Chapter 137 — The Heartbroken
劍問蒼天 · Page 4 of 7
After those days of torment, Yan Fei was visibly much more haggard. But no one had the heart to pay her much attention now; every eye was fixed on the side door of the main hall, for by custom the Valley Master, once out of seclusion, would come out through there to meet them.
Shangguan Lue, standing at the very front, was still dressed in black, standing there with an easy composure—only deep in his eyes, where no one could see, there flickered a faint, strange light.
For him, in recent years, every meeting with his senior fellow disciple, Valley Master Yun Yifeng, had been conducted through a screen, and Yun Yifeng's voice had been feeble, growing more aged by the day. At first he had not dared believe it, but lately he had gradually become convinced in his heart that this senior brother who had always pressed down upon him was truly nearing his end.
Yet today the heavenly drum at the Tianxiang Residence had rolled like thunder, striking him where he stood—Yun Yifeng had actually come out of seclusion!
Could it be that he truly had been cultivating arts in seclusion, and not covering something up?
Shangguan Lue's heart was in turmoil, full of unease.
And behind Shangguan Lue, at the head of the younger generation of disciples, Li Xun's eyes held an excitement he could not conceal. He had always been Yun Yifeng's most favored disciple, the darling of Burning Cloud Valley. It was only that several years ago Yun Yifeng had suddenly gone into seclusion without the slightest warning, and from then on had seen no one.
Though Li Xun himself was still specially regarded by Yun Yifeng, and was, like his martial uncle Shangguan Lue, one of the only two in Burning Cloud Valley permitted to have audience with Yun Yifeng, yet perhaps because Yun Yifeng thought Li Xun too young and his cultivation insufficient, the great affairs of the valley were placed in Shangguan Lue's hands. Thus, imperceptibly, Li Xun's standing had slipped a good deal.
But now that Yun Yifeng had emerged from seclusion once more, the situation had naturally changed greatly. Li Xun was the present Valley Master's most beloved disciple, the undisputed choice for the next Valley Master, and his words would now carry very different weight. More importantly, just yesterday—the night before Yun Yifeng's emergence—he had been secretly received by Yun Yifeng, and had learned in advance that his revered master was about to come out.
And with his master's emergence, there was a long-cherished wish of his that might at last be fulfilled. At the thought, Li Xun could no longer suppress the excitement on his handsome face.
Shangguan Lue stirred and slowly turned back around. That young martial nephew behind him, off to the side, was doing his utmost to remain calm, but the joy and excitement rising from the bottom of his heart was, after all, not something his years and experience could conceal—and still less could it escape Shangguan Lue's eyes, which read the world like an eagle's.
"Heh..." He laughed coldly, deep in his heart, and said to himself, "Young man, the road you have to walk—you have no idea how long it is yet!"
As the crowd stood each absorbed in his own thoughts, the drumbeats suddenly turned melodious, as though come from beyond the sky, circling through the great hall. Shangguan Lue and the others roused themselves, straightened their attire, and looked toward the side door.
A flash of red—and a figure slowly appeared. The fire-red robe was the traditional dress of the Valley Masters of Burning Cloud Valley, the emblem of this sect's faith in fire.
There was no sense of the heat of flame, nor any dazzling radiance, and yet somehow, as that red filled their eyes, everyone felt it: a crimson flame was walking toward them, unhurried and at ease.
And when the crowd came to their senses and made out the figure within that red glow, even the ever-composed Shangguan Lue could not help but utter a low cry of disbelief.