Chapter 152 — Unfilial

Wen Pei shook her head. "Forgive you for what? We are sisters—no need for such formality. By the way, I thought Master looked a little out of sorts. I'll go in and see how she is. You must be exhausted from the road; go and rest first."

Lu Xueling was silent a moment, then said softly, "I'm afraid Master is still angry with me."

Wen Pei looked at this, the most beautiful and outstanding of her fellow disciples, and suddenly felt that on her pale face—still lovely as ever—there was a little more weariness than in former days. Wen Pei sighed inwardly, put an arm around Lu Xueling's shoulders, and said gently, "Silly girl, don't let your thoughts run wild. You know as well as we do how Master has always treated you. It's nothing. I'll go and see."

Lu Xueling nodded silently. Wen Pei smiled, gave a few instructions to the other junior sisters, and was about to leave when a young girl stepped out from the doorway ahead—it was Xiao Shi, the girl from the day Ming Li had secretly stolen up Xiaozhu Peak. Too young and not yet skilled enough in cultivation, she had always stayed on Xiaozhu Peak; Master Shuijing, fond of her cleverness and charm, had kept her at her side.

Xiao Shi glanced this way and came quickly toward Wen Pei and Lu Xueling. Wen Pei said, "Oh?" and when Xiao Shi reached them, asked, "Xiao Shi, why have you come out? Master has only just returned—you should be attending her."

Xiao Shi nodded, glanced at Lu Xueling, and said, "Eldest Sister, Sisters—Master says I am to come and tell Sister Xueqi to go see her at the Quiet Bamboo Lodge."

Wen Pei was taken aback. She turned and looked at Lu Xueling. Lu Xueling's lips moved; a complex look flitted through her eyes, and then she said, "Very well, I'll go now." With that she walked straight ahead and soon vanished among the buildings of Xiaozhu Peak.

Watching Lu Xueling walk away into the distance, Wen Pei frowned and said to Xiao Shi, "Xiao Shi, did Master say anything else? Why did she call Xueqi to her?"

Xiao Shi shook her head. "No. After Master came back she stayed silent the whole time, and after a while she told me to come and call Sister Xueqi to see her."

Wen Pei said, "Oh," and for the moment could make no sense of it. She shook her head and said to the other Xiaozhu Peak female disciples, "Well, it seems there's nothing more for now. You may all go back and rest."

The young women assented and drifted away. Wen Pei took one last look in the direction Lu Xueling had gone, her heart heavy, stirred by feelings of every kind.

The Quiet Bamboo Lodge was a secluded spot among the halls and buildings of Xiaozhu Peak, close by the rear mountain and surrounded by green "tear bamboo." From time to time the mountain wind would pass, swaying the bamboo leaves gently, and give the heart a sense of peace. Master Shuijing had always loved to come here and be alone, and so the other disciples of Xiaozhu Peak knew the place well.

Lu Xueling passed along the covered walk, stepped onto the winding path of smooth round pebbles that led among the bamboo, and soon came to the little hut built of bamboo deep in the grove. From outside it looked plain and unadorned; its outer walls of bamboo had weathered who knew how much wind and rain, and by now bore faint marks of age. On either side of the hut was a small window, through which one could dimly see Master Shuijing sitting quietly within.

Lu Xueling came to the door—also of bamboo—which stood ajar. Somehow she felt a knot of nervousness. She drew a deep breath and said, "Master, it is Xueqi. Did you send for me?"

Master Shuijing's voice came from within, flat and without feeling. "Yes. Come in."

Lu Xueling composed herself and pushed the door open. The furnishings inside were very simple—table and chairs, tea things—and by the window stood a desk with paper, inkstone, brush, and ink. Master Shuijing had never been one for luxury. She was sitting now at the desk by the window, gazing silently at the bamboo grove outside.

Lu Xueling came to stand behind her, looking at Master Shuijing's back, and said softly, "Master."

Master Shuijing turned slowly and looked at Lu Xueling, but Lu Xueling seemed unwilling to meet her master's eyes and lowered her head. Neither spoke; for a moment the room's atmosphere grew somewhat awkward. In truth, neither Master Shuijing nor Lu Xueling was much given to talk, and such scenes had indeed occurred when they were alone before. Yet somehow, on this day and at this hour, a strange unfamiliarity seemed to stand between master and disciple, setting a distance between them far greater than before.

After a while, Master Shuijing broke the silence, asking in a flat voice, "On your journey to the southwest this time, was everything smooth along the way?"

Lu Xueling nodded and said, "It was bearable. The beast demons ran wild the whole way, but we did our best to avoid them. In the end we found a Demonic Cult disciple who had gone mad, and only then did we find Viper Valley, and see..."

Her voice suddenly stopped, and a plainly visible pang of pain flitted across her face; even her body seemed to tremble slightly. Master Shuijing gazed at Lu Xueling, a flicker of light shifting in her eyes as though she were pondering something. After a moment, she looked at Lu Xueling and said, "Did you see him?"

Lu Xueling started, and looked toward Master Shuijing. The master's gaze was placid, yet it seemed to have seen straight into the depths of her heart. Lu Xueling's expression shifted and changed, and she said in a low voice, "Master, wh-what are you saying?"

Master Shuijing said coldly, "I am speaking of Zhang Qingyue—the very Ming Li who now sits in the Hall of the Underworld King!"

Shuiyue's voice was not loud, but to Lu Xueling it was like a thunderclap at her ear. She jerked her head up, her face pale, yet Master Shuijing, standing before her, fixed her bright eyes still upon hers. Lu Xueling's lips parted slightly and closed again, pressed tightly together, and she said not a word.

Silence descended once more.

How long it lasted, no one could say. At last Master Shuijing's expression slowly eased, and into the look she bent on Lu Xueling there gradually crept a measure of pity and heartache.

"Qi'er, how long do you mean to keep deceiving me?" Master Shuijing said slowly, watching Lu Xueling.

Lu Xueling's hands clenched into fists, the fair skin over her knuckles going white with the force of it—clearly her heart was deeply stirred at this moment. She gazed at the benefactress who had raised her from childhood, and mist slowly gathered in her eyes, but in the end she forced it back. Biting her lip, she slowly knelt down before Master Shuijing.

"It is your disciple's fault. I have failed your teachings." Her voice grew softer and softer, and her slender back seemed to tremble faintly as well.

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."