Chapter 65 — The Past

~r期:~09月21r~

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No one knew when it began, but the atmosphere in the net had somehow grown oppressive. Tian Buhui slowly straightened, his expression shifting unpredictably, impossible to tell what he was thinking.

Xiao Yichen was silent for a while, then said: "Uncle Tian, I hesitated over this matter for a long time, but I thought it would be wrong to keep it from you..."

Tian Buhui drew a deep breath and nodded: "Nephew Xiao, I understand your meaning. My thanks to you."

Xiao Yichen nodded, then seemed to recall something and said: "Uncle Tian, I see that although Brother Zhang knows the Nether King and his daughter, he does not appear to have entered the evil path. It is only that the demon cult's people are treacherous and vicious, and Brother Zhang is still young—I fear there is a good chance he is in some danger."

Tian Buhui gave a cold snort, his face frost-white, and said coldly: "That beast—wait till I get back and see how I teach him a lesson!"

Xiao Yichen glanced at him and said: "Uncle Tian, there is something I would say, but I do not know whether..."

Tian Buhui said: "Speak."

Xiao Yichen said: "Yes. Uncle Tian, the reason I spoke to you privately about Brother Zhang is that I hoped you might handle it well before the matter grows too large. Uncle Cangsong has always overseen Qingyun's punishments, and his temper is rather rigid; if it came to his knowledge, I fear Brother Zhang... Only, he is your disciple after all, and over these years you must have poured no small amount of effort into him. If this truly blew up, neither you nor Uncle Cangsong would look good. So..." He lowered his voice: "If Brother Zhang has not committed any great fault, a private word of instruction from you should be enough."

Tian Buhui raised his head and gave him a long, deep look, then suddenly said: "Nephew Xiao, you truly have the bearing of a great general—no wonder our sect leader thinks so highly of you. It seems that in the future, the seat of sect leader will be yours and no one else's."

Xiao Yichen lowered his head slightly and said: "Uncle Tian, you flatter me."

By now Tian Buhui's face had returned to its usual state. He smiled faintly and said: "Very well! You should rest soon too. For your kindness this time, my Dazhu Peak lineage will remember it."

Whether by design or not, he put a heavier stress on the three words "Dazhu Peak."

Xiao Yichen, however, seemed to understand nothing at all, and smiled: "Uncle, you are too polite."

Tian Buhui nodded, rose, and walked out.

Tian Buhui stood alone in a quiet spot within the woods, his hands clasped behind his back.

It was already deep into the night. The vault of heaven was speckled with stars, the bright moon hung high, and its clear light filtered down through the lush branches and leaves of the forest, falling upon him. Seen from the darkness, his brows were slightly knit—clearly something was weighing on his mind.

Just then, footsteps suddenly sounded behind him.

Tian Buhui turned and looked back, and gave a start of surprise: "You?"

The newcomer was his wife, Su Wan. In the desolate night, in the silent woods, she came walking quietly, and in an instant she seemed to draw every gaze to herself.

As though all these many years had not effaced the least part of her beauty.

Su Wan came near, looked at Tian Buhui, and a smile appeared at the corner of her mouth. She said: "You just sent Daren back to call Xiaofan here, but Xiaofan happened to be out. I told him to go look for the Venerable Strongman of the Vajra Sect—he should be here before long."

Tian Buhui nodded, glanced at Su Wan, and seemed about to say something, but in the end did not speak.

Su Wan said mildly: "Ever since you went to see Xiao Yichen this evening, your brows have been knitted the whole time you have been back. Is something the matter?"

Tian Buhui let out a long breath, his face relaxing a little. He smiled and said: "I knew I could not hide it from you." With that, he recounted everything Xiao Yichen had told him concerning Zhang Qingyue.

Su Wan listened silently, and after pondering a moment, shook her head: "Setting aside for now whether Xiaofan truly knows the Nether King of the demon cult and that daughter of his—even if he does, to use that as grounds to say Xiaofan has joined the demon cult, or even that he is a spy the demon cult slipped into the Canglan Sect, I absolutely will not believe it."

Tian Buhui snorted and said: "You need not tell me that—I know it already. Heh, I took six disciples before, from the first to the sixth, and not one of them was so good at stirring up trouble, or annoyed me so much!"

Su Wan glanced at him and smiled: "But from the first to the sixth, not one of them did you such credit at the great Seven Peaks Trial, either!"

Tian Buhui choked for a moment, but would not concede. He rolled his eyes and said: "Hmph, and you call that credit? Struck by lightning till he looked like a scorched stone."

Su Wan could not help laughing. "Oh my! My dear Senior Brother Tian, I hear that three hundred years ago, when you yourself took part in the great Seven Peaks Martial Trial, you only made it into the top four!"

Having his old accounts dredged up by his wife, Tian Buhui looked somewhat embarrassed. He said: "That was only because... only because at the time my mind was elsewhere. The night before the trial I even ran off to find you, and we slipped out together to watch the stars and moon from the Rainbow Bridge on Jietian Peak, and stayed up the whole night without sleep. By the time the trial came, I had not a shred of spirit left—how could I have been a match for Senior Brother Wan?"

"Fie!" Su Wan spat at him, but a faint blush rose on her face, gentle and infinitely tender, as though she had returned to that night in their youth: "Senior Brother Wan was heaven-gifted, incomparably clever. Among all the disciples of our generation, apart from Senior Brother Daoyan, our sect leader, there was no second person who could match him in cultivation. What were you? Making it into the top four already had your master grinning from ear to ear—and you still dreamed of beating Senior Brother Wan?"

Tian Buhui gave a chuckle, his mood clearly improving. He said: "Senior Brother Wan was of course far above me. But back then you chose me over him—which shows there was still something in which I surpassed him."

Su Wan shot him a look and said: "I must have been possessed by ghosts and struck blind back then, to have followed you."

Tian Buhui was not angered by this; he only looked at his wife, chuckling, his eyes full of mirth. Suddenly he reached out and took Su Wan's soft, boneless hand.

Su Wan glared at him and said in a low voice: "At our age, what do you want with such mushiness? And in a little while Xiaofan will be here—what would it look like if he saw us!"

Tian Buhui only smiled and said nothing. Su Wan lowered her head slightly, but did not pull her hand back.

The night was like water, and there was no one abroad in the wild. A cool evening breeze stole past, stirring the tips and branches of the trees in the darkness.

Within the woods, all was very quiet.

After a long while, Su Wan suddenly said: "Actually, I think the way Xiaofan is now is very much like you were back then." With that, she raised her head and said to Tian Buhui: "Do you feel it yourself?"

Tian Buhui was taken aback and said: "You don't say?"

Su Wan smiled: "What kind of expression is that? In truth, you looked rather foolish back then too, and everyone thought you could not compare with those high-spirited senior and junior brothers. But in the end, among your Dazhu Peak lineage, it was you who achieved the most and reached the highest in cultivation, and later your master passed the seat of First Disciple to you."

Tian Buhui snorted and said: "What I had was called restraint, not foolishness."