劍問蒼天 - 第233章 悲哀 - 翰墨軒

So saying, she smiled faintly, as though disinclined to trouble herself over the affairs of ancients from who knew how many years past, and was about to turn away—when suddenly her brows knit and her gaze snapped taut, falling upon the very end of that glittering array of pictures and characters. Beneath the image of the rampant, untamable fire dragon, there seemed to be a small patch of black mist unlike the rest, still clinging to the stone wall.

Xiao Bai felt a flicker of surprise. She pondered a moment, and in the end was unwilling to let it slip; just as she was about to examine it, something stirred in her heart, and she whirled about, her gaze turning instantly cold as she looked.

The vast cavern was utterly empty. Only the burning fire gave out from time to time the crack and pop of splitting wood; apart from the young shaman still lying unconscious on the ground, there was not a single shadow of a person.

Xiao Bai's gaze drifted over the young shaman, then carefully surveyed the surrounding cave. Certain at last that nothing was amiss, she frowned slightly and slowly turned back around.

Could it be that she had been too long in this uncanny place of an alien race, and had grown a little jumpy herself?

Xiao Bai shook her head with a wry smile, steadied herself, then lifted her hand. A breeze swept out, a little stronger than before, and after a moment the remaining patch of black mist finally scattered.

Upon the stone wall, sure enough, there were several more lines of characters.

Xiao Bai's spirits rose, and she looked closely. Moments later, a look of mingled joy and astonishment suddenly surfaced on her face, and she blurted out, "So—so the art of summoning souls is here..."

But as her gaze moved on, that joy gradually faded, replaced by a mounting gravity and confusion. When at last she had read all the text, she slowly stepped back; as if possessed of a will of its own, that small patch of black mist closed in again and once more shrouded those mysterious lines.

Xiao Bai bowed her head slightly and for a long while was silent. At length she gave a soft sigh and said quietly, "So that is how it was—that is how the ancient shaman race met its end. This... this, then, what is to be done? Should I tell him of these things?"

It seemed she had suddenly met with a great perplexity, and for a time she stood irresolute.

The black mist scattered by the wind slowly gathered once more, and the characters and patterns that had shone with brilliant gold were gradually veiled again. Xiao Bai slowly turned; behind her the low rumbling sounded once more, and the Dog God statue rose back into place, covering over that secret.

In the ancient cave all seemed to have returned to its former calm. Xiao Bai's figure paced slowly out, walking very slowly, her air heavy with thought; yet beneath the bright firelight, her figure at last vanished from the cave.

Silence descended upon the place once more. How long passed, none could say; the ancient Dog God statue gazed silently upon all within the cave, light mirrored in its eyes, so very deep.

Suddenly, the body that had lain upon the ground stirred. The young Miao shaman cautiously clambered up and peered toward the cave entrance. All there was still and quiet, without a sound—plainly the mysterious white-robed woman had already gone.

Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief, the body that had been so taut slowly relaxing. With a bitter smile he murmured, "That was close. Had it not been for our tribe's art of self-sealing the spirit, extinguishing all six senses, I truly could not have fooled her..."

Then his gaze suddenly grew fervent; he spun about and looked toward the Dog God statue.