Chapter 115 — Hope
The Sword Questions the Heavens · Page 1 of 6
Ming Li's body gave a violent shudder, and in an instant a look of wild joy flooded his face, sweeping away the heaviness that had been frozen there for longer than anyone could say.
He barely managed to suppress his excitement, yet he still could not keep a faint tremor out of his voice. "Please—please, Senior, teach me!"
The Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox gazed at him. After a moment she suddenly smiled and said, "That woman must be someone you love deeply, is she not?"
Ming Li said nothing, but the longing and anguish on his face only grew sharper.
The Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox shook her head with a sigh, yet her eyes were full of gentleness and pity. Softly she said, "As you said, the woman's body is whole and unharmed. That being so, it must be that strange power that scattered her soul and spirit. Ordinarily, once the three souls and seven spirits are dispersed, not even an immortal could save her—but so long as a single soul remains, there is hope."
"Though the soul is divided into three souls and seven spirits, all of them are the essence of a person's spirit, and between the souls of one and the same person there exists a mysterious attraction. Cultivators of the Central Plains have seldom delved into such matters, but many years ago I saw with my own eyes a man of strange arts perform the 'Soul-Returning Art.' He drew back every last fragment of the soul and spirit of a man who had been so unfortunate as to have one soul and three spirits seized by a wicked demon."
"From this you can see that though the circumstances differ somewhat, so long as your friend's body does not perish and remnants of her soul remain, she can surely be saved."
Ming Li's face had been alight with excitement, but at the words "Soul-Returning Art" something seemed to strike him. His brows knitted and he said, "Senior, this Soul-Returning Art you speak of—do you mean the 'Black Witch Clan' of the Ten Thousand Savage Mountains in the southern wilds?"
The Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox raised an elegant brow, faintly surprised, and nodded. "What, so you know of this Black Witch Clan as well? They are shrouded in mystery, and their Black Witch priests, who sacrifice to the gods, are especially skilled in such strange arts of ghosts and souls. If you can find a way to reach a Black Witch priest, there is a good chance your friend can be saved."
Ming Li was silent. After a long while, unable to hide the disappointment on his face, he said in a low voice, "To be honest with you, word that this Black Witch Clan might be able to save my friend reached my ears ten years ago. But in these ten years I have come to this southern borderland more times than I can count, and even penetrated deep into those barren, treacherous Ten Thousand Savage Mountains. Yet no matter how carefully I searched, I could not find the slightest trace of the Black Witch Clan. Everyone told me that the Black Witch Clan died out a thousand years ago…"
"A thousand years ago?" The Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox, who had been listening with furrowed brows, suddenly raised her voice and cut him off.
"That is right. What of it?" Ming Li lifted his head and looked at her.
The softly alluring woman frowned slightly, as though pondering something. Her fine, silken hair fell over her shoulders, and the night wind stirred a few strands to dance about her cheeks.
After a long while she raised her head and said, "Locked away too long—my mind has gone dull. I will have to think before I can remember. When I met that man of the Black Witch Clan, it was two hundred years before those wretches of the Burning Cloud Valley imprisoned me. Which means it must have been at least five hundred years ago that there were still people of the Black Witch Clan about!"