劍問蒼天 - 第47章 文士 - 翰墨軒

Zhang Qingyue did not care to argue the point with him, so he asked, "Brother Wan, you look dusty from the road yourself. Might I ask where you are bound?"

Wan Rengui rose leisurely, put his hands behind his back, and glanced up at the sky. "This world is vast, boundless and without limit. I wander the world, among great mountains and ancient marshes, going wherever I please."

"Ah!" Zhang Qingyue exclaimed. "So that is it."

Wan Rengui turned back and glanced at Zhang Qingyue. Suddenly a strange smile flickered across his face. "Since young Master Zhang is of the Canglan Sect, you must surely be profound in the arts of the way."

Zhang Qingyue shook his head quickly. "No, no. I am a good-for-nothing in the Canglan Sect. How could I be called profound in the arts?"

Wan Rengui smiled slightly. "You are too modest, young Master Zhang. I have a request I should not make, and I hope you will grant it."

Zhang Qingyue was taken aback. "Pray speak, Brother Wan."

Wan Rengui said, "Since I was young I have admired masters of cultivation such as yourself, but I lacked the fate to enter the gate. And I have dreamed all my life of the day when such masters ride their magic treasures through the nine heavens. For decades I have longed without a single day's pause to see an immortal's treasure with my own eyes. Young Master Zhang is a disciple of a great sect — might you fulfill this small wish of mine?" With that, he bent low in a deep and solemn bow.

Zhang Qingyue was speechless. Seeing Wan Rengui bow, he grew all the more flustered and hurried to support him. Inwardly he was truly at a loss. He hesitated a moment, and seeing that Wan Rengui still looked at him full of expectation, he sighed and said, "I would not have you laugh at me, Brother Wan. It is not that I am unwilling to show you, only — only my treasure is not fit for polite company. I fear it would offend..."

Wan Rengui said at once, "What of that? An immortal's treasure — how could it be unfit for company?"

Zhang Qingyue's face reddened slightly. In the end he could not set aside his pride, and he drew the dark iron staff from his belt and handed it over. Seeing him pass such a thing across, a flicker of astonishment crossed Wan Rengui's face as well, but it vanished at once, and he received it solemnly.

Zhang Qingyue saw his expression and smiled bitterly. "It is not only you. Even those of my own sect often laugh at me for it." As he said this, he was suddenly startled at heart, feeling that he was very strange today. Before a man he had never met, why did he seem willing to say anything at all?

Wan Rengui, however, did not notice him. His gaze was all on the dark iron staff. At first his face was solemn, though his eyes were still somewhat casual. But gradually he seemed to see something, and not only did his face darken, but his eyes fixed dead upon that black and ugly rod.

Watching from the side, Zhang Qingyue thought Wan Rengui looked very strange indeed. The man held the foot-long dark iron staff before him and examined it closely, supporting it with his right hand while the long, slender fingers of his left brushed and tapped lightly upon the shaft, with the utmost care. Zhang Qingyue could not help asking, "Brother Wan, is something wrong?"

Wan Rengui started as if woken from a dream. He hesitated a moment, then returned the dark iron staff to Zhang Qingyue. "Young Master Zhang, because I admire the immortal way, I have read a few books on the subject, and there are some things I must ask you."

Zhang Qingyue said, "Pray speak."

Wan Rengui's eyes flicked once to the dark iron staff. "Might I ask, young Master Zhang, whether this treasure contains your own essence and blood?"

Zhang Qingyue was greatly startled. In an instant a dreadful scene from years ago in the secluded valley behind Dazhu Peak flashed through his mind. He sprang to his feet and pointed at Wan Rengui. "You — what did you say?"