BXBX NOVEL Chapter 16 - Funeral Bell
Although the dark grey monastery was constructed long ago, it still retained vestiges of its former glory and prestige. In the courtyard, there was an enormous thousand-jin copper cooking vessel, stained with rust. The stone steps were covered with moss as well. Although it did appear a bit gloomy and unfrequented, the grand, majestic main hall still towered like a mountain over the surroundings, and the pillars in the courtyard remained as strong and erect as a tiger’s spine.
How could such a strong, vigorous monastery suddenly collapse?
“The words of a crazy monk are naturally crazy words.”
It had been a long time since the sacrificial altar in the main hall had enjoyed the scent of meat or burning joss sticks. But it was still lofty and high above, staring down at the ignorance and suffering of men. The corners of the hall were filled with cobwebs, and the old, shabby curtains fluttered hither and fro in the wind. There was neither sight nor sound of human being here.
Where was the one who rang the funeral bell?
Fu Hongxue silently stood in front of the statue of Buddha. In his heart, he suddenly felt an extremely strange feeling. He suddenly wanted to kneel down, kneel down before this Buddha, whose gilt skin had already begun to peel off. To beg for peace, peace for Zhuo Yuzhen and her children.
This was the first time in his life he felt so pious. But he did not kneel down, because just at this time, a swishing sound came from outside of the main hall.
When he turned his head, he saw a rainbow-colored, lightning-like flash of sabre light flickering outside. Where the sabre light flashed, those pillars in the courtyard, as strong and erect as a tiger’s spine, were severed. Swishing sounds continually entered the ear, and the mountain-like main hall began to tremble and way.
He inclined his head upwards, and immediately saw that the pillars and beams supporting the ceiling were beginning to slide down.
The words of that crazy monk weren’t just crazy words. After the dancing sabre light flashed across the main hall, this towering, millennia-old monastery truly did collapse!
What type of sabre was that? How could it have such fearsome strength?
Fu Hongxue tightly gripped his sabre!
This sabre was a weapon beyond compare, but this sabre definitely didn’t have such a fearsome strength!
With a thundering sound, one corner of the main hall collapsed.
But Fu Hongxue did not collapse. The mountains might burst and the earth might split, but some people will never collapse.
Another corner of the main hall collapsed. Rubble and debris flew about as though propelled by wind. The swallows on the roof beams had long since flown away.
But Fu Hongxue continued to stand there without moving!
Outside, not only was the Demon Decapitating Sabre of Heaven’s Monarch, that weapon which could anger gods and aggrieve demons, waiting for him, but also innumerable murderous plots and tricks!
He suddenly sneered.
“Demon Decapitator Miao, you have a very fine sabre, but you yourself are a base creature. Why don’t you dare to stand face to face with me and fight to the death, and instead run around playing tricks?”
The sabre light disappeared. Someone sneered from outside the main hall as well. “As long as you aren’t dead, come to the inner courtyard to meet me.”
The laughter of the Heaven’s Monarch, the Demon Decapitator, sounded like the crying of ghosts. One word at a time, he continued, “I will definitely wait for you!”
“I will definitely wait for you.”
The exact phrase, the exact six words. But coming from two different mouths, they had two totally different meanings!
At this moment in time, Fu Hongxue suddenly thought of that girl who wore the jasmine flowers. He thought of how she fell to the ground, and of her eyes, filled with pain, sorrow, and despair.
She was also a person. No matter what type of person one was, they wouldn’t be willing to accept that sort of humiliation.
Could it be that all her life, she was destined to live in that crumbling, swaying room, without any road to take, and no path of escape, until debris and dirt covered her body?
Fu Hongxue’s hands tightened. He suddenly started walking out. He walked very slowly, and his gait still appeared painful and ugly. But since he began to walk, he definitely would not stop.
The doorway had collapsed. The flying dust covered his eyes, as he slowly walked past the broken pieces of wood.
Another sound, akin to giant earthquakes and massive landslides. The center of the main hall had collapsed as well.
Debris and shattered pieces of wood collided into his back.
He did not look back. He didn’t even blink. This required not only an astonishing degree of composure, it also required an unshakable, fearless degree of courage! Precisely because he was composed, precisely because he had courage, he avoided the first trap.
Just as he stepped foot over the main hall’s doorway, at least fifty or so hidden projectiles shot out at him from outside.
If he had looked back in surprise, if he had lost his composure, he would have collapsed.
Collapsed, just like this majestic monastery.
Courage and self-confidence are the pillars of a man, helping preserve humanity’s existence.
So long as these two pillars do not fall, mankind shall never be extinguished!
Just as these hidden projectiles were shot out, two rays of cold light shot out as well, intersecting. It was a sword and a hook!
Fu Hongxue’s sabre had already left its sheath. With a slanted flash of sabre light, he scurried out.
He didn’t dare to stop and look back. He didn’t know how many other deadly ambushes were there.
The copper vessel in the courtyard was still there. His slender body shot out like a javelin, coming down just behind the copper vessel.
A gust of wind blew towards him. He felt it was as cold as a sabre’s chop on his shoulders. After looking down, he realized that a four-inch long wound had been left on his shoulder. The sword and the hook had launched an extremely swift and deadly assault. If someone hadn’t personally experienced the attack, they wouldn’t be able to imagine it.
Blood flowed from his shoulder. Blood flowed from his sabre as well. Whose blood was dripping from his sabre?
That hook was naturally Gongsun Tu’s eagle-beak. But the sword was definitely not Yang Wuji’s ancient sword of Damascus steel.
This sword was far faster, far more accurate, and far more fearful than Yang Wuji’s sword. In addition, Yang Wuji’s sword-arm had been cut off.
The wound on Fu Hongxue’s shoulder was a sword wound. Who had his sabre harmed?
The main hall seemed to have totally collapsed by now. Turning around, he didn’t see anybody at all.
If the first strike does not land true, fully withdraw! This wasn’t just the rule of the Xingxiuhai sect. It was also the principle by which old veterans of the martial world followed without fail!
But why didn’t that Demon Decapitating Sabre of Heaven’s Monarch appear again? With the first attack, he chopped the horse in half. With his second, he destroyed the great hall. Why didn’t he strike at Fu Hongxue? Was he really waiting for Fu Hongxue at the inner courtyard?
The inner courtyard was peaceful and secluded. But there wasn’t even a shadow here either. Within the verdant mulberry grove, there was someone singing light songs. The songs were soft and haunting, causing gloom and capable of extinguishing one’s soul.
There were three lit verandas in the grove. The doors and the windows were all open.
As soon as one entered the grove, one could see a giant who looked like a deity from heaven. He was squatting in front of a barbarian bed, his hair all tousled, tied together with a golden ribbon. On his body, he wore a golden embroidered robe. But beneath his waist, he wore a battle-kilt made from a tiger’s pelt. Light shone out of his panther-like eyes, and his bronze skin sparkled. He looked just like one of the titans, who existed when the heavens and the earth were first separated, or like an undefeatable god of war from the myths.
Four women with coifed hair and light garments were wrapped around his body. One was holding a golden cup and sitting on his knee. Another was combing his hair. A third was taking off his boots. The other was sitting far away beneath the window, and singing in a low voice. They came from the cart on which the Ghostly Granny had arrived in. Although they were no longer young, they had their own mature, graceful, womanly elegance.
If they weren’t mature women, how could they endure such a virile, healthy titan?
A stove burned in one corner of the room. A sabre was placed on the table. The handle of the sabre was one foot, three inches long. The blade was seven feet, nine inches long. There were many dazzling pearls sewn onto the beautiful shark-skin sheath.
This sabre was the Demon Decapitating Sabre of Heaven’s Monarch? This man was Miao Tianwang, Heaven’s Monarch Miao?
Fu Hongxue stepped onto the leaves. He slowly made his way over.
He already saw this person. Although his features were still totally expressionless, every single nerve in his body had become taut.
Strength great enough to destroy a hall, and to cut a galloping horse in half, originally could only be found in fairytales. But now, it just so happened to appear right in front of his eyes.
The woman singing a song beneath the window only turned to glance at him. Her song did not change, but it sounded even more dreary now.
The woman holding the golden cup suddenly let out a sigh. “Why would a perfect good person, insist on coming here to die?”
The woman combing his hair coldly said, “Because even if he was alive, he wouldn’t be happy.”
But the woman taking off his boots began to laugh. “I like to see people being killed.”
The woman combing his hair said, “But it might not be good to see this person be killed.”
The woman taking off his boots said, “Why?”
The woman combing his hair said, “Judging from his face, this person probably doesn’t have a drop of blood in his veins.”
The woman holding the golden cup said, “Even if he does, it’s probably cold.”
The woman taking off his boots was still laughing. “Cold blood is better than no blood. I just want to see a little bit of blood. I’ve always been a very easily satisfied woman.”
Fu Hongxue had already walked to the window. He stopped. It seemed as though he hadn’t heard a single word which they had said.
He really hadn’t heard a single word.
Because he had already poured all of his attention and focus into this godlike titan.
He suddenly asked, “Miao Tianwang?”
Miao Tianwang had already stretched out his massive hand, gripping the sabre on the table.
Fu Hongxue said, “This is the Demon Decapitating Sabre of Heaven’s Monarch?”
Miao Tianwang coldly said, “Sometimes, it decapitates demons. Sometimes, it kills men. So long as the sabre leaves the sheath, no matter who the target is, he will die beneath its blade.”
Fu Hongxue said, “Very good.”
Miao Tianwang’s panther-like eyes revealed a trace of surprise. “Very good?”
Fu Hongxue said, “Your sabre is already in your hand. My body is already beneath your sabre. Isn’t that very good?”
Miao Tianwang laughed. “Very good. It truly is very good.”
Fu Hongxue said, “Unfortunately, I haven’t died yet.”
Miao Tianwang said, “Life and death have always been things which pass in the twinkling of an eye. I’m not in a rush. Why are you in a hurry?”
Fu Hongxue shut his mouth.
The hilt of the sabre was wreathed in purple silk. It was the color of congealed blood.
Miao Tianwang’s hand gently stroked the hilt of the sabre. He suddenly said, “Are you waiting for me to draw my sabre?”
Fu Hongxue nodded.
Miao Tianwang said, “The rumors of the martial world say that your sabre is a weapon which is fast beyond compare!”
Fu Hongxue didn’t deny it.
Miao Tianwang said, “Why don’t you draw first?”
Fu Hongxue said, “Because I want to see your sabre.”
If I pull out my sabre, I’m afraid that your sabre will never have a chance to leave the sheath again!
Although he didn’t say those words, his meaning was very obvious.
Miao Tianwang suddenly laughed loudly. He suddenly stood up, and the woman sitting on his knee immediately rolled off the bed.
Standing, he towered at least nine feet high. His waist was so thick, it couldn’t be embraced. He looked all the more majestic and awe-inspiring.
Only a person such as him was worthy of using a sabre such as this.
Fu Hongxue stood in front of him, appearing like a black panther standing in front of a majestic lion.
Although the majestic lion was awe-inspiring and terrifying, the panther would definitely not cower from it.
Miao Tianwang’s laughter didn’t stop. “Do you insist on me drawing first?”
Fu Hongxue nodded.
Miao Tianwang said, “You won’t regret it?”
Fu Hongxue smirked.
Just at this moment, a thunderbolt-like flash was charging downwards at him!
Miao Tianwang’s hand was still gripping the hilt of the sabre. The blade was still hidden within the pearl-encrusted sheath. He hadn’t drawn his sabre! The sabre light flew out from behind Fu Hongxue, as though lightning had suddenly struck out from clear skies.
Fu Hongxue had already focused all of his attention on the titan in front of him. How could he imagine that the sabre light would come from behind him? Although the woman outside had not ceased her song, she had secretly closed her eyes.
She had already seen this thunderbolt-like sabre flash’s power. Where the sabre appeared, flesh and blood would fly.
She had seen it too many times. She couldn’t bear to watch! She clearly didn’t really like to watch people being killed.
But this time, after the sabre flash chopped down, flesh and blood didn’t fly about.
Fu Hongxue’s body suddenly shot out at an incline, just perfectly managing to flit by the sabre flash. His sabre had already left the sheath as well, and with a backwards chop, he counter-attacked to the rear.
He had already calculated the position. This sabre attack of his should’ve landed right above the knees of the sabre-wielding man behind him. He never miscalculated. And his sabre had never missed its mark!
But after his sabre shot out, he didn’t see blood. He only heard a swishing sound. It wasn’t the sound of bones being snapped. It was the sound of bamboo being chopped.
The nine-foot long Demon Decapitating Sabre of Heaven’s Monarch flew out into the air. The tip of the sabre sliced into the ground, emanating a startling rainbow sabre light. From within the startling rainbow sabre light, it seemed as though there was a very small human shadow. With a sad and shrill laugh, it flew into the mulberry grove!
The laughter disappeared with the shadow. But two shattered wooden sticks had suddenly appeared on the ground.
Could it be that these were the two legs of that person?
Can it be that he came while walking on stilts?
Fu Hongxue turned around. His sabre was already sheathed.
The godlike deity had already fallen down on top of the barbarian bed. All of his earlier majesty and aura had totally disappeared. Could it be that the undefeatable god of war was nothing more than a paper puppet?
Staring at him, Fu Hongxue said, “Who was that person?”
The titan said, “Miao Tianwang. He is the real Miao Tianwang.”
Fu Hongxue said, “And you?”
The titan said, “I am only his puppet, a puppet for the attention of others to be drawn to. Just like this sabre.”
He drew the sabre.
From within the magnificent, pearl-embroidered sheath, he drew out a wooden sabre with a layer of silver paint on top of it. This really was totally preposterous. Only a madman would do something like this.
Fu Hongxue couldn’t help but ask, “What type of person is he, exactly? Why did he do something like this?”
The giant bowed his head.
The woman holding the golden cup was pouring alcohol into it nonstop. She poured for herself and drank it herself.
The song of the woman underneath the window suddenly stopped. In a loud voice, she said, “They don’t dare tell you. I’ll tell you.”
Her song was gentle and beautiful. However, her voice was now grief and hoarse with pain. “He isn’t a man at all, but he is desperate to believe in the illusion that he is a husband who can satisfy four women at once. He is only three feet, eight inches tall, but is desperate to believe in the illusion that he is a godlike giant. He does all of these things, simply because he is a madman.”
The woman holding the golden cup suddenly clapped her hands and laughed loudly. “Great! Great cursing! Such wonderful cursing!”
She was laughing, but her face had already become contorted with pain. “Why don’t you straight-forwardly show this man surnamed Fu, how our mighty husband ‘satisfies’ us?”
The woman who was taking off his shoes suddenly tore her clothes apart. Her snow-white chest was filled with traces of lash marks.
“This is how he ‘satisfies’ us!” Her laughter was even more miserable than sobs. “I’ve always been an easily satisfied woman. I am simply so satisfied that I could die.”
Fu Hongxue silently turned around. He silently walked away. He couldn’t bear to look, and couldn’t bear to listen.
He suddenly thought of that girl who wore the jasmine flowers once more. They were all the same. They had been wreaked, had been devastated.
In the eyes of men, they were all women without face.
Were they shameless because they were enduring the depredations of men?
No matter how frenzied the depredations, they couldn’t help but endure it. Because they simply couldn’t resist, and had no place to run to. Is this what being ‘without face’ really meant? Is this ‘shamelessness’?
The women were shouting, “Why don’t you rescue us? Why won’t you take us away?”
Fu Hongxue didn’t look back.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to rescue them. But he didn’t have the ability to whatsoever. There simply was nobody who could solve their problem.
So long as men who ‘really wanted face’ existed in the world, there would definitely be ‘shameless’ women such as them in the world.
This is the real problem. This problem could never, ever be solved.
Fu Hongxue didn’t look back, because he almost wasn’t able to resist from vomiting. He knew that the only way he could save them, wasn’t by taking them away. Only by killing Miao Tianwang could he truly free them.
Freshly broken twigs were on the ground. They had been shattered by a sabre. It was the sabre of the Demon Decapitating Sabre of Heaven’s Monarch.
He chased down the path of these tracks.
Perhaps Miao Tianwang had long since fled far away. He wasn’t really chasing Miao Tianwang, but an objective. He knew that so long as breath remained in his body, he would never give up this objective!
By now he realized why Yan Nanfei absolutely had to kill Gongzi Yu.
What they were killing wasn’t actually the person, but the evil and tyranny which that person represented. He passed by the mulberry forest and entered the inner courtyard. A person was standing in the middle of the rubble of the courtyard, laughing stupidly at him.
“Even a millennia-old monastery has collapsed. Why haven’t you died? What are you waiting for?”
On his moon-white monastic robes, ink dribbled here and there. But in his hands, he held a freshly blooming flower.
A fresh, new, pure flower.
A tiny yellow flower.
At the foot of a mountain, there was a cabin which not only had bamboo growing outside of it, but also a few yellow flowers.
It was planted by a young girl. A girl with big eyes and long hair.
Fu Hongxue’s heart sunk. His pupils suddenly contracted, and the hand with which he gripped the sabre clenched even tighter.
“Where did this flower come from?”
“People come from their origins. Flowers naturally come from their origins as well!”
The crazy monk was still laughing stupidly. He suddenly tossed the flower in his hand to Fu Hongxue.
“First look and see what type of flower this is.”
“I cannot tell.”
“This is a flower of grief and farewell.”
“There’s no such flower in the world.” Fu Hongxue’s flower-holding hand was ice cold.
“There is. Since there is grief in the world and farewells in the world, why wouldn’t there be a flower of grief and farewell?”
The crazy monk was no longer laughing. In his eyes, there was a look of indescribable pain. “Since there is such a thing as a flower of grief and farewell, the person who picked it would naturally be grieved and about to bid farewell.”
Fu Hongxue held the flower with his two hands. His hands did not move, and there was no wind here.
But the petals of the flower suddenly began to fall, and the stem of the flower began to wither.
These two hands were originally used to draw his sabre. The force in these two hands was more than enough to destroy all life.
The crazy monk’s sadness became even greater. “The flower came from its origins, and has gone to its departure point. What about the person? Why hasn’t the person gone back yet?”
Fu Hongxue said, “Go back where?”
The crazy monk said, “From whence one came, is where one should return. If you go back now, perhaps you’ll make it in time.”
Fu Hongxue said, “In time to do what?”
The crazy monk said, “How should I know what you are going to do?”
Fu Hongxue said, “Who, exactly, are you?”
The crazy monk said, “I am only a crazy monk. I only happened to pick up a little flower, is all!”
He suddenly waved his hands and shouted loudly, “Go, hurry up and leave and do what you need to do! Don’t come here and bother this monk! Monks want tranquility!”
The monk had already sat down, in the midst of the rubble. In the blink of an eye, he became still.
Although the main hall of the monastery had been wrecked, the main hall in his heart was still perfect and untarnished. That was like the shell of a snail. When the wind and the rain arrived, he could immediately hide inside it.
Was he able to tell that the wind and the rain had arrived now?
The setting sun shone across the sky. There was no rain or wind. Wind and rain are in the hearts of man. In the heart of Fu Hongxue.
Did this flower come from near the bamboo patch? Why was it called the flower of grief and farewell?
Who was grieved? Who was departing?
Fu Hongxue didn’t ask. He didn’t dare ask. Even if he wanted to, he couldn’t get it out.
If he wanted to know the answer, he had only one method.
He used all of his energy to rush back.
If you go back now, perhaps you’ll make it in time.
But by the time he got back, it was already too late.
The yellow flowers beneath the bamboo patch had totally disappeared. Not a single petal remained. The people had disappeared as well.
On the table, there was still three vegetable dishes, a pot of porridge, and two sets of chopsticks. The porridge was still warm!
The children’s urine on the bed hadn’t dried yet either.
Where were they?
“Zhuo Yuzhen! Du Shiqi!”
Fu Hongxue howled loudly, but there was no reply.
Did Zhuo Yuzhen desert him? Or did Du Shiqi betray them?
Fu Hongxue raised his head to the heavens. He asked the sky, but the sky did not respond. He asked the stars, but they were silent. He asked the bright moon, but the bright moon had long since sunk down. Where would he have to go in order to find them? Where could he go, to hide from this wind and rain?
The night was gloomy and dark. From within the darkness, there were suddenly three popping sounds, and then a lightning bolt appeared!
It wasn’t a lightning bolt. It was sabre light. From within the sabre light, the shadow of a person taller than a tree could be seen.
The shadow flew out at the same time as the sabre light. It was a deformed dwarf. He walked on a three foot long bamboo pole, and in his hands, he wielded a nine foot long sabre.
The Demon Decapitating Sabre of Heaven’s Monarch.
A flash of sabre light. It chopped apart the bamboo patch, then rushed towards Fu Hongxue.
Fu Hongxue retreated eight feet.
The sabre light chopped again. The eaves of the house split apart. The power of the Demon Decapitating Sabre of Heaven’s Monarch was like that of a thunderbolt or a thunderclap. The vertical sabre once more chopped at Fu Hongxue. In the blink of an eye, over seven chops had been launched.
Fu Hongxue continued to retreat. He could only retreat, because he could neither block nor counterattack. He had to leap three feet into the air before his sabre could hit Miao Tianwang, who was standing on those bamboo poles. But his entire body had been surrounded by the power of the Demon Decapitating Sabre of Heaven’s Monarch.
Miao Tianwang was gripping the sabre with both hands. One chop followed after another, not even giving him the chance to pant!
But even true thunderbolts and thunderclaps had an interval time. Even a real god of war would eventually exhaust his strength.
Fu Hongxue dodged over forty nine sabre chops in a row. His body suddenly shot out from within the sabre light.
His sabre had shot out as well.
The Demon Decapitating Sabre of Heaven’s Monarch was too long. A foot longer, a foot stronger, as the saying goes...but the blade could only strike from afar. When the enemy rushed into close combat, there was no one way to save oneself.
He saw this fatal flaw of Miao Tianwang’s. His sabre had already pierced towards Miao Tianwang’s heart.
Who would have imagined that just at this moment, Miao Tianwang’s stilts suddenly shattered into many pieces!
He suddenly fell down from the sky, and released the Demon Decapitating Sabre of Heaven’s Monarch as well. With a backhand, he drew out a different sabre.
A short sabre, radiating cold light in all directions. Carrying his body’s downward force, it pierced towards Fu Hongxue’s chest.
Fu Hongxue’s sure-fire attack had instead become his own fatal weakness.
When a brave panther charged towards a person, an experienced hunter would often dodge from beneath them and use a knife to split them open.
Right now, Fu Hongxue’s mid-air body was like that of a leaping panther. The hunter’s knife had already reached his chest.
He could even sense that the ice-cold sabre had split apart his clothes.
Miao Tianwang had already calculated that he definitely could not dodge this slash. This wasn’t the Demon Decapitating Sabre of Heaven’s Monarch, but it was still a sabre for killing people.
He had already concentrated all of his strength into that sabre, but his strength suddenly disappeared. All strength suddenly disappeared. It was as though all of the air in a balloon had suddenly escaped through a hole. His sabre clearly could have pierced Fu Hongxue’s chest, but he had no power left to stab with.
What had happened? He didn’t understand. Even in death, he didn’t understand!
He saw blood, but it wasn’t Fu Hongxue’s blood. Where did the blood come from? He didn’t understand this either!
Only now did he suddenly feel an indescribably cold feeling in his throat, as though it had already been cut open.
But he couldn’t believe it.
He definitely could not believe that when the sabre light had flashed earlier, it had already cut open his throat. Even in death, he wouldn’t believe that there could be such a fast sabre in the world.
He didn’t even see that sabre.
Fu Hongxue fell down as well. He fell into the middle of the bamboo patch. Heaven and earth reverted to its earlier peacefulness and silence.
He suddenly felt very tired. Although the earlier events had passed in the blink of an eye, in that blink of an eye, he had exhausted all of his strength.
The distance between life and death is such a very fine line.
Only now did he truly understand the meaning of this phrase. Just then, he really was too close to dying. This battle really was a vicious battle the likes of which he had never fought before.
Stars filled the sky. The blood had already dried. Miao Tianwang’s blood. Not his!
But he too had a type of feeling, as though all of his blood had dried up as well. Right now, if Miao Tianwang could brandish his sabre, he definitely would not be able to resist.
He even felt as though if a child with a rusty knife came here, he would still die.
Fortunately, dead men couldn’t wield sabres. And so late at night, nobody would come to this mountain village.
He closed his eyes, hoping to be able to take a nap. Only with a clear mind could one think about moving.
Who would have imagined that somebody would come, right at this moment.
Suddenly, an patter of footsteps could suddenly be heard in the darkness. Within the slow, unhurried footsteps, there seemed to be a strange rhythym.
Only a person who was totally confident in what he was doing had such a rhythm while walking.
Who was this person? Why did he come here? What did he come here for?
Fu Hongxue listened silently. In his heart, he suddenly felt a strange feeling as well.
The rhythym of these footsteps seemed to be exactly the same as the rhythym of that bell within the ancient monastery.
That was a funeral bell.
The rhythym of these footsteps seemed to be filled with a murderous air as well.