劍問蒼天 - 第200章 黑蝠 - 清風書屋

In the dark cavern, soft footsteps echoed, and a faint, ghostly blue-green light flickered out from ahead. Behind the glow emerged the figures of Ming Li and Jin Pingyue.

The two of them had already ventured deep into the Ancient Cave of Demon Suppression, yet this eerie cavern seemed to have no end at all. The dark, damp path twisted and turned, stretching ever onward as if without limit. The light from the Soul-Devouring Staff could only illuminate a spot some six feet before them, and beyond, in every direction, lay that deep, silent darkness.

As if within it, mysterious eyes were fixed upon these two intruders.

Jin Pingyue walked a short distance behind Ming Li. Somehow, she gradually began to feel a tension creeping over her. No one knew where this path ended, or what might be waiting for them there.

Even if she were to see a vicious beast before her now, it likely could not shake her resolve; yet this empty darkness, on the contrary, was starting to make her restless.

Ming Li's footsteps suddenly stopped.

Jin Pingyue's heart skipped a beat. She nearly ran into his back and hastily checked herself, while at the same time going fully on guard, secretly probing all around. Lowering her voice, she said, "What is it? Have you found something?"

Ming Li turned to look at her. Beneath the faint blue-green glow, Jin Pingyue's skin took on a strange, almost otherworldly beauty. He was silent for a moment, then said, "Your breathing has grown uneven."

Jin Pingyue was taken aback. Her brows furrowed, then she slowly straightened herself and gave a cold huff.

Ming Li looked at her, said nothing more, and turned to continue on at a slow pace. After a few steps, he heard the woman behind him draw a deep breath. A moment later, she caught up once more, and both her breathing and her body had returned to calm.

Seen from behind, the man's silhouette was reflected in Jin Pingyue's eyes—solid, steady. Somehow, she found herself feeling a measure of reassurance. Only on his shoulder, the monkey had drawn in its head and looked rather listless, its long tail hanging down and swaying to and fro with Ming Li's steps.

The blue-green light radiating from the Soul-Devourer in Ming Li's hand seemed especially gentle in the darkness. The murderous demonic power that the Blood-Devouring Bead had once possessed now seemed to have vanished entirely.

The light swept across the stone walls, illuminating them before they slowly fell back into darkness. Jin Pingyue silently observed her surroundings. After entering the Ancient Cave of Demon Suppression, the yin wind peculiar to this place had been piercingly cold, cold enough almost to freeze a person's blood solid. Yet as they ventured ever deeper into the cave, the yin wind had not grown stronger—instead, it had gradually weakened.

And where they now stood, almost no trace of wind could be felt at all. Yet with the wind gone, the silence around them became the silence of death itself. Gazing at the places the light touched, Jin Pingyue's brow furrowed ever more tightly.

When they first entered this ancient cave, Jin Pingyue had paid little attention to the surrounding stone walls, but as they went deeper, she came to notice that here in the depths of this legendary Ancient Cave of Demon Suppression, there were more and more traces of artificial construction. The stone walls around them, though ancient beyond reckoning, were smooth and even in a way no natural formation could produce. Even the path beneath their feet, for all its winding turns, seldom rose or fell; the whole way was entirely without the hardships one would have expected.

Nor was there any of the foul, rank stench that ought to attend a demon's lair within this cavern, and no horrific skeletons of men or beasts lay upon the ground. This Ancient Cave of Demon Suppression seemed, in truth, merely a clean and silent place—hardly the dwelling of the foremost demon in all the world.

And so they rounded yet another bend.