Chapter 227 — Kin
The Sword Questions the Heavens · Page 5 of 8
Several times in succession, save for Ming Li, who already knelt before Su Wan, Song Dayi and the other disciples of Dazhu Peak all dropped to their knees, knocking their heads to the ground. Song Dayi kept saying, "Your disciples dare not, your disciples dare not!"
Su Wan sighed, and deep weariness showed on her face, as though she had not even the strength left to scold. She only gave a faint wave of her hand and said, "Go out, all of you."
Song Dayi and the others dared not defy their master's wife further. One by one they withdrew with bitter faces, yet that great stone in their hearts lay heavy still, and they knew not what to do. Ming Li bowed lightly to Su Wan several times and slowly backed away as well. But scarcely had he taken a few steps when Su Wan suddenly said, "Old Seven, stay. I have questions for you."
Ming Li started and halted. Behind him, however, Song Dayi and the rest breathed easier. Come what may, so long as someone was at their master's wife's side, no mishap should befall. Then came the sound of footsteps, and in no time Song Dayi and the other five had all withdrawn from the Hall of Quiet Cultivation.
The Hall of Quiet Cultivation fell quiet. Only the burning flames, devouring the paper money, gave off now and then a faint crackle.
Ming Li stood silently where he was, head bowed, saying nothing. How long passed, he could not tell, before Su Wan was heard to sigh and say, "Your master was always one to speak harshly and feel gently. That upheaval ten years ago has weighed on him ever since. He never spoke of it to me, but I could see that in his heart he felt he had wronged you a great deal."
Ming Li's eyes reddened. He shook his head hard and said urgently, "No, it was your disciple who was unworthy, who betrayed my master's kindness. It was your disciple who wronged my master..." By the end his voice had choked.
The corner of Su Wan's mouth trembled faintly. Hearing the tears in Ming Li's voice, she seemed stirred to an old wound of her own, yet for all the pain in her eyes she held it back and shed no tears. Silent, she gazed upon Tian Buhui's face and said softly, "In your master's heart, he never once counted you a disciple driven from the gate. Do you understand?"
Ming Li bowed his head and said in a low voice, "Yes."
Su Wan said, "Since you have owned him as your master again, go over now and burn some paper money for him. Let it stand for what measure of filial devotion you can offer. I daresay Buhui would be glad of it..."
Ming Li clenched his jaw, knelt before Tian Buhui's remains, and bowed three times, tears in his eyes. Then he rose, went to the great iron cauldron, and knelt. The flames in the cauldron had sunk much lower, no doubt because Song Dayi and the others had gone out and no one was feeding the paper money. Ming Li glanced aside and saw not far off several thick stacks of paper money, all new and still sealed.
On Dazhu Peak all were cultivators, and in several hundred years they might not use paper money even once. These things must have been bought at the foot of the mountain when Song Dayi went to make arrangements for the funeral. At the thought Ming Li's heart ached afresh. Silently he reached out, took a stack, broke the seal, and slowly fed it in, three sheets at a time, into the flames.
The firelight slowly brightened again. The flames flickered with a red-gold glow, dancing over the paper money with its thin gold and silver foil, turning each sheet to ash.
Su Wan sat beside Tian Buhui, silently watching the fire rise and fall, tumbling and churning without cease. The firelight was mirrored on Ming Li's face by the cauldron, casting back a light that flickered bright and dim by turns.
She suddenly spoke and asked, "When your master passed, were you at his side?"
Ming Li gave a faint start, then turned himself around. He remained kneeling beside the iron pot, facing Su Wan, and said in a low voice, "Yes."