Chapter 106 — The Ancient Temple
The Sword Questions the Heavens · Page 5 of 7
The mysterious one gave a snort and said a few words of "jijijiji." The middle-aged man nodded to the old man and said, "The clan chief agrees, and says that three days hence we shall meet again here."
The old man nodded, and was about to say something more, when the mysterious one turned on his heel and strode straight out, not favoring them with another glance—haughty and rude in the extreme.
The old man's expression changed; he glared at the mysterious one's retreating back, his face full of anger. The middle-aged man hurriedly tugged at him, shaking his head again and again. The old man glanced at him, and only then restrained himself.
After the tall figure of the mysterious one had vanished into the darkness, the old man suddenly spat. "Pah! What a thing—nothing but a pack of beasts!"
The middle-aged man said with a placating smile, "Martial Uncle, pray do not be angry. Do not lower yourself to their level."
The old man gave a cold laugh. "I cannot be bothered with them." Then he turned and glanced at him. "By the way, Sun Tu—you lived among those beasts for three years to learn their bird-talk; I fear you suffered a great deal?"
The middle-aged man called Sun Tu smiled and said, "This disciple owes the sect a deep debt of gratitude, but alas my talents are shallow, and I have long grieved that I could not repay the Valley Master's and my martial uncles' great kindness. Now that this chance has come, how dare I not do my utmost!"
At the words "Valley Master," Ming Li felt a sudden chill at heart.
The martial uncle, however, smiled, seeming much approving, and reached out to pat Sun Tu on the shoulder. Then of a sudden he gave another cold laugh. "It is well that the Valley Master knows me for the steady man I am, and so sent me to meet these beasts. Had that old fellow Shangguan Lue come, would he not have ruined everything on the spot!"
Sun Tu gave a dry laugh, his expression somewhat odd; he murmured assent, yet seemed not to dare speak a word against that Shangguan Lue behind his back.
Hidden nearby, Ming Li now had no further doubt. Shangguan Lue was one of the foremost figures in the southern Burning Mist Valley; though he never walked the world, his fearsome name was long since established. Especially in the great battle at Qingyun ten years ago, when the Lord of the Underworld had laid a cunning scheme, sending Zhou Yin disguised as Shangguan Lue to strike down the monks of the Brahma Sound Temple—the trick had succeeded at a stroke and nearly put the two great sects of Qingyun and Tianyin to death. At that time Ming Li had still been a Qingyun disciple named Zhang Qingyue, present on the field, and so the name was deeply imprinted on his memory.
Hearing the two call the mysterious one "beast" at every turn, the identity of that mysterious one now seemed ready to leap from the page—save that the lineage of Burning Mist Valley, ever so righteous, now betrayed an inconceivable air of evil.
Ming Li watched the two men in the great hall coldly, and in the darkness a cold, contemptuous smile came to his lips.
Within the hall, the two conferred a few more words. Sun Tu blew out the lamp in the great hall with one breath, and the two made for the outside, plainly intending to leave this place. Ming Li frowned in the shadows, and as he stood pondering, suddenly from outside the ancient temple came a strange, savage roar!
Everyone in the temple started in alarm; the old man and Sun Tu halted at once.
The sound was shrill and furious, and seemed to carry a note of panic; yet it sounded like the roar of some savage beast rather than a human cry. But Ming Li, after a moment's discernment, at once made out that it seemed to come from the mysterious figure wrapped in the cloak from before, and his brows knitted. At the same moment the old man and Sun Tu recognized it too; their faces changed drastically, and they sprang into the air together, flying out of the temple.