This incident from Biyao’s past seemed to be a pain that had wounded her to the very depths. She had buried it deep in her heart all these years, never expecting that, at this juncture between life and death, she would recall it once more. Her mind and spirit were thrown into turmoil, and with food having been so scarce these past days, her body was already somewhat weak; in the end, she remained unconscious for a long time.
Zhang Xiaofan looked at the young Demon Sect woman who, even now, still clutched him tightly as she lay asleep and unawakened. He could not help shaking his head with a bitter smile. Not long ago, he himself had been the patient who had taken a stroll before the gates of death and returned. Who would have thought that now things would turn around, and it would be Biyao’s turn to fall ill? The two of them had collapsed one after the other—truly, even if they wanted not to die, it would be difficult.
After another while, Zhang Xiaofan himself grew drowsy, but he still forced himself to sit upright, only because Biyao was lying in his arms. Looking at her wan face, marked with a faint expression of pain, Zhang Xiaofan found that he could not bear to leave.
Only, sitting like this was truly no easy matter. He sat on the platform, one leg hanging in the air and the other planted on the ground, his body half-slanted yet held ramrod straight, with nowhere to lean. As time dragged on, every part of his body ached and throbbed; worse still was the place where Biyao clutched him tightly. Her fingers were exerting such force that even after she had fallen into a deep sleep, that strength did not diminish in the slightest. The pain truly sank to the marrow. It was only because Zhang Xiaofan’s nature was fairly enduring that he actually gritted his teeth and bore it. If it had been someone else, they would probably have leapt up long ago.
Even so, the suffering he endured was by no means light. Zhang Xiaofan cried bitterness in his heart, but in the end, he still did not leave. After a long while, drowsiness overcame him as well, and amid the gradually numbing pain and soreness, he actually began to doze off while sitting there.
※※※
“Ah…”
Zhang Xiaofan stretched and woke up, only to feel pain all over his body. Just as he was sighing to himself, he suddenly discovered that at some unknown time he had lain down on the platform, while Biyao, who had originally been beside him, was nowhere to be seen.
Zhang Xiaofan was startled. He stood up and looked around, but there was still no sign of Biyao. The entire cave was empty and hollow, without even the faintest sound. All at once, a chill rose in Zhang Xiaofan’s heart, as if he had suddenly found himself alone inside a tomb. He frowned, stood up, and without even thinking, began searching for Biyao.
He searched the stone chamber of the Heavenly Book, then went to the treasure chamber, but saw no trace of Biyao. After thinking for a moment, Zhang Xiaofan walked outward. Sure enough, before long, in the stone chamber where the Demon Sect’s two great evil deities were enshrined, he saw Biyao.
Before the seats of the kind-browed, benevolent-eyed Holy Mother Youming and the ferocious-faced Tiansha Mingwang, Biyao was kneeling on the ground, her shoulders trembling. Though she tried her utmost to suppress it, low sobs still escaped her.
She was actually crying.
Zhang Xiaofan stood rooted to the spot. No matter how he might have imagined it, he would never have thought that this Demon Sect woman, who had always been strong and competitive, would be secretly weeping before these divine statues. He stood there for a moment, utterly at a loss, but in the end he slowly walked over and said hesitantly, “You, uh, you… why are you… Don’t cry!”
Unexpectedly, it would have been better if he had not spoken. The moment she heard his words, the grief Biyao had been forcibly holding back seemed to burst forth all at once. Her voice immediately grew much louder as she wept aloud in sorrow, slowly raising her head. On that face, once like jade, pearl-like tears now hung.
Zhang Xiaofan was dumbstruck. He himself was only a youth; how could he understand these feelings of a young girl? At once he became flustered, as if Biyao had been made to cry by him, and even his words came out stammering: “You, you don’t… this, don’t be like this… I, I—no, you, no, I mean I…”
Through tear-blurred eyes, Biyao looked at Zhang Xiaofan’s frantic state, shook her head, and clenched her teeth. Yet when grief struck deeply, she could no longer endure it. The sorrowful tears she had held back for more than ten years surged out today all at once.
“It was me. I was the one who caused Mother’s death!” the young woman, sunk deep in painful memories, said mournfully, her voice filled with desolation.
Zhang Xiaofan immediately shook his head. Looking at her fragile, helpless figure at this moment, his heart went into a daze, as if he had seen, many years ago, the same helpless figure of himself. “No,” he said, walking over, his voice low and gentle. “Your mother was the person who loved you most. Back then you were still young and didn’t understand anything. How could you have harmed anyone?”
Biyao choked out, “But, but Father has always hated me. I know he has wished I were dead. He blames me for causing Mother’s death!”
Zhang Xiaofan said softly, “He wouldn’t. Don’t think wildly. Didn’t your father not blame you? Didn’t he come to save you? All these years, has he ever treated you badly?”
Biyao’s body trembled, and her face seemed to pale. From where Zhang Xiaofan looked, her originally graceful and lovely face was now like pear blossoms in rain; even in sorrow, her bearing was moving enough to shake the soul.
Only, when she raised her head, the gaze behind those tears, looking at Zhang Xiaofan, was something Zhang Xiaofan did not dare meet directly. He turned his eyes away.
After a long time.
“You are very kind,” she suddenly said, her voice faint and lingering.
Deep in Zhang Xiaofan’s heart, somewhere unknown, there was suddenly a jump. Immediately afterward, he forced himself to calm down and smiled. “No. It’s just that, seeing as we’re about to die together, comforting you a few words before death doesn’t count for much.”
Biyao slowly stopped crying, wiped away the tears at the corners of her eyes, and sighed softly. “Yes. We are about to die together.” At this point, she suddenly seemed to remember something and said to Zhang Xiaofan, “You and I are dying here together. Have you ever regretted it in your heart?”
Zhang Xiaofan was startled. In that instant, countless images flashed through his mind, as if in this moment he had returned again to Qingyun Mountain, to Dazhu Peak. “Of course I regret it.”
He said this in a low voice.
When Biyao heard it, her expression immediately sank. “Hmph. In the Holy Sect, who knows how many people would want to die together with me? Yet of all people, you don’t know your own fortune!”
Anger surged up in Zhang Xiaofan, but after glancing at Biyao, it somehow faded again. He only sighed and shook his head. “Perhaps. It’s just that if I could be buried on Dazhu Peak, then truly, I would have no regrets in death.”
Biyao’s face darkened. She stared at him, silent for a long while, then suddenly said, “It’s for that Senior Sister Ling’er of yours, isn’t it?”
Zhang Xiaofan jumped up and pointed at her in astonishment. “You, how did you know?”
Biyao turned her head away. “You said it some time ago, when you were gravely ill and talking nonsense.”
Zhang Xiaofan froze. He had just been about to say something to reproach her, but then another thought came to him: seeing that he and she were about to die here, from now on, not only would he never see his senior sister again, even after death, even if he turned into a wandering spirit, he feared he would not be able to see the scenery of Dazhu Peak.
He only wondered—would Senior Sister remember him?
Thinking of this, all at once, his heart turned to ashes and his will went cold. With a long sigh, sunk deep in grief and bitterness from which he could not extricate himself, he turned and walked out. Watching his back, Biyao stood there in a daze.
After a long time, she slowly turned her head back, looked at the two divine statues, and bowed down. “Holy Mother, may you take pity on the people of this world and protect him, bless him. Honored Mingwang, may you wield the power to split open heaven and save…”
Her voice suddenly cut off. Her entire body lay prostrate on the ground, unmoving. In that moment, it was as though everything around her had fallen silent, yet in her mind it was like a storm-tossed sea, and within those waves, a thread of light was flickering—now visible, now hidden. She struggled with all her might to grasp it, to remember it.
She slowly raised her head and cautiously looked toward the statue of Tiansha Mingwang on her right, again and again. In her heart, a thought shouted loudly: “Wrong, wrong. There’s something missing from this statue…”
She looked at it over and over, not even daring to breathe. Finally, her gaze fell upon the statue’s empty right hand.
She leapt up, no longer able to hold back her delight, and cried aloud, “The Heaven-Splitting Axe! That’s right, where did the Heaven-Splitting Axe go?”
According to Demon Sect legend, Holy Mother Youming was the deity who nurtured countless living beings, while Tiansha Mingwang was the fierce god who opened heaven and earth and governed punishment. This was vastly different from the ancient legends of the giant god Pangu splitting heaven and earth. Legend had it that what Tiansha Mingwang held in his hand was precisely a “great Heaven-Splitting Axe,” and so later generations, when carving his statues, would inevitably include the form of that great axe. Yet the statue before her had an empty right hand. Biyao knew very well that within the Demon Sect, Tiansha Mingwang was one of the two great honored deities; no one would deliberately show disrespect to him. And the Blood Refining Hall, which had built this Blooddrop Cave back then, was also a faction of the Demon Sect. There had to be a reason.
Zhang Xiaofan returned to the stone cave and sat on the platform in silence, just thinking of the old friends on Dazhu Peak, when suddenly he saw Biyao rush in with joy all over her face. Seeing him sitting there, she called loudly, “If you want to live, hurry over here.”
“What?” Zhang Xiaofan was startled, only to see Biyao rush like a gust of wind into the treasure chamber on the right. He hesitated for a moment, but in the end could not overcome his longing to live and followed her in. He had just stepped into the stone chamber when he heard Biyao give a cheer. He saw her laboriously picking up a huge iron-cast axe from a pile of iron junk. Judging from her manner, it was extremely strenuous; it must have been quite heavy.
Zhang Xiaofan ran over and helped her support the huge axe. Sure enough, he felt that it was extremely heavy in his hands. Even the two of them together found it somewhat difficult to manage. He said in astonishment, “What are you doing?”
Biyao did not explain much to him and said directly, “If you want to live, then help me move this iron axe to the divine statue.”
Zhang Xiaofan sucked in a breath of cold air and said in alarm, “You, what are you trying to do?”
Biyao was too lazy to say more and dragged the axe forward, but after only a few steps, her body weakened and she began panting. Zhang Xiaofan shook his head and sighed, but in the end still walked over. The two joined forces and, after expending tremendous effort, finally dragged the axe to the stone chamber where the divine statues were. Then Zhang Xiaofan rolled his eyes, exceedingly unwilling, as he heard Biyao say that they actually had to fit this heavy thing into the evil god’s hand.
Zhang Xiaofan had already been deeply suspicious, and now, hearing that it was actually to do something for an evil god of the Demon Sect, his energy immediately drained away. Yet he still could not outstubborn Biyao. Seeing her sweating all over as she struggled there alone, his heart softened. Thinking that, before death, helping fulfill one of her wishes would be fine, he stepped forward and did his utmost to help.
The axe had looked enormous to begin with, and now, actually moving it, its weight was even more inconceivable. Added to that, the two of them had gone without food for a long time. Later, when they miraculously completed this seemingly impossible task and fitted the axe into Tiansha Mingwang’s right hand, Zhang Xiaofan plopped down on the ground and gasped for breath. “You, haah, you… if you can’t find a way out, haah, originally we could have lived for three more days. Now we only have three hours left.”
Biyao herself was also panting heavily, but the excitement in her eyes could not be concealed. After resting briefly, she walked to the side of the statue and observed it carefully for a while. Sure enough, once the Mingwang statue had the great axe added to it, it was greatly imposing, its aura pressing upon them. She respectfully saluted the statue of Tiansha Mingwang and said, “Honored Mingwang, please forgive this disciple’s discourtesy.”
With that said, she reached out and grasped the great axe, tentatively shaking it up and down, but there was no movement at all. Of course, this great axe had been placed there by her own hands; if there had been any movement, there would have been movement earlier. Zhang Xiaofan sat on the ground, watching her strange actions, and shook his head again and again.
Biyao’s brows furrowed tightly, and she said in a low voice, “How can this be wrong? The mechanism should be here…”
As she spoke, anxiety filled her heart, and the strength in her hands increased. Gripping the great axe, she shifted it, and unexpectedly, Tiansha Mingwang’s carved right hand moved along with it by a fraction. Suddenly, within the stone chamber, there seemed to come the sound of some heavy mechanism.
Zhang Xiaofan jumped up. Biyao was even more delighted. The two exchanged a glance. Zhang Xiaofan ran over, and together with Biyao, grabbed the great axe and pulled it with force. They saw the great axe, along with Tiansha Mingwang’s right hand, rise from its drooping position into midair. A moment later, within the stone chamber, an enormous, deafening rumble sounded.
The two were greatly shocked. They only felt the roaring at their ears, so painful it was hard to endure, and hurriedly pressed their hands over their ears. After another moment, the rumbling still thundered by their ears, but on the stone wall behind the statue, the huge, solid rock wall actually began to slowly withdraw to both sides, revealing a passage. Stone steps rose one by one, leading upward, all the way into the darkness ahead.
At that moment, the stone chamber where the divine statues stood suddenly began to shake violently, and stones fell in succession from overhead. The two almost did not speak; as if their hearts were linked, they ran toward the stone steps at the same time and threw themselves into the darkness.
In truth, eight hundred years ago, when the Demon Sect’s Blood Refining Hall built Blooddrop Cave, they had already considered the possibility that one day they might decline and be attacked by enemies. Thus, within the mountain’s belly in this stone chamber, they had secretly built this passage. Once enemies broke in, they could use this path to escape, and a moment later Blooddrop Cave would collapse, burying the enemies together with countless secrets of the Blood Refining Hall.
Zhang Xiaofan and Biyao ran desperately. They only heard continuous thunderous crashes behind them, with stones flying everywhere. If they ran even a step slower, they would likely die here. Truly, they drew out the last bit of strength in their bodies and ran forward. Before long, the space before them became pitch-black. In this narrow and dark secret passage, neither of them knew how many times they fell or how many times they crashed into things. They only heard great rumbles all around, stones flying wildly, as if the entire Kongsang Mountain were enraged, shaking without cease. But at last, relying on their desire to survive, the two saw a sliver of light ahead.
It turned out that the entrance of this secret cave opened halfway up Kongsang Mountain, on the shady side of the mountain beneath a cliff. The trees there were lush and dense, and it was extremely well hidden. No wonder that for eight hundred years, no one had discovered it. Presumably, even the descendants of the Blood Refining Hall today mostly did not know of this place.
Zhang Xiaofan and Biyao staggered out. Almost at the very moment they threw themselves to the ground, there came a tremendous boom, and a massive boulder weighing tens of thousands of jin crashed down. Dust flew up, sealing the cave entrance tightly. From now on, no one would ever again be able to see the secrets within the belly of this mountain.
※※※
Lying prone on the ground, Zhang Xiaofan gasped for breath. His fingers clutched tightly at the slightly damp green grass on the ground. That feeling of running along the edge of life and death truly left a person unable to breathe. Only after a long while did his emotions slowly relax. He raised his head and looked to the side, only to see Biyao right beside him. Her originally fair face was now faintly dusted with ash. As if sensing Zhang Xiaofan’s gaze, she too turned her head and looked over.
The joy of surviving disaster and being reborn slowly surfaced on both their faces. Biyao’s lips moved, and in her bright eyes there seemed to be rippling water, misty yet sparkling. With a cheer that carried a faint sob, a release after boundless, immense pressure, she could no longer think of anything else. She only felt that the sky was so very blue, the mountains so very high, the fresh breeze blowing in waves, the whole mountain dripping green, shifting shadows of verdure everywhere, tree waves surging. In this world, there was moving beauty in every place.
“We… we survived!” she cried joyfully, facing the green mountains and blue sky.
Zhang Xiaofan laughed aloud beside her, watching as she opened her arms and revealed the most beautiful smile in the world.
With crackling sounds, flames devoured the firewood, snapping crisply and sending up wisps of smoke. Biyao sat beside the fire, watching Zhang Xiaofan use a thick branch to skewer a wild rabbit he had just caught and cleaned, then place it over the flames to roast. Under the fire’s heat, the rabbit meat gradually turned golden, and droplets of oil gathered like beads of water, dripping down.
Beneath the mountain forest, a mouthwatering fragrance spread in all directions. Having been terribly hungry in the cave, Biyao could not help her mouth watering, and she swallowed. Yet Zhang Xiaofan seemed neither hurried nor flustered. He looked at the fire, then habitually reached to touch his waist. Suddenly, his face froze, and then joy appeared on it.
Biyao said in surprise, “What is it?”
Zhang Xiaofan happily took a small bundle from his waist and laughed. “Who would have thought that although the dry rations were lost, these things are still here? I hadn’t even noticed these past few days.”
Biyao looked toward the small bundle and saw Zhang Xiaofan carefully open it, revealing several small bottles and jars. Curious, she picked up a few and smelled them. At once she froze, looking at Zhang Xiaofan almost unable to speak. “These… these are salt and seasonings…”
Zhang Xiaofan beamed. “Yes. I’ve carried them with me ever since I came down the mountain, just in case I had to spend the night in the wilderness and could make something tasty. I never thought they’d come in useful today.”
Biyao looked Zhang Xiaofan up and down, unable to speak for a moment. She watched him carefully sprinkle these things—whether five-spice powder or salt, she did not know—onto the rabbit meat, then slowly turn the branch as it roasted. The fragrance in the air grew richer and richer. She had never seen such a person of the righteous path, someone who actually carried seasonings on him when he went out. Looking at him, he seemed more like a cook than a disciple from a famous orthodox sect.
After a while, Zhang Xiaofan leaned closer and smelled it, then said happily, “It’s done. We can eat.”
Biyao had long since grown somewhat impatient waiting at the side. She only felt that the fragrance was almost able to enter through every opening, seeping into every pore of her body. Just from smelling it, her body seemed to float up and become much lighter, and as for her mouth, that went without saying. If she had not carefully hidden it, even the sound of her stomach growling would probably have been heard by this boy.
Now, hearing Zhang Xiaofan finally show mercy and say it was done, and seeing before her a golden, fragrant rabbit, her saliva almost flowed down. She could not help reaching out, but unexpectedly, for a moment, she forgot. The instant her hand touched it, she cried “Ah!” and pulled back, having been burned.
Zhang Xiaofan smiled. “Don’t rush!” As he spoke, he moved the branch away from the fire and shifted it up and down, letting the oil drip off. Only when the meat’s temperature had lowered somewhat did he carefully tear off one rabbit hind leg and hand it to Biyao, smiling. “Eat.”
Biyao immediately reached out and took the rabbit meat. She was just about to open her mouth when she suddenly saw Zhang Xiaofan’s gentle smile as he looked at her. Sunlight in the forest filtered through the dense leaves, falling in scattered spots. A few specks landed on his face, making him look so bright and open.
For some reason, her face suddenly reddened. She turned her head away, her back to Zhang Xiaofan, and only then began to eat. Zhang Xiaofan was stunned for a moment, but did not pay it any mind. He himself had long since been unbearably hungry. He tore off the other rabbit leg and began to gnaw at it in large bites.
Halfway through eating, he suddenly saw Biyao turn around and look at him. Slightly surprised, he said, “What is it? Oh, right, is the meat good?”
There was a faint blush on Biyao’s face. The light breeze blowing from deep within the woods gently lifted her soft long hair, brushing it past her fair cheek.
“It’s very good. Uh…”
Zhang Xiaofan said, “What is it?”
Biyao said, “…I finished mine.”
Her face carried a faint gentleness and a trace of quiet shyness. Zhang Xiaofan’s mouth opened slightly, and he was actually stunned.
Biyao lowered her head a little. Between the two of them, silence suddenly fell. After a long while, Zhang Xiaofan abruptly woke with a start. “Ah!”
Sweat broke out on his forehead. He stammered, unable to form complete sentences. “I, I wasn’t looking—no, you look at me… ah, no, ah, here, take it.”
As he spoke, he closed his eyes and handed the rabbit leg over. For some reason, he actually did not dare open his eyes.
But after a long while, Biyao seemed not to move. Zhang Xiaofan mustered his courage and slowly opened his eyes, only to see Biyao looking at him with an expression that was both smiling and not, her gaze gentle and filled with an indescribably soft charm. In a low voice, carrying a trace of a smile, she said, “You’re giving this to me to eat?”
Zhang Xiaofan did not understand. He looked down at his hand and was instantly red to the ears, wishing he could sink into the ground. It turned out that what he had handed to Biyao was the half-eaten rabbit leg he was holding in his right hand, while most of the rabbit meat was being held in his left hand at his side.
“N-no, that’s not…” Zhang Xiaofan was utterly embarrassed. Like lightning, he withdrew that shameful rabbit leg, then awkwardly handed over the intact rabbit meat, mumbling, “I was, was, was trying to…”
“I know.” Biyao took the rabbit, tore off a piece of meat, placed it in her mouth, and chewed softly. “It’s very good. The best thing I’ve ever eaten in my life is this rabbit you roasted just now.”
Zhang Xiaofan’s heart jumped. He saw that on Biyao’s beautiful, delicate face, she spoke half smiling and half serious. His heart wavered, and he no longer dared look. Opening his mouth, he bit down on that half-eaten rabbit leg and buried his head in eating.
Before long, this rabbit was completely finished off by the two starving people. Their first full meal in many days was truly a joyful thing. Biyao found a small mountain stream, and the two washed up by the water. Before they knew it, both felt somewhat drowsy. It was only natural. In the belly of the mountain, their nerves had been taut the entire time, as if they had been walking along the edge of life and death all along. Now that they had come out, their whole bodies relaxed, and drowsiness arose as well.
Biyao was the first to be unable to hold on. She lay down and fell asleep on a small patch of green grass beside the stream. Zhang Xiaofan also felt sleepy and lay down beside her. Feeling the sunlight warm and gentle as it spilled over them, he could not help turning his head to look at Biyao. He saw that, after washing, although Biyao’s hair was still somewhat disheveled, her face was once again as fair as jade, just as when they had first met, her skin whiter than snow and almost delicate enough to be broken by a breath. At this moment, her eyes were closed as she lay quietly there. When the breeze blew, the ends of her hair stirred slightly, giving off a soft radiance beneath the sunlight.
Suddenly, in her sleep, Biyao seemed to see something. Her brows furrowed faintly, and her right hand reached over as if by habit, grasping Zhang Xiaofan’s shoulder and nestling beside him. Then, at the corner of her lips, there appeared a faint smile, and just like that, she slept peacefully.
Zhang Xiaofan froze. Yet looking at her slightly wan but still beautiful face, he could not summon the courage to move her hand away no matter what. He lay there motionless. Gradually, his own drowsiness came over him as well. He closed his eyes, as if he had forgotten the matter, as if it were the most normal thing in the world, and peacefully fell asleep.
The breeze in the forest still blew softly, passing over the treetops, passing over the green leaves, passing over the quietly flowing stream and stirring faint ripples, and at last brushing over the bodies of these two young people.