劍問蒼天 - 第205章 心機 - 翰墨軒

"What?" The fierce spirit Black Tiger's enormous frame whirled around, so abrupt and swift that a muffled sound like a wild beast's growl issued from midair. His face was now full of rage, hideous in the extreme. He roared, "What did you say? You dare slander the Lady—and before the Lady's own statue?"

Before that terrifying, colossal form of the fierce spirit, Hei Mu's body seemed utterly insignificant. Yet somehow, though his face could not be clearly seen, from his calm tone one could tell he felt not the slightest fear—and more than that, what seemed to lie within it was a profound weariness.

"Elder Brother, if the Lady had had no schemes back then, what do you think has kept that undying, indestructible demon sealed within this ancient cave all these years?"

The fierce spirit Black Tiger was visibly checked, but plainly he did not wish to admit it. He roared, "What nonsense are you spouting? That was all the Lady's doing back then—"

"Enough!" Suddenly, contrary to his usual manner, Hei Mu shouted sharply, cutting off the fierce spirit Black Tiger. "Do not keep hanging the Lady, the Lady, on your lips. In my reverence for the Lady, I yield not one part to you."

The fierce spirit Black Tiger's enormous frame stiffened, and an expression of astonishment rose unbidden on his face. After a long while, he did not fly into a rage; instead his expression calmed. Looking down at this kinsman from a past life, he suddenly smiled and said mildly, "What has come over you? You never used to speak to me like this."

Hei Mu gave a cold laugh, as if mocking himself, and slowly turned his gaze back to the stone statue of the Witch Lady Linglong. Slowly he said, "Yes. I never used to speak like this. But why have I become this way now? I do not know myself—who can tell me?"

The fierce spirit Black Tiger said coldly, "That is your own affair. I have no interest and no wish to know. Just tell me one thing."

Hei Mu stared blankly at Linglong's statue and said, "What?"

The fierce spirit Black Tiger said, "Back then it was you who betrayed the Lady's dying charge, you who committed that monstrous impiety, secretly helping that demon recover the five sacred relics of the five Southern Border tribes and bring him back to life. But why today do you bid me let people into the cave, with intent to do him harm?"

Hei Mu's gaze had never left Linglong's statue. After a long while, his voice low and laced with anguish, he said, "The Lady was wrong to seal the Beast Lord back then. We who followed the Lady and sought that art of longevity, and so created such a monster—we were wrong too. I thought the Beast Lord did not deserve such a fate, never expecting that he would vent his wrath upon all living things under heaven, bringing about that cataclysm such as the world has never seen. I was wrong as well."

He laughed a wretched laugh. Suddenly he turned, flung wide his arms, and with a shrill, desolate voice cried out to the heavens:

"Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! So we were all wrong—"

That cry echoed far and wide, and the mountains answered it. But heaven and earth looked on cold and indifferent, as though nothing at all had changed, gazing down chill upon this mortal world.

The fierce spirit Black Tiger stood to one side, watching Hei Mu's figure suddenly convulsed with agony, and fell silent as well. He said not a word, only stood quietly behind him, the complex emotion in his eyes flickering faintly—yet there was not the least glimmer of tears.

Whether it was he or Hei Mu, in this desolate world, across a thousand myriad years, they had long since lost the right to weep.

Lu Xueling, walking within the Zhenmo Ancient Cave, suddenly seemed to sense something. She halted, turned, and glanced back at the way they had come. But the path behind was pitch-black and silent; beyond silence, there was not a sound at all.

Only that sudden throb, churning and echoing in her heart, would not quiet for a long time.