Chapter 94 — Strange Blooms
The Sword Questions the Heavens · Page 5 of 7
Lin Jinghong flew on, relying on the "Dragon-Slaying Sword" to protect him, broke out of the miasma, and came into this ancient forest of the inner marsh. And the place where he had emerged was in fact only a few dozen li from where Ming Li stood.
These two childhood friends, men who had once been as close as brothers, remained utterly unaware of each other. And yet, even if they had known, what they faced would only have been a more painful scene, would it not?
Of all this Lin Jinghong naturally knew nothing. He looked up at the sky and saw the dark clouds still heavy, and it seemed this rain would go on for another half a day. He could not help muttering a few low curses, pondered a moment, and at last set off again on foot.
Threading through the forest, there was really no road to speak of. Beyond the tall, great trees, the woods were thick with dense thorns and shrubs, and all manner of strange flowers and grasses, and monstrous beasts and venomous insects that had never appeared in the world outside the Dead Marsh, kept appearing before Lin Jinghong's eyes.
He had gone only a short while before he had already come close to disaster several times. Had he not been clever and alert, and had his cultivation not surged so greatly over these ten years, he would surely have come to grievous harm.
With a "whoosh," the Dragon-Slaying Sword traced an arc of green light and cut in two a scarlet venomous snake that lunged at him from the branches. At the same time, Lin Jinghong could bear it no longer; he sprang into the air at once and rose above the treetops on the power of his artifact.
Only in midair did he feel somewhat reassured, and at the same time secretly astonished. This inner marsh truly startled him at every step, far more perilous than the outer marsh. Where in the world did so many strange venomous creatures come from?
He glanced down. The severed body of the scarlet snake was still writhing and twisting on the ground, as though not yet quite dead. And besides that snake, he had just now been attacked by a venomous scorpion, a toad, and some strange lizard—truly, danger lurked on every side.
Lin Jinghong had meant to spare himself the effort and simply walk for a while beneath the ground, but now he dared not set foot on it lightly under any circumstances. Hovering in midair, he gazed all around, and suddenly his whole body gave a start.
There, deep in the forest ahead, behind the curtain of rain, a golden light flashed forth, and mingled with the wind and rain came the faint sound of someone shouting.
Joy leaped in Lin Jinghong's heart. He hesitated no longer, but urged his artifact onward and flew toward the flickering golden light.
Such was the speed of his artifact-borne flight that in a few short moments he had drawn near. Peering closely, he could not help but start in astonishment: here in the forest an oddly large clearing had opened up, and in the middle of it, within a pool of water, bloomed a flower of the strangest kind.
The flower was immense, several zhang across; had he not seen it with his own eyes, he could scarcely have believed such a wondrous species existed in this world.
Seen from midair, the lower part of the flower was blue-green, while the upper part split into countless branches of a brilliant red. Between the red and the green the division was so sharp that a clear dividing line could be made out. And at the tips of those red upper branches were small globes, crystal-clear as dewdrops, glistening with moisture—whether from the rain or by nature, he could not tell. (Note 1)
In the wind and rain the wondrous flower trembled gently, and a faint sweet fragrance spread upon the air.
His astonishment past, Lin Jinghong's attention was drawn to the two people and one beast beside the flower. One glance, and delight lit his face: the two standing in the clearing were none other than Zeng Shuyan of Fenghui Peak and Facheng of the Brahma Voice Temple, both of his own sect.