劍問蒼天 - 第192章 暗傷 - 翰墨軒

Jin Pingyue smiled with coy charm, stepped forward twice, and stood before Ming Li, gazing out at the endless mountains a while. Then she raised a hand and pointed to one peak whose slopes below the summit were all a strange, scorched black. "See that black mountain? Once we cross that ridge, at its foot lies the Ancient Cave of Demon Suppression."

Ming Li looked where she pointed and indeed saw that most peculiar peak. Far off as it was, there seemed to be no sunlight upon it at all; on the contrary, it was forever shrouded in a faint black mist, betraying a certain mystery.

Ming Li nodded. "Then let us go."

With that he strode forward—but Jin Pingyue did not move, still standing where she was. Ming Li walked a few steps, sensed that she had not followed, and turned back in some surprise. "What is it?"

Jin Pingyue shot him a look. Yet even that reproachful expression, in the warm, gentle sunlight, held a certain allure. "You are of course a formidable person. It is only a pity that what stands before you is a frail woman—and one who can no longer walk."

Ming Li said mildly, "Search all the women in the world, and you would still not be the one to play the frail maiden."

Jin Pingyue smiled sweetly, not in the least offended, and went to find a dry stone nearby to sit on. Though Ming Li did not take her words seriously, on reflection he realized that in these past days within that strange black forest, neither of them had truly rested. He did not insist on pressing on, and sat down not far from her.

The monkey Xiaohui, which had been lying on his shoulder all along, gave two squeaks of "zhi zhi," as though suddenly roused from lethargy. In a flash it was full of energy; it sprang from Ming Li's shoulder to the ground, looked all about with its three eyes blinking, then cocked its tail and, with a whoosh, darted into the grass nearby, vanishing in an instant.

Jin Pingyue glanced in the direction it had gone. "This place is dangerous at every turn. Your monkey running about everywhere—are you not afraid something will happen to it?"

Ming Li shook his head. "No matter. Even if the two of us came to harm, that fellow would do just fine on his own."

Jin Pingyue burst into a giggle, covering her mouth. "What do you mean, 'on his own'? It is a monkey, plainly."

Ming Li glanced at Jin Pingyue's face, smooth and radiant as jade, and the faintest trace of a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. Then his eyes turned toward the direction Xiaohui had vanished, and he said slowly, "In my heart, it is worth far more than countless people in this world."

Jin Pingyue looked at his somewhat pale face, and the smile on her own slowly faded. She gazed at Ming Li thoughtfully—but Ming Li seemed to frown, his expression darkening all at once.

Perhaps he had suddenly realized what he had said before another.

Jin Pingyue had always been a woman of the keenest intelligence, and by no means one of those quiet, demure ladies of the world. She watched Ming Li's face in silence, her gaze soft and brimming like water—yet under that gaze his expression only grew uglier and uglier. Just as the awkwardness thickened and Ming Li's brow knitted ever tighter, Jin Pingyue suddenly spoke:

"What is the matter with you?"

Ming Li started. "What?"

Jin Pingyue looked at him, her face caught between a smile and something else, a deeper meaning in her eyes, and said softly, "You seem a little ill at ease?"

Ming Li coughed. "No."

As though she had not heard his answer, Jin Pingyue went on of her own accord: "Is it that before a woman like me, you suddenly spoke some words from your heart—and now you feel a little awkward?"