Chapter 158 — Struggle

Zhou Yixuan said slowly, "The truth of the matter is this. When I was young, I was handsome and dashing, elegant and refined, supremely gifted, brilliant beyond compare... uh, don't look at me like that, I'll go on. When I was young, I made my living gathering herbs. Once I went deep into the mountains to gather herbs, and accidentally fell into a bottomless cliff..."

Ming Li, Xiao Wan, and the Wild Wolf Daoist all frowned at once, but Zhou Yixuan seemed to grow happier the more he spoke, and went on: "But I was born lucky—wouldn't you know, halfway down my clothes caught on a pine tree, which broke most of my fall, and then I dropped on down. To my surprise, at the bottom of the cliff there was a pool of water, so I escaped death by sheer luck..."

Xiao Wan could not help cutting in: "Grandpa, this story of yours—why do I feel like I've heard it somewhere before? And it seems lots of people tell it this way; in all those romances and storybooks, the great heroes always have to fall off a cliff once..."

Zhou Yixuan glared at Xiao Wan. "Am I telling this or are you? Shut up. Uh, where was I—ah, I fell off the cliff, but I was born lucky and escaped death by sheer luck, and next thing I knew I had accidentally discovered a secret manual left by some great senior of untold ages past. I was naturally gifted, and beneath the cliff I comprehended the manual, feeding on the spiritual essence of heaven and earth; time flew by, and at last I achieved the fruit of the Dao and became an immortal..."

Ming Li said coldly, "Apart from your name, what part of you resembles an immortal?"

Zhou Yixuan choked for a moment, his face somewhat embarrassed, but he quickly recovered and said sternly, "I did it for the sake of the common folk of the world, to do good and accumulate merit—that is why I play at being a wandering man of the jianghu."

Ming Li said mildly, "Then are you going to tell me that your earth-escape art was learned from that secret manual?"

Zhou Yixuan nodded repeatedly and said solemnly, "Exactly so. The child is worth teaching." But after he said it, he turned to look at the others around him; leaving Ming Li aside, the faces of Xiao Wan and the Wild Wolf Daoist plainly bore the two words "don't believe it."

Ming Li looked at this man. Naturally he did not believe such nonsense either, but since Zhou Yixuan had said such things, whatever the case, he was ultimately unwilling to reveal his own origins and identity. And though this man seemed somehow connected to Canglan Mountain, Ming Li had spent time with him before and found nothing amiss; moreover, in Ming Li's heart, he had always regarded Zhou Yixuan and the other two with a certain special regard.

At this thought, Ming Li was unwilling to press him further, nor did he wish to say much more. He was just about to exchange a few words with them and leave, when suddenly, at that very moment, from the distant crowd to the south of He Yin City burst a chorus of terrified screams, shrill to the extreme.

Everyone was startled and turned to look; the common folk filling the street beside them all turned their heads as well. On the great street that had been packed with people, heads now surged and jostled; the high city wall in the distance had also been crowded with people, but now they were all running in every direction. In the misty rain, a shrill shriek rang out across the sky, and a gigantic bird of prey spread its wings and swooped down from the heavens, its great eyes flickering with a baleful blood-red light. Its wings, once spread, were fully as wide as half a city gate—truly terrifying.

The giant bird stirred up a tremendous wind, and the gale struck; the masts atop the city wall were snapped clean through by the fierce blast and came crashing down. The people on the wall, terrified beyond measure, ran in all directions. The giant bird descended from the sky with a shriek, and its huge, sharp talons, like a demon's hands, seized two fleeing people outright, then soared back up into the heavens, vanishing from sight in an instant.

The whole of He Yin City fell in an instant into a dead silence. A long while later, no one knew who first screamed aloud: "Beast demons! The beast demons are here—we're done for!..."

In that instant the entire city fell into hysteria; countless people wailed and wept, cries of anguish rose on all sides, and all was chaos.

Only the misty rain between heaven and earth still fell quietly, as though nothing had happened at all!