Chapter 144 — An Encounter
The Sword Questions the Heavens · Page 5 of 8
A soft whistle of air being split, and Mingli's figure streaked across the night sky. The clouds above were heavy and sunken, not a single glimmer of starlight to be seen. It seemed even the vault of heaven had been affected by that great calamity in the south, dark and gloomy, offering not a shred of hope.
Having left Zhou Yixuan and the others, Mingli flew alone southward for some time. But in this night sky, beneath these dark clouds, everywhere he looked were somber, lightless lands. Below the canopy stretched wastes and linked mountains, cold and desolate. Even aloft, a man felt utterly empty, not knowing where he ought to go.
Little Grey on his shoulder suddenly cried out twice. Mingli glanced at it and saw three eyes looking back at him, Little Grey grinning. For it, it seemed, most of the time was happy. A rare smile and a look of tenderness surfaced on Mingli's face. He gently stroked the monkey's head, then sank downward, descending to the ground.
The place he landed was a wild, high mountain covered in dense forest. The vegetation grew thick, the underbrush close-packed; there was scarcely room in the woods to set a foot. Likely no one had ever come to this mountain, this forest, in all this desolation. Mingli's expression was placid. He landed in the woods, and before his feet touched ground his right hand flicked; the Soul-Devouring Demon Staff flew from his sleeve and circled once beneath his feet. No strange sound was heard, and in the blink of an eye every tree, shrub, and thorn within a six-foot radius suddenly withered away, turning to dead branches in an instant.
As the Soul-Devourer flew back into his hand, Mingli clearly felt wisps of thin, icy breath coursing through the black shaft. Little Grey gave a delighted cry, leaped from his shoulder, and ran deep into the forest. Mingli lifted his head and watched Little Grey's receding back. Ever since that trip to the southern borderlands—especially after Little Grey's transformation—its appetite had begun to swell rapidly; it was always thinking of food.
The night was deep. The night wind blew in from the open wilds, sweeping over this stretch of mountain forest; the woods gave forth a sound like rolling waves, and countless shadows swayed together. Mingli slowly sat down on the ground and gradually closed his eyes. The shadows of the trees swept across his face. In the darkness, he was like a silent, brooding spirit.
How long passed, he did not know. From somewhere far off came a faint, low growl, then it vanished without a trace. Mingli frowned slightly and opened his eyes, but did not move. Sure enough, moments later the underbrush nearby rustled, and the monkey Little Grey came running back.
The sharp, vexing thorns seemed not to exist at all in Little Grey's eyes; often it simply trampled straight through them. It ran up close, and Mingli saw clearly that one of its hands was pressed to its chest—it was indeed clutching several wild fruits—while the other hand dragged behind it, as though hauling something along.
Mingli could not help but find it strange. He glanced behind the monkey and was rather startled. There in the shadows, Little Grey was actually dragging back something shaped like an animal, and by the look of it not a small one—much larger than Little Grey—yet Little Grey hauled it with perfect ease. Moments later Little Grey had run up close. With a chuckle it first set down the wild fruits, then swung its hand. With a muffled thud, a great mass crashed to the ground before them.
It was a full-grown wild boar, enormous—standing, it would likely have been taller than Little Grey. But now the boar's head had a hole broken in it, its body was bleeding, and it was already dead. Mingli looked at the wound; it was still fresh. He paused a moment, then said to Little Grey, "You caught this?"
Little Grey grinned, pointed at the boar, then pointed at Mingli.
Mingli sighed and smiled. "I'm not hungry."