Chapter 182 — Heaven's Wrath
The Sword Questions the Heavens · Page 5 of 6
Two blazing pillars of light crashed against each other between heaven and earth; the ground and the mountain ranges shook to their roots, countless boulders and stone cliffs split open one after another, and amid the rolling thunder ten thousand beasts wailed, as though the end of the world had come.
That dazzling, unbearable splendor between heaven and earth!
Heaven and earth seemed frozen in place, as though for that single moment.
Upon the Wordless Jade Wall the stone face, once smooth as a mirror, began to crack; from the very center came a crisp "puff," and a small fissure opened, whereupon countless fine seams spread outward from that center in every direction, growing ever wider. At last, amid a welter of shrill shrieking cries, came a thunderous crash, and the huge cliff face burst apart, its broken stones flying, and came toppling down in ruin!
In the sky the vast pillar of light slowly dispersed; the low black clouds seemed to have spent their fury, the wild wind gradually died away, and the thunder slowly fell silent. Then heaven and earth seemed all at once to return to calm; the black clouds scattered, and the peaceful sky slowly brightened.
A figure drifted slowly down from midair. It was Ming Li—though now his face was drenched in blood and he lay unconscious, and what guarded him about his person was a faint and mysterious radiance that, after his body touched the ground, wavered a few times and at last gently dissolved, leaving no trace behind.
The monks of Fan Yin Temple stared dumbstruck at the ruined Wordless Jade Wall before them, and at Ming Li, who had somehow escaped death beneath the heavenly punishment, and not one of them could utter a word.
This sleep seemed again to be a deep and distant slumber.
It seemed that all the while many people came and went around him, very busy; and others spoke beside him, their voices now loud, now soft, and at times it even seemed someone was quarreling. But more often than not, it was quiet.
In that plain and silent stillness he slept, he knew not how long; vaguely he had some sensation of it, yet he never woke.
Perhaps to go on sleeping like this was, after all, what his heart most deeply desired!
Footsteps sounded outside the door. Fa Cheng glanced outward from within the meditation chamber, rose hastily, and pressed his palms together in salute to Master Pu Cheng as he came in through the doorway. Master Pu Cheng nodded, cast a glance at Ming Li still lying on the meditation bed, and said in a low voice, "Is he well?"
Fa Cheng nodded and said, "Since the day he was brought back, Benefactor Zhang has lain in this unbroken stupor. Yet his breathing is calm and even, with no strange signs, and there is no other injury anywhere on his body; by rights he should long since have woken. But for some reason, he simply will not wake from this deep sleep."
Master Pu Cheng was silent a moment, then said, "That he escaped with his life beneath the heavenly punishment and its fierce thunder is a stroke of extraordinary fortune. That heavenly punishment is a majesty of heaven seldom seen in ten thousand years—I never thought it would fall upon him. Could it be... that he truly is some monstrous aberration that even Heaven will not suffer?"
Fa Cheng's expression changed. He stole a glance at Master Pu Cheng and saw that his master's face was grave, but betrayed no other strangeness; only then did he quietly set his suddenly racing heart at ease, and said in a low voice, "Master, have my uncles been arguing with you again?"
Master Pu Cheng gave a bitter laugh, but said nothing.
Fa Cheng fell silent.