劍問蒼天 - 第104章 問訊 - 翰墨軒

The wind sighed, and the ancient road stretched on in desolate solitude, lonely and endless before them.

Zhou Yixuan and his granddaughter Xiaowan had left the Death Marsh and traveled east for three days.

This day, at high noon, they were still walking the old road, save that the once-flat wilderness to either side had been replaced by ever more numerous hills and thickets.

Zhou Yixuan glanced ahead and saw, not far away by the roadside, a crumbling stone pavilion. Feeling the weariness of the road, he turned to Xiaowan and said, "Let's go over and rest a while."

Xiaowan answered, then glanced back, her eyes brimming with smiles, and said, "Daoist, come sit with us!"

The Wild Wolf Daoist, who had been following behind them all along, smiled and nodded. After leaving the Death Marsh, for some reason he had begun trailing Zhou Yixuan and Xiaowan from a distance, which had at first made Zhou Yixuan rather uneasy. But a few days ago they had suddenly met that middle-aged man who called himself Wan Rengui, and after Xiaowan had exchanged a few words with him, the two had grown somewhat closer; in recent days the Daoist had drawn much nearer, following directly behind them.

Zhou Yixuan walked into the pavilion and watched the Wild Wolf Daoist follow Xiaowan inside. He was hardly as courteous to the wild dog as Xiaowan was; rolling his eyes, he suddenly said in a strange, sour tone, "I say, Daoist Wild Dog, why do you keep following the two of us around? We're poor as dirt, there's nothing here worth robbing."

The Wild Wolf Daoist glared at Zhou Yixuan and shot back, "You smelly old man, playing poor again. Don't think I don't know there's something odd about that bamboo pole of yours!"

Zhou Yixuan and Xiaowan both started. Zhou Yixuan leapt up as though his backside had been set on fire, his face crimson, and shouted, "Well now! I always knew you were no good, you've had your eye on my money all along!"

The Wild Wolf Daoist rolled his eyes at him, but before he could speak, Xiaowan beside them said with some surprise, "Daoist, how did you know?"

The moment Xiaowan spoke, the Wild Wolf Daoist's voice somehow dropped, and after a moment's hesitation he said sheepishly to her, "He never lets that pole out of his hand, and even sleeps with it clutched to his chest. That in itself would be nothing, but every little while, without meaning to, he strokes it and gives it a look. Any idiot could tell there's something wrong with that pole."

Xiaowan burst out laughing. Zhou Yixuan's old face flushed; he snorted and turned his head away, then suddenly felt this was too great a humiliation and turned back, snapping at the Wild Wolf Daoist, "Even if there were something odd about my pole, it's none of your concern. You tell me—why have you been following us all this time?"

The Wild Wolf Daoist was taken aback and for a moment could find no words.

Zhou Yixuan at once grew smug, a grin spreading over his face, and pointing at the wild dog he said, "Ha! Don't think I don't know. You scoundrel, you've been drooling over my wealth and my Xiaowan's beauty, scheming day and night..."

"Grandfather!" Xiaowan cried loudly at Zhou Yixuan, her face flaming red.

Only then did Zhou Yixuan realize he had said the wrong thing, but he could not bring himself to back down, and stammered, "Tell me, is it or isn't it..."

The Wild Wolf Daoist stole a glance at Xiaowan. The girl's fair skin was now flushed pink, faintly shy, yet her bright eyes were like stars, shining and sparkling, and a rush of youthful beauty seemed to strike him in the face. A strange, unaccountable sense of inferiority suddenly came over the wild dog, and he lowered his head.