劍問蒼天 - 第190章 異樣 - 翰墨軒

Or was it, in the end, as that strange, bewitching youth he had once chanced to meet had said: men are, after all, but one kind of beast—there is no difference.

Ming Li drew a deep breath and gazed silently at the distant mountains. After hearing from Mr. Gui the command the Mingwang had entrusted to him, Ming Li had long since guessed, from the fierce beast named in that command—the Taotie—that the strange youth he had met twice was none other than the Beast Sovereign who had brought unprecedented calamity upon all living things.

Only, if the Beast Sovereign meant to slaughter every soul under heaven, why had he shown him leniency, parting both times in nothing but laughter and talk? That, Ming Li did not know.

There was still a faint warmth at his chest. For many years this faint warmth had kept him company, as though it had become part of his body—and for most of that time, Ming Li had paid it no heed at all.

Only, the journey to Fenxia Valley days ago had stirred something deep in his heart once more. That jade talisman lying quietly against his chest might well be the key to this journey to the Southern Border!

From the conversation between Yun Yifeng and Shangguan Lue, it was perfectly clear that Fenxia Valley had lost this essence of ten thousand fires, and with it the volcano's spiritual force accumulated over hundreds of years—and so could no longer activate the Eight Ferocious Mystic Fire Formation. And with this Mystic Fire Mirror in hand, might one not discover the secret of that mysterious formation?

Ming Li said nothing, watching the dying sun in the distance; its last glimmer of light at length quietly vanished as well.

High above the black peaks, as the final ray of sunlight dispersed, the once-thick black fog seemed suddenly to be provoked by something, and began swiftly to thin and scatter.

Jin Pingyue, standing beside him, smiled faintly, turned her head, and said, "It's time. Let's go."

Ming Li glanced at her. "No one has ever spoken of the poison fog in the Hundred Thousand Savage Mountains changing as it does. How did you discover it?"

Jin Pingyue gave him a sweet smile, her eyes brimming with charm—half teasing, half sly—and said, "That, well... I'm simply not going to tell you. What can you do about it?"

Ming Li was taken aback. Beneath the deepening dusk, amid the deep mountain ranges, the woman before him suddenly seemed to radiate a bewitching, beautiful light in the fading world, dazzling to the eye—and with her there, there was, unexpectedly, a different sort of warmth.

At least in that darkness far ahead, he would not have to walk alone.

The corner of Ming Li's mouth twitched, but he turned his head away and said mildly, "Let's go."

With that he went on ahead. Behind him Jin Pingyue watched his figure, smiling faintly, her eyes glinting, and lightly followed.

Two figures, one before the other, and the monkey sprawled on their shoulder, its intermittent "zhi zhi" cries—all slowly melted into the darkness and vanished.

Canglan Mountain, Jietian Peak, Yuheng Hall.

A thousand myriad li from the Southern Border, this holy ground of the immortals, which had just saved all living things, had dealt with the chaos brought by the beast-demon calamity as swiftly and neatly as it had after the great war between righteous and demon ten years before. Most of Jietian Peak had regained its former quiet, ethereal beauty; only a few badly damaged buildings still needed slow repair—but no one doubted that they too would swiftly return to their former state.

Of all the great structures on Jietian Peak, the most important and the largest was, naturally, the main hall, "Yuheng Hall."

Compared with the other halls and buildings, the damage Yuheng Hall had suffered in that calamity was all but negligible—truly, the successive patriarchs of the Canglan Sect must have had their spirits watch over it, sheltering it well.