劍問蒼天 - 第42章 絕地 - 清風書屋

A single line of footprints led forward through the middle of the path — left, it seemed, by Bili when she had come in to explore earlier.

After walking a while, they came to the end of the corridor, but ahead lay yet another turn, and at the same time the faint sound of water came drifting to them.

Just then Bili, walking behind him, suddenly called out: "Zhang Qingyue."

"What?" Zhang Qingyue answered instinctively, but at once turned his head and said, "How do you know my name?"

Bili burst out laughing. "You told me yourself, back in He Yin City!"

Only then did Zhang Qingyue remember, and he was overcome with embarrassment. He turned his head away and walked on, saying as he went, "Why is there water ahead?"

Bili said peevishly, "Because at the end of this passage a little curtain of water drips down, and beyond that there is no way out at all. Ai! To think I should die in a place like this."

Zhang Qingyue paid her no heed and walked on. After a time the sound of water gradually grew louder, a steady hua-hua rush. Before long he indeed saw, at the end of the passage ahead, a curtain of water hanging straight down from the roof of the cave, scattering spray in all directions, crystalline and beautiful, until at last it fell into a small pool at the passage's end. Had it not been for their being in this death trap, it would have made no poor scenery.

But at such a moment, naturally, no one was in any mood to admire the view. Zhang Qingyue walked up to the waterfall and examined it closely, and his heart sank.

Behind the waterfall was solid rock, no different from the stone on either side of the passage. The little pool was clear to the bottom, and no water could be seen flowing out anywhere; so small a spot must simply seep away into the ground. And overhead, the place where the water dripped was nothing but a stretch of the cave roof, which for some reason was covered in beads of moisture that fell without cease. Where in all this was any way out?

Zhang Qingyue turned back and met Bili's gaze. The two looked at each other, and both fell silent.

For a time the cave sank into a silence like death itself.

Zhang Qingyue felt as though his mind were a tangled skein. Seeing himself trapped in a hopeless place, and anxious besides about the missing Lu Xueling, he was fretful and distracted enough; and whether because it had not been properly tended or for some other reason, the wound on his left hand came throbbing back in waves, unbearable beyond words.

Watching him, Bili felt, she hardly knew why, a little unable to bear it. She said softly, "Sit down and rest a while first! We will think of some way out, slowly."

Here in this death trap, Zhang Qingyue's hostility toward her seemed to have faded as well. In the world outside he would of course have stood implacably opposed to this demon sect witch, but in this time and place, with the two of them about to die here together, who had leisure for the quarrels of sects?

Zhang Qingyue sat down in silence, staring blankly at his surroundings, and at last looked up at the rock face above the dripping water. He thought to himself: To think that on my first descent from the mountain I should meet with so many setbacks, and now be in a place of death besides. If Master knew, he would surely curse this unworthy disciple roundly again! And if Sister Ling'er knew, who knows what she would...

Bili watched him from the side and saw his expression suddenly turn somewhat strange. She could not help saying, "What are you thinking about?"

Zhang Qingyue started awake, and his face reddened; but how could he bring himself to tell the truth? His eyes darted about, and he casually steered the subject away: "There are nothing but strange things in this Vale of Death Spirits. Look, there are a few patches of red on the rock face of this cave roof, and where the water runs over them it is dyed the color of blood..."