劍問蒼天 - 第62章 魔教 - 翰墨軒

Zhang Qingyue slowly raised his head, and slowly, slowly, a faint smile appeared on his face—only one did not know why his lips seemed faintly to tremble. Softly he said: "Senior sister, we are flying too fast. Why not wait for eldest senior brother and the others?"

Tian Lingsu gave a humph and said carelessly: "Never mind them. Let us just follow this stream! Upstream, to see whether there are any Demonic Cult wretches about, and while we are at it—" She covered her mouth and laughed softly. "While we are at it, let us see whether there are any prettier stones."

What was this, that felt like the burning of the body?

What was this, that brought the urge to throw back one's head and howl at the sky?

So it was that the demon fire of the Nine Hells burned within the heart, searing the soul within the body, thread by thread, without mercy.

He bowed his head low, and his voice had grown somewhat strangely hoarse. Softly he said: "Very well!"

The Amber Red Silk coiled at her waist, setting off her red figure and making her all the more beautiful. The two of them followed the stream and walked on another half hour.

Along the way Tian Lingsu was relaxed and cheerful, gazing all about, while Zhang Qingyue followed silently behind her.

The stream looked small, yet its length was considerable; after walking so long they still had not come to its source. Ahead they saw another low hill, and where it curved there was a ravine, and it was from there that the stream flowed out.

Tian Lingsu had walked half the day and was somewhat tired, so she turned to Zhang Qingyue and said: "Xiaofan, it is getting late. Let us go and have a look past this ravine, and if we still find nothing, we will go back."

Zhang Qingyue nodded silently.

Tian Lingsu looked at her little junior brother a couple of times more, a little puzzled at heart, but she did not take it to mind, and turning, walked on ahead.

The two soon reached the bend of the ravine, and looking in, they were startled. Behind the cliff wall ahead was a great cave, by the look of it fully ten yards high, and it was from this cave that the stream flowed out. Because the cliff wall blocked the view, one could not see this cave from the air—nor even from somewhat farther off on the ground nearby—so it was well hidden indeed.

Tian Lingsu frowned and said to Zhang Qingyue: "Shall we go in and have a look?"

Zhang Qingyue glanced at the cave. Apart from a little light at the entrance, the depths were pitch black, and his heart grew uneasy.

In these days past, especially since he had come down from the mountain, he had entered two caves—one the Ten Thousand Bats Grotto of Kongsang Mountain, the other the Black Stone Cave outside Xiaochi Town—and he had good impressions of neither. Now, seeing this cave, he felt an instinctive distaste. And his mood at present was truly foul, so he said: "Senior sister, this cave does not look as though anyone lives in it. Why not go back?"

Tian Lingsu nodded and said, "All right! That is what I was thinking too. Then let us..."

She had barely spoken half of it when suddenly a rushing sound came from above their heads, and a moment later a ceaseless *swish-swish* filled the air—a great many people were flying toward this place.

Zhang Qingyue and Tian Lingsu looked up at once, and after a moment their faces went pale. The garments of that crowd in the sky marked them as followers of the Demonic Sect, and by a rough count they numbered no fewer than several dozen.

The two exchanged a look of dismay. Tian Lingsu, being the quicker of wit, knew that the Demonic Sect had no shortage of masters, and that if they rashly took flight now, they would have little hope of slipping away. In that desperate moment she could only gamble: she seized Zhang Qingyue's hand, and the two of them ran into the dark cavern.

Darkness swallowed their two figures whole.