Chapter 124 — Black Fire

"Thump, thump thump..."

The knock came again, but there was no voice from outside. Ming Li frowned, walked over, and pulled the door open.

A single figure stood at the doorway: a Miao boy of thirteen or fourteen, his face still bearing the innocence of youth. He carried a basket holding meat, wine, and a few dishes—clearly sent by Chief Tumagu.

The boy held the basket out to him. Ming Li nodded and said, "Many thanks."

The boy grinned, but only an odd croaking sound came from his throat. Ming Li started. A boy like this, mute—no wonder he had only knocked and said nothing.

He could not help studying the boy a few more times. The boy's clothes were patched in many places, plainly long worn, a world apart from the Miao he had seen in Qili Dong's streets. The boy must hold low standing here, and was likely an orphan besides.

At the word "orphan" his heart gave a sudden jolt. But in that brief moment the boy smiled and gestured to him, then turned and walked off. In his expression and bearing there was no sorrow or gloom—rather a touch of cheerfulness.

Ming Li watched the boy's back recede into the distance, and a nameless melancholy stirred in his heart. He sighed softly, turned, and shut the door with a click.

The sun sank westward, and the sky slowly darkened. In one Miao house after another throughout Qili Dong, lamps were lit.

The dim yellow glow leaking from each window flickered unceasingly in the dark, now bright, now faint, like silent eyes in the night.

Every household—the people beneath every lamp—surely each had their own heart, their own life.

Ming Li stood at the window, gazing at the distant cluster of Miao dwellings, and said nothing.

The night wind began to rise. Now and then the distant cheers of Miao drifted over, and somewhere a dog barked; yet these sounds borne on the wind only made the peace of this land stand out the more.

Perhaps these ordinary Miao were happier than those who trod the path of cultivation.

Ming Li slowly closed the window, turned, and shut himself off from the world outside.

He turned and started. Xiaobai, who had been sleeping quietly a moment before, had at some point sat up and was leaning against the wall by the bed, silently watching him.

He glanced at her. "You're awake?"

Xiaobai smiled and gently rubbed her forehead. "Is there tea? Pour me a cup. My head aches a little."

Ming Li went to the table, poured a cup of water, and handed it to her. "Where would the Miao have tea? Drink some water."

Xiaobai nodded, took the cup, and drank a few mouthfuls. Her spirit seemed to revive, and she let out a long breath. Then she shot Ming Li a glance. "You're blaming me in your heart, aren't you?"

Ming Li gave a bitter smile and shook his head. "Without you, I would never have known that a great shaman among the Miao might be able to save Bil璃. Never mind—we'll go see him again tomorrow."

Xiaobai nodded. "I'm muddled after the wine. Have you seen the Miao's great shaman?"

Ming Li nodded. "I've seen him. He admitted he does know the art of soul-returning—but he insists on knowing your origins, on understanding how you came to know this secret, before he'll agree." As he spoke, a worry stirred in him. Whether the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox would be willing to reveal her identity, he could not tell; of Xiaobai's reaction he was not sure.

Xiaobai was silent a moment, then said mildly, "When day breaks tomorrow, I'll go with you to see him."

Ming Li nodded, about to say something more, when Xiaobai suddenly laughed. "Look at this monkey—drunk worse than I am."

Ming Li glanced at Xiaohui, still sprawled beside Xiaobai, limbs spread, snoring soundly, and shook his head without a word.

Xiaobai reached out and stroked Xiaohui's head. Her gaze fell unaccountably on the third eye at the very center of his brow. She pondered a moment, then looked up at Ming Li. "There's something I've been mulling over for a long while—this third spirit-eye of Xiaohui's..."

Before she finished, a tremendous roar like a dog's bark suddenly burst out above Qili Dong, outside their room—a sound that shook the fields and seemed to set the whole mountain range trembling. Even two cultivators such as they felt their ears ringing.

Both were startled. Ming Li strode to the door, flung it open, and stepped outside.

The great sound still echoed through the valley of Qili Dong, its reverberations rolling on near and far without cease. Every Miao in Qili Dong was startled by that enormous noise, and the peace of before was shattered in an instant.

Ming Li saw countless Miao come pouring out of their houses. From afar, their faces all wore looks of terror, and many kept crying out the same phrase—though he could not understand what it meant.

Footsteps sounded behind him; Xiaobai had come out too and stood at his side, watching the panicked Miao in the distance and listening to their ceaseless cries. Her brow gradually knit. "Something may have happened," she said in a low voice.

Ming Li saw it too. "What is it? What are those Miao saying?"

Xiaobai's face was grave. "That great sound just now was the alarm from the Dog God stone carving the Miao revere. Unless the hour has come when the tribe faces extinction, the Dog God would never utter such a sound. As far as I know, in a thousand years the Miao's Dog God has given warning only once."

A fretfulness rose in Ming Li's heart. Bil璃's only hope of life or death now rested on that mysterious great shaman in the Miao altar, and of all times, this strange thing had to happen now. Just as he was about to say something and ask Xiaobai to explain, great changes began to appear in the once-quiet night sky over Qili Dong.

In the starry night sky, thick dark clouds suddenly began to gather, blotting out the stars one by one. Layer upon layer of cloud came swarming in from every direction, the wind and clouds shifting in the most uncanny manner.

The tiny people standing on the ground could not help crying out in terror. Countless people began to run about wildly, and more and more of them fell to their knees in worship toward the peak where the Miao altar stood.

Beneath the heavy black clouds, this land once full of joy lay in desolation.

Ming Li frowned and said in a low voice, "Cultivators have come."

Xiaobai stood beside him, watching the sky. "From where? Do you know?"

Ming Li slowly shook his head. "Judging by this art of commanding wind and cloud, it is most uncanny. It does not resemble the orthodox methods of the Central Plains, and it is very different from the Demonic Sect as well."

Xiaobai's lips moved; a strange expression flickered across her face, as though she had thought of something. But for some reason she did not speak it aloud.

Now, as the black clouds sank lower and lower, the Miao of Qili Dong seemed to find even breathing harder and harder. All were greatly alarmed, and the signs of chaos grew all the more evident. In that moment of confusion, a figure suddenly leapt out from among the Miao. Ming Li looked far off—it was none other than the Miao chief, Tumagu.

Tumagu shouted hoarsely at the Miao, swinging his arms with all his might. Gradually the Miao calmed somewhat, and at his command the women and children began running toward a distant peak, while those who remained were all grown men, most bearing weapons—plainly the Miao knew the crisis was grave and meant to fight to the death.

Amid the chaos, Tumagu glanced toward the riverbank, saw Ming Li and Xiaobai standing outside their door, paused a moment, then nodded to them and turned his attention back to commanding his people.

The black clouds sank lower, and Xiaobai's face shifted between light and shadow. Suddenly she said in a low voice to Ming Li, "With a cultivator of such unfathomable depth here, I fear the Miao cannot stand against him. Will you help them?"

Ming Li was silent a moment, then nodded. "Since Bil璃 must rely on them..."