Chapter 56 — Changhe City
劍問蒼天 · Page 1 of 6
After Zhang Qingyue, Bili, and Shitou left Xiaochi Town, they headed east. After flying for some distance, they descended to the ground.
Shitou spoke first to Zhang Qingyue. "Brother Zhang, where do you plan to go next?"
Zhang Qingyue thought for a moment, then said, "Since Senior Sister Yan Fei of Fenxia Valley said my master was going to Liubo Mountain in the East Sea, I may as well go and see them. And you?"
Shitou considered it, then said, "Then I'll go too! My master told me to travel the world, cultivate the Way, and do good deeds. Now I hear the remnants of the demon cult are stirring up trouble again—I might as well lend a hand."
"Hmph!" A cold laugh came from beside them. Bili gave a snort and said icily, "What noble ambition, what righteousness. Just don't let it happen that when the time comes, instead of vanquishing demons and subduing devils, you get vanquished and subdued by those demon-cult remnants yourself."
Shitou froze, at a loss for words. He turned to look at Zhang Qingyue, who wore an awkward expression and was staring at Bili, also unable to speak, just like Shitou.
Bili sneered. "What are you two looking at me for?"
Zhang Qingyue and Shitou exchanged glances. Zhang Qingyue fared somewhat better—after all, he had spent some time in Bili's company and knew her temper to a degree, and knowing her identity, he did not much mind.
But Shitou was a blunt, straightforward man, and being inexplicably rebuked by Bili left him feeling stifled. Yet he could not bring himself to be angry at such a pretty, delicate girl, so he kept it bottled up inside. He reflected that his master had warned him many times before he left home to stay far from women, saying that the most unreasonable creatures in this world were women—especially beautiful young women. Seeing it today, it was indeed so; his master was truly incomparably wise.
Zhang Qingyue glanced at Shitou and saw him standing there dazed, not saying a word, and felt a little guilty. How could he know that this fellow was inwardly sighing with deep emotion, delivering a whole commentary on the women of the world and praising his master's sagacity? He assumed Shitou was simply sulking after being snapped at by Bili.
He turned to Bili, saw her face still cold, and sighed. "Where do you plan to go?"
Bili shot him a look and snorted. "None of your business!"
Zhang Qingyue, rebuffed, mumbled and could not speak, though he was not really angry. After all, if he went to Liubo Mountain in the East Sea, he would practically be her enemy—her anger was only natural. Just then Shitou came up behind Zhang Qingyue, his eyes full of sympathy, and gently patted his shoulder with a look that said, I understand you.
Zhang Qingyue looked at his expression, mouth agape, and for a long while still could not produce a single word. He only felt the situation was utterly awkward—his bitterness had no outlet, and he was thoroughly miserable.
By the end of that day, Zhang Qingyue and Shitou still had not found out where Bili was going. In truth, after being snapped at a few times, they dared not ask again. In any case, they were heading east, and Bili walked ahead of them.
Along the way her mood was never good, and a stream of cold words and cutting remarks never ceased. Eventually Zhang Qingyue and Shitou came to almost fear her. When the two were chatting happily and saw Bili glance their way, they immediately fell silent as cicadas in winter, lowering their voices or stopping altogether.
Thus they traveled two days, the three of them heading east, until they came to a great city called Changhe City.
Entering the city, Shitou and Zhang Qingyue split up to ask around, and learned that Changhe City was already the largest city of any scale nearest the East Sea. Four hundred li further east from here lay the shores of the East Sea.