Chapter 58 — Heartbreak
劍問蒼天 · Page 4 of 7
Bili could not make out what it was at first and dared not take it head-on, so she halted. Her right hand beckoned in the wind, and between her jade-like fingers appeared a small white blossom—her prized magic treasure, the Heartbreak Flower.
At Bili's spell seal the Heartbreak Flower rose into the air and caught the strange thing. Bili looked closely, and was caught between anger and laughter: the object ahead was a six-faced cube, carved with little dots and numbers—a die! To think that among the righteous there could be such a heterodox magic treasure; it was rare indeed.
The Heartbreak Flower's white light pressed forward and drove Du Biyan's die back a full fathom—Du Biyan, it seemed, was rather outmatched by Bili. But though Du Biyan's cultivation fell short of Song Dayi's, he was far quicker of wit. Seeing his cultivation was not enough, he did not contend head-on; he summoned two more dice and sent them darting and skipping about.
The three dice flew swift as lightning—one striking high, one charging low, wheeling this way and that, covering left and right. They could not break into the Heartbreak Flower's range, but Bili for a time could not break through either. In that brief delay, Song Dayi behind her had already charged up again.
Bili had crossed swords with Song Dayi just now and knew his cultivation was deep; in single combat she might not best him. Add this shifty fellow in front, and that "Ling'er sister" of Zhang Qingyue's standing to the side, and she reckoned she would gain nothing tonight. She cast a distant look at Zhang Qingyue and cursed inwardly: "You little wretch!"
Song Dayi was about to give chase when he saw the demon girl fighting Du Biyan suddenly hurtle backward, and the flower in her hand abruptly bloomed into a thousand strange blossoms that blotted out sky and sun. Startled, he hurriedly gathered his focus to guard—but this was only Bili's feint. Amid the myriad blooms, Bili's green figure shot skyward and streaked away.
Song Dayi was about to pursue when he heard Du Biyan say, "Eldest senior brother, don't chase."
Song Dayi came to his senses, hastily put away his immortal sword, and ran with the others toward Zhang Qingyue.
Liubo Mountain in the eastern sea: the island's peaks were grand and steep, and it covered a vast expanse—by size it could in fact be counted first among the islands and mountain ranges of the eastern sea. But because it lay remote, with human traces seldom seen, its fame fell far short of the eastern sea's other two famed mountain islands—"Penglai Immortal Mountain" and "the Isle of Yama."
Yet at this moment Liubo Mountain was enjoying its busiest days since ancient times. For days on end the demon cult figures seemed to be searching for something among the hills. Though the mountain was vast, cultivators came and went on their swords at what speed—often they stumbled upon one another unawares. The two sides were "deep in bitter hatred"; no sooner did they see and recognize each other than they loosed their magic treasures and smashed away. Back and forth, the din shook the heavens, fellow disciples and Daoist friends hurried to aid, and there arose the posture of a "mass brawl," with countless magic treasures—some dazzling bright, some sinister and vicious—flying to and fro above Liubo Mountain.
For several days running, each side lost a dozen or more dead and wounded, and countless little peaks and hillocks on Liubo Mountain were innocently sheared flat or blasted to rubble.
Since joining Tian Lingsu and the others that night, Zhang Qingyue had at last, under their guidance, found where Liubo Mountain lay, and had seen his master Tian Buhui and his master's wife, Su Wan.