劍問蒼天 - 第137章 傷心人 - 翰墨軒

The newcomer was a middle-aged man who looked at most around forty. His bright yet soft red hair was not tied up but spilled freely over his shoulders, lending him a touch of untrammeled, wandering elegance.

The crowd exchanged looks of bewilderment. When Yun Yifeng had gone into seclusion years before, they all clearly remembered him as a stooped, aged old man, his head already white. Yet this man before them was younger than Yun Yifeng had been by who knew how much, and his face was smooth and clear, without a single wrinkle to be seen.

And yet the lines of that face were unmistakably Yun Yifeng's—especially to Shangguan Lue, who had spent more time with Yun Yifeng than anyone. He recognized it at once as the face of Yun Yifeng in his youth, only even finer than he had been then. Under such a shock, not a soul among them could utter a word.

Yun Yifeng, however, acted as though nothing were amiss. He strode swaggering into the main hall, before the assembled crowd, his eyes bright and piercing. He looked them over, then suddenly smiled. His voice, far from the aged rasp of the secret chamber, was clear and pleasing. "What is it—do you no longer recognize me as your Valley Master?"

The crowd started. Li Xun was the first to recover. He prostrated himself first of all and said loudly, "Your disciple welcomes Master from seclusion, and congratulates Master on the great fulfillment of his cultivation of the true art in seclusion!"

The rest came to their senses and hastened to pay their respects. The astonishment in Shangguan Lue's eyes slowly faded, and he too bowed his head in salute.

Yun Yifeng clearly looked in fine spirits and excellent humor. He waved a hand. "Enough, enough. We have not seen one another for a long while—rise, all of you, and let us talk."

Everyone answered and rose to their feet. Yun Yifeng looked around at them with a smile, his gaze finally coming to rest on Shangguan Lue. "Junior Brother," he said with a laugh, "these years I've had you mind the valley's trifling affairs in my stead—has it been a burden?"

Shangguan Lue shook his head and smiled in return. "With you away, Senior Brother, it falls to me as your junior to see to such things. In truth, it was only that a mishap occurred at the Xuanhuo Altar some days ago, and I—"

Yun Yifeng suddenly burst out laughing, cutting him short. "What's past is past, Junior Brother—why brood over it? The days ahead are long; we shall take our time and plan carefully."

A flicker of surprise crossed Shangguan Lue's face, but he said no more, only lowering his head. "Yes."

Yun Yifeng turned his gaze to the gathered crowd, whose eyes were full of deference and astonishment. Plainly his appearance, as though he had regained his youth, had left them truly dumbfounded.

Yet he offered no explanation, only turning to Li Xun, who had long since stood waiting at his side. "Has anything happened in the valley of late?"

Li Xun stepped forward and answered respectfully, "This very morning, Daoist Daoyan, the sect master of the Canglan Sect of the Central Plains, sent a letter. He said it was a reply to the message you sent him some days ago, Master."

He spoke calmly enough, but standing to one side, Shangguan Lue's expression shifted. During Yun Yifeng's seclusion, all matters great and small in Fenxia Valley had been his to decide. Correspondence with the Canglan Sect's master was surely a matter of the utmost importance, yet he had known nothing of it. And this reply had arrived only this morning—how Li Xun had contrived to intercept it on the way and keep it from him was a mystery. Clearly his senior, Yun Yifeng, had deliberately kept him out of the affair.

Anger kindled slowly in Shangguan Lue's heart, but his face remained as before; that strange look had come and gone in an instant.