Chapter 193 — Decision
The Sword Questions the Heavens · Page 1 of 5
The southern borderlands, the Ten Thousand Wild Mountains.
Before the vast black forest that Ming Li and Jin Pingyue had once crossed, more than a dozen people now stood in plain view. Most of them were elite disciples of Fenxia Valley in the southern borderlands, with Li Xun at their head; only two were outsiders—Lu Xueling and Zeng Shuyan of the Canglan Sect. As for Wen Pei, who had earlier been with Lu Xueling and Zeng Shuyan, she was unexpectedly nowhere to be seen.
Many in the group wore faint traces of weariness. Though they were cultivators all, plunging deep into the treacherous, uncanny Ten Thousand Wild Mountains was no easy undertaking. Only Li Xun, Lu Xueling, Zeng Shuyan, and a few others at the fore, whose cultivation ran deep, kept their faces composed.
Yet at this moment, gazing at the dark, eerie forest ahead, none of them could find it in themselves to be glad.
Above the black forest, poisonous miasma visibly churned and rose, making it plain the place could not be crossed by air. The black forest was vast, and could not easily be skirted either. And Li Xun, who had served as guide all along, had already stated plainly that according to the legends of the southern borderland tribes, the Beast Demon's lair lay in the Ancient Cave of Demon Suppression beyond this black forest.
This forest, it seemed, simply had to be crossed.
The Tianxuan Divine Sword gave off a pale blue radiance, flickering gently at Lu Xueling's side, setting off her snow-white, somewhat solitary figure. With Wen Pei gone, she rarely spoke to Li Xun or the other Fenxia Valley disciples, and even to Zeng Shuyan, a fellow disciple of the Canglan Sect, she paid little heed. Along the way, barren mountains, foul waters, venomous insects, and savage beasts—things that would make most people quail—she either ignored entirely or left as souls slain beneath her blade. No one knew what truly occupied her heart.
Li Xun did not know; neither did Zeng Shuyan. And now Li Xun cleared his throat at Zeng Shuyan and asked in a low voice, "Senior Brother Zeng, if I may ask—what does Senior Sister Lu think about, silent all day as she is?"
Zeng Shuyan started, then smiled bitterly. "Senior Brother Li, I fear you've asked the wrong person."
Li Xun glanced at him, and after a long moment shook his head, unable to suppress a bitter smile of his own.
At this moment the group was resting after a day's toil, just before entering the black forest. Lu Xueling stood alone, far off beside a boulder, gazing at the distant mountains; behind her, many a glance drifted, deliberately or not, lingering on that clear, lovely silhouette.
Li Xun and Zeng Shuyan stood to one side. After a moment's thought, Li Xun said gravely, "Senior Brother Zeng, let us call Senior Sister Lu over and properly discuss how we proceed from here. What say you?"
Zeng Shuyan nodded. "That's right." He turned, walked to Lu Xueling's side, and murmured a few words to her. Lu Xueling's face betrayed nothing; when Zeng Shuyan finished, she glanced toward Li Xun, and Li Xun, faintly embarrassed, gave a dry laugh.
Before long, Lu Xueling did at last come back with Zeng Shuyan. Li Xun cleared his throat and said, "It is like this, you two. Once we cross this black forest, we will not be far from the Beast Demon's lair. We—"
"Senior Brother Li!" Suddenly Lu Xueling called out to him, cutting him off.
Li Xun started. Since entering the Ten Thousand Wild Mountains, this was the first time Lu Xueling had spoken to him of her own accord. "What is it?" he asked, surprised.
Lu Xueling looked at him, a faint light flickering in her eyes. "These past days, there is one thing I have never understood, and I would like to ask Senior Brother Li about it."
Li Xun nodded. "Please, Senior Sister Lu."