Chapter 137 — The Heartbroken

The disciple was plainly in great awe of the Hades Lord, and even his voice trembled a little. "Re—reporting to the Sect Master, the Vice Sect Master shut himself in his room for three days and three nights without a sound. Just as this disciple was growing worried, this morning he suddenly came out with that grey-furred monkey and left this place straightaway."

The Hades Lord was taken aback. Qinglong frowned. "Where did he go?"

The disciple kept his head bowed. "This disciple followed the Vice Sect Master all along. I saw him leave the mountain belly and then take to the air. His face—his manner—was terrible to see, and I dared not step forward to ask. I could only come back here and wait..."

A flash of anger crossed Qinglong's face, but the Hades Lord ahead of him suddenly said, "Eh?" He stepped forward, picked up a sealed letter from the head of the bed, glanced at it, and handed it to Qinglong. "It's for you."

Qinglong started, took it, and saw that it was indeed from Mingli. Puzzled, he glanced at the Hades Lord, who looked back at him expressionlessly and then turned his eyes elsewhere. Frowning, Qinglong tore open the seal and read the letter through.

The letter was not long, and he finished it quickly—but his face too fell somewhat, and he said in a low voice, "Sect Master."

The Hades Lord said mildly, "What is it?"

Qinglong said, "In the letter, he asks me to trouble myself with a journey—to escort the shaman's ashes back to the Seven Li Cave of the Miao people in the Southern Border."

The Hades Lord shook his head slowly and suddenly sighed. "Enough. Enough!"

Qinglong was startled, but the Hades Lord turned to the Hades Sect disciple and said, "You may go."

The man looked as though he had been granted a great pardon. He knocked his head three times heavily on the ground and hurried out.

Qinglong looked at the Hades Lord. "Sect Master, then Mingli..."

The Hades Lord cast a glance around the empty room, his eyes full of desolation. After a long while he turned, and without a word to Qinglong or Yousi, walked silently away. From his retreating back came a low, faint voice:

"We are all heartbroken souls..."

In the Southern Border, Burning Cloud Valley.

This great orthodox sect, so plagued by upheaval of late, was today shaken by yet another astonishing piece of news that spread through the whole valley in an instant. From deep within the valley, at the Tianxiang Residence, the heavenly drum sounded seven times, ringing far and wide—a sign that Yun Yifeng, Valley Master of Burning Cloud Valley, long in seclusion, would emerge from it that very day.

All the disciples of Burning Cloud Valley hurried back to their posts; no one dared be negligent. In the valley's main hall, the Shanhe Hall, with Shangguan Lue, Lü Shun, and the others at the head, and Li Xun and a host of disciples ranged behind them, they lined up before the hall and waited patiently.

Among them, the most striking was a woman standing beside Li Xun—none other than Yan Fei. Ever since the night not long ago when the nine-tailed heavenly fox escaped the Mystic Fire Altar, Shangguan Lue had recognized, even amid the chaos, that this Yan Fei was an impostor. It was afterward proven that she had been impersonated by Jin Pingyue of the Devil Cult's Soul-Bewitching Sect. But the real Yan Fei had not been found until three days ago, in a cellar beneath one of the houses in Burning Cloud Valley.

It seemed Jin Pingyue had, by some uncanny art, subdued Yan Fei and hidden her in such a place. In those days the whole of Burning Cloud Valley had turned out to search every hill and knoll nearby, yet no one had thought to look inside the houses of the valley itself. It was only three days ago that a male disciple, going down into that medicine cellar to fetch an herb the valley had run short of, discovered Yan Fei—otherwise there was no telling how long the poor woman might have waited in that cellar.

After those days of torment, Yan Fei was visibly much more haggard. But no one had the heart to pay her much attention now; every eye was fixed on the side door of the main hall, for by custom the Valley Master, once out of seclusion, would come out through there to meet them.

Shangguan Lue, standing at the very front, was still dressed in black, standing there with an easy composure—only deep in his eyes, where no one could see, there flickered a faint, strange light.

For him, in recent years, every meeting with his senior fellow disciple, Valley Master Yun Yifeng, had been conducted through a screen, and Yun Yifeng's voice had been feeble, growing more aged by the day. At first he had not dared believe it, but lately he had gradually become convinced in his heart that this senior brother who had always pressed down upon him was truly nearing his end.

Yet today the heavenly drum at the Tianxiang Residence had rolled like thunder, striking him where he stood—Yun Yifeng had actually come out of seclusion!

Could it be that he truly had been cultivating arts in seclusion, and not covering something up?

Shangguan Lue's heart was in turmoil, full of unease.

And behind Shangguan Lue, at the head of the younger generation of disciples, Li Xun's eyes held an excitement he could not conceal. He had always been Yun Yifeng's most favored disciple, the darling of Burning Cloud Valley. It was only that several years ago Yun Yifeng had suddenly gone into seclusion without the slightest warning, and from then on had seen no one.

Though Li Xun himself was still specially regarded by Yun Yifeng, and was, like his martial uncle Shangguan Lue, one of the only two in Burning Cloud Valley permitted to have audience with Yun Yifeng, yet perhaps because Yun Yifeng thought Li Xun too young and his cultivation insufficient, the great affairs of the valley were placed in Shangguan Lue's hands. Thus, imperceptibly, Li Xun's standing had slipped a good deal.

But now that Yun Yifeng had emerged from seclusion once more, the situation had naturally changed greatly. Li Xun was the present Valley Master's most beloved disciple, the undisputed choice for the next Valley Master, and his words would now carry very different weight. More importantly, just yesterday—the night before Yun Yifeng's emergence—he had been secretly received by Yun Yifeng, and had learned in advance that his revered master was about to come out.

And with his master's emergence, there was a long-cherished wish of his that might at last be fulfilled. At the thought, Li Xun could no longer suppress the excitement on his handsome face.

Shangguan Lue stirred and slowly turned back around. That young martial nephew behind him, off to the side, was doing his utmost to remain calm, but the joy and excitement rising from the bottom of his heart was, after all, not something his years and experience could conceal—and still less could it escape Shangguan Lue's eyes, which read the world like an eagle's.

"Heh..." He laughed coldly, deep in his heart, and said to himself, "Young man, the road you have to walk—you have no idea how long it is yet!"

As the crowd stood each absorbed in his own thoughts, the drumbeats suddenly turned melodious, as though come from beyond the sky, circling through the great hall. Shangguan Lue and the others roused themselves, straightened their attire, and looked toward the side door.

A flash of red—and a figure slowly appeared. The fire-red robe was the traditional dress of the Valley Masters of Burning Cloud Valley, the emblem of this sect's faith in fire.

There was no sense of the heat of flame, nor any dazzling radiance, and yet somehow, as that red filled their eyes, everyone felt it: a crimson flame was walking toward them, unhurried and at ease.

And when the crowd came to their senses and made out the figure within that red glow, even the ever-composed Shangguan Lue could not help but utter a low cry of disbelief.