Chapter 42 — Dead End
劍問蒼天 · Page 3 of 7
Broken stone flew everywhere, stars burst before his eyes, and Zhang Qingyue's whole body convulsed. With a "wa," he spat out a mouthful of blood that splashed across his lapels. In that instant he felt as though his whole body had come apart; had it not been for the true arts of the Daoist and Buddhist schools guarding him from within, his life would have ended then and there.
Even so, he was in poor shape. His whole body paused against the cliff for a moment, then slid down limply, and as he slid he struck the hard rock face several times. Amid the "bang, bang" sounds, his body was wracked with pain, and he did not know how many bones he had broken; he only felt there was not a single intact place left on him.
After falling this way for a while, and after yet another impact, Zhang Qingyue was flung outward. By now he had almost given up hope, but as he tumbled, by the faint light of the black iron staff at his chest, he dimly saw a dark shape not far below — like an old tree growing from the cliff face.
In this desperate moment, it did not occur to him to wonder how any tree could grow on the hard rock of such a dead place as the Vale of Death Spirits. By instinct he reached out and grabbed for that old tree.
The wind rushed past; his fall quickened. Yet in that flash of lightning, he caught hold of the old tree.
At his touch it was indeed not the cold of the cliff stone but rather a kind of warmth. But the force of his fall was so great that the old tree seemed barely rooted. Though Zhang Qingyue gripped the trunk, the tree shook violently, earth and stone cascading down, and with a few swaying lurches and a thunderous crash, tree and man fell together.
In the moment of the fall, Zhang Qingyue felt his heart sink as though into a bottomless abyss. In his panic his body kept falling, but checked as it was by the tree, its speed had slowed somewhat. He heard a great crash, and struck the ground hard — and then he knew no more.
He did not know how long had passed when Zhang Qingyue slowly came to. Before he even opened his eyes, he felt pain throughout his body, as though he had come apart. But pain meant he was still alive, so his heart was not altogether grieved.
He opened his eyes, and at the sight before him he could not help but stare.
He was in a closed and damp place, most likely a stone cave. The ceiling was the height of two men, but the sides were only three chi wide — very narrow. The walls were of cold, hard stone, just like the cliff face he had seen before, so it was probably inside that cliff, or at least near it.
Yet the stones in the cave seemed to contain something luminous; they did not look large but were numerous, each giving off a soft light that made the cave quite bright.
Zhang Qingyue examined the cave carefully and judged it to be a kind of passage. At one end was a pile of rubble that blocked the way completely; the other end stretched inward but turned a corner not far off, so he could not see what lay within.
He sat dazed on the ground for a moment, then tried to rise. But no sooner had he moved than he braced his left hand on the floor, and suddenly pain shot through his whole body; he cried out aloud. "Ah!" His body shuddered, and his left hand in particular throbbed with terrible pain.
A cold snort suddenly came from deep within the cave. Zhang Qingyue started and turned to look, and saw a young woman come around the corner — dressed all in water-green, clear-featured and beautiful. Who else could it be but that little demon girl of the Devil Sect?
The two of them had been locked in confrontation only moments before. Now, seeing this member of the Devil Sect so suddenly, Zhang Qingyue instinctively raised the black iron staff and braced himself on guard — and for a moment he even forgot the pain in his body.