271 Past and Present Fate Part Two

The sound of the zither wrapped around her body. She could not see the person who played the zither, and could only hear itssound. However, she could not tell where it was coming from. The person who played the zither... where was he? It was a song, that's all. She took out a square plate and placed it down in front of her. What that square plate was made of was a mystery, but it was darker than pigiron, yet it was somewhat more gentle than iron. It was like black jade, yet itwas somewhat stronger than jade. The surface of the black square plate was covered with many complicatedpatterns and lines. If someone who understood them looked at these patterns,they would most likely think of those fake daoists outside the Li Palace thatwould swindle money from others by pretending to tell fortunes. Yes, this was a Fated Star Plate used to deduce one's fate. The intersections of those lines were all positions of stars. Moreover, in theentire continent, only she and a few other experts could understand that thelines were the trajectories of the stars. Her two hands rested on the Fated Star Plate, then they began to move. Theyflowed over the plate naturally, like the wind that called the clouds aroundthe cliff, like the phoenix which bathed its wings in the ocean. As her hands moved, the patterns and lines on the Fated Star Plate began tomove with them. The speed at which the countless rings turned were not thesame. Some were fast and some were slow, making it extremely complex. Ifsomeone stared at it for a long time, then perhaps the person’s eyes would growblurry or maybe he might even swoon into unconsciousness. However, she did not.She calmly examined the Fated Star Plate, her eyelashes unmoving, not missingeven the subtlest change of those patterns. After who knows how long had passed, she ended her deductions andcalculations, and put away the Fated Star Plate. Taking several steps away fromthe tree, she took out her long bow, nocked an arrow, then shot it towards theend of the path. With a whoosh, the cliffs in the night were suddenly shocked awake. The vibration of the bowstring caused that solitary tree to sway even more, asif it had been chopped down. Then, another long period of time passed. Nothing changed. It was as if that arrow had disappeared into the void. Shelifted her head to stare into the night sky at the place where the arrow haddisappeared, and pondered in silence for a very long time. This was her arrow. Regardless of how powerful the enemy was, even if it was aStar Condensation expert, it still would not disappear without a sound. At thevery least, there should be an echo. For there to be no echo meant that there were two possibilities. Tonight, herenemy's strength far surpassed her own, or the position that she had calculatedwas incorrect. The former was impossible, because this was the Garden of Zhou. Furthermore,if the demons had sent an expert like a Demon General, there was no need towait. He should have long ago taken action. Then it meant that her calculation were incorrect. She was extremely confidentin her deductions. If she really had calculated it wrong, then there was onlyone possibility. There was a problem with the positions of the stars themselves. At this moment, she thought of the same sentence that Chen Changsheng hadthought of in the front mausoleum of the Mausoleum of Books. The positions are relative. The 'relative' indicated that space was relative, that distance was relative.If the space was not real, then there was no way to calculate. So the positionsin the space were naturally also impossible to calculate. Was the solitary mountain path's original destination a false space? Was thatclear sound of the zither welcoming her to a land of death—is that why it wasso joyous? She put her hands behind her back and walked over to the cliff edge. As shestared at that distant plain, she began to think. If the Black Dragon had seen this, then she would definitely understand whythat Divine Empress so heavily doted on this white-clothed young lady. It wasbecause her appearance now was very similar to that of the young Divine Empress. However, the Black Dragon could not see it. In her eyes, once that young lady had walked under the tree, she had not movedonce. She had not taken out her Fated Star Plate to make deductions, and shehad not fired an arrow into the night. Night had finally come to the world outside of the Garden of Zhou as well. However, the vast sky of stars could not be seen here. It was not because thesnowflakes flew around too swiftly, or because the clouds were too thick, butbecause that shadow cast from Xuelao City enveloped the entire sky. The place was too close to Xuelao City. The terrifying Demon Lord did not needto leave the city to exert his will over this area. Turning himself into ashadow, he indifferently observed this human. If it were a normal human, they would be frozen into a pillar of ice in theinstant that shadow arrived. Their spiritual sense would be destroyed, and inthe end they would be motes of dust on the snowy plain. However, Su Li did not,because he was no ordinary human. On his left shoulder was a clear wound, but there was no sign of blood. Therewas only a pitch-black substance, thick like ink. In addition, the black waterwas at this very moment gurgling as it boiled. What sort of poison was this, that it was actually so frightening? Su Li looked at that distant Demon General who was like a small mountain andmockingly said, "After so many years, and you still can only use such pettypoisons! No wonder the only thing you can do is follow and lick the feet ofNumber One." In the Demon Army, that Demon General was ranked second. He was theincomparably terrifying Lord Hai Di. Some sort of fierce battle had occurred, and the second ranked Demon GeneralHai Di had managed to leave that horrifying wound on Su Li's shoulder. However,he had paid an even more painful price. His right arm had been cut off by Su Li's sword. But there was no pain or anger on Hai Di's face, only indifference. He said indifferently to Su Li, "Around a hundred years ago, you chopped offone of my limbs, but it only took me ten or so years to grow it back. As forNumber One's feet, if she was willing to let me lick them, I would already bekneeling." Su Li clicked his tongue in astonishment. "Only you demons can be so bold inyour shamelessness. But even if you lick Number One until she's comfortable,right now you're missing an arm. Aren't you afraid that Number Three will takeadvantage of its absence and take your life, then rip you to pieces and eatyou?" Demons were respected for their strength. The picture he described very wellcould happen. A voice rang out in the snowy night. It was Black Robe's voice. "This will nothappen, because I will not permit it, and His Majesty will not permit it." Hai Di nodded at Su Li, then took up his arm and began to retreat. With eachstep, a massive and deep crack formed in the snowy plain. This was the resultof his inability to control his Qi after his wound. It was truly difficult toimagine what sort of frightening strength he had possessed when he was whole.Of course, it was even more impossible to imagine just how powerful Su Li waschop off his arm in one blow. Although Su Li had won one bout, he still had no opportunity. Because two more mountainous demon figures slowly began to approach. Those were the fourth and seventh Demon Generals. For the purpose of killing Mount Li's Junior Martial Uncle, the demons had setinto motion far too many experts. These were all true experts. Since the end of that gloomy war which upturned heaven and earth came to anend several hundred years ago, this was the first time such an array of forceshad appeared. Su Li spit out some bloody saliva in front of him, rubbed his somewhat coldcheeks, then said, "A battle, then a battle, and then another battle! Are youguys annoyed? Can't you be a little more straightforward?" Black Robe chuckled. Although a hat obscured his face, the smile in his eyesthat were as deep as the sea was still very clear. The night could not concealit. He looked at Su Li and smiled. "You're starting to panic." Su Lu said derisively, "Only a truly panicked person would attempt this sortof psychological warfare." Black Robe calmly replied, "Time is slowly passing by. You don't know how longyour daughter can hold on. How can you not be panicked?" At these words, Su Li had no response. From the start, the corners of his lips had always been perked up. Even duringhis bloody battle with Hai Di was this so. In this way did he express hiscontempt and disdain for this demon plot as well as this snowy realm.