Chapter 7 — Taking a Master
劍問蒼天 · Page 3 of 5
The moment Tian Buhui left, before anyone else could speak, the little girl Tian Lingsu had already darted in front of Zhang Qingyue and was studying him closely. Zhang Qingyue saw that lovely, lotus-like face bobbing before his eyes—young as she was, she was already a budding beauty. In Liumiao Village he had never seen a girl his own age so pretty, and he could not help blushing.
"Ha!" Tian Lingsu pointed at him as though she had found a rare treasure and crowed, "Senior brothers, look—he blushes when he sees me!"
The hall erupted in laughter, and Zhang Qingyue's face burned redder still. Su Wan came over and scolded with a smile, "Linger, don't bully your junior brother."
Tian Lingsu made a face, not taking her mother's words to heart in the least. She straightened up and said to Zhang Qingyue, "Hey, hurry up and call me Senior Sister."
Zhang Qingyue felt a flash of anger, but looking at Tian Lingsu before him—bright eyes, white teeth, a figure already so striking—he grew flustered, and could not help blurting, "Senior Sister."
On Dazhu Peak, Tian Lingsu had always ranked last. Now at last she had a junior brother younger than herself, and she was delighted. She promptly put on a pompous air and said, "Good boy, little junior brother. From now on you must obey your senior sister, all right?"
Zhang Qingyue mumbled an answer. "Yes."
Su Wan pulled her daughter away. "No more nonsense." Then to Song Dayi she said, "Daren, the little junior brother is still young, and the lessons may be a strain for him. Look after him a little more."
Song Dayi said respectfully, "Yes."
The other five disciples stood together nearby, chattering and giggling, darting glances this way and that, looking thoroughly pleased at another's misfortune.
Just then Su Wan suddenly did something very strange—she rolled her head around as though loosening her muscles, utterly at odds with the dignified air she had worn until now. In an instant the laughter of the Dazhu Peak disciples died away, and every one of them stood gaping, wearing the look of people on the brink of disaster.
Su Wan cleared her throat. "You…"
"Mistress!" It was Song Dayi who cried out, sweat already on his brow.
Su Wan frowned. "What is it?"
The other five junior brothers shouted as one, "Eldest Senior Brother, what are you doing?"
Song Dayi said urgently, "Mistress, the little junior brother has only just entered the sect. Your disciple has been ordered by Master to teach him the rules and the entry lessons—so I must go and attend to that."
Su Wan considered a moment, then nodded. "That's true enough. Off you go."
"What?" the five remaining junior brothers cried in unison.
Song Dayi gave a dry laugh, said nothing more, scooped Zhang Qingyue up, and before the boy could ask a single question hurried out of the hall, saying as he went, "Little junior brother, let your senior brother find a quiet spot and teach you the sect rules first…"
Tian Lingsu followed, laughing, greatly amused. Behind them someone shouted angrily, "Eldest Senior Brother, you have no shame!"
"Coward!"
…
Zhang Qingyue heard it all and was utterly baffled. Why should his eldest senior brother be called a coward for teaching him the sect rules?
As he puzzled over it, Su Wan's sharp voice cut in—cool and clear as ice splitting snow: "Silence."
The hall fell instantly quiet.
Su Wan said, "You worthless lot—the moment you see me about to test your cultivation, you turn into this. Five years from now comes the Canglan Sect's once-in-sixty-years 'Seven Peaks Martial Trial.' Last time you shamed your master and me half to death. If you don't work hard this time, how are we two to face our fellow sect members? Come—all five of you, at once…"