劍問蒼天 - 第43章 滴血洞 - 翰墨軒

Zhang Qingyue breathed a sigh of relief. But just then something stirred in his mind. He stepped back and gazed into the water, and as the ripples danced, the reflections of seven red stones slowly emerged in the pool. Because they were reflections, their arrangement was no longer that strange ladle shape; instead they somewhat resembled a human palm.

Zhang Qingyue stood where he was and said nothing for a moment. In that instant he suddenly hesitated, as though he felt he had come to a crossroads and did not know which way to go.

The feeling passed in a flash. He turned around. "Hey!" Bili was still gazing at the rock ceiling and answered absently, "My name isn't Hey. That's what you said when we first met." Zhang Qingyue was stumped; the words on the tip of his tongue nearly slid back down his throat. But for some reason, toward this woman who seemed so frivolous, he found an unusual patience. "Then what is your name?" Bili turned her head, a smile appearing on her face. "My name is Bili."

Zhang Qingyue repeated it to himself twice, then shook his head. "Come over here and take a look." Bili was a little surprised. She rose and walked over. "What is it?"

Zhang Qingyue pointed at the water. Bili bent and looked. The surface rippled, but after concentrating for a moment, she gradually made out the reflections of the seven red stones in the water, shaped like a palm.

Bili's body gave a start. She turned sharply. "This is…" Zhang Qingyue shook his head. "I just happened to see it. Maybe it's nothing after all…"

Before he could finish, Bili cut in: "Whatever it is, we have to try." Without another word, she stepped into the water with a splash.

Zhang Qingyue was startled. In a few short moments the falling droplets had soaked the clothes Bili wore, yet she paid them no mind at all, only holding her breath and waiting.

The water's surface, scattered by her entry, gradually stilled again. Bili waited quietly for the reflections of the seven red stones to reappear in the water. Watching from the bank, Zhang Qingyue saw the crystalline droplets, each like a pearl, drift gently down through the air and settle on the beautiful woman's hair, her shoulders, her face, her clothes.

Transparent, limpid droplets slid from the ends of her raven hair, drifting slowly across her snow-white skin, until even her face seemed beautiful to the point of near transparency.

Zhang Qingyue suddenly found himself staring, transfixed. It was as though the burbling of water that had filled the cavern had receded into the distance, and all that remained in his eyes was this clear, lovely woman standing in the water like a lotus rising from the flood, her breathtaking beauty rushing at him, overwhelming.

The reflections of the seven red stones slowly surfaced, like the shape of a hand, drifting quietly up and down in the water. Bili fixed her eyes on the spot, slowly extended her right hand, and pressed down where the palm lay.

Her jade-like hand passed through the gentle ripples and reached downward. The reflections of the red stones swayed faintly in the water; the surface glittered with broken light, glinting from some unknowable source, and it lit the beautiful woman's face with a soft, faint glow.

The pool was shallow, and Bili's hand soon met the bottom, where a thin layer of sand and pebbles lay. At her touch she felt five slight protrusions beneath her fingers, one at each fingertip. Her heart leaped with joy; she brushed the sand aside, and there, sure enough, beneath the grit lay five small stones set into the floor, faintly glowing red.

Bili wasted no more thought. She pressed down hard with all five fingers, then lifted her head.

Nothing stirred. Not the slightest movement.

The delight on Bili's face froze at once. Her eyes met Zhang Qingyue's on the bank for a moment, then turned back again.