Chapter 22 — Nightfall

The Seven Peaks Martial Gathering was the great event of the Canglan Sect, held once every sixty years. With hundreds of extra people suddenly crowded onto Jietian Peak, lodging naturally grew scarce. For the folk of Dazhu Peak, the carefree days of one room apiece were a fantasy now. Apart from Tian Lingsu, who stayed with the women of Xiaozhu Peak, the seven male disciples of Dazhu Peak, beginning with Song Dayi, were all crammed into a single room.

On Jietian Peak, the Qingyun disciples had always been housed four to a room. Now three bedrolls were laid out on the floor, and somehow they squeezed in, though the crowding was unavoidable. Just then, someone was heard complaining loudly: "Honestly! All day long they sing the praises of the main gate, and now they have seven of us stuffed into one room—how stingy can you get!"

"Old Six, stop grumbling. If the main gate's senior brothers hear you, it won't go well for us."

"Second Senior Brother, you're sleeping in a bed, so of course you're comfortable. Why don't you take a look at your poor junior brother lying on the freezing floor? How about we swap beds?"

"Hoo hoo hoo hoo."

"No way—you've fallen asleep just like that? And snoring, too?"

"Hoo hoo hoo hoo."

"Hmph. Ah—Fourth Senior Brother, you've always been handsome and dashing, elegant and refined, exceptionally gifted, overflowing with talent—"

"Hoo hoo hoo hoo."

"What's going on? Is falling asleep instantly the fashion now? Eh—Eldest Senior Brother, you've always been so kindhearted. How can you just watch your junior brother—"

"Hoo hoo hoo hoo."

"And you—Third Senior Brother—"

"Hwo hwo hwo hwo!"

Everyone jumped. The wall suddenly thundered with heavy knocks, and someone next door bellowed in fury: "Hey! Do you Dazhu Peak people have to snore that loud when you sleep at night?"

The room went dead silent. A long while later, someone gave a few furtive chuckles. Then the earlier voice seemed to recall something: "Ah—Fifth Senior Brother, you—"

"You, you, you what? I'm sleeping right next to you, on the floor, same as you. You want to swap places? I don't mind!"

"Ahem, never mind. Ugh—this bedroll is freezing, and as if that weren't enough, it's too short. Can't even sleep comfortably. Speaking of which, the little junior brother has it best—his frame fits just right."

"Sixth Senior Brother, why are you talking with your eyes closed? Don't you see I've got a big dog and a monkey fighting me for the blanket over here? Mine's the most crowded spot of all, and you're still complaining?"

"...but I still—"

"Shut up, Old Six!" several voices in the room barked at once.

After nightfall, many young disciples from the other six peaks, visiting Jietian Peak for the first time, came out to stroll, marveling and curious at the sights. But as the night deepened, everyone returned to their rooms to sleep.

When darkness descended upon that peak towering into the heavens, a cold moon hung in the vault above and spilled its clear radiance over the summit.

Zhang Qingyue was sleeping soundly when he vaguely felt movement beside him. Blinking awake, he saw that the monkey Xiao Hui and the big yellow dog were both gone from his side. He propped himself up and looked around, and caught a flash of yellow at the doorway—a yellow shape with a shadow on its back, most likely the monkey Xiao Hui riding on Da Huang.

Puzzled, Zhang Qingyue wondered where the monkey and the dog could be going so late at night. He rose quietly, threw on a garment haphazardly, and went to the door. There, in the cold moonlight, he saw Da Huang running pell-mell toward the sea of clouds with Xiao Hui on its back.

Following the direction they had taken, he thought it over and recalled that this was where Song Dayi had told him the kitchen of Jietian Peak lay. He was torn between annoyance and amusement—Da Huang, raised by Tian Buhui for goodness knew how many centuries, was practically an old dog who had attained the Way, and yet here it was, this greedy. He had half a mind to go back to sleep and forget it, but on second thought, if anyone saw the yellow dog and gray monkey of Dazhu Peak stealing food, it would be far too shameful. Better to chase them back.

Having made up his mind, he looked up—but Da Huang and Xiao Hui were already no more than a blur in the distance. He hurried after them.

He ran the whole way, careful not to disturb his fellow disciples in the other rooms. By the time he reached the great square by the sea of clouds, the dog and the monkey were long out of sight. Beneath the cold moon, the clouds drifted thin and faint over the place, like gauze, like smoke—beautiful beyond description.

But after a couple of glances, he had no heart left to admire it. He turned and scanned his surroundings, about to head toward the kitchen, when suddenly his heart gave a violent lurch.

Deep in the sea of clouds, on the side opposite the kitchen, a slender figure was faintly visible through the drifting mist, walking onward. From the direction she took, she seemed to be heading for the Rainbow Bridge.

Zhang Qingyue stared at that figure, dumbstruck. Though she was far away, that silhouette was carved deep into his heart, and he recognized her at once: it was his senior sister, Tian Lingsu.

The night was so deep!

Why had she come out alone, and where was she going by herself?

Zhang Qingyue stood frozen, at a loss. A thousand thoughts came crowding into his mind, leaving it in a tangle, and it was as though he dimly guessed something—yet he refused, to the very end, to admit it.

He turned his head and fixed his eyes on the direction of the kitchen, where Da Huang and Xiao Hui had gone. Gritting his teeth, he walked that way, telling himself: "Zhang Qingyue, mind your own business! Mind your own business!"

Seven steps he took like that, the moonlight like water, falling upon this one youth, making him seem all the more alone. Then he stopped and looked up at the sky, where a cold moon hung at the horizon's edge. His lips seemed to move. A moment later he spun around, clenched his jaw, and ran toward the direction where that figure had vanished.

The moonlight fell upon his running form with a desolate tenderness.

In but a moment, Tian Lingsu's figure had already melted into the sea of clouds, but Zhang Qingyue looked nowhere else—he ran straight on toward the Rainbow Bridge. Soon he was upon it. The mountain wind blew, raising faint ripples in the streams on either side of the bridge, which mirrored the moon above, cold and beautiful; but Zhang Qingyue paid it no heed and only ran with all his might.

Run, run, run!

He crossed the Rainbow Bridge and still saw no sign of anyone. Only when he reached the bridge's far end did a sudden bewilderment come over him. The cold moonlight made the shore of the jade-green pool at the bridge's end bright as day, and there stood a beautiful figure, graceful by the water's edge, gazing at the glittering surface, lost in a daze.

A sudden fear came over Zhang Qingyue—a fear he could not name. He knew only that he could not let his senior sister discover him. He looked quickly about and saw a small grove near the Rainbow Bridge on the right-hand side of the pool. He stole over and hid himself there, watching Tian Lingsu from the shadows.

That one look seemed to last an eternity.

In the moonlight, by the jade water, that young woman bore a trace of sorrow, a trace of expectancy. Her brows were lowered, and a faint radiance seemed to glow in her eyes, as though she were longing for something—so beautiful she was to look upon. The mountain breeze blew gently, passing over the water, brushing past her side; it too held its breath and fell silent, stirring her garments and her hair ever so lightly, setting off skin like snow.