劍問蒼天 - 第50章 玄火鑑 - 清風書屋

Zhang Qingyue's heart swayed, his mind all but captured. At the crucial instant, a flash of gold passed over his face, and at once he grew calm again.

The three-tailed demon fox knit her brows—but Zhang Qingyue gave a great shout, flew sideways through the air several zhang, and landed on the ground beside Shi Tou.

Shi Tou glanced at him and said with some concern, "This demon's fox-charm arts are formidable. Be careful."

Zhang Qingyue, still shaken, nodded. The two looked up and saw the three-tailed demon fox still poised in midair, her garments dancing lightly in the wind, like a figure in a painting, incomparably beautiful.

In the distance Zhou Yixuan frowned and said in astonishment, "This youth has tremendous resolve! Under the fox-charm arts of a three-tailed demon fox with five hundred years of cultivation, he can still steady his mind!"

Xiaowan curled her lip and said, "So what? Can't you see that big fellow seems fine too?"

Zhou Yixuan said, "What do you know? What that big fellow has learned has some kinship with the Buddhist school, and the true Dharma of Buddhism is precisely the way of stillness and quelling the mind. Against fox-charm sorcery that bewitches the heart, he has an inborn resistance.

But the Canglan sect is of the Daoist tradition, and in this respect falls far short. For this youth, with his level of cultivation, to possess such resolve is truly rare—rare indeed!"

"Is that so?" Xiaowan tilted her head, thought a while, and looked back toward the clearing.

The three-tailed demon fox slowly descended from the air. A smile still lingered on her face, but heaviness was gradually gathering in her eyes. In that brief time of fierce combat with these two, she had already sensed that though both looked young, neither was low in cultivation. The big fellow's arts seemed to stem from the Buddhist line, which was a great headache.

The other youth's will was unexpectedly firm, and her fox-charm arts, her surest weapon, seemed now to be of no use at all.

Bili stood to one side, about to make her move, but seeing Zhang Qingyue had recovered, she halted and watched coldly.

The moonlight was cold, sifting through the leaves and falling on that soft, alluring woman, on a figure that looked somewhat lonely.

There was a certain desolation to it.

She lowered her head slightly. Her long, fine lashes seemed to veil her own tender thoughts, and seemed also to be listening to the faint, hidden sounds in the deep-night woods. Softly she said, "I bear you no grudge, no enmity. Why have you come to kill me?"

Shi Tou stepped forward, his whole body like a fierce tiger, and shouted, "You demon! You bring calamity upon the world and set all Xiaochi Town in terror. Do you not deserve death?"

She raised her eyes and looked at him. There was wind, blowing gently past, lifting the hem of her garments.

"You would kill me because I am a demon?" She turned to Zhang Qingyue, gazing deep into him. "And you? What is your reason?"

Zhang Qingyue answered without a thought, "You have done much evil. I am of the righteous path. To rid the people of harm is a duty I cannot shirk!"

The three-tailed demon fox was silent a moment, then smiled faintly and suddenly said, "Young man, how old are you this year?"

Zhang Qingyue was taken aback and frowned. "Why do you ask?"

She raised her hand lightly and tucked a stray strand of hair back from her temple. Her jade-white fingers brushed across the black strands.

"These words—were they not told to you by those righteous masters of yours? Demons like us have always brought disaster upon the world, and must certainly be rooted out. Is that not so?"

Zhang Qingyue frowned. His masters had indeed taught him exactly that. The three-tailed demon fox across from him went on, "But if I told you those words were wrong, what would you think?"