Chapter 193 — Decision
The Sword Questions the Heavens · Page 2 of 5
Lu Xueling's expression did not soften at his courtesy; she said, cool and flat as ever, "In the past, the word we received from Fenxia Valley was always that these Ten Thousand Wild Mountains were a place of deadly peril, that even you seldom entered. Yet now, on this journey, Senior Brother Li seems remarkably familiar with the place—have you been here before? And the Beast Lord's trail is exceedingly secret, its lair beyond all question well hidden—how is it that Fenxia Valley's information is so keen that you know even this?"
Li Xun's expression did not change. Facing Lu Xueling's questioning, he seemed to have been prepared all along, and said with a faint smile, "Senior Sister Lu, I have told you before: in the past Fenxia Valley indeed paid these mountains little mind, but once the Beast Demon calamity broke out, naturally we took note of them. As for the Beast Demon's lair, it was discovered by our disciples tracking the remnants of the beast horde—and we sacrificed no small number of our elite in the finding."
Zeng Shuyan and Lu Xueling both frowned at once. Plainly neither put much faith in this hollow, evasive answer, yet seeing how confidently he spoke, they could not well refute him outright, and so both fell silent. Li Xun smiled, glanced at the two of them, and said, "Speaking of which, it comes back to me—why was it that your honored sect's Senior Sister Wen Pei, just as we were about to enter the Ten Thousand Wild Mountains, suddenly hurried back to Canglan Mountain?"
Zeng Shuyan started, and could not help glancing at Lu Xueling beside him. Then he smiled and said, "Did we not tell Senior Brother Li this long ago? Senior Sister Wen Pei had a matter arise at the last moment and was obliged to return."
Beside him, Lu Xueling lowered her eyes slightly and said nothing. The reason Wen Pei had hurried back to Canglan Mountain so abruptly was something even Zeng Shuyan did not fully understand; in the end, of course, it came down to that sudden question Yun Yifeng had blurted out in the Shanhe Hall of Fenxia Valley, about the damage to the Immortal-Slaying Sword.
Zeng Shuyan knew nothing of the truth and had dismissed it as a joke, but Lu Xueling and Wen Pei, after discussion, had both felt the matter was far too grave to ignore. After much deliberation, they had finally decided that Wen Pei should race back to Canglan Mountain to report it to their elders and masters, so as to be ready for whatever might come. After all, the ancient Immortal-Slaying Sword meant too much—to the Canglan Sect, and to the orthodox path of the world. And Fenxia Valley, long on friendly terms with the Canglan Sect, together with its valley master Yun Yifeng, had in this instance shown a demeanor that hinted at something indefinable and unsettling.
Yet the matter of the Beast Lord was also of great importance and could not be abandoned. So after discussion, Wen Pei hurried back to Qingyun, while Lu Xueling remained with Zeng Shuyan. But in the hearts of Lu Xueling and the others, this sect of Fenxia Valley now seemed to give off an air of strangeness at every turn.
At this moment, Li Xun had been conferring with Zeng Shuyan for some time, explaining one by one the many precautions to observe upon entering the black forest. Zeng Shuyan learned many things he had never heard of, and could not help but feel his eyes opened; he nodded repeatedly, and the two conversed with great relish.
Lu Xueling heard those words, and for some reason felt faintly annoyed. She rose and walked back to one side, gazing into the distance. Far off, the mountain ranges stretched unbroken, rising and falling; beneath the vast vault of heaven, a cold wind whistled past.
Who could know what awaited them ahead?
Canglan Mountain, Dazhu Peak.