Chapter 36 — The Fiend
劍問蒼天 · Page 3 of 6
Facheng was silent. He knew well enough that splitting up was no good thing, but the cavern was deep, and there was no telling how far these two paths ran. If they chose wrong and had to double back, they might lose far too much time—and everyone here was the finest of their respective sects, hardly unable to fend for themselves. He turned and looked at Li Xun and Yan Fei of the Fenxia Valley; seeing no objection from either, he said, "Then let it be as Senior Brother Qi says. Everyone, be exceedingly careful."
As he spoke, he glanced, whether by design or not, at Zhang Qingyue once more.
Zhang Qingyue felt a stir within him; it seemed this Senior Brother Facheng truly did regard him with special favor. Still, he answered with a smile.
Qi Hao nodded, cupped his hands to Facheng and the others, and led Zhang Qingyue and the other two into the left fork. They had gone only a few paces when the light behind them shifted and slowly faded—it seemed Facheng and the others had entered the right fork.
Qi Hao walked at the very front, the ** Mirror raised above his head. He urged on his immortal power, and the mirror's pale yellow halo spilled down, enclosing the four of them within it.
This fork was much narrower than the cavern they had come through. The rock on either side jutted out in jagged, sharp clusters, and Zhang Qingyue, careless once, nearly drew blood. The one thing unchanged was the eternal darkness around them; here, it seemed, a ray of light had never once shone.
None of the four Canglan Sect disciples had the heart for talk—least of all Qi Hao at the front, wholly absorbed in watching for the unknown dangers ahead.
They walked on, and on. So long that Zhang Qingyue could not help wondering: even if they met demon cult fiends on their side and gave the long whistle, would Senior Brother Facheng's party even hear it?
Just then, something changed. In the passage where they walked, amid the darkness and stillness that seemed eternal, there suddenly rose a great wailing of ghosts—"wu wu"—deafening, chilling to the heart.
The four started violently. Qi Hao had just opened his mouth to warn them when his body shook. From every direction, out of the endless dark, strange lights of every hue flared to life and shot all at once toward the four in the passage, striking the halo of the ** Mirror.
So great was the force that even the ** Mirror swayed, and Qi Hao's whole body convulsed with the shock. He could not speak a word; he hurried to steady his mind and pour more power into the treasure's defense.
The ghostly wailing grew louder and louder, until it made the head swim and the eyes blur. Zeng Shuyan, Lu Xueqi, and Zhang Qingyue guarded Qi Hao in their center, and watched as countless beams of light were flung back by the ** Mirror, wheeled about in midair, and then came savagely sweeping back in again. In the darkness, who could tell how many enemies were hidden, or how many enchanted weapons flew through the air?
Qi Hao's face was pale, his hands locked in the mudra. Though the enchanted weapons of the outside besieged them, the ** Mirror steadied by degrees, its halo brightening—and just as the Canglan Sect disciples were about to breathe easy, Zhang Qingyue suddenly felt the hard ground beneath his feet shift.
His heart lurched; before he could react, Zeng Shuyan cried out in alarm, "Careful—underfoot, there's—"
Before the words were out, a great roar drowned out even the howling all around. In that instant the whole place seemed to heave like an earthquake, and a vast force burst up from beneath their feet, blasting the ground to fragments. The four Canglan Sect disciples were flung each in a different direction. The ** Mirror could guard what lay around them, but not what lay beneath. This blow, struck from within, scattered its light in an instant, and it fell back upon Qi Hao's hurtling form.