Chapter 94 — Strange Blooms
The Sword Questions the Heavens · Page 3 of 7
Behind him still rose that immense wall of miasma. By all ordinary reckoning, the foul vapors of common mountains and ill-omened waters would subside and fall still once rain came, yet this venomous miasma within the Dead Marsh seemed not to fear the rain at all. Let the wind blow and the rain beat, it stood towering and unmoved.
Ming Li slowly turned his head and looked ahead. Within the inner marsh, unexpectedly, grew a dense forest. As far as the eye could see, amid the bitter wind and driving rain, the woods spread endlessly, no telling how far. And the rain was heavy; though visibility was far better than in the miasma, he still could not see very far.
"Chee-chee, chee-chee!"
Suddenly the branches beside him rustled, and Xiao Hui—who had slipped away earlier—came bounding back along the boughs and in two or three leaps landed on Ming Li's shoulder. In its hands were several wild fruits, plucked from who knew where. It bared its teeth in a grin and handed one to Ming Li, while clutching three or four more in its own paws and stuffing them into its mouth.
Ming Li smiled faintly, took it, and bit into it. It tasted green and astringent, yet had a flavor all its own.
By now the rain was growing heavier and the thunder unceasing. Ming Li did not use his artifact to ward it off, letting the rain soak him through. Xiao Hui sat on his shoulder, its fur gradually growing wet, but it seemed not to care in the least, concerned only with the fruit by its mouth, munching away happily with a "chomp-chomp." Its long tail swayed to and fro behind Ming Li, back and forth, back and forth—a rather amusing sight.
Ming Li slowly finished the fruit in his hand, then suddenly said softly, "Xiao Hui, you recognized her too, didn't you?"
Xiao Hui, still chewing its fruit, mumbled something indistinct, its monkey eyes darting a few glances at Ming Li.
Ming Li did not seem to expect any answer from the monkey. He only went on, as though to himself, "Why didn't she kill me? Doesn't she hate the demon cult above all else?"
"Boom!"
Xiao Hui did not answer, but a thunderclap rang out across the sky.
Ming Li slowly raised his head to the heavens. The rain filled the air, like knives, like swords, myriad and countless, pouring down...
His body gave a slight shudder, and suddenly his thoughts went flying, as though he had returned to that night in his youth, when he and that kind-faced old monk had stood outside the village and the monk had spoken to him in a calm, gentle voice.
That scene was carved into the depths of his heart. All these years, it had not faded in the slightest.
His hands clenched, his nails digging deep into his palms, and even his body began to tremble with agitation. At that moment, the Soul Devourer nestled in his sleeve, as always, began to glow almost at the same instant, and the familiar chill coursed through his whole body. The murderous malevolence of the Blood-Devouring Bead seemed to gather little by little in his eyes.
On his shoulder, Xiao Hui gave an uneasy cry.
In the sky, a bolt of lightning split the heavens. Ming Li gave a fierce whistle and sprang into the air. Mid-flight, crimson light blazed from his whole body; he stretched out his right arm, and the Soul Devourer was already in his hand. The dark-green radiance gathered in the rain into a huge blade of light, and came crashing down.
By now his eyes were full of blood-red light, his face all killing intent, his features contorted, a low growl in his throat like a wild beast.
The vast green blade came sweeping down, and the great tree he had been standing on a moment before was split clean in two from top to bottom, crashing down to either side.
Boom!
Another thunderclap rolled across the sky.
Xiao Hui leapt aside and watched him in silence.
Ming Li knelt on one knee in the filthy, rain-soaked mud, his right hand gripping the Soul Devourer, his whole body trembling, a savage light flickering in his eyes, while his face was full of agony.