劍問蒼天 - 第14章 奇才 - 翰墨軒

Qi Hao hastily said to Su Wan, "Uncle Su, please do not blame Junior Sister—it was I who spoke out of turn and offended her." Here he paused in thought, then drew a small brocade box from his bosom and handed it to Tian Lingsu, smiling. "Junior Sister Tian, the 'Cooling Pearl' in this little box came into my possession some years ago when I accompanied our master, the Venerable Cangsong, in ridding the world of a band of demonic cult villains. It is no rare treasure, but worn on one's person it dispels heat and cools the body, and they say it also benefits a lady's complexion and skin. I give it to you today as a token of my apology."

Tian Lingsu blushed again. Before she could speak, Su Wan said, "Nephew Qi, this Cooling Pearl is a treasure of sorts. Ling'er cannot accept it. You had best put it away at once."

Qi Hao smiled and said, "Uncle Su does not know—this Cooling Pearl is of little use to me, like a chicken's rib, tasteless yet a pity to discard. But Junior Sister Tian, in the bloom of youth and beauty, is just the one to use it. Let it be a small token of my regard, and I hope Junior Sister Tian will not disdain it."

Tian Lingsu looked at Qi Hao, her expression much softened, and reached out to take the little box. "Thank you, Senior Brother Qi," she said softly.

Qi Hao seemed greatly pleased, his face wreathed in smiles. "No thanks needed, no thanks needed. Junior Sister, your natural gifts are keen and bright, and your future knows no limit. Indeed, though the Canglan Sect has many talented people, few can match your aptitude—I willingly yield to you."

Hearing this, Tian Buhui's face broke into a smile for the first time. Tian Lingsu said, "Senior Brother flatters me."

Qi Hao shook his head. "Not at all. I too was brought up the mountain by my master as a child, but at your age my cultivation was far below yours. However..."

Tian Lingsu, with a young girl's heart, felt greatly well disposed toward Qi Hao after hearing his praise, but at his "however" she could not help pressing him. "However what?"

By now even Tian Buhui and Su Wan had turned to listen, curious what Qi Hao's "however" might mean. Qi Hao said, "However, if we speak of aptitude alone, there is one who might rival Junior Sister Tian."

Tian Lingsu was startled. "Who?"

Qi Hao smiled and gestured beyond the Shoujing Hall. "None other than this junior brother of mine, Lin. Since our master, the Venerable Cangsong, took him in three years ago, his progress in these few short years has been astonishing, and in the way of cultivation he is a prodigy of rare talent unmatched among the disciples of our meridian. In three years he broke through to the fourth layer of the Yuqing Realm—in a thousand years no such figure has been heard of." Here Qi Hao's voice brimmed with affection. "Our master cannot praise Junior Brother Lin enough, calling him a prodigy seen but once in a thousand years, all but comparable to Patriarch Qingye of old!"

"Crack!" A sharp sound startled them all, and they turned toward it. There sat Tian Buhui, his face livid, his expression beyond hideous—and the hard rosewood armrest beside his hand had been wrenched clean off by his grip.

Qi Hao was taken aback and said quietly to Su Wan, "Uncle Su, have I said something wrong?"

Su Wan forced a laugh and was about to speak when suddenly a shout came from outside the hall: "Aiya!" Before the sound had died, a figure came tumbling in through the doorway, landing with a thud on the floor, and such was the momentum that he rolled backward a few more turns—covered in dust, utterly bedraggled. The others looked closely: who should it be but Zhang Qingyue?

The faces of all of Dazhu Peak changed. Tian Lingsu, the closest to Zhang Qingyue, rushed forward first, helped him up, and asked anxiously, "Xiaofan, what happened to you?"

Zhang Qingyue had taken a hard fall and his head was still spinning, but he managed to say, "N-nothing, I'm fine."