Chapter 127 — Heart's Intent
The Sword Questions the Heavens · Page 4 of 6
Lu Xueling walked on. Suddenly, above her, a great hall that had burned too long gave a loud crack; a massive crossbeam wreathed in searing flame came crashing down upon her head.
Li Xun was startled, but before he could cry out, Lu Xueling gave a light cry—and in that cry there was, somehow, a note of grief and indignation. Her left hand swept up, and the divine sword Tianxuan, sheath and all, rose; blue light surged, and with a thunderous roar she smashed the giant timber to splinters, sending countless sparks flying up to blot out the sky and sun. A moment later they fell like rain—a spectacle of the utmost magnificence—falling between her and Li Xun, engulfing her figure from sight.
Li Xun gazed at that sky full of scattered fire-rain, and for a time stood stupefied, staring as if spellbound.
The night was deep.
Xiaobai, transformed into a swift white light, threaded her way through the towering mountains and steep ridges, far from Qili Tong. Only after roughly half an hour did she find a quiet spot on the mountainside of a high peak and come to a stop.
She gently set Ming Li down, laying him on the ground. The man was drenched in blood, much of it flowing to his hand, where the Blood-Devouring Pearl, glinting with an eerie red glow, slowly drew it in. Just now the pearl seemed like a malevolent spirit attached to Ming Li's body, ceaselessly devouring its master's vital essence.
Xiaobai sighed. She reached out to take the Soul-Devouring Demon Staff from Ming Li's hand, but though he was unconscious, he still gripped the staff tightly—as though this object alone were his only support.
Xiaobai tugged twice, but it would not come loose from his grasp. She shook her head and gave up.
Then her gaze fell upon her own hand. The middle and index fingers of her right hand, once white as jade, were now slowly turning red, and there was even a faint, involuntary trembling.
Xiaobai smiled and murmured, "What a Tianxuan—truly worthy of its name, a divine weapon indeed..."
"Plop." A sound suddenly came from beside her. Xiaobai started and looked over—it was the drunken Xiao Hui, tumbling from her shoulder and landing right beside his gravely wounded master. He smacked his lips twice, scratched his head, and actually fell back asleep.
Xiaobai was both exasperated and amused. "You wretched monkey!"
"Zzz... zzz..."
"Your fool of a master is about to die!"
"Zzz... zzz..."
"..." Xiaobai was speechless. She rolled her eyes at the monkey, kicked him away, then crouched down beside Ming Li, studied his wounds up and down, and shook her head with a sigh.
The night was cool as water, the chill creeping into the bone.
That chill—had he felt it once, years ago?
The thought drifted through Ming Li's mind as he woke slowly from the dark.
He opened his eyes, and the first thing he saw was a sky full of starlight.
The night sky over the southern frontier—at this hour there was no more flame, no more clamor; at last it revealed the calm and peaceful face it had always kept. Across the vault of heaven countless stars hung scattered, glittering bright.
Some large, some small, they all vaguely resembled human eyes—perhaps a little mischievous, gazing down at the mortal world with such teasing.
A piercing pain burst from his right shoulder, and then ache spread through his whole body. Steadfast as he was, he could not help drawing a sharp breath.
"You're awake." A voice, calm but faintly tinged with concern, sounded beside him.
Ming Li turned his head and saw Xiao Bai's face.
He propped himself up to sit, but the movement pulled at his wound, and he could not help frowning.
Xiao Bai glanced at him. "You're badly hurt. You'd better rest first."
Ming Li looked down. The wound at his right shoulder had been bound with white cloth, and the smaller cuts elsewhere had plainly been tended as well. There was no one else here—so this was Xiao Bai's doing while he lay unconscious.