劍問蒼天 - 第71章 夔牛 - 清風書屋

It was Qinglong, still garbed carelessly in white, appearing before Lu Xueling like a phantom, while his right hand, which wore the Cosmos Clear-Light Ring, slipped back into his sleeve.

"Miss—" Qinglong smiled, as though he did not regard Lu Xueling as an enemy at all. "This Kui Ox (Note 1) is a creature we spent great effort to bind, and it poses no harm to your esteemed sect. Why must we fall into dispute?"

Lu Xueling drew a deep breath, knowing that this man's cultivation was unfathomably deep and that she was likely no match for him; but as her gaze shifted, it fell upon the strange beast, the Kui Ox, and she saw that the Kui Ox was gazing this way too, its eyes bright, a low growl still rumbling in its throat—who could tell what it was thinking at that moment?

"Demon!" she cried suddenly, and heedless of all else, the Divine Sword of the Heavenly Dipper blazing with blue light, she charged straight at Qinglong.

Qinglong started. Facing the Divine Weapon of the Heavenly Dipper, even one of his cultivation dared not underestimate it; he could only knit his brows and fight with all his concentration.

In the clearing, blue light and pure radiance clashed into a tangled blaze, but Qinglong's cultivation was, after all, higher than Lu Xueling's, and the Qiankun Pure Radiance Ring seemed in no way inferior to the Heavenly Dipper. As time wore on he at once gained the upper hand, the pure radiance slowly bearing the blue light down.

Zhang Qingyue watched, anxiety gnawing at him, and turned his head. Song Dayi gritted his teeth and said urgently, "Little师妹—take our youngest junior brother and go, now! I will go over with Biyan; the moment we find an opening we will follow."

Tian Lingsu said in alarm, "Eldest Senior Brother, I—"

Song Dayi glared and snapped, "No time for chatter now—go!" With that he waved Du Biyan forward and at once plunged into the fray, leaving Zhang Qingyue and Tian Lingsu standing where they were.

In truth, Song Dayi's own inclination had been to leave this trouble alone, but Lu Xueling was of their own sect and could not be abandoned; and now the danger was grave, with the Nether King and Qinglong, those two great demons, on the enemy's side. Hard-pressed, he could only see to the youngest juniors first, while he himself went up to see whether an escape might be found.

Scolded thus by Song Dayi, Tian Lingsu only stared. From childhood to now Song Dayi had doted on her and had never spoken a harsh word; suddenly hearing one today, she could hardly take it in.

But she was, after all, an outstanding disciple of the Canglan Sect, and headstrong and spoiled by nature since she was small. Frowning in thought a moment, she said to Zhang Qingyue, "Xiaofan, you stay here and look after Fourth Senior Brother. I'm going over to—"

Zhang Qingyue was greatly startled; before he could speak, the wounded He Dachuan had already struggled up and cried, "Little junior sister, it's dangerous over there—you mustn't go!"

But once Tian Lingsu had set her mind, how could she heed him? Only Tian Buhui could have restrained her now; He Dachuan's words fell on her ears like wind past them.

Seeing that Tian Lingsu paid him no mind at all and was about to turn away, He Dachuan urgently called to Zhang Qingyue, "Youngest junior brother, hold her back!"

Zhang Qingyue came to himself and ran to seize Tian Lingsu by the sleeve, saying urgently, "Senior sister, don't go over—stay here, and I'll go help—"

Before the word "help" was out, Tian Lingsu, impatient, flung her arm and broke free of him. In desperation Zhang Qingyue reached for her again—when at that very moment, as Tian Lingsu swung her arm and leaped up, a small round object suddenly slipped from her sleeve.

A pretty, smooth stone, sliding quietly away in the night.

Dimly, it seemed a girl was laughing softly and saying, "When we get back later, I'll give this stone to Brother Qi—he's sure to like it!"