劍問蒼天 - 第88章 死澤 - 翰墨軒

Xiaowan suddenly gave a soft cry of dismay. She had been in such haste when she set out that she had remembered to bring everything—everything but rain gear. If it began to rain now, what a disaster it would be. She turned hastily to Zhou Yixuan and asked, "Grandfather, did you bring an umbrella?"

Zhou Yixuan blinked. "Umbrella?" A moment later he understood, looked up at the sky, and was struck dumb. "I—I thought you had brought one," he stammered.

Xiaowan said anxiously, "Ah! This is terrible. If it rains, whatever shall we do?"

Zhou Yixuan looked around him and saw that nearby there was only the little tree behind him; all else was ponds and water-weeds. There was nowhere at all to shelter from the rain, and he could not help crying out, "We are done for! Shall we find somewhere to take cover?"

Xiaowan shook her head at once. "No. Sister Ping'er said we must not wander, or we shall be in danger."

Zhou Yixuan said crossly, "Not wander? If we do not wander and just wait for the rain, we shall likely catch consumption!"

Xiaowan's brows were knit tight with worry when suddenly there came a light sound from ahead—footsteps approaching. Her heart leaped, and the words "Sister Ping'er" nearly escaped her lips, but she abruptly closed her mouth. Out of the dense fog ahead a figure came striding quickly, and behind it seemed to follow a smaller shadow, while at the same time a grumbling voice, somehow familiar, carried to them.

"To be tagging along after that cursed brat of yours—truly, this Daoist has accumulated eight lifetimes of bad luck. Not a day passes without me living in dread, and now I must come to this hellish place and be bitten and bled by mosquitoes. Why not just have him suck me dry and be done with it!"

"Cheep, cheep, cheep..."

Xiaowan started. The newcomer was none other than the Wild Wolf Daoist, whom they had seen telling fortunes back in King's Village, and the one hopping along at his heels was the monkey Xiaohui—only Mingli was nowhere to be seen.

As the Wild Wolf Daoist walked on, he happened to glance over and saw Xiaowan and Zhou Yixuan standing ahead, gazing at him with strange expressions. He too was startled. "Eh? Are you not the two fortune-tellers? What are you doing here?"

Before Xiaowan could answer, Xiaohui, sharp-eyed behind him, at once recognized the girl ahead as someone familiar. With two chirps it sprang with all its strength and landed at Xiaowan's side.

At the sight of it Xiaowan's face broke into a smile. She bent and scooped Xiaohui up, heedless of the dirt on its paws from the road, and laughed. "How did you come to be here?"

Xiaohui seemed to understand her words, for it grinned, then pointed a paw behind it and gestured ceaselessly at Xiaowan, chirping without pause.

Naturally Xiaowan did not understand what it meant, but she guessed that Xiaohui meant Mingli was just ahead. Her heart stirred, and she wondered—could it be that Sister Ping'er had gone to meet Mingli?

And in that very moment of hesitation, a thunderclap suddenly burst across the sky and rolled away in a long rumble. Moments later came a great pattering, and raindrops the size of beans began to fall.

Xiaowan gave a shriek and covered her head with her hands, then, clutching Xiaohui, ran instinctively toward Zhou Yixuan. "Grandfather, what shall we do?"

Zhou Yixuan could only smile bitterly. Nothing if not decisive, he flipped his outer robe up over his head and said, "Nothing for it. We cannot walk, and there is nowhere to hide. Let it rain!"

Xiaowan was speechless. All around them, sky and earth were a haze of grey, and the rain grew steadily heavier. In an instant half her shoulder was soaked, and the faintly visible snow-white skin beneath glistened, lovely and striking. Even the monkey Xiaohui had gone rather quiet now, curling itself into a ball and nestling in Xiaowan's bosom.

"Heh heh!"