Chapter 8 — The Beginning
劍問蒼天 · Page 1 of 5
By dinnertime, the sky had already darkened.
On Dazhu Peak, the back mountain was covered in vast stretches of bamboo forest. The buildings where everyone lived, however, were all on the front peak. The largest and most important was the main hall, Shoujing Hall, and Tian Buhui, his wife, and their daughter lived in the rear chamber within it. Beside Shoujing Hall was the covered corridor and small courtyard where the disciples lived. But since there were so few of them, there were more rooms than people, and each had a room to himself—even newcomer Zhang Qingyue got one. In terms of living conditions alone, Dazhu Peak had, for once, managed to surpass the other branches of the sect.
What remained were the Taiji Cave for martial training, the kitchen, and the dining hall. By now all the disciples had gathered in the dining hall, where the sixth disciple, Du Biyan, in charge of meals, brought dish after dish to the table—mostly vegetables, with little meat. The disciples took their seats in order along the right side of the long table. Song Dayi sat at the very front, while Zhang Qingyue humbly took the last seat. At the head of the table and on the opposite side were placed one large chair and two smaller ones, evidently prepared for Tian Buhui and his family.
Zhang Qingyue glanced at the empty seat beside him—that of the sixth disciple, Du Biyan, who was still busy. After a while, Du Biyan finally finished bringing out the food, washed his hands, returned to his seat, and waited with the others for their master.
Du Biyan looked rather young, with a thin, pointed face and large triangular eyes that darted about restlessly, giving him a clever, nimble air. After sitting down, he looked at Zhang Qingyue and smiled. "Little junior brother, what's your name?"
Zhang Qingyue answered honestly, "Zhang Qingyue."
Du Biyan said, "I'm your sixth senior brother, Du Biyan."
Zhang Qingyue called out respectfully, "Sixth senior brother."
Du Biyan cleared his throat, patted him on the shoulder, and said with a smile, "In a little while, you'll have a taste of your senior brother's cooking."
Zhang Qingyue, seeing the table full of dishes and catching their irresistible aroma, could not help swallowing, and nodded vigorously.
Du Biyan suddenly grinned, looking rather sly, and pointed toward the entrance of the hall. "Little junior brother, in a moment our master, mistress, and little junior sister will come in through that door. Shall we make a bet?"
Zhang Qingyue froze, and the others at the table all turned their heads, their faces wearing smiles. Someone sitting near Du Biyan said, "Old Six, you're gambling again?"
Beside him, the lean, sharp-featured He Dachuan laughed. "He hasn't won in so long he's reduced to cheating children now?"
"Go on, go on, go on!" Du Biyan waved his hand again and again, ignoring the others, and said to Zhang Qingyue with a face full of smiles, "Little junior brother, guess which of the three—master, mistress, and little junior sister—will be the first to step through that door. Hmm, you've just joined the sect, so I'll let you guess first. Don't say your senior brother bullied you."
From farther down the table, the second disciple, Wu Dayi, called out loudly, "Little junior brother, since it's a bet, you should first ask him what you get if you lose and what you get if you win!"
Du Biyan said, "Afraid I'll welsh on the bet? I, Du Biyan, have made my way through the world on the fame of my gambling honor—" (Everyone burst out laughing: "You've never won!") "—little junior brother, if you guess right, I'll chop bamboo for you for ten days. If you lose, you wash dishes for me for ten days. How about it?"
Everyone laughed again, and Song Dayi chuckled and cursed, "Hopeless."
Seeing how kindly his senior brothers smiled and how warm they were, treating him as no outsider at all, Zhang Qingyue felt a rush of warmth in his heart. "All right," he said.