Chapter 52 — The Fire Dragon
The Sword Questions the Heavens · Page 1 of 7
Countless eyes in the darkness were now fixed on the figures within the three halos of light. Zhang Qingyue, for some reason, still felt a chill at heart, and glancing toward Bili and Shi Tou, saw that their faces were not looking any too pleasant either—no doubt they too had never before met with such a scene.
Even so, none of the myriad creatures around them made any move to attack the two of them. Apart from a few tigers and leopards of seemingly irascible temper that let out a growl or two, there was hardly any stir at all; they merely watched in silence.
They continued their slow descent, and after perhaps another forty or fifty feet, Zhang Qingyue suddenly sensed that the number of glowing eyes around them was gradually dwindling—yet somehow each pair of eyes seemed considerably larger than those he had seen before.
He frowned and drifted silently closer to the stone wall, and sure enough, by the light cast from the Mystic Iron Rod, he saw that the number of openings in the dark rock face had dwindled greatly, but every one of them was more than twice the size of those above—nearly all were as tall as a man. And the creatures within those holes were correspondingly more fierce and savage, almost all of them large of body, with sharp fangs and hideous visages that made one's heart turn cold at the sight.
Among them, one even more ferocious—a monster that looked like a wild boar but bore the bulk of a giant bear—saw Zhang Qingyue approach, and with a roar swung out a massive claw that very nearly struck his body.
Startled, Zhang Qingyue hastily steered his magical artifact and retreated several feet. At the sound, Bili and Shi Tou both looked his way, and Zhang Qingyue said softly, "It seems the creatures here are all rather fierce beasts. We had best be careful."
Bili and Shi Tou both nodded, each gathering their focus in vigilance.
Yet apart from being attacked by those beasts when they drew near the stone wall, the three of them suffered no other molestation. It seemed that although these creatures were fierce, they had no power of flight, and so could only remain within their caves. Steering his flight with care, Zhang Qingyue thought to himself: These beasts cannot fly—so upon this sheer cliff, how ever do they hunt for their food?
In this manner the three descended several more yards. By now, from the cliff of the Black Stone Cave, they had delved at least a hundred yards into the earth, and yet looking below, this vast and gloomy black abyss, save for the glimmer of those strange creatures' eyes around them, remained profound and bottomless.
And what differed even more from all they had known was this: below in the abyss there was no sense of chill at all—on the contrary, the temperature here was far higher than upon the surface of the Black Stone Cave, so that Zhang Qingyue now even felt himself on the verge of sweating. Yet all around was still pitch black, without the slightest trace of spark or heat, which was utterly bizarre.
Steering his Demon-Breaking Staff, Shi Tou, as he descended slowly, suddenly let out a curse: "Damn it all, that dead fox—found herself such a queer place for a den."
Zhang Qingyue thought little of it, but then he heard Bili, not far to his side, give a soft "pfft" and laugh low. The laugh was clear and pleasing; though she kept her voice down, in that still space it seemed to carry far.
He looked toward her, and in the soft white halo of the Heartbreak Flower he saw Bili smiling like a blossom, tenderness brimming in her brows and eyes. Just then she seemed to sense something too, and turned to look at Zhang Qingyue. Their eyes met, and Zhang Qingyue's heart gave a leap; he hastily turned his head away again.