Chapter 48 — The Town
劍問蒼天 · Page 3 of 9
Wan Ren Gui suddenly sneered. "If so, why do you still carry that cursed thing of the demon cult in your hand?"
Zhang Qingyue shuddered, but his expression was stern. "This dark iron rod may be a thing of evil, but if I use it to slay demons and root out evil, then it is the orthodox way, and my conscience is clear—just as with the ancient sword Immortal-Slayer of my sect that you spoke of."
Wan Ren Gui was taken aback. He rose slowly and looked Zhang Qingyue up and down, as though seeing him anew, and the corners of his mouth even showed a trace of a smile. "That you could think your way to such a point on your own—rare, rare indeed! That alone puts you above your Qingyun—no, above most people in this world!"
Zhang Qingyue paid him no mind, only fixed him with his gaze. "Who are you, really?"
Wan Ren Gui did not answer, but asked instead, "You are traveling north this time—are you returning to Canglan Mountain?"
Zhang Qingyue was slightly startled. "What do you mean?"
Wan Ren Gui smiled faintly. "You have not heard? The demon cult has risen again and grown greatly in power. Of late they have gathered on Liubo Mountain in the Eastern Sea, and many from your Canglan Sect have gone there to join with the other sects. I fear a great battle is at hand. Why do you not go and see?"
Zhang Qingyue was dumbstruck. "Such a thing has happened?" But he raised his head at once and said, "That is no concern of mine. I ask you once more—" The words broke off unfinished, for in that single moment of distraction Wan Ren Gui had vanished like a phantom, and even the tea-stall keeper in the distance was gone. Only the lone tea stall remained, and Zhang Qingyue by himself.
Zhang Qingyue looked blankly about him. In broad daylight, for some reason, he felt a chill.
He stood there a long while, and at last, with a stamp of his foot, he stepped out from beneath the great tree and set off eastward.
Not long after Zhang Qingyue had gone, two or three figures emerged from behind the great tree. The first was Wan Ren Gui; the second was the tea-stall keeper; and the third was none other than the demon-cult maiden Bili, who would surely have given Zhang Qingyue a great shock had he seen her.
Wan Ren Gui looked east and nodded slightly, a faint smile at the corners of his mouth. "That youth has a stubborn temper and a firm will—a little like I was in my day."
The tea-stall keeper beside him had long since shed his doddering manner; his eyes were keen and his bearing majestic. "Sect Master, since he carries a great treasure of our demon cult in his hand, why did you not keep the fellow here?"
Wan Ren Gui took being addressed as "Sect Master" in perfect stride and said mildly, "The Blood-Devouring Bead and the Soul-Stealer, by some means, have been fused by that youth with his own essence blood and become blood-refined artifacts. As things stand, no one but that youth can wield them; taking them from him would be of no use."
Bili gave a hum at his side. "I said that day beneath the Dead Spirit Abyss that there was something queer about that rod. So it had such a history."
Wan Ren Gui turned to look at Bili, his expression grown very gentle. "Bili, what do you make of this youth?"
Bili blushed and said crossly, "Father, it was I who asked you to come and see what you make of him today!"
Wan Ren Gui chuckled. "The youth is not bad at all. It is only that he has been poisoned too deeply by the Canglan Sect's parochial ways since childhood. To make him join our Holy Cult—with that stubborn nature of his—would be a thousand times difficult."
Bili's face fell at once, and she sighed softly.
Wan Ren Gui reached out and gently stroked his daughter's head, smiling. "But he was able to loose the knot that has bound you for years and bring father and daughter together again. That kindness we must surely repay."
Bili's expression shifted, and she said joyfully, "Father, you have a way?"