The stone doors clearly had not been opened in many years. Their mechanisms had long since dried out and seized up, as though they had become part of the walls themselves.
Although the two stone doors were heavy, if the mechanisms still worked, even ordinary mortals might have opened them by joining forces. As things stood, however, only cultivators of considerable attainment could disregard a force of ten thousand jin and push them aside as easily as two wooden boards.
Presumably these stone doors had once served a purpose, only to fall gradually into disuse until this entrance was no longer traveled.
As the stone doors opened, dust sifted down in a shower. Qian Xuelang stepped aside and, through the drifting dust, saw an exceptionally tall woman standing beneath the moonlight, her face raised toward the moon.
At first Qian Xuelang thought someone had discovered him and was about to explain himself. On looking more closely, however, he realized something was wrong.
The soft moonlight fell upon both of them. When the dust finally settled, Qian Xuelang saw that the woman was merely a statue, the grain of the stone plainly visible. Light and shadow crossed her face, giving her an expression of utmost resentment, or perhaps bitter indignation. There was not the slightest hint of joy or a smile.
A craftsman had carved the statue from a single enormous stone. About twice a person’s height, it could hardly be called colossal, yet it was conspicuous enough, standing atop a square platform. Fruits, vegetables, fresh flowers, incense, and candles had been arranged all over the platform, along with several animal carcasses. Blood continued to run and drip down the steps, making the scene rather frightening.
Judging by appearances, however, these were offerings made in worship of the statue.
Qian Xuelang examined it carefully. Its clothing was extremely archaic, and the craftsman had even used leftover bits of stone to carve details such as bone ornaments and feathers. It presumably depicted someone from antiquity.
Unlike a jade statue, whose luster would be pure and gentle, a stone statue carried a rougher, more solemn weight. Although this woman’s features were crudely carved, her grave expression was unmistakable. Her skirt covered her feet and her attire was splendid. She must have been someone of considerable standing.
Judging by her face, though, she was unmistakably human.
Qian Xuelang thought, Carving requires both diligence and skill. Having gone to the trouble of creating this statue, the craftsman must deliberately have left even the faintest happiness off the woman’s face. Why depict her this way? Buddhism speaks of wrathful guardian figures. Could this be something similar? Who knows how much time has passed since antiquity? And why does this village of half-demons worship a mortal woman?
He walked around the place, observing the state of the burned incense and candles. He became certain that the villagers had only recently completed this sacrifice. Situated far from their ordinary dwellings, the place was probably something like a temple.
No wonder that child had managed to reach the outside world. To the villagers, this must be an exceptionally sacred place. Besides, the half-demons were unaffected by the formation outside and would not ordinarily come here.
Still unable to make sense of it, Qian Xuelang suddenly heard a disorderly rush of footsteps pouring into the cavern behind him. It was the disciples of the Zhaoying Sword Sect from earlier. The youngsters stumbled and scrambled inside, several already wounded. When they saw Qian Xuelang amid their panic, their faces immediately lit up with relief.
“S-Senior!”
Qian Xuelang did not reply. Two dazzling streaks of violet light came hurtling through the cavern, about to sever the head of the last sword-sect disciple. With a sweep of his sleeve, Qian Xuelang sent Honglu flying to collide with the two purple streaks. The disciple caught between them had just brushed the edge of death; his legs nearly gave way beneath him, and he almost collapsed where he stood, unable to move.
“If you don’t want to die, run over here,” Qian Xuelang said coldly.
The disciple’s legs trembled, and he had scarcely any strength left. Even so, he gritted his teeth and rushed forward. His fellow disciples caught him in their arms.
Qian Xuelang looked over the group. “Where is He Yuntao?”
The disheveled Tang Wenxian averted his eyes. Ning Zhou immediately knelt before Qian Xuelang and pleaded, “Eldest Senior Brother is still outside. Senior, please help him!”
Qian Xuelang frowned. “You left a gravely wounded man to cover your retreat?”
“N-No! We didn’t!” Tang Wenxian was frightened and agitated, and he instantly retorted in a loud voice. “What do you mean, we left a wounded man behind? We never asked him to cover our retreat! It was that demon! The moment he appeared, he seized He Yuntao. I wanted to form a sword formation, but these useless fools were afraid of hurting him! They dithered and refused to complete the formation because they were scared of injuring He Yuntao. That’s why we ended up in this miserable state!”
The other disciples were furious and anxious to hear this, but the moment was hardly suitable for arguing, so they forced themselves to hold back.
Before Tang Wenxian had finished speaking, Qian Xuelang had vanished. The red glow in the cavern disappeared, and the purple light returned to its owner’s hands.
Outside the cavern, Qian Xuelang saw his opponent fling He Yuntao, whose life or death was uncertain, off to one side. The purple radiance settled into the man’s hands, revealing a pair of bizarre swords. Their blades emitted an uncanny violet glow, stirring an unpleasant feeling in Qian Xuelang’s heart.
“You…”
The man turned his gaze toward him. His eyes were an extraordinarily rare purple, and his stern features had a distinctly foreign cast. He had seemed utterly composed, but upon seeing Qian Xuelang, he went pale with shock and abruptly disappeared into the mist.
It’s him.
Qian Xuelang froze. He had indeed seen this man before. More precisely, he had seen his face suffused with affection. He vaguely remembered the astonishing tenderness of the man’s manner toward Ren Yijue. That was why, on meeting him here for the first time in person, Qian Xuelang momentarily struggled to tell whether they were the same man.
There was no time to consider the warning contained in the Heavenly Mandate, however. Qian Xuelang helped He Yuntao up and saw that his throat was bruised blue-black, with distinct finger marks around it. Fortunately, he was still breathing. Qian Xuelang must have interrupted the purple-eyed man just as he was about to finish him.
Qian Xuelang pondered. He fled as soon as he saw me. He must have seen me emerge from the cavern and become worried about the village. If so, his duty is probably to protect the village from outsiders. In that case, perhaps we can negotiate. We bear no ill will. And Hua Hanyan told me this village was tainted by demonic qi and sent me here, yet it has been a demon village all along. What is she really planning? Is she hinting that this place has something to do with the Heavenly Demon?
Troubles pressed in from every side, and the mysteries only multiplied. Even someone as calm and forthright as Qian Xuelang could not help feeling deeply displeased.
Qian Xuelang lifted the unconscious He Yuntao and returned through the cavern. Beneath the stone statue, he handed the man over to He Yuntao’s fellow disciples and instructed them, “This place is dangerous. Do not wander about. It would be best to stay inside the cavern…”
After hesitating a moment, he added, “I will negotiate with the people of this village. Wait for word from me.”
In the past, Qian Xuelang would never have cared about these young disciples’ thoughts or lives. But things were different now. He simply felt that he ought to give them this warning.
Even Qian Xuelang himself did not know why he had said it.
Still badly shaken, Tang Wenxian cried out, “Negotiate? What is there to negotiate? This is a demon village! There are demons here trying to kill us, and you want us to wait in…”
Qian Xuelang gave him a cold glance. Tang Wenxian fell silent, then muttered, “Am I wrong? This place is a dragon’s pool and a tiger’s den. Who knows what will happen next?”
Several disciples were frantically trying to feed He Yuntao medicine. Ning Zhou hesitated before saying, “Senior, there seems to be something ominous about this place. Why not come down the mountain with us? In fact, an elder of our Sword Sect accompanied us on this expedition. If you join forces, perhaps you could eradicate this village.”
Qian Xuelang said mildly, “If an elder came with you, why did he not come here as well?”
Ning Zhou replied, “The elder had other important matters to attend to. He already gave us sword talismans to defend ourselves. But as… as Second Senior Brother said, Eldest Senior Brother was captured by that demon just now, and none of us dared act rashly.”
When elders accompanied disciples from the great immortal sects, the main purpose was naturally to temper the younger generation. Unless something serious happened, the elders seldom took over their disciples’ tasks. Usually, they waited somewhere for a signal, and this expedition to the demon village was presumably no exception.
These disciples were kindhearted, but poor at adapting to emergencies. Tang Wenxian, meanwhile, reacted quickly enough, yet given his bad relationship with He Yuntao, it was hard to tell whether his response showed quick thinking or simple indifference. His fear of what others might say about him also suggested that he was not especially courageous.
Qian Xuelang briefly assessed everyone’s reactions. If Ren Yijue had been there, he would surely have found a much more pleasing way to put things. Qian Xuelang, however, did not want to say any of it.
“You trespassed into other people’s home. That was wrong in the first place. Does calling it a demon village mean you should immediately start shouting for everyone to fight and kill?”
The disciples had only just escaped meeting King Yama. Hearing Qian Xuelang speak in defense of the demon village, they were dumbstruck. Tang Wenxian, however, was quick to respond. “Surely that’s not right, Senior? Never mind that He Yuntao was only trying to save that demon child. Even if we were simply wandering about inside the maze formation, what if an ordinary mortal accidentally came here? Would they deserve to be killed? What kind of justice is that? Clearly these demons are naturally savage and bloodthirsty. They deserve to die.”
“He has indeed done wrong,” Qian Xuelang replied calmly. “His conduct was wrong. That does not mean your reasoning is right.”
Tang Wenxian asked with heavy sarcasm, “Then may I ask what would be right, Senior?”
“I don’t know either.”
Qian Xuelang’s expression was somewhat detached. He had never thought about so many things. Whether he came down into the world or withdrew from it, he had always done as he pleased. Only after descending the mountain had he discovered how innumerable concerns held ordinary people fast to the ground, keeping them from living according to their wishes.
Sometimes two very, very good things collided and became something bad. It was like the people of Dongxun City, who held Cui Jingchun in great affection, yet in the end none of them seemed able to see Cui Jingchun himself.
At that very moment, the world’s tangled complexities caught hold of Qian Xuelang too, drawing him down from the clouds until his feet slowly came to rest amid the dust of mortal life.
“They live here in seclusion and have concealed themselves behind such an elaborate maze formation. Presumably they do not want dealings with outsiders,” Qian Xuelang said coolly. “He Yuntao saved that child, yet instead of being grateful, they tried to kill He Yuntao. Of course that was wrong. Perhaps they feared He Yuntao would reveal their whereabouts and bring unnecessary conflict. The relations between humans and demons are complicated to begin with.”
Qian Xuelang looked at He Yuntao again. “He Yuntao tried to save someone out of kindness, only to have that kindness repaid with betrayal. I know you are upset. That is why I asked you to wait for word from me…”
All at once, he understood why he had said those words.
Qian Xuelang saw the situation between humans and demons with perfect clarity. He did not want either side to be hurt. And he possessed the power to make both sides bow their heads and yield.
It was precisely because he possessed that power that Ren Yijue had hoped he would do a little better that day, that he would be… a little more considerate and thorough.
So that’s what he meant.
He felt compassion for these people. Matters had not yet reached an extreme, nor had anyone incurred a blood debt that could only be repaid with a life. It was still possible to stop.
Master… Master died for precisely this reason. Because Master had compassion for all living beings, he died at the hands of the Heavenly Demon.
It was because of that compassion that he… that he did something so selfless and yet so cruel.
Suddenly, the seven emotions surged and churned within Qian Xuelang. A metallic taste of blood rolled up through his throat, and blood spilled over his lips. For a moment, he could not speak a single word.
The disciples assumed he had been injured in his fight with the purple-eyed man. Guilt immediately rose in their hearts, and voices soon began speaking up in support of Qian Xuelang.