Chapter 135 — Strange Arts
The Sword Questions the Heavens · Page 1 of 6
The Burning Cloud Valley, a secret chamber.
An old-fashioned screen divided the stone room in two. Shangguan Lue, dressed in gray, stood quietly in place, waiting patiently.
After a long while, the hoarse voice of Yun Yifeng, Valley Master of the Burning Cloud Valley, came from behind the screen: "I hear that on this pursuit of the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox, Junior Brother, your movements were strange, and at the final moment you suddenly ordered all the disciples to withdraw. Is this true?"
A faint sneer surfaced at the corner of Shangguan Lue's mouth. He could well guess from whom Yun Yifeng had "heard" it. In all the Burning Cloud Valley, at this moment, apart from himself, only Li Xun, Yun Yifeng's most beloved disciple, could speak with him here.
But Shangguan Lue made no argument. He only said slowly, "It is."
Yun Yifeng was silent for a moment, then said, "Then your senior brother is greatly puzzled. Will you explain it to me, Junior Brother?"
Facing the screen, Shangguan Lue gave a slight bow. "I would not presume. It was on the trail of the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox that I met a certain person, and so I ordered the disciples to turn back at once and hurried to the valley to report to you, Senior Brother."
Yun Yifeng's voice clearly caught. "What sort of person could make you take him so seriously, Junior Brother?"
Shangguan Lue slowly spat out two words: "A witch demon."
Behind the screen, silence fell abruptly, and for a long time no sound came.
Shangguan Lue waited patiently where he stood. This reaction of Yun Yifeng's was entirely within his expectations. On the day he had seen the witch demon with his own eyes, the shock in his heart had been no small thing either.
How much time passed, he could not say, before Yun Yifeng's even voice came from behind the screen: "So they have finally been unable to hold back."
From Yun Yifeng's voice Shangguan Lue could not discern in the least what his senior brother was thinking. Whether it was anxiety or shock, he could not tell at all. He fixed his eyes on the screen and went on, "There is one more thing…"
Yun Yifeng gave an "mm," and this time seemed somewhat surprised.
Shangguan Lue drew a deep breath. "In the witch demon's hands are two of the Five Tribes' sacred relics: the Black Staff and the Bone Jade."
"What?" Yun Yifeng could no longer keep his composure, and the words burst from behind the screen.
A trace of a sneer flitted through Shangguan Lue's heart, but his face showed no change at all. "It seems the beast demon found a Li Tribe shaman somewhere, passed on to him the 'Black Fire' sorcery, and used him to stir up strife between the Miao and the Li, thereby seizing the Black Staff and Bone Jade from the great shaman of the Miao altar. Afterward the Li shaman meant to turn against the beast demon, but the beast demon was ready—he had the witch demon kill the man with the 'Black Fire Essence Pearl' and take the two sacred relics back."
Yun Yifeng gave a cold snort. "So there are still fools who do not know when they are beaten!" He paused, and his voice took on a faint note of severity. "These sacred relics are of great consequence. Why did you not act?"
Shangguan Lue's expression was blank. "By the time I arrived, the Black Staff and Bone Jade had already fallen into the witch demon's hands, and there was a vicious dragon at his side as well."
Yun Yifeng fell silent, and only after a good while did he slowly sigh. "Fate—fate, indeed! Our century-long plan, ruined in a single stroke!"
Shangguan Lue said nothing.
Mount Canglan, the Heaven-Reaching Peak.
White clouds drifted, immortal air coiled about, and in this place like a paradise on earth, the calls of cranes rang clear and sweet, echoing across the sky.