劍問蒼天 - 第124章 黑火 - 清風書屋

Before she finished, a tremendous roar like a dog's bark suddenly burst out above Qili Dong, outside their room—a sound that shook the fields and seemed to set the whole mountain range trembling. Even two cultivators such as they felt their ears ringing.

Both were startled. Ming Li strode to the door, flung it open, and stepped outside.

The great sound still echoed through the valley of Qili Dong, its reverberations rolling on near and far without cease. Every Miao in Qili Dong was startled by that enormous noise, and the peace of before was shattered in an instant.

Ming Li saw countless Miao come pouring out of their houses. From afar, their faces all wore looks of terror, and many kept crying out the same phrase—though he could not understand what it meant.

Footsteps sounded behind him; Xiaobai had come out too and stood at his side, watching the panicked Miao in the distance and listening to their ceaseless cries. Her brow gradually knit. "Something may have happened," she said in a low voice.

Ming Li saw it too. "What is it? What are those Miao saying?"

Xiaobai's face was grave. "That great sound just now was the alarm from the Dog God stone carving the Miao revere. Unless the hour has come when the tribe faces extinction, the Dog God would never utter such a sound. As far as I know, in a thousand years the Miao's Dog God has given warning only once."

A fretfulness rose in Ming Li's heart. Bil璃's only hope of life or death now rested on that mysterious great shaman in the Miao altar, and of all times, this strange thing had to happen now. Just as he was about to say something and ask Xiaobai to explain, great changes began to appear in the once-quiet night sky over Qili Dong.

In the starry night sky, thick dark clouds suddenly began to gather, blotting out the stars one by one. Layer upon layer of cloud came swarming in from every direction, the wind and clouds shifting in the most uncanny manner.

The tiny people standing on the ground could not help crying out in terror. Countless people began to run about wildly, and more and more of them fell to their knees in worship toward the peak where the Miao altar stood.

Beneath the heavy black clouds, this land once full of joy lay in desolation.

Ming Li frowned and said in a low voice, "Cultivators have come."

Xiaobai stood beside him, watching the sky. "From where? Do you know?"

Ming Li slowly shook his head. "Judging by this art of commanding wind and cloud, it is most uncanny. It does not resemble the orthodox methods of the Central Plains, and it is very different from the Demonic Sect as well."

Xiaobai's lips moved; a strange expression flickered across her face, as though she had thought of something. But for some reason she did not speak it aloud.

Now, as the black clouds sank lower and lower, the Miao of Qili Dong seemed to find even breathing harder and harder. All were greatly alarmed, and the signs of chaos grew all the more evident. In that moment of confusion, a figure suddenly leapt out from among the Miao. Ming Li looked far off—it was none other than the Miao chief, Tumagu.

Tumagu shouted hoarsely at the Miao, swinging his arms with all his might. Gradually the Miao calmed somewhat, and at his command the women and children began running toward a distant peak, while those who remained were all grown men, most bearing weapons—plainly the Miao knew the crisis was grave and meant to fight to the death.

Amid the chaos, Tumagu glanced toward the riverbank, saw Ming Li and Xiaobai standing outside their door, paused a moment, then nodded to them and turned his attention back to commanding his people.

The black clouds sank lower, and Xiaobai's face shifted between light and shadow. Suddenly she said in a low voice to Ming Li, "With a cultivator of such unfathomable depth here, I fear the Miao cannot stand against him. Will you help them?"

Ming Li was silent a moment, then nodded. "Since Bil璃 must rely on them..."