劍問蒼天 - 第235章 陰謀 - 翰墨軒

Jin Pingyue followed behind him, laughing. "In truth you cannot blame those Canglan Sect disciples. So far as I know, in a thousand years the Canglan Sect has opened the Heaven's Mechanism Locks of the seven peaks only a handful of times—and most recently during the catastrophe of the beast demons, when the Beast Sovereign was simply too powerful, and only then was one opened as a last resort. Anyone in their place, with the thing unused for so long, and with you elders keeping it all so secret, would take it for an ordinary forbidden ground with nothing in it at all. Even if they slack off now and then, it is only natural."

Her smile was charming as she said to Daoist Cangyan, "And besides, with you leading the way the whole journey—I hear that for decades now, all the affairs of Canglan Mountain, great and small, especially these matters of defense, have been in your charge. If the patrol disciples failed to detect us, they can hardly be blamed, wouldn't you say?"

Lord Cangsong's expression remained grim. To him, it seemed, every blade of grass and every tree on Canglan Mountain was unlike those anywhere else. There had been a time when he was master of this peak.

The road he had walked—had it truly been without error?

Daoist Cangyan suddenly flung his head aside, as if to shake off some thought, and strode on. Jin Pingyue watched his back; she seemed to understand something of that Daoist's state of mind—though plainly she was no kindly, soft-hearted soul, for a hint of gloating showed in her eyes. The corners of her mouth curved slightly upward, making her face seem all the more beautiful and alluring; her steps, too, seemed light and drifting as she followed leisurely behind Daoist Cangyan, along the path into the depths of Dragon Ridge Peak's rear slope.

The path proved exceedingly deep; it wound on and on for a long while, and still no end came into sight. Instead, the farther in they went, the more weeds grew along the way, gradually covering the path—plainly no one had walked here for a long time, so that grass and brush ran riot.

Watching the wild grass along the path creep steadily over the trail, Daoist Cangyan's face grew uglier still, taking on a somewhat livid hue. Jin Pingyue did not speak to him now either, only followed behind; gazing at the tall figure of Daoist Cangyan's back, she suddenly had the feeling that this man was perhaps not entirely the traitor to the righteous path he seemed.

But even so, who cared? If the present Daoist Cangyan were discovered by those who had once been his fellow disciples, it would surely come to a life-and-death struggle—and yet barely ten years ago he had been the man of greatest real power in the foremost sect under heaven. Who could have imagined it?

The fortunes of a life are full of twists and turns; who can say whether, in the unseen design of things, mortals hold their fate in their own hands or heaven decides it all? Hence the saying that heaven makes sport of men.

Walking on, Jin Pingyue found her thoughts turning unbidden to Xiao Wan, the young girl she had met not long ago, the one bound to her by fate from a former life. So young, and it seemed she too was trapped by love! At the thought of Xiao Wan, her expression softened, taking on a touch of warmth—perhaps that young girl alone was the one person to whom she could truly open her heart.

Perhaps one day, given the chance, it would not be so bad to wander the far corners of the world together with Xiao Wan!

A faint smile slowly surfaced at the corners of Jin Pingyue's mouth, but it flashed by in an instant, for she had stopped—because Daoist Cangyan ahead of her had halted too, and drawing a long breath, his tone carrying something very strange, he said slowly, "Here we are. This is the place of the Heaven's Mechanism Lock of Dragon Ridge Peak, Canglan Sect."