Chapter 147 — The Covenant
The Sword Questions the Heavens · Page 6 of 9
After they had talked and laughed a while, Li Xun seemed to recall something. He slowly made his way to Xiao Yichen's side and, when no one was watching, said in a low voice, "Brother Xiao, may I ask you something?"
Xiao Yichen started. "Brother Li, speak freely."
Li Xun hesitated a moment, then at last could not hold back. "This... these past days, and especially on so important a day as today, why is it that I have not seen Junior Sister Lu Xueling of Xiaozhu Peak appear?"
Xiao Yichen's expression changed slightly. He glanced at Li Xun and said in a low voice, "Brother Li, because Junior Sister Lu openly defied my master, Sect Master Daoist Zhenren, in the Yuheng Hall that day, she has been ordered to reflect upon her faults at the Moon-Gazing Terrace on Xiaozhu Peak. It has been several days now."
Li Xun let out an "ah," his expression complicated, seeming both grieved and somewhat ashamed and vexed. After a long while he sighed again and gave Xiao Yichen a bitter smile. "Thank you for telling me, Brother Xiao. I am deeply grateful. In a little while I shall beg my master to see whether he might be persuaded to speak a few words to Uncle-Master Daoist Zhenren on her behalf—alas, it is the least I can do."
Xiao Yichen nodded and said nothing, only reached out and patted him on the shoulder.
Among the company standing at a distance and gazing at the beauty of heaven and earth, Facheng slowly withdrew his gaze from the two men speaking in low voices behind him. Suddenly he heard someone beside him say softly, "Master, have you heard that Brother Li has proposed marriage to Junior Sister Lu Xueling?"
Facheng smiled faintly and glanced at Qi Hao, who stood beside him. "I have heard a little."
Qi Hao nodded and said no more, but Facheng suddenly sighed, and in the sound was no small measure of feeling. Qi Hao was slightly puzzled. "Brother Facheng, why such a sigh?"
Facheng smiled faintly and recovered his former expression. "Nothing. I was suddenly reminded of an old friend, that is all."
Qi Hao said in surprise, "An old friend? What old friend?"
Facheng said leisurely, "An old friend who once went through life and death with us, who has much to do with us, and with that Miss Lu..."
Qi Hao fell silent. A long while later he too sighed heavily, and in the sound there was a sense of the world's vicissitudes, of things changed and people no longer the same.
The headquarters of the Wan Du Sect of the demon cult was situated in the southwest of the Central Plains, in a place called Viper Valley. By its geography, Viper Valley, the Mingwang Sect's Mount Huqi, and the Mihun Sect's Carefree Ravine formed a great triangle, each checking the others, each facing off against the others, constituting what had once been a fairly stable balance of power within the demon cult.
But at this very moment that balance had come to a precarious pass. Especially in the Wan Du Sect, formerly the greatest power among the demon cult, with the death of the old sect master, the Venom God Elder, the sect had fallen into chaos over the question of succession, and Viper Valley, seat of the headquarters, was already at daggers drawn, the situation ready to explode at a touch.
By name, the one who had received the Venom God's dying command and held the status of legitimate heir was the Venom God's last disciple, Qin Wujiu. Unfortunately, within the demon cult—and especially within a sect like the Wan Du Sect, where martial prowess was the fashion and strength counted above all—a dying command alone was of no avail.