Chapter 40 — Reunion

"Clang!"

It was a sharp report in the darkness!

Lu Xueling's face was cold as frost as she stepped in front of Zhang Qingyue and drew her sword with all her might.

Tianxuan left its sheath!

Blue light erupted at once, a pure and brilliant pillar of radiance that lit up this dark world.

In an instant, all the ghostly glimmers of the yin spirits lost their luster before that blue light. Even so, the spirits seemed utterly unafraid, and still they came rushing in from every direction.

Lu Xueling gave a soft cry of rebuke. A flicker of pain crossed her pale face, but it was at once replaced by a look of even fiercer resolve.

Urged on by its master, the divine sword Tianxuan blazed with blue light, rays streaming ten thousand fathoms, and swept across the yin spirits charging from the front.

The instant the blue light touched those spirits, a sizzling sound rose, near to the crackle of oil in a hot pan, and dozens of the foremost yin spirits were annihilated on the spot, their souls scattered to the four winds.

That sound echoed through the vast, empty darkness, enough to make one's hair stand on end.

Yet for all the divine sword's tremendous power, it could not cow the remaining yin spirits. Even as Lu Xueling struck, several of them darted in from behind and lunged at Zhang Qingyue, who lay unconscious on the ground.

Catching sight of it from the corner of her eye, Lu Xueling whirled and charged back. The divine sword Tianxuan swept level over Zhang Qingyue's body once, and scattered those few spirits.

But the yin spirits around them were far too many to kill them all, and Lu Xueling had been wounded to begin with. Within a few exchanges she was drenched in fragrant sweat, her breath coming heavy. She felt as though a host of ghost faces danced and wailed all around her, gnashing fangs and clawing talons. The blue light of Tianxuan dimmed by degrees; Lu Xueling clenched her teeth, yet her legs still gave way, and she dropped down beside Zhang Qingyue.

Amid the howling of the spirits that filled the sky came faint, gloating ghost-cries. The pale white light flared wide, and the yin energy wove thick as cloth. Lu Xueling turned her head and looked at Zhang Qingyue.

The youth was unconscious, yet pain showed on his face — was he thinking of some grief, some sorrow?

Lu Xueling murmured low: "To think that today I should die here with you!"

She straightened her back. There was not a trace of color left in her face now, but still she would not give up. Her right hand's fingers curled and extended in the orchid-mudra spell; following her gesture, the divine sword Tianxuan paused in midair, then plunged point-down with a clang into the earth before her. Blue light rose again, and upon the ground appeared a ring of radiance centered on the divine sword that enclosed both Lu Xueling and Zhang Qingyue.

The yin spirits all around saw tender flesh and blood within reach. What did they care for anything else? One after another they hurtled forward — but a moment later the ring on the ground surged upward, blue light leaping high, auspicious qi steaming forth. The blue light seemed almost sentient; it arced over the two of them and instantly held the spirits outside.

Yet any discerning eye could see that this ring of light was far too weak. The auspicious qi within it, too, was listless and faint — it was no more than Lu Xueling's deathbed struggle.

Seeing the savory feast before them blocked once more, the spirits filling the sky flew into a rage. Their ghost-cries grew louder and louder, and countless spirits hurled themselves against that fragile ring. At every impact Lu Xueling's body shook, her face grew a shade paler, and the divine sword's brilliance dimmed a shade further. The ring, which had stood two men tall, was pressed down in mere moments to less than the height of one.

Lu Xueling's face was white as paper. She watched the hideous, leering faces the yin spirits conjured beyond the ring, watched them open their vast, insubstantial maws. Her whole body felt as though it had sunk into an ice cellar.

Just then, she suddenly heard it — beside her, the unconscious Zhang Qingyue mumbled something indistinct.

Lu Xueling whipped her head around. No words could describe what she felt then. All this while she had fought these yin spirits alone; suddenly hearing a companion's voice, a joy she had never known welled up in her heart.

But before she could make out Zhang Qingyue's face, catastrophe struck. The hard ground on which they sat suddenly split open beneath Zhang Qingyue, without a sound, into a great pit — and he dropped straight down.

Lu Xueling froze. The pit was pitch black, its depths impossible to gauge — save that deep within it, a pair of enormous, horrifying blood-red eyes blinked, and blinked again!

The next instant, without a moment's hesitation, the ring of light from the divine sword Tianxuan dissolved. Amid the howling of the spirits that filled the sky, Lu Xueling pulled Tianxuan free, and without another word flung herself down into that deep, dark pit!

A moment later, every yin spirit in the air followed her in, their piercing shrieks echoing through the cavern.

Dull impacts sounded within the pit; then, amid the spirits' surging howls, a sharp and piercing long bellow suddenly broke out.

"Awoo—"

The cry was anguished, and rather resembled the furious roar of a wounded wild boar. A moment later a huge shape leapt first from the pit, and after it countless yin spirits burst forth, filling the sky in flight.

In that fitful ghost-light, Lu Xueling climbed out of the pit supporting Zhang Qingyue with her left hand. A streak of bright red blood ran from the corner of her mouth, and her entire left side was soaked crimson — clearly she too had been wounded.

Zhang Qingyue could only stand now by leaning on Lu Xueling, but his eyes were open, and the black iron staff had kindled again — faint, yet still shedding its dark cyan glow.

These two young ones, man and woman, in this dark world, propped each other up and leaned on each other.

Lu Xueling looked at the yin spirits wheeling through the air in fury yet still not daring to swoop down, and a strange joy suddenly rose in her heart. Though danger was not yet past, it was truly good to have someone standing at her side.

Then their eyes fell on that vast shadow ahead. Against the white light the spirits gave off, and after catching a stench of decay so overpowering it turned the stomach, they saw the demon beast's form.

It was a monstrous beast fully two men tall, with a pig's head and a dog's body, long sharp tusks, and hide all of dusky red-black, its bristles standing erect like steel needles. Its great eyes showed blood-red in the dark — somewhat resembling, in fact, the crimson demon eyes of Old Master Chi of the demon cult.

Just now the beast lay panting hoarsely in the distance. Beneath its filthy black pelt, the flesh of its left forepaw was torn open — plainly Lu Xueling's work. And it glared straight at these two humans who had wounded it, its eyes shooting forth a hatred to the bone, as though it would swallow them whole and think it far too good for them!

The yin spirits flew through the sky, some passing close by the beast, yet none attacked it. Plainly the two parties had always kept to their own waters.

Lu Xueling felt aches and weariness over her whole body, and came near to wishing she could simply collapse and sleep, and think of nothing more. But after several struggles she still forced herself upright and said softly to Zhang Qingyue, "There are too many demon beasts and yin spirits here. Who knows what else may come out before long. We retreat first."