Chapter 63 — The Ghost King
劍問蒼天 · Page 1 of 6
Leaving aside for the moment Zhang Qingyue's start of surprise at suddenly catching sight of Bili, the whole crowd of Demonic sect adherents who had been making such a clamor a moment before fell silent the instant Bili appeared, as though they stood in considerable awe of her. Even the Wild Wolf Daoist, who looked as though he feared neither heaven nor earth, had now fallen quiet.
For a time, no one dared speak to her at all. But after a moment, someone was heard to cough softly twice, and then say slowly: "Miss Bili, I have a few words to say. I do not know whether I ought to speak them or not."
Zhang Qingyue looked over and saw that the speaker was none other than the unfamiliar young man who stood with Elder Nian and the others. At that moment Elder Nian and his companions wore expressions of astonishment as well, as though they too had not expected this young man to speak up so suddenly.
Elder Nian knit his brows and said to the young man in a low voice: "Little Zhou, what business have you to speak here?"
Bili glanced at the young man, and seemed not to know him either. She said to Elder Nian: "Who is he?"
Elder Nian hastily put on a smiling face and said: "He is a man newly taken in by our Blood Refining Hall. His surname is Zhou, his given name Cai."
Bili gave a cold snort. "Fine. Let him speak."
The young man called Little Zhou showed no sign of stage fright. He stepped forward and said calmly: "Miss Bili, everyone here knows that you are the Ghost King's only beloved daughter, and so we all hold you in respect. And when the Ghost King summoned us to come and seek the Kui Ox, we of course counted it our duty not to decline. Only—" He paused, and a faint, mild smile appeared on his face, but his words gradually grew colder: "Only now the Kui Ox cannot be found, and the adherents of the righteous path grow more numerous by the day. I hear that even two of the Canglan Sect's Seven Great Seats have come. We are even less a match for them. In such a situation, the Ghost King Sect still leaves us toiling blindly here without a word of explanation. I fear some of our fellow adherents must ask: does the Ghost King Sect mean to borrow the righteous path's hand to rid itself of us instead?"
The crowd broke into an uproar. Several men beside Bili sprang to their feet—by the look of them, they were almost certainly of the Ghost King Sect among the Demonic sect. Yet apart from those few of the Ghost King Sect, not one of the other Demonic adherents, after their first astonishment, accused the young man. Instead, every one of them turned their eyes toward Bili, wariness on their faces, and the low murmur of discussion rose on every side.
Zhang Qingyue could not help feeling some concern for Bili, and at the same time thought to himself: how could this young man surnamed Zhou speak in such a way? They are all of the Demonic sect, and there are so many factions among them—could it be that the Ghost King Sect ordinarily...
He was still turning this over when Bili's cold voice came from the midst of the gathering: "Who exactly are you, to dare stir up dissension here?"
Little Zhou smiled faintly. Facing this beautiful woman of such high station, he showed not the slightest fear, and said mildly: "I am only a nameless junior. I joined because I admired the Holy Sect. Compared with Miss Bili, I am as heaven to earth. Only, now the righteous path watches us like a tiger, eager to kill us and be done with it, and the Ghost King Sect is one of the four great factions of our sect. Here and now, it is our leader—yet it sets us in a place of peril and pays us no heed. I fear that is hard to justify."