Chapter 76 — The Fourth Chapter
劍問蒼天 · Page 4 of 8
Tian Buhui was both alarmed and furious, and yet this little disciple seemed not to know that his life hung by a thread. Especially with the Fanyin Temple and Fenxia Valley people all present, even if the Canglan Sect wished to shield him there was nothing to be done; if this went on, Zhang Qingyue's little life would truly be hard to preserve!
But Zhang Qingyue now seemed possessed; he slowly lowered his head and said not a word. The others might be one thing, but Su Wan and the rest of Dazhu Peak who had watched him grow up were all struck dumb and pale. Zhang Qingyue's nature had always been silent and stubborn, and at this critical moment he looked for all the world as though he would say nothing, come what may.
Tian Buhui strode abruptly forward, but before he could say or do anything, the abbot of the Fanyin Temple, the Venerable Monk Pucheng, who had been silent all this while, suddenly opened his eyes and said, "Benefactor Tian, let us discuss matters calmly. There is no need for force."
Tian Buhui was taken aback; he had not expected the Venerable Pucheng to speak up for Zhang Qingyue. But the Venerable Monk Pucheng was a man of such virtue and eminence that even he, a branch head of the Canglan Sect, dared not fail to respect his wishes; so he could only give a snort and sit back down.
The Perfected One Daoyan glanced coolly at Pucheng, brows slightly knit as though pondering something, then said to Zhang Qingyue, "And another thing: this true dharma of the Great Brahma Prajna upon your person—where exactly did you learn it?"
At these words everyone tensed at once; the crux of the matter faintly touched the hidden undercurrents between the two great factions of the righteous path today, and this answer was bound to shake heaven and earth!
But Zhang Qingyue remained kneeling there in silence, and for a long time said not a single word.
The Perfected One Daoyan's pupils contracted. "Will you still not tell the truth?"
Facheng, who had watched Zhang Qingyue from first to last, suddenly lowered his head and looked at him no more; even Pucheng and Pukong seated before him exchanged a glance, a faint light flickering in their eyes—what they were thinking, none could tell.
The world around him was all silence, yet it seemed to have become a boundless invisible wall, pressing in on him from either side, coldly squeezing.
Zhang Qingyue slowly began to feel he could not breathe, and yet he still did not speak.
Perhaps even he did not know what it was he was holding fast to.
"Bang!"
A great crash startled the crowd; Zhang Qingyue too looked up, and saw that the Perfected One Daoyan had slammed the Black Iron Staff heavily onto the tea table and risen abruptly to his feet, brows tightly knit, plainly in true wrath. "Wretched child! Do not think that because you will not open your mouth, I have no way to deal with you!"
Zhang Qingyue's body quivered, his face a welter of conflicting emotions, but in the end he did not speak.
Daoyan grew angrier still, and in his fury laughed instead. "Good. Good. Good. You wretched child, today I will make you—"
"Sect leader, calm your wrath!"
Suddenly a cry went up from among the Canglan Sect disciples, and at once a stir ran through the sect and every face changed. The Perfected One Daoyan had presided over Qingyun for close on a century, and his authority had always been such that none dared stand against him; that someone should now dare to block him was unlooked for, and even Zhang Qingyue turned his head to look.
Amid the uproar, there was Lu Xueqi, resolutely parting the crowd and stepping forth to the center; she came to stand beside Zhang Qingyue and knelt down.
The Perfected One Daoyan was struck dumb, and Master Shuijing was astonished beyond measure; he rose to his feet and said urgently, "Qi'er, have you gone mad? Come back at once!"