Chapter 55 — Dying Together
劍問蒼天 · Page 4 of 6
Bili's expression changed. The golden bell at her waist was, of course, the "Bell of Joyous Union" left behind by Lady Hehuan, which she and Zhang Qingyue had obtained when they were trapped in the Blooddrop Cave beneath the Abyss of the Dead.
To have Yan Fei suddenly speak of it now, she almost mistook it for meaning that this gentle female disciple of Fenxia Valley had seen through her identity.
But Yan Fei said only that one sentence, and then, as though nothing had happened, merely smiled at her and departed with Li Xun.
Bili frowned, her heart full of doubt and alarm, when she suddenly sensed something and looked to the side—and saw that Zhang Qingyue was looking at her as well.
Presently the three of them left the woods outside the Black Stone Cave. On the way they passed the well of the full moon from the night before, and Bili, recalling how the three-tailed demon fox had several times pressed Zhang Qingyue on what exactly he had seen within it, asked him a few questions about it as well. Zhang Qingyue started at first, but gave no answer, only shook his head.
Bili was vexed and asked no more, but her curiosity was great, so she walked over herself. She looked down into the ancient well and saw that it was deep and secluded, its water clear, reflecting her own face—very lovely—and nothing else out of the ordinary. So she put it from her mind.
They came out of the woods and returned to the little town of Xiaochi, where the town chief and the other folk had long been waiting in anxious impatience. The moment they caught sight of the three figures, they crowded around.
When they heard Stone loudly declare that the demon had been destroyed and that the good folk might live in peace hereafter, the crowd broke into thunderous cheers, every face alight with joy.
Zhang Qingyue stood to one side, watching the rejoicing crowd, yet a confusion came over his heart, and the images of those two demon foxes rose again before his eyes.
Earlier, when Li Xun had questioned him about the Mystic Fire Mirror, he had of course known that the thing they sought was in truth bound to his own arm. Yet somehow the white fox's words had come back to him.
In truth, he had known the six-tailed spirit fox for barely a single night; there could be no talk of any bond between them. Yet he had watched the three-tailed demon fox resolutely take her own life, and the six-tailed spirit fox gather her in its arms and leap with her into the searing lava—and that soul-stirring scene was still before his eyes even now.
Deep in his heart, he had actually come to feel a closeness to that demon fox, and so, for reasons he could not explain, he had put Li Xun and Yan Fei off, claiming ignorance, and concealed the truth.
It was with great difficulty that Stone extricated himself from the crowd and shot the other two a look. Zhang Qingyue and Bili looked past him and saw that the elders and townsfolk, still unappeased, were all smiles and pressing in again.
Stone turned to the crowd and said, "Good people, hear me out. Matters here are settled, and we must continue on our cultivation. Today we part here. As for talk of silver in thanks—my two companions and I thank you all, but silver is a thing outside the self, and of no use to us. Pray go home, all of you!"
With that, he quickened his steps, pulled Zhang Qingyue by the arm, and said in a low voice, "Let's go, quickly."
The townsfolk saw only that the three had turned into streaks of lightning; with two whistling sounds they vanished from sight. The people sighed in amazement, gathered to talk for a while, and then gradually dispersed.
But after the crowd had scattered, from the corner of the street emerged an old man and a young girl. They gazed far off in the direction the three had vanished—none other than the fortune-teller Zhou Yixuan and his granddaughter Xiaowan.