劍問蒼天 - 第51章 黑石洞 - 翰墨軒

Zhou Yixuan glared at her. "What do you know? The Mystic Fire Mirror is an ancient divine artifact of peerless power. Legend has it that at its mightiest it can summon the fiery dragons of the eight wilds and burn all things in the world to ash. If so, would it not have burned these cocky youngsters to less than dust?"

Xiaowan gave a huff, ignored him, and turned to look toward the clearing. Suddenly her brows knitted. "Grandfather, look—they seem to have gone after her again."

Startled, Zhou Yixuan hurried to look. Sure enough, Zhang Qingyue and the others seemed to have exchanged a few words before turning toward the darkness deep within, in the very direction where the three-tailed fox demon had vanished. Shi Tou led the way. Zhang Qingyue took two steps, then, feeling that Bili had not moved, turned back to face her, as though he wished to say something—but for some reason the words would not come, and his face flushed red.

Bili, though, only smiled faintly, seemed to scold him in a low voice, and went on ahead. Zhang Qingyue was taken aback a moment, shook his head, and followed.

Zhou Yixuan stood dumbfounded, then stamped his foot. "These young people truly have no regard for life or death! With the Mystic Fire Mirror in that fox demon's hand, how do they dare chase after her?"

Xiaowan, at his side, took a bite of her candied hawthorn stick (from the very beginning she had never once let it go), and said imperturbably, "Didn't you say so yourself, old man? Her cultivation isn't deep enough to unleash the Mystic Fire Mirror's true power. In that case, her having it is as good as not having it—so what do these youngsters have to fear?"

Zhou Yixuan was struck speechless, as though choked, and for a long while could find nothing to say. After quite some time, he suddenly seemed to recall something and said hurriedly, "Quick, we must go too!"

Xiaowan was startled by him in turn. "Go? Go where?"

Zhou Yixuan strode forward. "To slay the demon, of course."

Xiaowan followed with a cold laugh. "In the past, whenever we ran into all those great demons and small demons and neither-great-nor-small demons, I only ever saw you run—I never saw you charge in to slay any of them."

Zhou Yixuan's old face reddened. "We who wander the rivers and lakes—the most important thing is to know one's own limits... Eh?"

Halfway through his words he suddenly stopped short, his gaze caught by something else. Xiaowan, behind him, followed his eyes—and saw that what Zhou Yixuan was looking at was the ancient well, which from the very beginning had sat there quietly without the slightest stir.

By now Zhang Qingyue and the others had vanished into the darkness, and the countless demon creatures that had seemed to be about a moment ago were now nowhere to be seen. Only Zhou Yixuan and Xiaowan remained in the forest. The moonlight, cold and clear, shone in silence upon the ancient well, glinting off its green moss and age-old grooves, lending it a touch of weathered desolation.

Zhou Yixuan drew a deep breath and walked over. Xiaowan followed behind him, unable to keep from feeling nervous. "Grandfather, what are you doing?"

Zhou Yixuan frowned. "I mean to see for myself what strangeness lies in this well, and why the three-tailed fox demon kept asking that young man what he had seen in it."

Xiaowan stopped three paces from the ancient well, her heart creeping with unease. All around was silent and dark, yet in the darkness it seemed a wind blew past, and she could not tell how many eyes in the shadows might be peering at her.

Zhou Yixuan walked to the edge of the well, raised his head to glance around, and seeing nothing amiss, made to look down. Behind him Xiaowan suddenly grew tense. "Grandfather, be careful."

He glanced at her and smiled slightly. "It's nothing." With that, he looked down—down into the well.