Chapter 100 — The Dark Serpent
劍問蒼天 · Page 1 of 7
The wind passed through, and countless flowers swayed all at once.
Lu Xueling stood in the sea of blossoms, expressionless, silently watching Ming Li where he had come to rest opposite her.
A faint, hidden fragrance drifted on the air.
Ming Li gave a slight shrug, and Xiao Hui sprang from his shoulder in a flash. The monkey looked wide-eyed at his master, cast a glance toward Lu Xueling across the way, scratched his head, and then ran off to one side on his own.
Ming Li's gaze settled on the towering stone gate behind Lu Xueling. All at once he smiled. "So this is what we've been looking for?"
Lu Xueling stood before the gate. She did not smile, nor did she speak; only her face seemed somewhat pale, and no one could tell what she was thinking.
Ming Li walked slowly forward. "What I want," he said lightly, "is inside."
"Clang!"
The Heaven-Cutting Divine Sword lay across the space between them like a river of autumn water, mirroring both their figures, swaying gently.
Ming Li stopped walking.
Lu Xueling raised her head slowly, her face as pale as frost, yet in that pallor she resembled all the more one of the celestial maidens of the Ninth Heaven, untouched by the mortal world, of a beauty beyond all measure. Even the words she spoke now carried a chill to the bone: "I will not let this strange treasure fall into the hands of the demon cult, to be used to harm more innocent lives."
Ming Li looked at her—looked at her deeply.
The woman was as beautiful and cold as she had been in those years; time had carved not the slightest mark upon her. But in her heart?
He had changed. Had anything in the depths of this woman's heart changed as well?
He suddenly laughed—but amid the laughter his gaze slowly turned cold. Smiling, he said, "Is that so? Then this is most unfortunate. It happens that I intend to take this unknown treasure, and after that, to kill even more people!"
Lu Xueling's body trembled faintly. She stared at the man before her and said nothing more; only her grip on the Heaven-Cutting Sword tightened a fraction more.
From somewhere far off, a faint roar suddenly came—a sound rising from the depths of the mist beneath their feet, seeming still very distant, like the bellow of some wild beast.
A moment later, Ming Li and Lu Xueling both sensed it at once: within the trunk of this true heaven-scraping tree beneath their feet, a faint tremor suddenly passed.
Ming Li and Lu Xueling both shifted expression slightly. This wondrous tree was vast beyond all reckoning, surpassing even ordinary mountain ranges; to shake the tree itself—why, even the thought of trying to shake it seemed inconceivable.
But what manner of figures were these two, that the movement beneath their feet could escape them? Clearly some immense upheaval had suddenly occurred down in the mist below, and some tremendous force, unknown to them, was capable of shaking this tree.
At the thought, both being quick of perception, they understood at once: this upheaval must surely be connected to the Heavenly Emperor's Treasure Vault before them.
At that very moment, the first ray of sunlight from the horizon slanted down and fell upon the sea of flowers some three feet from the stone gate.
Ming Li stirred and made to act, but Lu Xueling's bright eyes flashed; she brought the Heaven-Cutting Divine Sword across her breast and barred his way in front of the stone gate of the Heavenly Emperor's Treasure Vault.
Ming Li's gaze sharpened, a red gleam seeming to flicker in his eyes. "I do not wish to fight you," he said in a low voice. "Stand aside."
Lu Xueling looked straight into his eyes, betraying not the slightest intention of yielding. "Kill me," she said calmly, "and of course you may pass."
The red light in Ming Li's eyes flared. Suddenly he gave a long cry, leapt into the air, and blazed all over with a dark blue radiance, fierce and overwhelming.