Chapter 109 — The Mystic Fire Altar
劍問蒼天 · Page 4 of 6
Yan Fei smiled faintly. "Senior Brother, these savages must still have some use, which is why the Valley Master tolerates them somewhat. When the time comes..." Here she suddenly stopped, but her eyes rested on Li Xun as though they held a thousand more words.
Li Xun curled the corner of his mouth; a hint of defiance showed on his handsome face, which from a distance only added to his elegance. But he said nothing more, only sighed softly, and he and Yan Fei slowly turned onto a small path beside them, vanishing into the night after a moment.
In the shadows, a gaze sharp as a knife watched their receding backs. Ming Li's thoughts raced. So the ones who had invaded the Burning Cloud Valley tonight were none other than the fish-man tribe he had been investigating. He recalled the night three days ago, when he had overheard Lü Shun talking with that fish-man in the dark; that tall fish-man seemed to be the head of a tribe.
It seemed tonight's affair was most likely vengeance: the fish-man chieftain had been sniped by Jinpingyue, and the remaining fish-men had come in fury to retaliate. At the thought, Jinpingyue's figure flitted through Ming Li's mind once more, and his wariness of the woman deepened another degree.
He stood in the shadows a moment, then seemed to reach a decision and glanced at Little Grey in his arms. Little Grey blinked, then suddenly stirred and darted up onto his shoulder with a grin—it appeared fully recovered.
Ming Li relaxed and smiled faintly. "Let's go see what sort of figure this Uncle-Master Shangguan is. How about it?"
Little Grey gave two squeaks and waved a paw, pointing toward the path Li Xun and Yan Fei had taken.
Ming Li smiled soundlessly in the dark. His figure rose suddenly, swift as a ghost, and he was gone down the quiet little path.
In the distance, a Burning Cloud Valley disciple was walking this way when he suddenly felt his eyes blur—it seemed a ghostly shadow had flickered across the road ahead leading to the valley's vital ground, the Mystic Fire Altar. When he looked again in earnest, there was nothing to be seen. He could not help but pause, then shook his head, muttered a word, and continued on his way, giving the matter no further thought.
The little path was secluded, and unexpectedly long, clearly showing that Uncle-Master Shangguan's abode was very remote. Ming Li had not gone far along it when he could no longer see any other buildings around him; both sides of the road were given over to trees, grasses, and flowers. The night wind blew, and beneath the faint moonlight in the sky the tree shadows swayed like dancing demons and monsters, betraying a hint of the uncanny.
Ming Li carefully made his way along the path. After walking a good while, he saw no forks such as there had been outside; evidently this path led straight to Uncle-Master Shangguan's dwelling.
The Burning Cloud Valley covered an enormous area, and this little path, twisting and turning, led deeper still into the valley.
Suddenly a white, square object appeared beside the road ahead. Ming Li's gaze sharpened; looking closely, he saw it was a stone tablet carved with two lines of characters:
Mystic Fire Restricted Ground
Disciples Halt Here
Ming Li's brows knit—not because he hesitated before what might be some mysterious place of the Burning Cloud Valley, but because the two words "Mystic Fire" had quietly stirred something in his heart.
He could not help glancing at his right arm. Beneath the cloth, the Mystic Fire Mirror lay quietly upon his arm.
He was dazed a moment, then gave a cold laugh and stepped past the stone tablet.
The tablet looked ordinary enough, but it seemed to mark a boundary. After passing it, for some reason, though the path still wound on as before, the trees and grasses along both sides were noticeably sparser.