Chapter 16 — Secret Transmission
劍問蒼天 · Page 4 of 4
Zhang Qingyue stepped forward, seized the stick, and waved the two of them off. To his surprise they were rather unwilling, barking "woof woof woof" and chattering "chee-chee-chee-chee" without cease. Zhang Qingyue waved his hand threateningly: "Go on, get out of here, stop making a racket—or no lunch for you."
Dahuang and Xiaohui exchanged a glance. One gave a growl, the other pulled a great grimace, and then Xiaohui leaped onto the dog's back, and Dahuang carried it off past Zhang Qingyue with a swaggering air of utter contempt. Zhang Qingyue was left choking with indignation.
Cursing the two beasts under his breath, Zhang Qingyue turned and went back into the kitchen—and only then realized that the stick in his hand was in fact that strange black rod from the trip to the secluded valley half a year before. No doubt Xiaohui had been up to mischief and fished the thing out of some corner at some point to play with Dahuang.
Zhang Qingyue sighed, then a thought struck him. He hurried to the stove and used the black stick as a poker for a few turns—and it fit his hand remarkably well. Moreover, whatever material the stick was made of, the fire could not burn it and it did not conduct heat; after being held to the flames a good while, it was still cool to the touch. Zhang Qingyue nodded repeatedly, thinking this would serve him perfectly.
Poor Elder Heixin of the Demonic Sect, long since departed this world—had he known that the "Blood-devouring Pearl," the supreme treasure of the Demonic Sect that he had spent a lifetime's painstaking effort refining and that had once overawed the world, should come to be used as a stove poker, he would surely have been angered back to life in his grave, and then angered to death again.
At noon that day, the folk of Dazhu Peak sat in the dining hall. Tian Buhui was the last to come in; he took his seat and raised his eyes to scan his disciples. When his gaze reached Zhang Qingyue, he paused. Zhang Qingyue lowered his head, and Tian Buhui at once looked away.
"You all saw what happened yesterday?" Tian Buhui said flatly.
Silence fell over the gathering. Only Song Dayi said with an ingratiating smile, "Yes, Master displayed his mighty power and struck down those two—"
"Rubbish!" Tian Buhui suddenly roared, his voice shaking the whole hall. The others fell silent as cicadas in winter. Tian Buhui said furiously, "What you should have seen in yesterday's affair was the deep cultivation of our fellow disciples from the other lines. Never mind that Qi Hao—even the little fellow who's only been in the sect three years actually beat most of you, and came swaggering onto Dazhu Peak to make trouble. Do you understand that or not?"
A dead silence fell over the gathering. Only Zhang Qingyue suddenly raised his head.
Tian Buhui said coldly, "The Seven Lines Martial Assembly will be upon us in the blink of an eye. From today on, all you good-for-nothings are to go into seclusion—and if you don't train up to standard, see if I don't flay the hides off you!"
Everyone's face showed dismay, but not one dared utter a word. Tian Lingsu asked cautiously, "Father, then I—"
"You too!" Tian Buhui said flatly.
Tian Lingsu's mouth puckered, and she was about to speak when her mother gave her a stealthy tug. She turned to look at Su Wan's expression, and the words already on her lips were swallowed back.
Tian Buhui's voice echoed through the Shoujing Hall: "From now on, apart from Old Seven, who will handle the cooking, none of you are to leave these grounds for the next year and a half. You will all go into seclusion and cultivate. Understood?"
...
And so time hurried on. Beneath the calm surface of Dazhu Peak, a tension such as had never been known settled over everything. All the disciples devoted themselves single-mindedly to cultivating the Daoist arts—all but one leisurely yellow dog, one mischievous gray monkey, and one bored cook.