Chapter 122 — The Altar
劍問蒼天 · Page 5 of 7
Little Grey raced all the way and at last caught up with Ming Li and the others before the altar, panting and puffing.
Ming Li turned and glanced at it. The monkey had its mouth open and tongue out, gasping for breath, yet its paws still clutched two wine sacks tightly. He stared a moment, then after a moment shook his head and turned away.
Tu Magu gestured toward the altar and said, "Come with me."
Ming Li nodded and said, "Thank you."
Tu Magu smiled and stepped first into the Miao altar; Ming Li followed behind him and went in as well.
The moment they entered the altar, a gloom settled over them, utterly different from the bright, sunlit world outside. Whether the great shaman had given some instruction, Ming Li could not tell, but along the whole way, neither he nor Tu Magu saw anyone else in the altar.
Xiaobai was brimming with wine, and Ming Li's heart was heavy with care; neither paid heed to their surroundings. Only Little Grey followed behind them, dragging its two great wine sacks, hiccuping every little while, its monkey eyes darting curiously this way and that.
In the gloomy altar, here and there upon the stone walls, hints of red appeared, as though they had been smeared with fresh blood. And in the corners of the stone walls there were often skulls of wild beasts, grim and menacing ornaments.
Little Grey gave a couple of "chi chi" cries, as if uneasy, and quickened its steps to keep close to Ming Li—though the wine sacks in its paws remained tightly held and unlet go.
They met no obstacle along the way, and soon came to the deepest part of the altar, to the stone chamber where the great shaman dwelt.
Ming Li suddenly frowned. Though his heart was somewhat tense at this moment, the chill breath emitted by the Blood-Devouring Pearl within his body had, all unawares, begun to stir. Within this stone chamber there seemed to be some mysterious, unfathomable power that had provoked the Soul-Devourer.
Tu Magu turned and said to Ming Li, "Here we are. The great shaman is inside. Let us go in."
Ming Li nodded and followed Tu Magu into the stone chamber, and at once saw the stooped figure seated before the fire, its back to them.
Tu Magu motioned for them to wait, then went forward himself and halted at the place where he had stood before, saying with great respect, "Great shaman, they have come."
The great shaman's aged voice rose slowly, and what reached Ming Li's ears was, unexpectedly, fluent and impeccable Central Plains speech: "Bring them over. Tu Magu, there is nothing more for you here. You may go."
Tu Magu assented, turned to Ming Li, and said, "Then you may speak with the great shaman. I will go out first."
Ming Li nodded to him and said earnestly, "Chieftain, truly, thank you."
Tu Magu smiled and said, "It is nothing." With that he glanced again at Xiaobai in the crook of Ming Li's arm, thinking to himself that for such a woman to hold her liquor so prodigiously was truly inconceivable. With this thought he slowly walked out.
After Tu Magu's figure had vanished, Ming Li turned and looked ahead.
That stooped back flickered ceaselessly in the firelight, now lit, now shadowed, faintly unreal, steeped in mystery.
He was hesitating over how to begin his plea when the great shaman's voice rang out.
"Young man, come here."
Hearing that aged voice, Ming Li felt a sudden stir of respect. He assented, and supporting Xiaobai, walked slowly forward. Some six feet behind the great shaman he hesitated, then did not go farther, but stood where he was.
Little Grey came up dragging its two great wine sacks, keeping close at Ming Li's heels, its three eyes ceaselessly peering this way and that, surveying the surroundings, until at last its gaze fell upon the strange stone image of the Hound God ahead, and there it stayed, staring without cease.
"Sit," the great shaman's aged voice said quietly.