Chapter 42 — Dead End
劍問蒼天 · Page 4 of 7
But the girl called Bili only glared at him, with no intention of striking at all. Her expression was odd and desolate, as though she had no energy left for anything. "All right, all right," she said impatiently. "Look at that foolish face of yours — seven or eight bones broken in your body, and still so full of spirit!"
Zhang Qingyue frowned. Seeing that Bili seemed to have no mind to fight, he found it strange, but slowly lowered the black iron staff. No sooner had he relaxed than the pain flooded over him, and he could not help crying out again.
Watching this righteous young man grimace and bare his teeth so comically, Bili could not help but burst into a "pfft" of laughter, and the atmosphere eased at once. But after the laughter she gave a long sigh, full of desolation.
Zhang Qingyue snorted. He had a stubborn temper, and being laughed at by this young woman made him feel deeply ashamed. "What are you laughing at?" he said angrily.
Bili glanced at him. "I'm laughing at you."
Hearing her speak so bluntly, sparing him not the least face, Zhang Qingyue's anger rose further. "What's so funny? Let's see you get hit like that!"
Bili's face changed; she looked about to teach this insolent boy a lesson. But no sooner had she moved her hand than her interest suddenly drained away. "We'll both be dead before long," she sighed. "Why should I waste my energy quarreling with you?"
Zhang Qingyue was about to guard himself when he heard her say such a thing, and could not help but stare. "What did you say?"
Bili glanced at him. "This is a cave. Can't you tell?"
"Yes," said Zhang Qingyue. "So what?"
Bili snorted and pointed at the pile of rubble ahead. "That is the only way out, and now it's buried under a mountain of stone. If you've got the skill, go on and split the mountain open and burrow your way out!"
Zhang Qingyue gaped and looked toward the rubble. The cave mouth was sealed tight by enormous boulders, without a crack left. He knew his own limits: against an enemy, his black iron staff and his cultivation had some use, but for digging through mountains like some fool of a Yu Gong, he was truly useless.
After a dazed moment, he suddenly thought of something important and turned quickly. "I remember I hit the cliff and fell to the ground. How did I end up in this cave?"
Bili said coolly, "I dragged you in."
"What?" Zhang Qingyue choked with anger.
Bili glanced at him. "I landed not far from where you were lying unconscious, and happened to see you. The Blackwater Serpent was chasing us again, and when I looked up, I saw that the old tree you had torn down was growing out of a cave — with light showing from inside, and the opening not large. So I hid in it. Before I went in I saw you lying there looking pitiful, so I dragged you in too. Idiot!"
Zhang Qingyue knitted his brows. "Then why is the cave mouth buried?"
Bili shrugged, her face full of misfortune. "The Blackwater Serpent couldn't get in, so in a rage it swept its tail against the cliff, and half the mountain came down on top of us — burying this place, and us, alive."
Zhang Qingyue stared at her for a long while. "Really?" he said, half believing, half doubting.
Anger surfaced on Bili's face; she snatched up a palm-sized stone and flung it at him. "Me, lie to you? I should have just let you die!"
Zhang Qingyue could not dodge in time, and could only shield his head with his hands — but the stone struck his left hand squarely, and the pain pierced to his very core. His vision went black, and he nearly fainted again.
From where she stood, Bili saw Zhang Qingyue's face suddenly turn dead white, saw him clutch the left hand the stone had struck, his face contorted in agony. Her heart skipped a beat, and then she said coldly, "Don't play dead. Heh, I've seen plenty of your kind."
At this moment Zhang Qingyue had no strength left to care what she said about playing dead; he felt he truly was about to die of pain, and his whole hand had gone numb with it.