Chapter 59 — Malice
劍問蒼天 · Page 6 of 8
Song Dayi, after all, cared for Zhang Qingyue from the bottom of his heart. He turned to Tian Buhui and said, "Master, little junior brother, he—he meant no disrespect, he was only, only..."
"Silence!" Tian Buhui barked, and Song Dayi dared not go on. Short and stout as he was, Tian Buhui now looked like a towering wrathful god as he walked toward Zhang Qingyue, step by step.
A flicker of fear showed on Zhang Qingyue's face. This, after all, was the master he had dreaded most since childhood, and he dared not even imagine what he was about to face.
Suddenly a figure in white stepped in front of Zhang Qingyue.
The crowd was greatly startled.
Lin Jinghong's face was cold as frost, his sword-brows knit tight, yet facing this renowned peak lord of Great Bamboo Peak of the Canglan Sect, he remained as he had been in his youth, without the slightest fear.
In robes white as snow he stood there as if nailed to the earth, not shifting so much as a fraction—as though even towering waves before him could not move him in the least.
"Clang!" With a dragon's cry, the Slaying Dragon Sword flashed from its sheath, its emerald light enfolding him and Zhang Qingyue—these two men of like birth. Filled with an air of awe, paying no heed at all to Senior Brother Qi Hao, whom he had always respected, who was frantically signaling him with his eyes, he said resolutely, "If you dare touch Xiaofan again, you'll have to kill me first!"
Qi Hao drew in a sharp breath of cold air and stole a glance at Tian Buhui. Tian Buhui's face was now as ugly as it could be, almost the color of a pig's liver. How furious he was within, one needed no great effort to guess.
But Qi Hao, as the eldest disciple of Long Peak, had no reason to shrink back, and Lin Jinghong had always been deeply favored by their master, Daoist Cangyan. There was no way he could simply stand by and do nothing.
Reading Tian Buhui's expression, Qi Hao knew that trying to talk him around would be utterly useless. He could only hurry over, pull at Lin Jinghong, and say in a low voice, "Have you lost your mind, junior brother? This is an internal family matter of Dazhu Peak. What business is it of yours to meddle in? Even if our master were here, he would not say anything. Come with me, quickly!"
To his surprise, Lin Jinghong was utterly unlike his usual self today. He gave a cold snort and said, "If I leave, who knows what torment this man will put Xiaofan through. His lot in life has been lonely and bitter, just like mine. If I do not stand on his side, then there will be no one left in this world to stand on his side." As he spoke, his gaze was like lightning, fixed straight upon the disciples of Dazhu Peak. Though he well knew the gap in strength was far too great, from his expression, for the sake of the brother behind him, he had clearly set life and death aside.
Qi Hao was struck dumb. Seeing that this junior brother Lin had dug in his heels with a mule's stubbornness, he was truly frantic with anxiety. Just as he was at his wit's end, a hand suddenly came to rest on Lin Jinghong's shoulder.
Lin Jinghong gave a start and turned to look, and saw that it was Zhang Qingyue who had come to stand behind him. Half of his face was swollen up high, but his eyes were already brimming with hot tears, and his voice came out choked: "Jingyu, your—your kindness I will not forget. It is I who am in the wrong now. I will go and admit my fault to Master. You go back with Senior Brother Qi first!"
Lin Jinghong knitted his brows and was about to speak, but heard Qi Hao urging at his ear, "Junior brother Lin, if you stay here any longer, I fear you will only provoke Uncle Tian to ever greater fury, and only bring harm to Junior Brother Zhang. Go, go quickly!"