Chapter 234 — Parting
The Sword Questions the Heavens · Page 2 of 6
Zhou Yixuan's expression shifted slightly; he turned his eyes toward Xiao Wan, seeming somewhat hesitant, then said mildly, "I have heard a little of what befell you, and about that Miss Bi Li..."
Ming Li started, then turned hastily and said, "Senior, do you perhaps have some way—" In his agitation, his voice seemed to tremble.
Xiao Wan, standing nearby, looked at Zhou Yixuan in surprise, but saw only that he cleared his throat twice and said, "I too am powerless."
Xiao Wan could not help asking Ming Li, "Your... your Miss Bi Li—what has happened to her?"
Ming Li fell silent; before he could speak, Zhou Yixuan shot Xiao Wan a glare and said sharply, "What would a child like you know of this? Do not interrupt."
Xiao Wan was startled. Zhou Yixuan, for all his old rascal's ways and his constant joking and quarreling with her, rarely spoke so sternly and with such a serious face, and she was struck dumb.
Ming Li gave a long sigh, filled with bleakness.
A complex look flickered in Zhou Yixuan's eyes, and he suddenly beckoned to Ming Li, saying, "Come over here a moment; I have something to say to you."
With that, he left Xiao Wan and the Wild Wolf Daoist and walked toward a spot farther along the old road. Ming Li, his face desolate, slowly followed. By the time Xiao Wan came to her senses, the two of them were already standing at a distance. She saw Zhou Yixuan frowning deeply and speaking to Ming Li in a low voice, and as he spoke, Ming Li's expression gradually changed—first surprise, then bewilderment tinged with a measure of hope, though plainly the hope was not great, for his face slowly sank again into gloom. Zhou Yixuan, meanwhile, talked on without pause, looking for all the world like an elder earnestly instructing a junior.
Xiao Wan's lips puckered, and suddenly a nameless fire rose in her heart. She kicked savagely at a stone by her foot, sending it flying; it arced through the air and struck the Wild Wolf Daoist on the foot. The Daoist, who for some reason had also been staring blankly into space, did not notice the stone at all, and was jolted upright by the blow, his brows knitting.
Xiao Wan looked over, annoyed yet somewhat embarrassed, and walked up to him and said softly, "Daoist, are you all right?"
Under her gaze the Wild Wolf Daoist shook his head at once and said in a low voice, "I am fine. I am fine."
Xiao Wan nodded, and then her eyes came to rest once more on Ming Li in the distance; her gaze shifted, and one after another the many thoughts and many expressions surfaced on her face.
The Wild Wolf Daoist watched her from the side and silently bowed his head.
Suddenly Xiao Wan's voice came: "That reminds me, Daoist—there is something I want to ask you."
The Wild Wolf Daoist raised his head. "What is it?"
Xiao Wan frowned slightly. "His—his... what is the matter with that Miss Bi Li? Why does it seem to trouble Brother Ming Li so much?"
The Wild Wolf Daoist hesitated. To be honest, he was no core figure within the Nether King Sect, and what he knew of Bi Li was only what he had picked up from everyday rumors; yet the cause of the matter he naturally knew. It was a long story, however, and for a moment he did not know where to begin. As he pondered, he said, "It is a long tale. I heard it was ten years ago..."
Just as he reached this point, he suddenly sensed something and broke off. Xiao Wan reacted the same way, startled, and turned to look. There upon the old road behind them, a faint violet light suddenly descended from the sky, drifting gently down like duckweed settling, and with a few turns revealed none other than the peerlessly charming face of Jin Pingyue.