Chapter 160 — The Hermit

Xiao Yichen smiled slightly. "Then I'll go take a look over there." With that he left Lin Jinghong and walked off to the side, intending to search He Yin City once more to make sure no common folk had been left behind—for once the beast demons came, they would surely not survive. But he had taken only a few steps when a low murmur from Lin Jinghong came faintly from behind him:

"Back... fire... back..."

Xiao Yichen started and turned to look. Lin Jinghong stood where he was, brows tightly knit, his face showing confusion and bewilderment, softly saying something. Xiao Yichen listened closely, but it seemed somewhat indistinct—something with the sound of "back..."

Xiao Yichen's brows lifted. "Junior Brother Lin, what has happened at the back mountain?"

Lin Jinghong jumped. He looked up and said, "Back mountain? What back mountain?"

Xiao Yichen was instead taken aback by his reply. "I kept hearing you say 'back mountain, back mountain.' I thought, since you've often gone to our Jie Tian Peak's back mountain to tend and sweep the ancestral hall these past years, that something had happened there!"

Lin Jinghong looked somewhat embarrassed and said quickly, "No, no, I was just muttering to myself. I'm sorry to have worried you, Senior Brother."

Xiao Yichen smiled. "So long as all is well. Junior Brother Lin, the great battle is at hand—you must keep up your strength."

Lin Jinghong smiled and nodded. He was just about to speak when suddenly a cry of alarm came from a Qing Yun disciple in the distance. Startled, Xiao Yichen and Lin Jinghong almost at once leaped into the air and flew toward the source of the cry.

The sound had come from the south gate of He Yin City, where several Qing Yun disciples had been making a final patrol. Now they stood as if facing a great enemy, their magical treasures summoned, their faces tense. Upon the city wall stood a hideous monster with a lion's head and a wolf's body, its huge eyes glaring fierce and baleful, a low growl issuing from its throat as it stared at the Qing Yun disciples. But it seemed to know these were no ordinary folk, and so for the moment did not act rashly.

Xiao Yichen and Lin Jinghong landed, and by then other Qing Yun disciples had hurried over as well. When the crowd saw clearly, they all drew a sharp breath. Xiao Yichen let out a long breath and said softly, "A beast demon."

Suddenly a Qing Yun disciple beside Lin Jinghong cried out loudly, "Outside, outside..."

His voice was full of terror, and hearing it, everyone's hearts seemed to leap into their throats. Almost as one, they looked toward the distance beyond He Yin City, in the direction the disciple was pointing.

Beneath that vast, oppressive expanse of black cloud, upon the horizon, rumbling thunder rolled in, and silent lightning split the vault of heaven. The earth trembled faintly, and a deep, low roar seemed to seep slowly up from the depths of the nine underworlds, yet pierced straight into the depths of one's very soul, echoing without end.

Countless beast demons gathered into a boundless, black, dreadful tide, surging forward from the distance, rumbling like rolling thunder yet already drowning out the thunder of the sky. Heaven and earth turned grim and murderous; lightning flickered like monstrous serpents darting wildly. The murderous aura that oppressed the heart came rushing at them even from so far away.

Every Qing Yun disciple's face was ashen. Xiao Yichen gritted his teeth and cried out loudly, "Go! Go now—back to Cang Lan Mountain at once!"

At his sharp command, the Qingyun disciples dared not linger; one after another they summoned their immortal swords and soared into the sky. The lion-headed, wolf-bodied beast atop the wall roared loudly, its manner savage.

Lin Jinghong brought up the rear of the crowd, and midair he turned to look back. He saw an endless tide of beast-demons surging madly forward, the whole earth seeming to have become an ocean of vicious beasts, not a trace of human life remaining.

This great calamity had finally reached its most critical hour!

********

After hearing the urgent report of Xiao Yichen and the others' hasty return, the assembled adherents of the righteous path in Yuheng Hall on Jietian Peak of Canglan Mountain fell silent, not one of them speaking.

Silence shrouded the vast hall. What was fated to come had come at last.

Daoist Zhenren Daoyan rose slowly, his expression grave, and said in measured tones, "Fellow Daoists, the fate of all living things under heaven rests here. The beast-demons now occupy Heyin City and will attack Qingyun before many days pass. I have no further words to add. Please return and rest well; on the coming day we shall stake life and death against the beast-demons."

The assembly exchanged glances, and after a moment slowly rose to their feet. Murmurs gradually filled Yuheng Hall, and amid that low hum of voices the gathered cultivators filed out one by one. Daoist Daoyan turned to Master Pucheng and Yun Yifeng, seated beside him, and said, "You two should rest as well. I have a small matter to discuss with several other heads of the Canglan Sect."

Master Pucheng and Yun Yifeng both stood and returned the courtesy. "As you please, Zhenren."

Daoist Daoyan returned the salute, exchanged a word with Xiao Yichen, who hurried to follow, and went with him into the rear hall, where somewhere within, the other head elders of the Canglan Sect were already awaiting them. Lin Jinghong watched them depart, then walked alone out of Yuheng Hall and strolled to the railing outside, where he leaned and gazed into the distance. The vault of heaven was ink-black, heavy clouds sunk low, not a thread of light to be seen. The mountain wind cut like a blade, moaning as it blew, stinging against the face.

He stood there in silence, and unbidden, that mysterious note rose again in his mind, and the baffling four characters written upon it:

A fire in the rear court...

A fire in the rear court, a fire in the rear court? What fire in the rear court? Countless thoughts turned in Lin Jinghong's mind, and at last they slowly gathered to a single point, to Xiao Yichen's slightly startled words echoing at his ear: "What's happened at the back mountain, Junior Brother Lin..."

The back mountain?

Lin Jinghong's brows knit once more. Though his eyes glinted bright, he slowly shook his head, sinking back into confusion. How long he stood lost in thought he did not know; when he came to himself, there was no one left around him. He sighed and made his way slowly down the steps.

********

Since the appearance of the beast-demons, the Canglan Sect had greatly strengthened the guards on Canglan Mountain, especially on the front slopes, for no one knew when those countless savage beasts might suddenly come charging up. Canglan Mountain, however, had always been steep and perilous; Jietian Peak in particular reared into the clouds, easy to hold and hard to storm. To cultivators of accomplished skill such terrain was no great obstacle, but for the many beast-demons that could not fly, it was an excellent barrier.

Yet the beast-demons had always swept all before them wherever they went, and countless appalling rumors surrounded them. No one could be certain they had no unexpected means of attack, and what was more, no one to this day knew the true nature of the legendary Beast Sovereign, which only deepened the general dread.

Compared with the front slopes of Canglan Mountain, the back mountain was almost entirely sheer cliff and precipice, impassable even to apes. Even so, the Canglan Sect still posted many disciples to patrol the skies on their swords, just in case. There was one oddity, however: near the forbidden ground of Huanyue Cave-Heaven and around the Ancestral Master Shrine at its edge, the Qingyun disciples on guard were very few, as though the Canglan Sect had no concern for these two places at all.