Chapter 102 — Little Grey
劍問蒼天 · Page 4 of 9
It looked as though the Heaven Emperor's Treasure House was about to collapse; but just then, as if by the power of some ancient god, the wondrous stone suddenly sent up a golden light far broader and more dazzling than before, abruptly forming a pillar that shot straight up to the sky. And this time it broke through the veil that wrapped the wooden stand and shone directly upon the dome of the Heaven Emperor's Treasure House.
Within the treasure house there suddenly arose a mysterious, distant sound, like the secret chanting of Brahma in a sacred mountain paradise, or like the soft whispering of lonely souls in the Nine Depths. As that golden pillar of light pressed against the dome, the whole Heaven Emperor's Treasure House seemed to be held up by some mighty support, and ceased to cave inward; the falling beams too gradually stopped.
Then, before the eyes of Lu Xueling and Ming Li, across the whole dome of the Heaven Emperor's Treasure House, there in that dazzling golden radiance the mysterious voice suddenly rang out, as though chanting for some purpose, and golden characters the size of bushels, lit by the golden light, appeared one after another in midair:
Heaven and earth are heartless, and take all things as straw dogs!
Ming Li's whole body shook.
A moment later those nine characters slowly faded, but the mysterious chanting only grew louder and fuller, and in an instant the dazzling golden pillar seemed to burst forth, blazing with unbearable heat into every corner of the Heaven Emperor's Treasure House; upon the surrounding walls, under the golden light, golden characters appeared one after another in midair, their strokes vigorous and forceful, as though all in flight.
Around Ming Li and Lu Xueling, amid the roaring, they circled and flew!
Ming Li and Lu Xueling were stunned by that soul-stealing spectacle, but then were drawn in by the mystery all around them; they gazed as eagerly as the starving, forgetting everything else.
And Ming Li's heart beat faster and faster; at this moment a voice seemed to be crying out in his heart:
"The Book of Heaven! The Book of Heaven! This is the third volume of the Book of Heaven!"
Outside the Heaven Emperor's Treasure House, Fa Cheng and the others had withdrawn far off into the high air, watching the struggle of the two ancient beasts atop that wondrous tree, and despite themselves their faces had gone somewhat white.
The great trunk, once so full of life with flourishing branches and leaves, ringed by countless vines and blossoms, now looked as though it had met a catastrophe that comes once in ten million years: broken branches and withered flowers everywhere, a scene of ruin.
And before the trunk, outside the Heaven Emperor's Treasure House, the Blackwater Mystic Serpent coiled tight about the stone door, its huge head roaring at the sky, while the divine beast Yellow Bird flew on beating wings; each sweep of its wings raised a great gale, so that even Fa Cheng and the others watching from afar could feel its force.
The Yellow Bird was clad in orange-yellow feathers; with wings spread it was nearly a hundred zhang across, with a sharp beak, keen eyes, and talons likewise sharp and enormous. Now it swooped down again and again, attacking the Blackwater Mystic Serpent with beak and claws. And the Blackwater Mystic Serpent spat poison without cease from its mouth, shaking its head, fangs sharp, counterattacking with all its strength, and from time to time ramming the Heaven Emperor's Treasure House beneath it.
So fought the divine bird and the giant serpent, until sky and earth went dim and wind and cloud changed color; and it was well that this was a desolate, uninhabited place, for with the strength of these two ancient beasts, even the busiest city would have been destroyed.