Chapter 238 — Fear
The Sword Questions the Heavens · Page 3 of 6
The Venerable Pu Cheng's brows drew slightly together, and he said nothing. Master Pude hesitated a moment, then looked at Ming Li. Ming Li bowed deeply and said, "I beg the Master's instruction. I would be endlessly grateful."
Master Pude shook his head silently. Ming Li was taken aback, at a loss. A moment later he heard Master Pude's hoarse, low voice: "I have kept this treasure by my side for several decades, pondering it day and night, and to this day I have only seen that it can penetrate the mysteries of transformation and fix the soul for rebirth. But I have never fathomed just how this strange treasure is to be invoked and used."
It was as if a basin of cold water had been poured over Ming Li's head; he was chilled from head to foot. He looked at Master Pude in disbelief, then slowly turned to the Venerable Pu Cheng.
The Venerable Pu Cheng sighed and said, "Benefactor, this is the very reason my junior brother Pude and I have hesitated all along. The Universe Reincarnation Disc does indeed have the wondrous power to reverse Heaven and Earth and turn back cause and effect, but no doubt because that power is too contrary to Heaven's will, ordinary men cannot fathom its mysteries."
Ming Li sat dumbstruck, unable to speak, his heart in chaos. A thousand words surged up in him, and in the end only a wordless bitterness remained.
After a long while he suddenly gave a bitter laugh, shook his head, and said, "Be that as it may, I beg you two Masters to lend me the treasure all the same. Whatever else, it is still a hope."
The Venerable Pu Cheng and Master Pude said together, "Amitabha."
Fa Cheng, standing by, could not bear it. He stepped forward and said in a low voice, "Benefactor Zhang, I am truly sorry..."
Ming Li shook his head silently. Suddenly he smiled at Fa Cheng—though in Fa Cheng's eyes that smile was bitter beyond words—and said slowly, "Brother Fa Cheng, there is no need to comfort me with kind words. In truth, this is not the first time for me. There was a time when a great hope lay right before my eyes, and yet it failed at the very last step..."
His voice suddenly sank low; a look of extreme anguish flashed across his face and was gone. He said no more, but cupped his hands to the Venerable Pu Cheng and Master Pude in deep thanks, then turned sharply, without a backward glance, and strode out.
Watching Ming Li's retreating figure, the Venerable Pu Cheng's eyes held a complex light. Pressing his palms together, he murmured softly, "Amitabha. The Buddha is merciful. His karma clings to him; truly his whole life will be one of sorrow."
Master Pude was silent a moment, then softly echoed, "Amitabha!"
Mount Huqi, the headquarters of the Hall of the Nether King.
Xiao Bai had been back at Mount Huqi for three days now, and in those three days the space between her brows seemed never once to have relaxed. Again and again during those three days the tragedy had played out before her eyes: watching those disciples of the Hall of the Nether King die in madness, and the others around them sinking ever deeper into terror, plainly on the verge of being driven mad by that dreadful atmosphere even if they did not go mad of themselves—Xiao Bai was now wholly certain that something strange and terrible had happened within this Mount Huqi.
Yet what puzzled and infuriated her most was precisely this: in such circumstances, she could not even get to see the Hall Master, the Nether King.
From the disciples of the Hall she learned that the Nether King had suddenly ordered a closed cultivation long ago and would receive no outside guests; even ordinary disciples could not see him. Several times Xiao Bai had disciples go and announce her, but the word that came back was always much the same: either the disciple sent could not find the Hall Master, or the Nether King sent word asking Miss Xiao Bai to wait a few more days, that he would soon come out of seclusion—in short, he would not come out to see her.