劍問蒼天 - 第188章 驚現 - 翰墨軒

Following the customs of the Central Plains, the young Great Shaman likewise bent and returned the bow. Then he lifted the plain box with great care and placed it once more within the Hound God's jaws.

The two sat on the ground beside the fire. The flames mirrored in their eyes, bright in the darkness.

Before Ming Li could ask, the young man said quietly, "I was his disciple in his lifetime. After the terrible calamity passed, all the elder priests here were dead, and so I inherited the position of Great Shaman."

Ming Li nodded silently. His gaze drifted unbidden to the distant image of the Hound God, and he said slowly, "The Great Shaman died in some part for my sake. Whenever I think on it, I am uneasy at heart."

The young Great Shaman inclined himself slightly. "You are mistaken. My master told me long ago that his span of years was spent, that even had he not gone to the Central Plains, death was the only road left him. Rather, it is thanks to your sect that my master's ashes were brought home—and that is a great fortune for all the Miao people."

Ming Li sighed and said in a low voice, "Those deeds were done by other hands with other purposes. They have little to do with me."

The young Great Shaman smiled, plainly unmoved by Ming Li's words. "Yet this time, when you came to our Seven Mile Gorge, I do not know what your purpose is."

Ming Li said, "Nothing else, truly. I came only to pay my respects to the Great Shaman. Beyond that—this calamity was so violent, and I mean to hunt down the Beast Lord who was its chief author. I wonder whether you have any clue to his whereabouts?"

The young Great Shaman's expression shifted slightly; plainly the words "Beast Lord" were still a dreadful and taboo thing to him. He fell silent, and after a long while Ming Li said mildly, "Think nothing of it. Countless people in this world have sought him and failed; it is only natural that you would not know. I have intruded upon you long enough—I shall take my leave."

With that he made to rise. A look of hesitation crossed the young Great Shaman's face, and suddenly he said, "You mean to track down that Beast Lord—is it true?"

Ming Li said, "It is."

The young Great Shaman stared hard at him. "Can you kill him?"

Ming Li was silent a long while. "I cannot be certain."

The young Great Shaman pondered a moment. "Since that is so, I shall tell you what I know.

How the Beast Lord may be found, I do not know. But there is an old legend among my people: that the Beast Lord is a demon, a ghost-thing that cannot be killed—only suppressed and sealed, as the Shamaness did ten thousand years ago. To suppress him, one must wrest from his body five sacred relics of the various tribes of our southern frontier. Those five relics are the very source of the beast-fiend's life; bereft of them, he must surely fall into deep slumber. There is one other thing of importance. In the days when that beast-fiend ran rampant, his demonic power was at its height and none could stand against him. It was only thanks to the Shamaness trapping him in a wondrous formation handed down among the shaman folk—the Eight Wraiths Mystic Fire Formation—that he was contained. If you could find that formation, perhaps..."

Ming Li nodded slowly.

The young Great Shaman thought a while, then added, "How to find the beast-fiend, I truly cannot conceive. But our tribe's legends say that when the Shamaness sealed him, it was deep in the Hundred Thousand Savage Mountains, in a place called the Ancient Cave of Demon Suppression. And they say the Shamaness herself turned to stone, facing into the depths of that ancient cave. Perhaps if you find such a place, you will find some trace of the beast-fiend."

Ming Li committed each word to memory and nodded to the young Great Shaman before him. "My thanks."

The Great Shaman smiled faintly and said no more.

As the two walked out of the cave, Ming Li could not refrain from asking him why there was no grief at all in his eyes.