Chapter 64 — Hidden Worries
劍問蒼天 · Page 2 of 6
Tian Lingsu and Xiao Zhou were both startled. Xiao Zhou frowned and said: "Junior Brother Zhang, do you know these two, father and daughter?"
Zhang Qingyue was silent for a long moment, then said in a low voice: "Yes."
At that moment, Tian Lingsu suddenly cried out: "Ah! I recognize you now. You are that demonic sect girl who sneaked over that night, the one we chased to the island outside, the one who said she was looking for Xiaofan—"
She broke off mid-sentence and merely stared at Zhang Qingyue.
Zhang Qingyue's heart was in a tangle. In truth, this was the very scene he had dreaded most all along, and now it had come to pass, yet he still had no idea how to get through it.
The Underworld King stood there, saw Zhang Qingyue's complicated expression, and still smiled as he said: "Young Brother Zhang, since we parted at the foot of Kongsang Mountain that day, how have you been these past days?"
Zhang Qingyue was too agitated to pay him any mind. Xiao Zhou's brows were tightly knit, and his heart was full of doubt. The way the Underworld King and his daughter looked at this junior brother Zhang was ambiguous, to say the least; their relationship must be far from ordinary. But Canglan Sect's rules were strict, and contact with demonic cultivators was severely forbidden. He did not know what relationship this junior brother Zhang had with those two; he only hoped the boy had not violated the sect's rules, for that would be truly disastrous.
But now was hardly the time for interrogation; the three of them were still in dire straits. Xiao Zhou forced himself to gather his wits, turned to face the Underworld King, and was about to speak, when the Underworld King glanced at him and suddenly spoke first: "You are forcing the circulation of your true essence, secretly channeling spiritual power into the Seven Stars Sword—is it because you wish to use your remaining strength to hold me off, so that these two fellow disciples of yours might have a chance to escape?"
Xiao Zhou's body jolted, and his face turned ashen. He had not expected the Underworld King's mind to be so meticulous. With his cultivation, and now forewarned, there was likely no chance of survival for the three of them.
Unexpectedly, the Underworld King smiled slightly and said: "You need not despair. I have no intention of making things difficult for you."
"What?" Xiao Zhou and Tian Lingsu exclaimed in surprise at the same time, and Zhang Qingyue, his face full of astonishment, also turned to look at him.
The Underworld King glanced at Bili, then turned to Zhang Qingyue and said with a smile: "Young Brother Zhang, that day beneath the Dead Spirit Abyss on Kongsang Mountain, you showed true feeling for Yao'er in adversity, and faced death together with her..."
He had barely said half of it when Zhang Qingyue's expression changed, and he felt Xiao Zhou and Tian Lingsu both looking at him strangely. Alarmed, he was about to open his mouth and say, "You—you nonsense—"
Just then, Zhang Qingyue caught Bili's gaze. In her bright eyes, he vaguely saw a trace of sorrow. Suddenly he remembered that night of great wind and driving rain, when heaven and earth were grim and desolate, and she alone had kept him company through his suffering. Deep in his heart, something inexplicably softened, and he could not bring himself to finish the words.
And the Underworld King's words continued: "Moreover, that day you comforted Yao'er and untied the knot that had bound us father and daughter for over ten years. You could be said to have done me a kindness." He smiled and said: "Today, for your sake, I will let the three of you go. Only, in doing so, when you return to Qingyun in the future, you will surely face the censure of those old fellows who cannot tell right from wrong. Why not join my Holy Sect here and now? I will surely value you highly, and you can live in bliss with Yao'er. Would that not—"