Chapter 160 — The Recluse
The Sword Questions the Heavens · Page 6 of 9
When the urgent report of Xiao Yichen and the others' hurried return arrived, the gathered orthodox cultivators in the Yuheng Hall atop Jietian Peak of Canglan Mountain all fell silent for a time.
Stillness settled over the vast hall. What was fated to come had come at last.
Daoist Priest Daoyan rose slowly, his countenance grave, and said in a measured voice, "Fellow cultivators, the fate of all living things under heaven rests here. As things stand, the beast-demons hold He Yin City and will attack Qingyun before many days pass. I have no further words to offer—please return and rest well. On the day to come, we shall fight the beast-demons to the death."
The crowd exchanged glances; after a moment they slowly rose to their feet. A low murmur of private talk gradually filled the Yuheng Hall, and amid that subdued hum the people filed out one by one. Daoyan turned to Master Pucheng and Yun Yifeng, seated beside him, and said, "You two should rest as well. I have a small matter to discuss with the other senior masters of the Canglan Sect."
Master Pucheng and Yun Yifeng both stood and returned the courtesy. "As you wish, Priest."
Daoyan returned the salute, exchanged a word with Xiao Yichen, and Xiao Yichen hurried to follow him into the rear hall, where somewhere within, the other senior masters and elders of the Canglan Sect were already waiting for them. Lin Jinghong watched them go, then stepped out of the Yuheng Hall alone and strolled to the railing outside, where he leaned and looked out. The vault of heaven was ink-black, the dark clouds heavy and sunken, without a sliver of light. The mountain wind cut like a knife, moaning as it blew, stinging his face.
He stood there in silence, and all unbidden his mind turned again to that mysterious slip of paper and the baffling four characters upon it:
Fire in the rear court...
Fire in the rear court, fire in the rear court? What fire in the rear court? Countless thoughts churned through Lin Jinghong's mind, and at last they slowly gathered to a single point—the slightly stunned words of Xiao Yichen echoing at his ear: "What's happened to the back mountain, Junior Brother Lin..."
The back mountain?
Lin Jinghong's brow furrowed once more. Though his eyes lit up, he slowly shook his head and fell to puzzling again. How long he stood lost in thought he did not know; when he came to himself, he found no one left around him. Lin Jinghong sighed and walked slowly down the steps.
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Ever since the beast-demons appeared, the Canglan Sect had strengthened the guard of Canglan Mountain, especially the front slopes—no one knew when those countless savage beasts might suddenly come charging up. Yet Canglan Mountain had always been perilous, and Jietian Peak in particular towered into the clouds, easy to hold and hard to take. To cultivators of accomplished Dao these heights were no great obstacle, but to the many beast-demons that could not fly they were superb natural barriers.
Yet the beast-demons had always swept all before them wherever they went, and countless appalling rumors surrounded them. No one could be sure they had no unexpected means of attack, and what was more, no one to this day knew the true depths of that legendary Beast Lord—all of which deepened everyone's misgivings.
Compared with the front slopes, the back mountain of the Canglan Sect was almost entirely sheer cliff and precipice, impassable even to apes. Even so, the sect still posted many disciples to patrol the skies on their swords, just in case. There was one curious thing, however: near the sect's forbidden ground, the Illusory Moon Grotto-Heaven, and around the Ancestral Master Hall at its very edge, there were remarkably few Qingyun disciples on guard—as though the Canglan Sect had no worry at all about these two places.