劍問蒼天 - 第198章 迷局 - 翰墨軒

Xiao Yichen nodded. "Junior Brother Chang, the most urgent matter now is to find my honored master. With him to take charge of affairs, there is nothing we need fear. Though some great event seems to have befallen this place, my master's Daoist arts are divine, and he is without peer under heaven; no common demon or evil spirit could ever harm him. Take eighty men—no, the more the better; take a hundred and fifty. Search the Peak That Touches Heaven from top to bottom, front slope and back slope alike, and let not the slightest clue be missed."

Deep worry showed on Chang Jian's face; plainly he understood that though Xiao Yichen's opening words had been fair, the weight of them lay all in the last sentence. He hesitated no longer, answered in a low, steady voice, and swiftly marshaled the men and went out. It was plain the number fell short of what Xiao Yichen had named, and most likely he would have to draw more troops from the front mountain.

With that great crowd gone, the Ancestral Shrine at once seemed vast and empty. Present now were chiefly the several elders, Xiao Yichen, Wen Pei, who had followed at Master Shuijing's heels, and last of all the still-unconscious Lin Jinghong.

Xiao Yichen sighed, turned, and bowed to the elders. "Uncle-Masters all," he said in a low voice, "Canglan has met with another great upheaval today, and I have acted on my own judgment. Where I have erred, I beg you to chastise me."

Su Wan and Master Shuijing said nothing. Elder Yang nodded. "Nephew Xiao, there is no need for modesty. You did well just now. What is it that we old fellows should do? Give your orders freely; there is no call for ceremony."

Xiao Yichen considered a moment. "The situation is unclear," he said, "and we must proceed with caution. I would ask you elders to return to your own peaks, so that if anything befalls, each line may have someone to look to it. It is only a pity that this junior brother Lin of Dragon Ridge Peak is still unconscious; otherwise we might question him and likely learn everything, for after all he alone was present."

All frowned, each heavy with his own thoughts. Su Wan, comforted by Master Shuijing, had gradually grown calmer; after all, Tian Buhui was nowhere to be seen, and though she feared for him, there was still hope, and so she was not so tense as before. Listening to Xiao Yichen issue his dispositions one after another, her mind was in a tangle, and she could only pray that no harm had come to Tian Buhui.

It was then that her gaze swept across Lin Jinghong lying on the ground, and suddenly her brows knit, and she gave a low cry:

"Eh!"

Master Shuijing, standing at her side, said in mild surprise, "What is it?"

Su Wan pointed at Lin Jinghong. "There seems to be something in his hand."

All were startled. Xiao Yichen strode to Lin Jinghong's side and gently turned him over, and there, sure enough, in the right hand pinned beneath his body, he clutched a rectangular black wooden tablet. Xiao Yichen reached to take it, but though he pulled, the tablet did not stir; unconscious though Lin Jinghong was, somehow he gripped it fast and would not relax his hold in the least.

Seeing this, all were puzzled. Elder Fan stepped aside, walked a circle around the spot, and suddenly said, "This tablet looks like one of the ancestral spirit tablets."

Master Shuijing peered at it closely and nodded. "Indeed, it is a spirit tablet."

It took Xiao Yichen a long while of patient effort to pry open Lin Jinghong's tightly clenched fingers and draw out the tablet, which seemed to matter so much to him. The others crowded around; as the one who had witnessed this turn of events, Lin Jinghong's fierce grip on the tablet was plainly of great consequence. Yet when they looked, all were struck dumb, and then stared at one another.

The tablet was the same size as the others and likewise lacquered black, but upon its face—still whole, for the most part—there was not a single character.