Chapter 22 — Nightfall
劍問蒼天 · Page 5 of 6
Great perplexity showed in the qilin's eyes, but it would not give up. Its vast head swung around, and suddenly it turned to look at Zhang Qingyue, a low, powerful growl rumbling from its bloody maw. Zhang Qingyue's heart gave a violent leap; in an instant every muscle in his body went taut, and he stopped breathing altogether.
Yet the qilin only glanced at him before turning back to the staff—and this time it actually lowered its head and brought its nose close to the thing, sniffing it carefully. Zhang Qingyue's heart was still pounding, but watching the strange conduct of the beast before him, he thought instinctively how much it resembled Da Huang. Had he not been so tense, he might almost have laughed aloud.
The qilin sniffed for a while and clearly came up with nothing. It raised its head and looked about, seeming puzzled, thoroughly confused. But a thousand-year spirit beast is a thousand-year spirit beast after all: after a moment's thought, it decided to give up. It gave a snorting "pfft," glared at Zhang Qingyue with its great eyes—scaring him half to death again—then, shaking its head and tail, turned and walked down into the pool. In a moment, water splashed high, and the vast body submerged.
Only then did Zhang Qingyue's shaken soul begin to settle. He climbed slowly to his feet and only then realized that his back was soaked through—to say nothing of the cold sweat on his brow, which ran like rain. He went to the Dark Iron Staff, picked it up, and turned it over in his hands, but for the life of him could see nothing unusual about it. He could not help blurting out: "What in the world is going on!"
Before the words had left his mouth, there came a splash from the jade pool beside him—a great sheet of water heaved up, and through the white spray he glimpsed the qilin's enormous tail breaking the surface.
Zhang Qingyue was badly startled. He stuffed the Dark Iron Staff into his bosom at once and fled at a dead run. All the way, he heard the water churning behind him but dared not look back even once, only running for all he was worth, putting as much distance between himself and that place as he could. Before long he was on the Rainbow Bridge, running straight up it, until no sound came from behind him and he had reached the bridge's very top. There he stopped, gasping for breath.
"Hah, hah, hah!"
Zhang Qingyue's breathing slowly quieted. But suddenly he felt very tired—a weariness rising from the depths of his heart. He lowered his head and saw, in the moonlight, a lone shadow following him all the way.
He looked up suddenly at the heavens, where a cold moon hung high in the cold vault of the sky. He stared at it, spellbound, and for a moment was lost entirely.
At dawn, everyone awoke.
Du Bi said, "Honestly, after a whole night's sleep my back's about to break. How am I supposed to compete today?"
Old Fifth, Lü Daxin, frowned and said, "Old Sixth, stop making such a racket. I slept the whole night too, and my back's fine."
Song Dayi, standing nearby, chimed in, "That's right. You complained all night long last night, Old Sixth, wasn't that enough? Don't you see Old Fifth and our little junior brother haven't made a peep?"
Du Bi said, "Old Fifth just has thick skin and coarse flesh, he doesn't feel anything. If you don't believe me, ask our little junior brother—hey, little junior brother, why are your eyes all bloodshot? Did you really not sleep well last night?"
Zhang Qingyue had finished tidying his bedding and now sat in a chair, staring blankly out the window without the slightest reaction. Big Yellow lay at his feet, while the monkey Xiao Hui was rummaging through Big Yellow's fur as if hunting for fleas.
Du Biyan walked over and clapped him hard on the shoulder. Zhang Qingyue gave a start and leapt up, startling Big Yellow and Xiao Hui as well. He turned his head this way and that and said, "Wh-what is it?"
Du Bi said, "Xiaofan, why are you so out of sorts? Didn't you sleep well last night?"