Chapter 149 — Deadly Poison
The Sword Questions the Heavens · Page 1 of 9
Canglan Mountain, Jietian Peak.
The fragrance of tea curled upward without cease from the cups of white porcelain, green-rimmed and green-lidded. Thin wisps of steam rose from the freshly brewed tea and drifted through the room.
This was a quiet chamber in the rear hall of Yuheng Hall, and there the three most powerful and most renowned masters of the Orthodox path were gathered, calmly savoring tea and talking.
The Qingyun disciples who had been standing by to pour tea and serve had at some point quietly withdrawn, leaving only Daoist Zhenren Daoyan, Abbess Pucheng, and Yun Yifeng in the room.
Daoyan spoke first, smiling: "This tea is also a local specialty from around Canglan Mountain. It may not rank among the rarest treasures, but it is a fine, fragrant grade. Try it, both of you, and tell me what you think."
Yun Yifeng set down his cup and nodded: "The fragrance lingers in the throat, as if flowing from the mouth all the way down into the belly. Truly good tea."
Daoyan laughed: "If Brother Yun likes it, then once we have broken this great calamity of the beast-demons, take plenty of it back to Fenxia Valley."
Yun Yifeng nodded, smiling: "Excellent. You must not go back on your word then, Zhenren."
The two exchanged a smile, but Abbess Pucheng chanted a Buddha's name beside them. Daoyan glanced at her: "What is it, Abbess?"
Pucheng sighed: "In truth, this poor nun knows well that facing such a great calamity, one must keep a calm heart before one can respond with composure. Yet the Buddha's teaching is compassion for all, and when I think of the common people of the world at this very moment plunged into deep water and scorching fire, I cannot help but burn with anxiety, and for a moment I lost my composure. I ask you both to forgive me."
Yun Yifeng's expression shifted slightly; a flicker of sharp light also passed through Daoyan's eyes, but his face at once turned grave.
Gazing at Pucheng, Daoyan said slowly: "What you say is very true, Abbess. Since we style ourselves the Orthodox path, we should naturally take the common people of the world as our charge. I was rude just now."
Pucheng pressed her palms together and shook her head, saying in a low voice: "What are you saying, Zhenren? I had no intention of reproaching you."
Yun Yifeng's expression had long since returned to normal; hearing this, he smiled faintly: "Enough, enough. Carrying on so prim and proper is more than anyone can bear. Let us stop wasting words and get to the main matter."
Daoyan and Pucheng both laughed. Daoyan nodded: "Brother Yun is right. In truth, I asked you both here today to discuss this present calamity of the beast-demons. There seem to be strange developments."
Yun Yifeng and Pucheng were both startled. Yun Yifeng said: "What change? Please speak, Zhenren."
Daoyan's face grew heavy: "A few days ago I again sent capable disciples of our sect, Xiao Yichen, Lin Jinghong and others, out to scout the beast-demons' movements. They hurried back only last night, and reported to me a most unusual matter."
Seeing Daoyan's grave face and something in his manner that seemed still perplexed, Abbess Pucheng could not restrain herself: "What has happened?"
Daoyan paused, then said: "According to Yicai's report, the countless beast-demons that originally poured into the Central Plains from the south had all along driven straight north, slaughtering as they went. But recently, for some unknown reason, a great host of them suddenly halted their northward march and turned southwest in droves, and the number still pressing north toward us appears to be only about four tenths of what it was."
Yun Yifeng mused a moment: "Southwest? Is that not where the Demonic Sect has always been most rampant?"