劍問蒼天 - 第194章 足跡 - 清風書屋

"How did he come to know the news that the Ancient Sword of Immortal Slaying was damaged? That is the first," Lu Xueling cut in, her face unchanged, but a glimmer showing in her eyes like dazzling crystal. "Second, having learned it, why tell us? He knew full well that once the words left his mouth, we would surely report them to the elders of the Canglan Sect—and then would not trouble at once arise between Fenxia Valley and the Canglan Sect?"

Zeng Shuyan nodded again and again. "I knew that with Senior Sister Lu's keenness, you could never have missed the crucial connections here." He paused, then went on, "Thinking it over thus, Valley Master Yun's case admits of only two possibilities. First, the Canglan Sect has a traitor who passed him word—a secret kept so tightly that even a Qingyun disciple like me was kept in the dark, and yet he knew it, which shows the traitor's standing cannot be slight. But by speaking of it as he did, did he not risk exposing that traitor instead?"

Lu Xueling gave a hum. "Second, what was his purpose in telling us these things? To remind the Canglan Sect that he already knows the secret? Or to warn our elders that Fenxia Valley no longer fears the Canglan Sect?"

Zeng Shuyan looked at Lu Xueling long and deeply, then sighed. "So what was in my heart, you had already thought of. And here I meant to warn you. Though on second thought, it makes sense—that day you had Senior Sister Wen Pei turn back to Qingyun at short notice precisely to report these matters to our elders, no?"

Lu Xueling was silent, then nodded.

Zeng Shuyan's lips moved, and suddenly he gave a long sigh, his voice full of feeling. Lu Xueling was slightly taken aback. "What's the matter with you?" she asked.

Zeng Shuyan smiled bitterly. "It—it's for our sect's Immortal-Slaying Ancient Sword that I sigh. To be honest, though these past days I've thought it through to this point, in my heart I'm still a thousand times unwilling to believe it—I'd rather I had guessed wrong."

Lu Xueling said nothing, only turned her head silently and gazed ahead. Deep in the dense forest all was dark and gloomy; along the road before them there was not the faintest glimmer of light.

Zeng Shuyan let out a long breath and shook his head. "Forget it. Thinking more won't help us anyway—we'll just have to take it one step at a time. I'd rather like to see what sort of medicine it is that Valley Master Yun keeps hidden in his gourd."

Lu Xueling did not answer; her gaze drifted inadvertently to the faint trace they had discovered a moment before. Zeng Shuyan said softly at her side, "Actually, though the Beast Sovereign you mentioned is a possibility, I keep feeling it isn't him."

"Then who do you think it is?" Lu Xueling asked.

Zeng Shuyan pondered a moment, then said in a low voice, "If everything that Li Xun said is true, and it truly wasn't any other disciple of Fenxia Valley, then I fear these traces were most likely left by remnants of the demon cult."

Lu Xueling's body gave a start, and she turned her head. For the first time, emotion stirred upon her fair face, always so cold and clear. "Why do you say that?"

Zeng Shuyan pointed at the trace. "Look—faint as it is, this is plainly the mark of a human passing through. Since Fenxia Valley never came here, no other sect of the righteous path knows the Ten Thousand Wild Mountains better than they do, and it's hard to imagine anyone else tracing their way to this place. But the demon cult is different. After the great war between righteous and demon all those years ago, the demon cult was driven out of the Central Plains. A place of such barren mountains and foul waters as this—I fear they would have come here too. So to say it was them—I think it's quite likely."

"What do you say, Senior Sister Lu?" Zeng Shuyan turned and asked. But at the sight of Lu Xueling's expression, he could not help but start.