Chapter 35 — The Ancient Grotto
劍問蒼天 · Page 2 of 6
[Facheng] smiled faintly. "Senior Brother [Qi] overpraises me. This humble monk is dull by nature; only my honored master, [Pucheng], did not cast me aside, and bestowed upon me the true dharma, hoping I might do some small good for the people of the world. I would never presume to be named in the same breath as the senior brothers of the Canglan Sect."
[Qi Hao] laughed heartily and waved his hand again and again. "Senior Brother [Facheng] is far too modest. Come, let me introduce my junior brothers and sister." With that he presented the three others, and they exchanged greetings accordingly. Yet for some reason, [Zhang Qingyue] felt that when [Qi Hao] introduced him, [Facheng]'s eyes seemed to brighten, and he looked at him a moment longer than at the rest.
By now [Li Xun] of the Fenxia Valley, who had been left standing aside ever since the conversation began, had turned rather sour of face. When [Qi Hao] finished the introductions, he suddenly spoke in a cold voice: "Senior Brother [Qi], your Canglan Sect has always set itself up as the leader of the orthodox path, with Daoist true arts unmatched under heaven. Yet today, at first sight, every one of you is in such a sorry state?"
The faces of all four Canglan disciples changed. [Zhang Qingyue], seeing that insufferably lofty air of his, felt his dislike deepen. From the corner of his eye he noticed that [Lu Xueqi] had at some point stopped wiping at her clothes; her jade face was frost-covered as she looked coldly at the two from the Fenxia Valley — though mostly her gaze was locked with that of the beautiful woman called [Yan Fei].
[Qi Hao], long practiced in the ways of the world, felt a flicker of anger but quickly recovered himself. With a chuckle he said, "I will not deceive you, gentlemen. Last night I and my three fellow disciples came to this place hoping to locate the Ten Thousand Bats Ancient Grotto, but instead we ran into countless bats..."
At these words the faces of [Facheng] and the other three shifted. The great, tall [Fajing] glared wide-eyed and said in his rough voice, "Hm. So it was the countless beasts in the Ten Thousand Bats Ancient Grotto — savage and cruel, and very hard to deal with."
[Qi Hao] was sharp as they came. At once he understood that these four had likely arrived a few days earlier and had also run into those headache-inducing creatures. His thoughts raced — and then he heard [Zeng Shuyan] give a long laugh behind him and step forward, smiling at [Fajing]. "Senior Brother [Fajing], by that account, you too have encountered those blood-drinking bats?"
[Fajing] nodded; he seemed a straightforward sort. "We did. There were far too many of them, so we had no choice but to withdraw."
[Zeng Shuyan] gave an "ah" and sighed. "I will not deceive you all: last night we too encountered those bats. We meant to rid the people of a plague, but from morning to night, no matter how we strove, they could not all be killed — in the end we could only drive the beasts back into their grotto, and we came away covered in filth. Alas, what a shame, what a shame!"
He turned back to look at [Qi Hao], and the two exchanged a smile. Together they said, "What a shame! What a shame!"
Everyone's expression shifted — though not alike. [Li Xun] of the Fenxia Valley gave a snort, his face full of disdain; the lovely [Yan Fei] seemed somewhat abashed, yet disbelief was plainly written on her face as well. [Facheng] of the Fanyin Temple smiled and said nothing; [Fajing]'s face showed admiration. [Zhang Qingyue] was struck dumb for a moment, and glanced at the two men grinning so radiantly.