Chapter 76 — The Fourth Chapter

The corner of Lu Xueqi's mouth seemed to twitch as well; beside her, Zhang Qingyue clearly heard her breathing suddenly grow heavy—plainly, before all these people, kneeling at his side at this moment, the pressure on her was by no means slight.

And yet, in this solemn and awe-inspiring hall, beneath all those unfamiliar gazes, this beautiful woman still did not draw back.

The mountain wind from beyond the Yuheng Hall blew in at some unknown moment.

It caught a few strands of her hair and set them drifting softly.

Zhang Qingyue gazed at the woman beside him and said nothing.

"Sect Leader—Uncle Master, please allow this disciple to say a few words."

The Perfected One Daoyan glanced around him and saw the eyes of those fellow cultivators of other schools all turning toward them; he could only say coldly, "Very well. Speak."

Lu Xueqi nodded. "Thank you, Sect Leader. Sect Leader—Uncle Master, and all you martial uncles and martial aunts: I am not close to Junior Brother Zhang Qingyue, but after the Seven Branches Martial Contest I once went down the mountain with him, and on Kongsang Mountain in the Ten Thousand Bats Ancient Grotto and on Liubo Mountain in the East Sea, I saw with my own eyes Junior Brother Zhang fight the demon cult's remnants to the death. He is no spy of the demon cult. At this moment, with outsiders present, Junior Brother Zhang may have some difficulty he cannot speak of; I beg the Sect Leader—Uncle Master to think carefully before acting, and on no account—"

"Wait!"

Suddenly a voice cut off Lu Xueqi's words. The crowd looked, and it was the old man of the Fenxia Valley surnamed Shangguan, seated below the two divine monks of the Fanyin Temple. Earlier Zhang Qingyue's attention had all been fixed on the two divine monks, and he had not noticed him; now he saw a lean-faced man, tall and spare of figure, whose very manner of speech was somewhat sharp.

"The outsiders this young lady speaks of must mean me, I suppose—and Brother Pucheng, Brother Pukong, and all our fellow cultivators here? Heh heh, with such a scandal in the Canglan Sect, you still style yourselves the orthodox school of the world—would you deny us even an accounting?"

The faces of the Perfected One Daoyan and the other branch heads and elders darkened at once; Daoist Cangyan, seated nearby, said coldly, "Brother Shangguan Lüe, since our sect leader has today decided to try this man publicly before you all, it is precisely in order to give you an accounting!"

Shangguan Lue gave a cold laugh and said in a sinister voice, "Daoist Cangyan, your Canglan Sect disciple named Zhang Qingyue has far too many secrets hidden on his person. Beyond carrying a demonic sect's heretical artifact, he unexpectedly also knows the esoteric true dharma of the Brahma Sound Temple, and most likely has no small connection to our Fenxia Valley's supreme divine artifact, the Mystic Fire Mirror." Here he paused, then turned his gaze to the Perfected One Daoyan and said, "Let me say this plainly beforehand: the Mystic Fire Mirror is the greatest treasure of our Fenxia Valley, and we are determined to recover it!"

The more Tian Buhui heard, the angrier he grew. With a cold laugh he said, "Daoist Brother Shangguan, if this treasure is truly so important, how is it that your Fenxia Valley could not keep a proper watch over it and simply left it lying about, until it somehow came to be connected with my disciple? By that reasoning, the men you set to guard the treasure must be worthless fools as well, I fear?"

Shangguan Lue flew into a rage and sprang to his feet. Tian Buhui gave no ground and shot up as well, and in an instant the atmosphere in the hall grew taut as a drawn sword.

Daoyan barked, "Junior Brother Tian, what do you think you are doing? Sit down!"

Tian Buhui shot Shangguan Lue a venomous glare, but in the end he dared not defy the sect leader before all present, and had no choice but to sit slowly back down. Daoyan turned to Shangguan Lue and said, "Daoist Brother Shangguan, we will of course give you an accounting. Rest assured of that."

Shangguan Lue gave a cold laugh and likewise sat back down.

Beside them, Shui Yue said with a touch of anger, "Qi'er, are you not coming back here?"

To her surprise, Lu Xueqi—who in days past had always obeyed her master in every word and deed—now seemed a different person altogether. She raised her head to Daoyan and said, "Sect Leader Uncle-Master, whatever wrongs Junior Brother Zhang may have committed, I beg you to examine them carefully and thoroughly. But he is absolutely no spy planted among our Canglan Sect!"

She looked straight ahead, her countenance grave and composed, as though she faced the whole world without the slightest fear, and said with resolve, "Your disciple Lu Xueqi is willing to stake her life as surety!"

For a moment everyone was struck dumb!

Even Zhang Qingyue himself gaped slightly, staring blankly at the woman kneeling beside him, and upon that snow-white skin, amid that frost-cold visage, there suddenly seemed to glimmer, faint and indistinct, a touch of tenderness.

"Your disciple Lin Jinghong is likewise willing to stake his life as surety for Zhang Qingyue!"

Almost at the very moment Lu Xueqi finished speaking, Lin Jinghong could hold back no longer. He rushed resolutely forth and knelt in the great hall, paying no heed to the purplish, liver-red color that had come over his master Daoist Cangyan's face. Casting all caution aside, he cried aloud, "Junior Brother Zhang has risked his life again and again for Qingyun; he could never be a spy from another faction. Your disciple grew up with him from childhood and knows this beyond all doubt. Sect Leader Uncle-Master, I beg you to weigh the matter carefully!"

The Perfected One Daoyan's expression at this moment could not have been uglier, yet just then, as though something had provoked them, a sudden commotion ran through the Qingyun disciples. Within moments, disciples from under Fenghui Peak, from Long Peak, and from Dazhu Peak all came running out at once, knelt together, and cried aloud, "Your disciples too are willing to stake their lives as surety for Junior Brother Zhang!"

The assembly paled. Looking closely, the three were none other than Zeng Shuyan, Qi Hao, and Tian Lingsu. At this, besides the Tian Buhui couple, Long Peak's Cangyan and Fenghui Peak's Zeng Shuchang all rose to their feet in utter astonishment.

By now the great hall was in utter confusion. Rage surged in the Perfected One Daoyan's heart; he thought, Are these rebellious disciples set on staging a mutiny today? Yet of all times, this was when so many fellow cultivators of the righteous path were present, and he could not afford a scene. As sect leader of the Canglan Sect he had lost every shred of dignity, and the fury rushed straight to his chest—yet for the moment he could not think what to do.

Just then he heard a light cough behind him. It was his disciple Xiao Yichen, who said softly, "Master, perhaps you should go back and rest a while, and deal with this again in a little while?"

Daoyan grasped the meaning at once. With a heavy snort he slammed his palm upon the table with a bang, and the clamor of the Qingyun disciples fell silent as every eye turned toward him.

Without a word, the Perfected One Daoyan strode toward the inner hall. The others exchanged glances, and only Xiao Yichen stepped forward with a smile and said to the assembly, "Ah—there was an urgent matter at the back mountain just now that urgently requires my master's attention. Please, everyone, wait a moment."

Shangguan Lue wore a mocking look and said, "Nephew Xiao, I have long heard that your Canglan Sect keeps strict rules. Seeing it today, they are indeed out of the ordinary!"