Chapter 22 — Nightfall
劍問蒼天 · Page 2 of 6
Following the direction they had taken, he thought it over and recalled that this was where Song Dayi had told him the kitchen of Jietian Peak lay. He was torn between annoyance and amusement—Da Huang, raised by Tian Buhui for goodness knew how many centuries, was practically an old dog who had attained the Way, and yet here it was, this greedy. He had half a mind to go back to sleep and forget it, but on second thought, if anyone saw the yellow dog and gray monkey of Dazhu Peak stealing food, it would be far too shameful. Better to chase them back.
Having made up his mind, he looked up—but Da Huang and Xiao Hui were already no more than a blur in the distance. He hurried after them.
He ran the whole way, careful not to disturb his fellow disciples in the other rooms. By the time he reached the great square by the sea of clouds, the dog and the monkey were long out of sight. Beneath the cold moon, the clouds drifted thin and faint over the place, like gauze, like smoke—beautiful beyond description.
But after a couple of glances, he had no heart left to admire it. He turned and scanned his surroundings, about to head toward the kitchen, when suddenly his heart gave a violent lurch.
Deep in the sea of clouds, on the side opposite the kitchen, a slender figure was faintly visible through the drifting mist, walking onward. From the direction she took, she seemed to be heading for the Rainbow Bridge.
Zhang Qingyue stared at that figure, dumbstruck. Though she was far away, that silhouette was carved deep into his heart, and he recognized her at once: it was his senior sister, Tian Lingsu.
The night was so deep!
Why had she come out alone, and where was she going by herself?
Zhang Qingyue stood frozen, at a loss. A thousand thoughts came crowding into his mind, leaving it in a tangle, and it was as though he dimly guessed something—yet he refused, to the very end, to admit it.
He turned his head and fixed his eyes on the direction of the kitchen, where Da Huang and Xiao Hui had gone. Gritting his teeth, he walked that way, telling himself: "Zhang Qingyue, mind your own business! Mind your own business!"
Seven steps he took like that, the moonlight like water, falling upon this one youth, making him seem all the more alone. Then he stopped and looked up at the sky, where a cold moon hung at the horizon's edge. His lips seemed to move. A moment later he spun around, clenched his jaw, and ran toward the direction where that figure had vanished.
The moonlight fell upon his running form with a desolate tenderness.
In but a moment, Tian Lingsu's figure had already melted into the sea of clouds, but Zhang Qingyue looked nowhere else—he ran straight on toward the Rainbow Bridge. Soon he was upon it. The mountain wind blew, raising faint ripples in the streams on either side of the bridge, which mirrored the moon above, cold and beautiful; but Zhang Qingyue paid it no heed and only ran with all his might.
Run, run, run!
He crossed the Rainbow Bridge and still saw no sign of anyone. Only when he reached the bridge's far end did a sudden bewilderment come over him. The cold moonlight made the shore of the jade-green pool at the bridge's end bright as day, and there stood a beautiful figure, graceful by the water's edge, gazing at the glittering surface, lost in a daze.
A sudden fear came over Zhang Qingyue—a fear he could not name. He knew only that he could not let his senior sister discover him. He looked quickly about and saw a small grove near the Rainbow Bridge on the right-hand side of the pool. He stole over and hid himself there, watching Tian Lingsu from the shadows.
That one look seemed to last an eternity.