劍問蒼天 - 第231章 困惑 - 翰墨軒

As night fell, one looked from the walls of He Yin City toward its heart. To call it a myriad lights was perhaps an overstatement, yet the scattered, ubiquitous glow still imparted a feeling of warmth.

For Ming Li, that was perhaps the very place most foreign to him in all the world.

He gazed silently at that expanse of lamplight, then turned away. The city wall, neither tall nor sturdy, stood utterly deserted at this hour. A bleak evening wind swept in from the empty wilds beyond He Yin City, skimmed across the battlements scarred in the great calamity of the beast demons, and blew upon him and Zhou Yixuan.

For some reason, Xiao Wan and the Wild Wolf Daoist were not here; only Zhou Yixuan and Ming Li stood atop the walls of He Yin City this night. Zhou Yixuan, however, seemed entirely at ease. In one hand he still clutched the bamboo pole draped with cloth that served as his "Immortal Points the Way," while his other hand now held a wine flask, from which he had just taken a great draught, emitting a sigh of satisfaction.

"Fine wine!" he said, a hint of a smile on his face, then addressed Ming Li: "It's still a little warm. Care for a sip?"

Ming Li shook his head silently. "Drink it yourself, Senior."

Zhou Yixuan chuckled and tilted his head back for another swallow. But after this one, he shook the flask, shrugged, and casually tossed it off the city wall. It seemed the flask had held only one last mouthful of good wine, and perhaps pricked by conscience, he had offered it to Ming Li first.

That night the moon was bright and the stars sparse, moonlight like water, and the secluded battlements shone quite brightly under its glow. Having drunk his wine, Zhou Yixuan raised his head to the sky and stared blankly, lost in thought, saying nothing for a while. Ming Li walked slowly to the edge of the wall, and his gaze fell upon a certain spot on the bricks—there were several deep claw marks there, and near them, more of the same were carved deeply into every brick of the wall.

A shocking sight.

"Those were left by countless beast demons during the calamity," Zhou Yixuan said mildly, having come over at some point without his noticing.

Here atop the wall, with only the two of them present, this old man who made sport of the world seemed to shed some of his usual jests; instead, the look he bent on Ming Li held a measure of compassion for the world's suffering.

Ming Li reached out and ran his hand gently over those deep claw marks. What met his fingertips was the coarse, harsh feel of rough brick—and who knew how many wronged souls had cried out within these gouges.

He was silent for a long while, then said, "Did many innocent common folk die in He Yin City back then?"

Zhou Yixuan sighed and walked to the edge of the wall, looking down. In his eyes were mirrored the lights of the city: "Many. Though many had already fled north beforehand, at least half the people of He Yin City perished—innocents all, slain by the hands of those beast demons."

Ming Li looked at Zhou Yixuan and suddenly said, "Senior, tell me—those innocent folk who lost their lives, which of them was not a person like you and me? Which of them was not living out his days in this world as best he could? Not all, perhaps, but nine hundred and ninety-nine out of a thousand of them surely meant no harm to man or beast. So why did this calamity fall on them from a clear sky? And a life like theirs—what was it all for?"

Zhou Yixuan looked at Ming Li, one hand resting on the wall, and said, "You can stand here today, while those common folk died for nothing. Let me ask you—what do you think is the reason?"

Ming Li was silent a long time, then said, "I am different from them. I cultivate the Daoist arts; even when the beast demons came, I could escape."