劍問蒼天 - 第193章 決定 - 翰墨軒

Early that morning, the hour still young, the sky barely light, the disciples of Dazhu Peak had not yet risen—when from the Shoujing Hall came the sound of soft footsteps. A moment later, Tian Buhui, contrary to all custom, emerged fully dressed at dawn.

In the morning light, Tian Buhui's round face was grave, his brows knit, his look that of a man weighed down with cares. Su Wan followed behind him, also come out. From the look of the husband and wife, none could tell whether they had risen early or had not slept at all.

Su Wan's face was now deep with worry. After leaving the Shoujing Hall, she first glanced toward the disciples' quarters; finding them, as expected, quiet and empty, she said in a low voice, "Buyi, I still feel this course of yours is unwise. Let us discuss it once more."

Tian Buhui's face was heavy as water, his brows not loosening in the least. "This can be delayed no longer," he said in a low voice. "Since we returned from the Ancestral Hall, these past days Senior Brother Daoyan's condition has grown worse and worse. Yesterday word came down from Jietian Peak that he actually struck at Elder Fan and Xiao Yichen, who had gone to reason with him."

Su Wan was alarmed. "What? How could the sect master strike at them? How are those two? What provoked him? Were they injured?"

Tian Buhui gave a cold snort. "What else could it be? They saw Senior Brother Daoyan behaving strangely and went to counsel him. I hear Senior Brother Daoyan was speaking with them quite normally at first, but then for no reason flew into a rage and brought down a palm strike that gravely wounded Senior Brother Fan on the spot. That lad Xiao Yichen, though, was sharp—he actually got away, and came off unscathed."

Su Wan was taken aback. "Xiao Yichen was unharmed?"

Tian Buhui clasped his hands behind his back and pondered a moment. "He has always been clever, and having followed Senior Brother Daoyan for many years, he understands him better than most. Most likely he sensed something was wrong beforehand, seized the initiative, and only thus escaped by luck. But thank heaven he was sharp—it gave him time to drag Senior Brother Fan out and tend his wounds. Otherwise, who can say what might have happened?"

Su Wan was silent a while, her face shifting between light and dark. At length she said, "He—he has come to this, and still you must go see him?"

Tian Buhui drew a deep breath. "Others may not know, but surely you understand why I must see him?"

Su Wan said in a low voice, "But the sect master—his heart-devil has taken hold of him now, and no one knows what he is thinking. And his cultivation is so high, far beyond yours or mine. If you go risk yourself like this, I only fear—I only fear—"

Her voice trailed lower and lower, until at the end it was scarcely audible; plainly she herself did not wish to say it aloud. Tian Buhui sighed, turned, and gazed at Su Wan a moment. He reached out and gently took her slender hand. "Husband and wife all these years—of course I know what you fear. With a heart like yours, even if something befalls me, I would not care."

Su Wan's brows knit; she cut him off with a scolding cry: "What nonsense are you talking!"

Tian Buhui nodded, fell silent a moment, then said, "You know it well: the secret of the Immortal-Slaying Sword was the Canglan Sect's highest mystery, known in the beginning to the sect master alone. But in that battle in the wildlands years ago, I, Zeng Shuchang, and several others followed Senior Brother Wan to fight amid ten thousand miles of yellow sand, and by chance came to learn the secret. Afterward we few stood in the Ancestral Hall, before the spirit tablets of the Canglan Sect's past masters, and swore a solemn oath: for all our lives, we would never divulge a shred of it."

Su Wan sighed. "Why bring that up again? I was there too, and swore the same oath as you all. How could I forget?"