Chapter 109 — The Mystic Fire Altar
劍問蒼天 · Page 1 of 6
Ming Li dumped the dead grey dolphin in the corner of the wall, then carefully examined the burrow it had occupied. Sure enough, he found an exceedingly fine thread running out of the hole and connecting to a bell some distance away. No doubt his and Jinpingyue's repeated failed infiltrations over the past few days had all been discovered by this tiny grey dolphin.
He had once read a record in the Netherworld Cult's secret cache of fragmented scrolls, the "Chronicle of Gods and Demons," describing how the grey dolphin's nose was extraordinarily keen, far surpassing any ordinary creature in the world. These past days he had tried every means to conceal his form, never imagining it would be this little beast that discovered him.
Yet though he had worked out this point, Ming Li's brows knitted at once. Standing in the dark corner by the wall, he fell into silent thought. This strange beast, the grey dolphin, was no ancient divine creature, but it was still rare in the world; he had only ever heard it said that they existed in a certain forest deep within the Ten Thousand Savage Mountains of the southern frontier. That such a beast should be in the Burning Cloud Valley, and that, judging by his attempts to enter the valley from many different places over the past days—every one of them discovered without exception—there must be no small number of grey dolphins in the valley, was truly astonishing.
But the most crucial matter was that so many grey dolphins had been trained simultaneously to such a degree. Such wondrous beast-taming skill was unheard of even among the demon cults, to say nothing of the orthodox sects of the Central Plains. Yet legend had it that the savage tribes of the southern frontier possessed a good many such uncanny arts!
Ming Li raised his eyes and turned to look ahead. He suddenly noticed that despite the clamor rising in the distance, the depths of the Burning Cloud Valley remained utterly still, shrouded in a heavy darkness like a black curtain, and who knew how many secrets it concealed.
The clamor at the valley entrance gradually subsided. From afar he could hear someone speaking loudly, but all sound of fighting had vanished; clearly the Burning Cloud Valley side had regained control of the situation.
Who on earth would dare provoke the Burning Cloud Valley so openly? Ming Li withdrew his gaze from the valley entrance, and Jinpingyue's figure flitted unbidden through his mind. That mysterious, bewitching woman was probably still in the midst of that chaos!
By now Ming Li had already slipped from his hiding corner deep into the interior of the Burning Cloud Valley. Along the way there was no more of the alarm-bell ringing triggered by the grey dolphins; presumably the valley had distributed these keen-nosed little beasts at every edge and corner, and once one reached the middle of the valley, there was no longer any need to worry about them.
The night was deep, and the valley, just now quieted from its clamor, seemed especially secluded. As Ming Li's ghostlike figure drifted along the pavilions and paths within the valley, the world beneath that black curtain gradually revealed itself.
The Burning Cloud Valley claimed to be a pillar of the orthodox way under heaven. Though it ordinarily kept a low profile, it was after all a great sect eight hundred years in prosperity, and what appeared step by step along this route was the very foundation of its house.