Chapter 189 — Blood

The two of them fell into silence for a time, not knowing what to say. After a good while, Jin Pingyue seemed to think of something; she raised her head, about to speak, when her expression suddenly changed—and Ming Li's brow had already furrowed. He whirled about, and in the blink of an eye had darted to where Xiaohui was playing nearby, scooped the monkey up in his arms, and then his form floated upward. Moments later, he had vanished into the darkness above the Xuanhuo Altar hall.

Jin Pingyue watched his figure disappear into the dark in a few swift movements, smiled faintly, and then drifted up as well, likewise vanishing into the darkness.

A moment later, with a long "creak," a dull sound echoed through the Xuanhuo Altar hall.

The door had been opened…

Footsteps sounded at the doorway; from the sound of it, there seemed to be quite a few people. But a voice of some authority murmured a few words from among them, and at once all fell quiet. Then, through the open door, three men walked in.

The foremost was none other than Yun Yifeng, Valley Master of Fenxia Valley. Half a step behind him to the right was his junior brother, Shangguan Lue. And the last, several paces behind the first two, was Yun Yifeng's prized disciple, Li Xun.

After the three entered the Xuanhuo Altar, Li Xun, walking last, turned and closed the heavy door behind them. The daylight was shut out at once, and only that faint dimness flickered slowly within.

Deprived of the formation's former spiritual power, the upper three levels of the Xuanhuo Altar, once bitterly cold, had long since lost that freezing chill. All that remained was the cold indifference of vast, hard rock. In the darkness, Ming Li and Jin Pingyue slipped noiselessly through that pitch-black opening and peered down from above.

As though it too knew this time was unlike the others, the usually restless Xiaohui seemed much quieter, lying obediently at its master's side.

Yun Yifeng and Shangguan Lue walked slowly to the center of the Xuanhuo Altar and stood upon what had once been the Eight Fierce Xuanhuo Formation. Seen from afar, his face seemed shrouded in shadow as well.

The three below stood there in silence for a long while, saying nothing; the atmosphere was faintly strange. Above them, Ming Li, as if sensing something, glanced toward Jin Pingyue—and happened to catch her looking his way as well. Both saw in the other's eyes a trace of faint bewilderment.

Yun Yifeng appeared to wear a gloomy expression—and perhaps his mood ought indeed to be so. Whoever it was, seeing the enterprise he had built over many years reduced to such a state, would surely be in a foul temper. Only his face at first glance seemed expressionless; look at it a while longer, and it gave one a vague sense of endless shifting; yet observe carefully, and you would find that his expression had never changed at all—what changed was merely your own heart.

At least, in those days at Canglan Mountain, the world would not have seen such a look upon him.

For a long time, Yun Yifeng's drifting gaze moved ceaselessly over the strange red carvings on the floor of the Xuanhuo Altar, from one end to the other, from one image to the next. Then he walked slowly to the scorched, blackened little stone platform at the center of the carvings, reached out a hand, and gently stroked the stone.

"How long has it been?" Yun Yifeng suddenly spoke, his voice low, asking this question with neither head nor tail.

Shangguan Lue stood right beside him. His expression showed no surprise at Yun Yifeng's abrupt question; plainly he was already privy to certain things. Yet he showed no inclination to answer—instead, curiously, he turned and glanced at Li Xun, standing three paces behind them.

Li Xun's head was slightly bowed, his manner respectful, his eyes half closed, not making a sound.

Without turning, Yun Yifeng seemed nonetheless to know everything behind him, and said mildly, "Xun'er is no outsider. In the future he will take charge of Fenxia Valley—there is no need to keep these matters from him."

Shangguan Lue's body gave a slight shudder, then stilled. After a moment of silence, he said, "From the time all was made ready and the formal summoning began, counting to this day, it has been fully thirty days. The 'Crimson Flame Luminous Lord' has never once responded."

Yun Yifeng's expression did not change in the slightest—at most, his eyes flickered a few times—but the feeling he gave was that he had suddenly grown a shade gloomier. And above the Xuanhuo Altar, Ming Li's heart stirred—not because he was surprised that Fenxia Valley too was vexed by its inability to restore this strange formation, but because Shangguan Lue's words had mentioned the so-called "Crimson Flame Luminous Lord," which touched something deep in his memory. Almost instinctively, he sensed what Shangguan Lue was referring to.

That giant beast wrapped wholly in flame, fierce and wild—could it be that this was the true key to the legendary Eight Fierce Xuanhuo Formation, of such ancient lineage and strange origin?

The atmosphere in the Xuanhuo Altar was rather strange. Yun Yifeng's expression was dark, and he said nothing, only pacing back and forth in the hall as though pondering some problem. Shangguan Lue, too, merely watched his senior brother's figure and said nothing; as for Li Xun, standing to one side, he seemed only to maintain his respectful posture, not uttering a word.

As time passed, Yun Yifeng's brows gradually knit, a sharp light appearing faintly in his eyes, as though some matter were raging fiercely within his heart. At last, he abruptly halted, drew a long breath, and turned to look at Shangguan Lue and Li Xun behind him.

Shangguan Lue glanced at Yun Yifeng and called softly, "Senior Brother?"

Yun Yifeng seemed to have made up his mind, and hesitated no longer. Coldly he said, "Junior Brother Shangguan, I need not tell you how important this formation in the Xuanhuo Altar is. Whatever it takes, it must be restored—otherwise we shall have no other way to deal with him!"

Shangguan Lue nodded without a word. But in the darkness far above the three, Ming Li and Jin Pingyue were both shaken at once.

Him?

Who was he?

Who was it that Fenxia Valley wished to use this strange formation against?

In the quiet Xuanhuo Altar, what flowed now seemed to be an invisible gloom. Yet the words Yun Yifeng spoke next turned that faint, elusive darkness into cold, cutting ice:

"That day the lava burst forth and did too much damage to the formation. The spiritual power our Fenxia Valley had gathered here over centuries is exhausted, and we have also lost the formation's key, the 'Xuanhuo Mirror'—that is why we cannot summon the Crimson Flame Luminous Lord to reactivate it. Had that person not appeared, this would not matter; we could simply begin gathering again from the start. But now, this is precisely when we urgently need the formation." Yun Yifeng gave a cold humph; three deep lines slowly appeared between his brows, and a murderous intent showed faintly. His voice grew colder and colder.

Shangguan Lue's brows were likewise deeply knit, yet a trace of delight showed on his face as he said in surprise, "What—has Senior Brother already found some other method that will work?"

The corner of Yun Yifeng's eye seemed to twitch slightly. He said, "This formation in the Xuanhuo Altar was laid out by our founding patriarchs according to records handed down in the 'Jade Register of Burning Incense.' And at the very end of that register, one patriarch left a line of commentary—a risky method devised for precisely such a predicament as ours, with the Xuanhuo Mirror lost and the Xuanhuo Formation unable to start. It may yet work."