Chapter 115 — Hope
The Sword Questions the Heavens · Page 4 of 6
That garment was plainly a man's robe. The night before, she had seen Ming Li wearing it, and now Ming Li no longer had an outer robe.
Light flickered in Jin Pingyue's eyes, and she suddenly smiled. "This elder sister is so very beautiful—how is it I have never seen her in all these days?"
With that, she looked at Ming Li with a half-smile. "I have often heard tell that you and Miss Bi Li were deeply in love—that Miss Bi Li, for your sake, did not hesitate to scatter her very soul, throwing herself before the 'Immortal-Slaying Marvelous Sword'; and that you, for her sake, betrayed the Azure Cloud Sect, entered the Holy Church, and aided its lord, the Nether King, in his campaigns on all sides, slaying men beyond count. And further, that for ten years you have braved danger to penetrate deep into the Ten Thousand Savage Mountains of the southern wilds, seeking a way to heal Miss Bi Li. All this—how could the women of this world not be moved and enamored?"
Her voice grew softer and more alluring, her expression gentler still, but then her words took a turn: "Only time is heartless, and the years bear witness; what is past is past. That you, Young Master, have found a new companion—this calls for congratulation. Heh, one of these days let me go in person to Mount Fox Ridge and offer my respects to the Nether King."
Ming Li's face turned grim and cold; at the latter words his expression grew colder still. But he only gave a cold snort and said nothing at all.
It was the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox, Little White, who looked at Ming Li, then at Jin Pingyue standing opposite, and suddenly laughed. "You misunderstand, Miss. The truth is, last night this humble girl met some ruffians and was nearly carried off and violated by them. Fortunately this Young Master Ming Li happened to be passing and came to my aid, and so I escaped by mere luck. As for these clothes I wear, the Young Master lent them to me for the time being to preserve my modesty."
Jin Pingyue turned her eyes to Little White. With her experience and discernment, how could she believe such nonsense? And looking at Little White's smiling face, did she look in the least like someone who had just been threatened by ruffians the night before? In Jin Pingyue's eyes, if any blind fool of a bandit in this world ran into the woman before her, he would most likely…
Jin Pingyue shook her head slightly and could not be bothered to dwell on the matter. Only, unable to resist, she stole a few more glances at Little White, whose beauty was no less than her own, then turned back to Ming Li. "Young Master, last night in the Burning Cloud Valley, did you discover anything?"
Ming Li said lightly, "Nothing. Shortly after I entered last night, the volcano erupted, and I withdrew." He paused, then said to Jin Pingyue, "You slipped toward the noisy place at the valley mouth last night—was anything the matter there? Did you discover anything about the relation between those fish-men and the Burning Cloud Valley?"
Jin Pingyue smiled faintly, entirely at ease, and shook her head with a sigh. "Most unlucky—I discovered nothing either. The noise at the valley mouth last night was a few of their disciples quarreling. As for those fish-men, I have not a single clue!"
Ming Li frowned and fell silent.
Jin Pingyue pondered a moment, then turned and glanced at Little White a few more times. A smile surfaced on her face, and she said to Ming Li, "Since you have a beauty for company, Young Master, I suppose I should not stay here and be an eyesore. Let us part here. Perhaps before long, if fate allows, I shall meet you again in these southern lands."
With that, she smiled at Little White, waved her sleeve, and with a flash of light turned into a yellow gleam that flew up into the sky.