Chapter 18 — Answering the Summons
劍問蒼天 · Page 2 of 7
"Oh?" He Dachuan said at once. "Eldest Senior Brother, that's odd. Second Senior Brother and Third Senior Brother and I didn't even know that person's name, so how is it you came out with it straight away? Though when you think about it, Senior Sister Wen Pei really was good to our eldest senior brother..."
The crowd roared with laughter. Song Dayi knew he had let something slip, and knew still better that in a battle of words he was no match for He Dachuan, the shrewdest man on all Dazhu Peak; the more he said, the more he would err. So he gave a snort, and relying on his rather thick skin, said with a dry laugh, "Idle gossips. Heh heh. I'll go see whether Master and Mistress are ready."
Tian Lingsu was about to press him further, but Song Dayi had already slipped away faster than the wind and vanished in the blink of an eye. She had to grab He Dachuan instead, her bright, limpid eyes full of excitement. "Fourth Senior Brother, quick, tell me—what does that Senior Sister Wen Pei actually look like?"
He Dachuan laughed. "Little Junior Sister, don't you often go back to Xiaozhu Peak with our master's wife to visit Master Shuijing? How is it you've never once seen Senior Sister Wen Pei? She's Master Shuijing's prized disciple."
Tian Lingsu shook her head. "Whenever I go to Xiaozhu Peak with Mother, we go straight to see Master Shuijing. I've hardly met any of the senior sisters there. Come on, tell me!"
He Dachuan laughed. "No hurry, no hurry. Today we go to Jietian Peak, the home of the chief meridian, for the Seven Meridian Martial Contest. You'll most likely see her there."
Tian Lingsu gave an "oh," and then her eyes turned slyly, as if she had realized something. "No wonder our eldest senior brother looked so radiant the moment I got up this morning—he's been nursing a secret scheme!"
The crowd stared blankly for a moment, then caught on and burst out laughing. Tian Lingsu laughed too, and the last trace of nervousness she had felt about the Seven Meridian Martial Contest melted away into nothing. She looked around: every face was wreathed in smiles, every heart light. But when her gaze fell on Zhang Qingyue, she suddenly started. He wore a smile, yet over these years she had grown closest to him of all, and at a glance she could tell he seemed somewhat distracted.
While the others were caught up in laughter and talk, Tian Lingsu quietly drew Zhang Qingyue aside and said in a low voice, "Xiaofan, is something the matter?"
Zhang Qingyue started slightly. His lips moved; his right hand unconsciously went to his chest. At last he said, "It's nothing, Senior Sister."
Tian Lingsu looked at him and said flatly, "What is it? Let me see."
Zhang Qingyue hesitated, then drew out what he carried in his bosom and showed it to her. Tian Lingsu would have been better off not looking; the sight only astonished her the more. "Why are you carrying that black iron rod around with you?"
Seeing her face full of surprise—and even with a touch of reproach, she looked so beautiful—Zhang Qingyue stammered, "Master's grace, he let me come along to see the world. My cultivation is shallow; I have no magic treasures, and I don't know how to use them..."
Tian Lingsu's face lit with understanding, and she could not help bursting into laughter. "Ah, ha ha, so that's it. Then you're going to the Seven Meridian Martial Contest carrying this—this black iron rod? In two thousand years of the Canglan Sect, we already had one oddity in Sixth Senior Brother with his dice treasure, and now—and now you, you're actually bringing a black iron rod... Ha ha ha ha, I—I'm dying of laughter."
The disciples of Dazhu Peak standing nearby heard Tian Lingsu suddenly laughing so hard and came over one after another. Having heard the reason, they could not help another round of laughter. Zhang Qingyue looked around at all the smiling, happy senior brothers and sisters, yet in his heart there suddenly rose a surge of anger.