Chapter 34 — Ten Thousand Bats
劍問蒼天 · Page 5 of 6
By now who could say how many black bats filled the air about the circle—not three rings deep, but three hundred rings. Yet their battering at the circle seemed gradually to slacken; it seemed they knew it was futile, and gave up the useless labor. Only, they seemed loath to forgo such a fine feast, and still they ringed them, unwilling to leave.
Zhang Qingyue's heart was in turmoil. Never in his life had he seen such savage things, and even now he was tense and afraid. Panting, he tore his gaze from the outer bats, and from the corner of his eye saw that Lu Xueqi, standing beside him, was pale as death as well.
As though at that very moment, Lu Xueqi sensed his gaze and looked his way. Their eyes met in the air.
Lu Xueqi suddenly turned her head away. Her pale face seemed to pale a shade further, but she did not look back again.
"Shh—"
Suddenly all the bats beat their wings and rose. Zeng Shuyan watched them and let out a breath. "At last—"
He did not finish. The whole sky was black cloud; the countless bats flew high, then of a sudden wheeled about, and the foremost came plunging down like hailstones, striking the ** Mirror's circle—only to be flung back by it, bursting into a spray of blood mist, and beneath the pale yellow radiance falling to the ground smashed to bits.
Foul blood ran in streams; the reek of gore struck them in the face; countless hideous blossoms of blood glittered in the night and then fell to earth—yet the bats that followed seemed utterly indifferent to the deaths of those before them, and went on battering without pause. The four of the Canglan Sect were pale as ghosts, gazing on this savage monstrosity such as the world had rarely seen.
Around the circle, in no time, a thick heap of bat corpses had piled nearly half a man high.
Zhang Qingyue suddenly realized that the clothes on his back were soaked through with cold sweat.
How long that horrifying spectacle lasted, no one could say—until the bat corpses outside the circle had piled nearly a man high, the swarm at last gave over that fierce, savage assault. By now even the ** Mirror's radiance had dimmed somewhat, yet still it flickered through the night, standing unbroken.
The vast black cloud still hung about that single point of light in the darkness, unwilling to depart.
The four did not dare so much as close their eyes, each gripping his own immortal sword or treasure, not daring the slightest slackening.
Only, these swarms of giant bats seemed to have no better plan left; they merely circled, refusing to leave, and launched no further attacks.
So it went until dawn.
When the first ray of sunlight touched the horizon, as though some unseen call had summoned them, all the bats suddenly rose and wheeled in the air a while, then flew back toward the place from which they had come the night before. They had come swiftly, and they went more swiftly still; in a moment the countless bats had all vanished.
The four of the Canglan Sect slowly relaxed—but it was a long while yet before Qi Hao, certain at last that the bats would not come out again, withdrew the ** Mirror.
The circle of light dispersed.
With a muffled crash, the bat corpses heaped like a small hill around the four suddenly came tumbling in from every side toward the center, submerging them in that loathsome, horrifying tide. In that instant Zhang Qingyue's heart gave a violent leap, and he almost thought his breath had stopped; and at the same moment he heard a cry from beside him, and a jade-white hand reached out and clutched his arm.
So fierce was the grip that, through his clothes, her nails dug into his flesh.
The pain pierced straight to his heart. He turned and looked at this beautiful woman so stricken with fright; her pale face, in the morning light, wore a trace of panic that wrenched the heart for no reason he could name.