ghostly thing in the face.

"Waaah——!" The ghostly thing gave a shrill, piteous howl and staggered back several steps, the red radiance around it greatly dimmed—plainly it was wounded. The man in the black vapor said in fury, "A fine bald donkey!"

He was about to act, but in that instant, quick as a flash, seven or eight more beads transformed into true words of the Buddha and struck the ghostly thing. It howled without cease, retreating again and again in terror. When the ninth emerald bead struck it, it at last gave a long wail, its five eyes bursting all at once, its bones rattling wildly, and with a "boom" it fell to the ground. It struggled a few times, then went stiff and still, slowly dissolving into a pool of reeking blood.

At the same time, Puzhao gave a "wa" and spat out another great mouthful of blood—and the color of that blood had turned black.

"Ah!" A scream came from the temple gate, at this critical juncture in the contest between the two masters.

Both Puzhao and the evildoer were startled. The black vapor in the sky stirred, and Puzhao looked toward the gate as well. There stood the child he had seen by day, Zhang Qingyue, who for some reason had come to the thatched temple. He stood in the doorway, staring dumbstruck at the strange spectacle within.

The man in the black vapor gave a cold snort, and without any visible movement, the Seven-Tailed Centipede that had been crawling on Lin Jinghong suddenly flicked its tail and launched itself into the air, swift as lightning, flying straight at Zhang Qingyue.

Puzhao's brows shot up; he pointed with his right hand, and an emerald prayer bead flew swiftly forth. The Seven-Tailed Centipede seemed almost to have a spirit of its own—it knew the danger and dared not meet the bead head-on. With a flick of its tail it veered upward as though on wings, plunged into the black vapor, and was seen no more.

The man in the black vapor said darkly, "Heh heh. Truly worthy of one of the Four Great Divine Monks of the Brahma Sound Temple—badly wounded as you are, you can still destroy my 'Blood-Poison Corpse King.' But you took a blow from the Corpse King and are poisoned by the Seven-Tailed Centipede. How much longer can you hold out? Best hand over the 'Blood-Devouring Pearl' obediently."

By now even the corners of Puzhao's eyes were weeping black blood. He gave a bitter laugh and said in a strained voice, "Even if this old monk dies here today, I will rid the world of you, demon."

As his words fell, all the emerald prayer beads before him lit up at once. The man in the air instantly went on guard—when suddenly a whistling sound came, and something streaked with blue-green light shot in from behind into the black vapor. It was the very bead that had flown at the Seven-Tailed Centipede—it had sailed some distance through the air, then, secretly guided by Puzhao, curved around behind the black vapor to strike where it was least expected.

A furious roar came from within the black vapor—plainly the man had been caught off guard. "Bang, bang, bang"—several chaotic reports, a flash of blue-green light, and the black vapor scattered, finally breaking apart in all directions and dissolving into nothing. From midair a tall, gaunt figure descended slowly, his whole body tightly wrapped in a black robe, so that neither face nor age could be made out. Only a pair of eyes showed, gleaming fiercely. Behind him was strapped a long sword.

Puzhao said in a low voice, "With such cultivation as your honor possesses, why do you not dare show your face?"

The man in black flashed his fierce eyes and said harshly, "Bald donkey, today I will leave you with no place even to be buried!"