Chapter 97 — An Omen

Rain drifted down from the sky.

It was not heavy, though the sky had taken on a sallow, muted hue; this was already the second straight day of rain.

Xiao Yichen's brow knitted tightly. Suddenly he turned his head and said to the person beside him, "Junior Sister Yan, have you noticed anything?"

Standing with him was Yan Fei of the Burning Cloud Valley. Ever since the righteous-path cultivators had been scattered within the miasma that day, Xiao Yichen had entered the inner marsh and, because their bearings had differed, had not encountered Facheng, Lin Jinghong, or the others. Before long, however, he had come across Yan Fei in the vicinity. Though they were not of the same sect, her presence had felt strangely heartening, and these past days they had traveled together.

Yet they had searched this boundless forest for several days now and still found nothing. Here there was nothing but trees upon trees, rain that never ceased falling from the sky, and countless venomous insects upon the ground—a truly maddening combination. At times he thought it was small wonder this place had never known human habitation. Who could live here?

Be that as it may, what had to be done still had to be done. Xiao Yichen and Yan Fei searched the area carefully, and all the while he sensed something in his heart: courteous as Yan Fei was toward him, she still seemed faintly on guard against something.

Now, seeing that she appeared to have spotted something and had been staring fixedly at one spot in the forest, he could not help asking. Yan Fei heard him, and suddenly said, "Senior Brother Xiao, look there—something seems odd."

Xiao Yichen started. He followed the line of her pointing finger and saw that behind the layered curtains of rain, amid the dense foliage, a faint golden light had flickered once and then vanished.

His heart stirred. Yet the golden light did not appear again until a long while had passed, and then it glimmered once more, faintly—only this time it seemed somewhat farther away.

Xiao Yichen and Yan Fei exchanged a glance, and almost at the same instant both recalled the rumor concerning the omen of a wondrous treasure: a massive pillar of golden light shooting straight up into the heavens. Could this be it...?

A moment later the two of them rose into the air almost as one and hurtled toward the golden light swift as wind and lightning.

Yet in that instant of flight, they seemed instinctively to draw a little farther apart from each other, and each secretly tightened their grip on their magic artifacts—though whether in guard against unknown danger, or against the danger at their side, neither could say...

The two flew with great speed and soon drew near the flashing golden light. Skirting the dense branches, they saw that the forest floor below was a scene of chaos: shattered thorn bushes strewn everywhere, even the thick trunks nearby scarred with countless gashes, and worse still, several great trees that would take a man's arms to encircle had been toppled outright.

Amid the woods, this swath of ruin ran straight ahead, as though some person or monster had wrought its fury here, carving a path by main force through the dense forest.

Xiao Yichen and Yan Fei exchanged a glance and saw the glimmer of astonishment in each other's eyes. Just then, from somewhere ahead in the forest, a clamor of voices drifted faintly toward them. Xiao Yichen signaled to Yan Fei, and the two rose gently into the air, concealed themselves among the branches and leaves, and flew forward in secret.

After flying a while, they saw that along the whole way trees lay leaning and fallen in every direction, and among them no few dead animals—most likely caught unable to dodge and visited by undeserved calamity. And the clamor ahead grew ever louder, mingled now with the chanting of Buddhist scriptures.

Xiao Yichen was taken aback. He thought, "Could it be Senior Brother Facheng of the Brahma Sound Temple who is here?"

As he hesitated, a burst of golden light suddenly blazed ahead, and a furious roar came crashing down, in an instant booming and shuddering like a tangible wave of sound, so that every tree and leaf around trembled—a fearsome display indeed.

But Xiao Yichen's expression changed: within that "Buddhist Demon-Subduing Roar" there was a note of anxious urgency. Judging by the situation, things were going very badly. The ties between the Brahma Sound Temple and the Canglan Sect were not as those with the Burning Cloud Valley. After a brief moment's deliberation, Xiao Yichen at last charged out, and a moment later came the sound of wind as Yan Fei followed after him.

Hovering in midair, the two took in the whole scene at a glance, and both were startled, then greatly shocked.

There in the clearing stood a monk in the robes of the Brahma Sound Temple—but not the mild, gentle Facheng; rather the burly, powerful Fajing. At this moment Fajing's robes billowed high about him, and in his hands a massive "Vajra Demon-Subduing Staff" whirled like a tempest of wind and rain, gleaming with golden light as it shielded his whole body, while from his mouth burst roar upon roar.

And the one fighting him was a beautiful woman dressed all in pale yellow. Her brows and eyes brimmed with feeling, a smile played at the corners of her lips, her black hair drifted softly about her shoulders, and her eyes were liquid and brimming—one glance at her and a man might seem to sink into them and never wish to come out again.

Xiao Yichen had looked at her only twice when a sudden turmoil surged in his heart. It seemed to him that in all the heavens and all the world only this one woman remained, and he truly wished to spend his whole life at her side.

Fortunately he had cultivated for many years and his attainment was far from shallow; he gave a violent start and came to his senses, and could not help being alarmed. He thought, "Where does this sorceress come from, to possess such a powerful art of enchantment?"

Though Fajing's momentum below was frightening to behold, both Xiao Yichen and Yan Fei could see that his face was flushed and that in truth he had been pressed by the beautiful woman before him into a corner from which he could only defend, and that without outside aid he likely could not hold out even half an hour more.

Xiao Yichen and Yan Fei were both secretly alarmed, yet search their minds as they might, they could not recall who this woman could possibly be, that her attainment should be so high as to leave Fajing—one of the Brahma Sound Temple's finest disciples after Facheng—scarcely able to strike back.

Seeing Fajing's defeat all but certain, Xiao Yichen and Yan Fei exchanged a glance, gave a shout, and plunged downward. Xiao Yichen summoned the famed immortal sword of the Canglan Sect's Heaven-Reaching Peak, the "Seven Stars Sword," which became a streak of white light and came cleaving down from on high. And at his side, a wisp of azure qi issued from Yan Fei's hand—her magic artifact, the "Azure Spirit Stone"—and followed close behind.

Hearing the sudden shouts from above, the woman in pale yellow changed color; a flicker of anger seemed to pass across her face, save that even that faint wrath, with all her myriad charms, seemed to melt into a beauty that stirred the soul, written lightly upon her cheeks and snatching at a man's spirit.