劍問蒼天 - 第152章 不孝 - 翰墨軒

Master Shuijing gave a long sigh, her eyes full of the weariness of years, as though from this disciple she had recalled things long past; even her own expression held a trace of sorrow. She turned slowly, walked to the window, and looked out at the green bamboo swaying still in the wind—only, who could say whether the people of those years still remembered this place?

"Get up," Master Shuijing said mildly.

There was no sound behind her; plainly Lu Xueling was still kneeling on the ground.

Master Shuijing did not press the point. "Qi'er, you have always been quick and clever. Some things I thought you should have known even if I never spoke of them."

Lu Xueling knelt behind her without stirring. Master Shuijing went on, "This tangled business between you and that Zhang Qingyue is, for you, a doomed bond. Do you understand that?"

Lu Xueling gave a low answer, her voice barely audible: "Yes."

Master Shuijing said slowly, "And moreover, Zhang Qingyue has now betrayed the righteous path, has taken to blood-devouring and fallen to demonic ways. What he has done these ten years, I need not recount to you again. To speak plainly: your affair with him is by now common gossip throughout the city, and even your sect master, Senior Uncle Daoyan, has learned of it. Only, these elders have indulged you first out of pity for your youth and ignorance, and second out of tenderness for your rare gifts and the hardship of your cultivation—and so they have given you chance after chance. Do not cling any longer to this delusion!" Toward the end, Master Shuijing's words came faster and faster, and her voice grew stern.

Lu Xueling's face grew paler still, but for some reason her body quieted, and she no longer trembled faintly as before.

Master Shuijing's expression slowly softened. She turned, helped Lu Xueling to her feet, and said gently, "Qi'er, you are my most beloved disciple. Among your fellow disciples—indeed, among the younger generation of all seven branches of the Canglan Sect—your gift for the cultivation of the Dao is the highest, and your future is truly boundless. My hopes for you are very high. Do you know that?"

Lu Xueling said in a low voice, "Yes, Master."

Master Shuijing looked at her and said, "With your gifts, the seat of the head of the Xiaozhu Peak branch will one day be yours by right. Then you will be revered by all, and you may calm your heart and contemplate the way of Heaven. Is that not what you once dreamed of?"

Lu Xueling was silent, only lowering her head slightly. On her beautiful face, apart from the pallor, there was only the slow shifting of light in her bright eyes—and there, at some unknown moment, the mist that had once gathered had vanished.

Master Shuijing sighed and said, "Go back and think it over carefully."

Lu Xueling stood before her, and on hearing this she did not turn at once to leave, but slowly raised her head and looked at the benefactress who had raised her with her own hands.

"What is it, Qi'er?" Master Shuijing asked.

"Master," Lu Xueling called softly, then said, "It is I who have wronged you."

Master Shuijing shook her head and sighed. "What foolishness is this?"

Something in Lu Xueling's manner seemed not quite right; on a face habitually cold there appeared a rare flicker of agitation, and even her breathing slowly quickened. Master Shuijing noticed at once, frowned at her, and said, "What is it, Qi'er?"

It was as though stormy waves had risen in Lu Xueling's heart, so that her face too shifted like wind and cloud. But at last she said slowly to Master Shuijing, in a low voice, "Master, you are right. I have indeed been muddled. I know that between Zhang Qingyue and me there was never any possibility—it was a doomed bond from the first."