劍問蒼天 - 第52章 火龍 - 翰墨軒

Zhou Yixuan nodded. "The Burning Cloud Valley commands immense power. In the world of cultivation it ranks alongside the Canglan Sect and the Brahma Voice Temple as one of the three great orthodox schools, and it boasts no small number of masters. Word has it that of late two outstanding disciples have emerged there—again a man and a woman. The man is called Li Xun, the woman Yan Fei. Judging by the magical artifacts the two of them just used, it is most likely those two."

Xiaowan glanced down toward the cliff and could not help worrying. "Then those three who went down just now..."

Zhou Yixuan shrugged and drew Xiaowan outward as he walked. "That is none of our concern. In any case, with all this commotion tonight, we will not be able to claim any advantage. Ah, what a pity."

Xiaowan gave a soft laugh and said nothing, following her grandfather outward.

Only the space beneath the cliff remained pitch-black, and the figures of Li Xun and Yan Fei had long since vanished.

Zhang Qingyue stood in the darkness. Apart from the ever-rising heat around him and the eyes of monsters that fixed on him from time to time, he truly felt as though he had returned to the Abyss of the Dead.

The caves around them grew larger and larger; by now most of the entrances stood a good height and a half, even two men tall, and the monsters within grew fiercer and more enormous still—yet the empty caves multiplied as well. And that reek of blood in the air seemed to grow ever thicker.

He even, during this descent, faintly heard from some unknown place a soft sound of chewing, as though some nameless giant beast were tearing and gulping down its food—the sound enough to make one's hair stand on end.

And so it was, at this delicate moment when everyone had drawn taut every muscle and could almost hear their own heartbeats, that suddenly, from the darkness below, Zhang Qingyue felt a violent gust of wind sweep past beneath his feet.

Almost by instinct, his mind moved and his will followed; in the instant the wind touched his body, the Dark Iron Staff shifted three feet to the side with lightning speed.

"Crack!"

With a great report, faintly lit by the dim glow, something deep in the darkness—something immeasurably vast, like a tentacle—lashed past Zhang Qingyue like a whip and struck the pitch-black stone wall with tremendous force.

The whole cliff seemed to shudder; dust flew up in a clattering cloud, and stones large and small came tumbling down. A moment later, a shrill shriek suddenly rose from the abyss, from the face of the stone wall, and would not cease. Zhang Qingyue and the others were greatly startled and looked back, only to see that gigantic tentacle, ghastly as a fiend, had plunged into a huge cave in the cliff; after thrashing and convulsing a few times, it drew back out.

Zhang Qingyue sucked in a breath of cold air and felt a reeking wind strike his face. A massive five-eyed saber-toothed tiger had been seized by that enormous tentacle and dragged bodily out of the cave. Though the beast bared its fangs and claws and roared without end, its body—twice the size of an ordinary man—was, beside that inconceivable tentacle, as tiny and helpless as an infant.

Once the tentacle had its prey, it shot back down into the darkness below, vanishing in an instant, leaving behind only the tiger's shrill, despairing roars.

All three halted in their tracks and exchanged pallid looks—Bili especially, whose face had gone even whiter.

Below their feet the darkness lay heavy and deep, bottomless and unfathomable; who could say how many horrors still lurked within it?

After a moment, Shi Tou cleared his throat and was about to speak, when Bili, sharp-eyed, suddenly cried out, "Below—look out!"