Chapter 19 — Reunion
劍問蒼天 · Page 1 of 7
Song Dayi froze. The voice lingered in his ears like celestial music; a moment later he came to as if waking from a dream and spun around like lightning. Behind him stood five or six female disciples, and from their attire he could tell they belonged to Xiaozhu Peak of the Canglan Sect, which had always admitted only women.
And the one at their head, facing them, was a beauty with a melon-seed-shaped face, hair like clouds, skin like snow, and a faint smile at the corner of her lips. Zhang Qingyue looked at her and was about to turn and ask which branch she belonged to, but when he glanced back he saw that from Wu Dayi to Zheng Dali to He Dachuan, every one of them wore a strange smile. Something stirred in his mind; he looked again at Song Dayi and saw that this ordinarily shrewd and capable senior brother wore a foolish grin, standing there dumbly as though he had forgotten how to speak. Zhang Qingyue thought it over and guessed the woman's identity.
Sure enough, He Dachuan and the others at his side were waiting to enjoy the show, but Song Dayi had suddenly fallen into a state of idiocy. That idiotic look was more than the Dazhu Peak contingent could bear; even the female disciples of Xiaozhu Peak across from them were covering their mouths and giggling. The beauty standing before Song Dayi flushed slightly and called in a low voice, "Senior Brother Song."
Song Dayi still had not come to his senses. He Dachuan, thoroughly impatient, cut in with a laugh: "Ha ha, Senior Sister Wenpei, it has been many years since you and I last met. How have you been lately?"
Wenpei's lovely eyes settled on the lean man and lingered a moment before she smiled and said, "This must be Senior Brother He Dachuan?"
He Dachuan nodded repeatedly. "That is I. Senior Sister Wen, what a memory you have—we met only once, sixty years ago, and you still remember me. I am truly flattered."
Wenpei smiled faintly. "Senior Brother He fought valiantly against a formidable opponent in the last tournament and displayed great skill. Of course I remember."
He Dachuan reddened. In the previous Seven-Branch Martial Gathering he had drawn a master from Jietian Peak, the head branch, in the first round; though he had done his utmost, he had been defeated. But he was a shrewd man, and he laughed it off. "Those old matters are best left unmentioned. My paltry cultivation is far beneath that of Senior Sister Wen and our senior brother. Speaking of which, ever since the last gathering, our senior brother has thought of you constantly."
Wenpei's face reddened slightly, but she did not answer; she only glanced at Song Dayi out of the corner of her eye. The younger sisters behind her, however, had already burst out laughing. Song Dayi, a rugged, burly man, was now as flustered as a bashful youth. He protested at once, "No—no, when have I ever thought of her constantly—"
"What?" A young woman behind Wenpei cut him off before he could finish. "Then you don't think of our Senior Sister Wenpei at all?"
Song Dayi's heart skipped. He stole a glance at Wenpei and saw that she was looking right back at him, her lovely eyes unblinking. Panicking, he blurted out, "N-no, that's not it, I do think of her—"
"Ha!"
The disciples of Dazhu Peak and Xiaozhu Peak roared with laughter together, especially the young women behind Wenpei, whose laughter was so bright and loud that disciples from the other branches nearby could not help glancing their way.
When the laughter had somewhat subsided, He Dachuan turned to the women of Xiaozhu Peak with a solemn face. "Senior Sisters, our senior brother's meaning is actually this: it is not that he does not think of Senior Sister Wenpei, but that he does not think of her constantly—"
"Then what is it?" a Xiaozhu Peak disciple called out laughingly.