Chapter 72 — Desperate Straits

Xiao Wan nodded again and again, smiling. "Actually, so am I—"

The two of them chatted and laughed, forgetting for a moment to watch the road ahead. All at once they realized that figures had appeared before them, and they nearly collided with them head-on. Startled, they hastily halted and only just managed to steady themselves. Zhou Yixuan bellowed in fury, "What the hell are you doing—"

Before he was halfway through, however, his voice died in his throat. Xiao Wan looked up in some alarm and was at once frightened out of her wits. Two people stood before them: in front was a delicate, beautiful young girl dressed all in water-green—none other than Bili, who had already caused them no small suffering—and behind Bili stood another woman, clad entirely in black, her face veiled in black gauze, so that her features could not be made out.

Zhou Yixuan gave two dry laughs and said repeatedly, "My mistake, my mistake." As he spoke he shot Xiao Wan a look. Young as she was, Xiao Wan was sharp as a whip and understood at once. The two of them were about to turn and flee when suddenly they felt themselves grow light—each of the two women had hoisted one of them up by the collar. Then everything swam before their eyes, streets and passersby tumbling and spinning this way and that, and by the time they came to their senses they were in a quiet, deserted little alley.

Sweat broke out on Zhou Yixuan's forehead. He knew the girl before him far outstripped him in cultivation, and that he had no idea what torments awaited him now. He could only put on a bitter face and say, "Miss, I—I was in the wrong that day. Ah! I'll give you back all the silver! Please, in your great magnanimity, let us go!"

Bili frowned. Since returning from Liubo Mountain she looked rather haggard. She glared at Zhou Yixuan and said, "Who wants your silver? I'm going to ask you a few questions, and you'd better answer me honestly."

Zhou Yixuan said at once, "Ask away, miss. Whatever I know, I'll answer truthfully. I wonder whether it's wealth or longevity you wish to ask about—or perhaps marriage? These are all the specialties of Zhou Yixuan, the great immortal Zhou. Come, come, let me cast a reading for you—"

The more he talked, the smoother he became—until he suddenly felt Xiao Wan tugging at his clothes. He turned in surprise. "What is it?"

Xiao Wan, sweating profusely, shot him a look of exasperation and turned to Bili with an apologetic smile. "Um—beautiful elder sister, what is it you wanted to ask us?"

Bili was silent for a moment, then said, "What were the two of you peering at outside the East Sea Inn just now?"

Zhou Yixuan and Xiao Wan exchanged a glance. "N-nothing! We were just passing by and saw a lot of cultivators gathered there, so we stopped to take a look."

Bili said flatly, "So that means the Canglan Sect's people are all staying there?"

Zhou Yixuan nodded. "Seems so!"

Bili fell silent again. After a long while she said, "Then—did you two happen to see that young disciple of the Canglan Sect who saved you once?"

Zhou Yixuan started, then understood. "You mean that youth called Zhang Qingyue, miss?"

Bili had not expected them to know Zhang Qingyue's name. She nodded. "What—you've seen him?" A note of concern appeared on her face.

Zhou Yixuan and Xiao Wan shook their heads together.

Bili was plainly disappointed. She looked as though she wanted to say more, but all at once seemed to lose interest. She waved her hand. "Go on, then."

To Zhou Yixuan and Xiao Wan it was music from heaven. They thanked her at once and hurried toward the mouth of the alley—but before they had gone more than a few steps, Bili spoke again behind them. "Wait."

Zhou Yixuan's heart skipped a beat.

Bili said slowly, "Just now, out on the street, you mentioned an ancient well of the full moon outside the Black Stone Cave. What did you mean by that?"

Only then did Zhou Yixuan relax. He hastily recounted the tale of the Well of the Full Moon, and concluded, "Yes—that's how it is. Legend says that on the night of the full moon, anyone who gazes into the Well of the Full Moon will see the person they love most!"

Bili's expression shifted. She said no more, standing lost in a daze. Zhou Yixuan was still wondering what other strange questions this ever-changing girl might have, when Xiao Wan tugged at him; seeing her frantic signals, he came back to himself. The two of them slowly edged toward the alley's mouth, and neither Bili nor the mysterious black-veiled woman beside her made any move to stop them.

After a long while, only Bili and the black-veiled woman remained in the quiet alley.

"Aunt You, who do you think he saw?" The words were barely out before Bili gave a bitter laugh of her own, a laugh steeped in sourness. "But why even ask? It must be that Ling'er—his senior sister. Or if not her, then that peerless beauty from Qingyun who wields the Divine Sword of the Heavenly Dipper. What am I?"

The mysterious woman whom Bili called "Aunt You" said mildly, "Don't be like that. These men—sometimes they simply don't understand their own hearts!"

Bili closed her eyes. After a time she opened them and said to the woman in black, a note of pleading in her voice, "Aunt You, I want to go see him."

The woman in black shook her head at once. "No."

Bili said plaintively, "Aunt You, his life and death are still unknown. I—I—I truly cannot let it go in my heart!"

The woman in black sighed softly. "Your father knew you'd do something reckless—that's why he told me I must keep an eye on you. Right now a great many experts of the Canglan Sect are gathered in that inn. If we go barging in, we'll surely not escape unscathed." Here her voice softened with compassion. "Yao'er, there's time yet. We will see him again, I promise you."

Bili stood there in a daze, and only after a long while said, "But—but he's violated all the great taboos of the orthodox path. Will they—will they just kill him—"

The woman in black frowned and shook her head. "Bili, pull yourself together. You're not usually this muddled. Zhang Qingyue is now suspected of ties to our Holy Church because he possesses the Blood-devouring Bead—and on top of that, he actually cultivates the Great Brahma Prajna of the Brahma Sound Temple. That is what truly matters. If the matter is not investigated thoroughly, the Brahma Sound Temple will never let the Canglan Sect off easily. I'm certain the Canglan Sect will take Zhang Qingyue back to Canglan Mountain, where Daoyan himself will look into it and render judgment, and give the Brahma Sound Temple an accounting. So for the time being, he won't be harmed!"

Bili bit down unconsciously on her pale lower lip. A long while passed, and still she gave no response.

The woman in black, watching her, seemed to feel a pang of tenderness. She stroked her hair lightly and comforted her in a low voice, "It's all right. Don't worry. Didn't your father say so too—that he won't stand idly by?"

Bili nodded silently. Suddenly she raised her head, seized the woman's hand, and said urgently, "Aunt You, I know you stopped taking action long ago—but for my sake, please help him too!"

The woman in black was silent for a moment. Her gaze drifted gently away, toward the mouth of the alley.

Bili called again, "Aunt You!"

The woman in black seemed to sigh softly. "Very well. If your father decides to save him, then I'll help you this once."

Joy spread across Bili's face.

The woman in black smiled—though the smile was hidden behind her black veil, where no one could see it, just as no one could see the ripples that spread, wave upon wave, deep in her heart.

On that pitch-black, forbidding night, when that youth flung himself at the ferocious beast with no thought for life or death, she too, there in the darkness, had felt her heart stir!

Dimly she recalled a figure in white, white as snow, from many years before.

Even the look upon their faces seemed somehow alike.