劍問蒼天 - 第60章 風雨 - 翰墨軒

Tian Buhui walked ahead, silent all the while. He was short and stout; Zhang Qingyue was now half a head taller than him, yet in Zhang Qingyue's eyes that man's figure seemed as tall as a mountain god. And more than that, at this moment Bili's matter pressed on his heart like a small mountain, leaving him restless and not knowing what to do.

Just as Zhang Qingyue's heart was in turmoil, wondering whether he should tell his master about Bili, Tian Buhui suddenly stopped and turned around. Zhang Qingyue's heart jumped, and he stopped too.

They were now deep in the forest, quiet and deserted all around, with dense ancient trees. Apart from the faint sound of birdsong from somewhere in the distance, there was no other sound.

Tian Buhui looked him up and down, and said without expression: "You were out in the rain all night. Is your body all right?"

Zhang Qingyue shook his head and said in a low voice: "This disciple deserved his punishment. It's nothing."

Tian Buhui gave a snort and said: "You say it lightly enough, but in your heart, are you resenting me?"

Zhang Qingyue was startled, and his already pale face went a shade paler. He said urgently: "Master, I -- I would never think such a thing. This is all what I deserved. I would never dare blame Master."

Tian Buhui looked at this youngest disciple, the one he had most neglected all these years, and saw the anxiety written plainly on his face. The corner of his mouth moved, he sighed, and his expression softened a little.

"All right! There's no one around now. Is there anything you want to say to me?"

Zhang Qingyue's heart tightened. Could it be, he thought, that Master already knew about Bili? His relationship with Bili was delicate enough as it was, and last night, when she had come, he had been all the more afraid of the elders of the various sects finding out. Could it be...

He was still lost in these tangled thoughts when Tian Buhui grew a little impatient. Seeing that he had said nothing all this while, he asked, "I ask you—why did you suddenly speak to your eldest martial brother the way you did yesterday?"

Zhang Qingyue started, then understood that his master was not referring to the matter with Bili. Only then did he relax.

But the next moment he found himself unable to speak. Surely he could not say that it was because he had seen Tian Lingsu together with Qi Hao that he had lost his reason? And besides, even he himself could not explain clearly what that strange, murderous aura had been—the one that had seized his emotions for those few moments.

Tian Buhui waited a long while. Seeing that Zhang Qingyue still stammered and could not get a word out, he suddenly gave a cold laugh and said, "Is it because you saw Ling'er and Qi Hao together, behaving so intimately, that resentment rose in your heart?"

Zhang Qingyue turned pale with fright. It felt as though a great roar exploded in his mind, and he stood rooted to the spot, utterly stunned.

His secret, unspoken love for Tian Lingsu had been one of his deepest secrets, never breathed to anyone. Yet now it had been coldly spoken aloud by the master he revered most, and the shock was truly greater than the heaven-shaking thunder of the night before—it shook his very soul.

For a moment he could scarcely move, and he did not even have the strength to deny it. He only stared at Tian Buhui, his mouth hanging open, unable to utter a single word.