Chapter 60 — Storm
劍問蒼天 · Page 1 of 5
The night was pitch-black, with neither moon nor stars visible, and not a glimmer of light in the sky.
Zhang Qingyue had been kneeling at the cave entrance for nearly six hours. The disciples of the other sects had mostly gone to sleep, and even the last fire burning in the cave on Dazhu Peak had, with the greatest reluctance, slowly died out.
Inside the cave, Tian Buhui seemed to say something, and Tian Lingsu almost immediately cried out: "Father!"
There was no sound, no follow-up. Zhang Qingyue did not know what had happened, but soon Song Dayi came out.
Zhang Qingyue raised his head and looked at his eldest senior brother. Song Dayi's face was full of reluctance, but in the end he hardened his heart and said: "Little junior brother, Master says your kneeling here is vexing him. He says if you must kneel, kneel farther away."
Zhang Qingyue's heart sank, but suddenly he felt a chill on his face, cold and icy. On this pitch-black night, it had begun to rain.
He said not a word, silently rose to his feet, walked into the distance, and at the edge of the dense forest, beneath an ancient tree, knelt down.
Song Dayi watched him for a long while, but saw his little junior brother's figure gradually blur in the night rain and mist. He gave a soft sigh, shook his head, and went back.
With a great "boom," thunder rolled across the heavens, white lightning clawed its way across the sky as if the pitch-black night were splitting into pieces. A moment later, raindrops the size of beans hammered down like pebbles, striking the rocks with a pitter-patter. Soon after, the rain came down in torrents.
In an instant the whole world was a blur. Zhang Qingyue was soaked through in a matter of moments, his clothes clinging tightly to his body, an indescribable chill seeping in. He raised his head and looked ahead; the night, already pitch-black, combined with the heavy rain, made it impossible to see anything at the cave.
Between heaven and earth, it seemed only he remained, here, suffering.
He lowered his head and did not move.
And this great rain seemed to be heaven's punishment as well, for it would not stop; the downpour showed no sign of letting up, lightning flashed and thunder roared, howling savagely over him!
Rainwater streamed down from between his hair, slid along his face. Zhang Qingyue could barely keep his eyes open, but just at this moment, in this wind and rain with no one else around, he suddenly saw before him a figure appear, a pair of feet, stepping before him.
He struggled to raise his head. Lightning flashed across the sky, thunder pealed, and by that faint light he made out that beautiful, sorrowful woman standing before him.
Zhang Qingyue was struck utterly dumb.
Lu Xueqi was drenched from head to toe as well. The lightning flashed and was gone in an instant, and her figure too became a hazy shadow in the darkness. Yet Zhang Qingyue could distinctly feel that she was right there before him.
On this night of violent storm and rain, such a gentle figure softly crouched down before him.
The rain grew more urgent, the wind more savage!
Deep in the woods, it seemed as though demons howled wildly, rustling and clattering.
A cold palm, trembling slightly, brushed across the tips of Zhang Qingyue's hair, and a voice like dream-talk, on this night of wind and rain, said softly: "Don't be afraid. It will pass soon!"
"..."
"I'll stay here with you!"
"..."
"Boom!" The thunder seemed to split the night sky, to shatter the soul. Where the wild lightning flashed, amid the howling wind and rain, when icy raindrops danced like demons, that gentle face, those gentle eyes, like the sweetest figure in a hidden dream, kept him company at his side.
In the wind and rain she murmured to herself, speaking to Zhang Qingyue, and yet as if to the depths of her own heart, softly, softly saying: "You saved me and protected me, at the risk of your own life, so I shall treat you the same.