Chapter 17 — Object Driving
劍問蒼天 · Page 4 of 5
Su Wan glanced at her husband again, then addressed them all: "Time flies. Next month is the great Seven Veins Martial Contest. We will all go together to Jietian Peak, where the head sect resides. Make your preparations early." Here her beautiful, gentle face turned suddenly stern, and she said sharply: "This time, do not disappoint your master and me again. Understood?"
The disciples' hearts skipped, and they answered in unison: "Yes!"
"M-mistress." Amid the ringing answers came a small, discordant voice. Su Wan looked and saw it was the youngest, the seventh, Zhang Qingyue. She frowned. "What is it, Xiaofan?"
Zhang Qingyue said cautiously: "Does what you just said mean… that I'm going too?"
Su Wan was taken aback. She glanced at Tian Buhui, and a smile rose to her face. "Why, yes. Aren't you a disciple of Dazhu Peak as well?"
Zhang Qingyue was overjoyed. He crowed and leapt up, slapping palms with Du Biyan beside him in celebration, utterly ignoring Tian Buhui's cold muttering from afar: "There are nine places anyway. Give one to an idiot and it's still one wasted—might as well use it as not."
That night, Zhang Qingyue returned to his room to find Da Huang and Xiao Hui had long since gone to his bed to rest. A year and a half ago, Da Huang, being so close to Xiao Hui, had moved into Zhang Qingyue's room to sleep. At first it had given Tian Buhui a fright—he could not find his beloved dog anywhere—and when he learned the reason he only gave a cold snort and walked off without a word. Seeing his master raise no objection, Zhang Qingyue did not drive Da Huang out (in truth, he could not have driven him out; Da Huang took half the bed, and Xiao Hui half of that half, which tells you all you need to know of the room's master's state of mind).
But as time went on, whether from getting used to the crowding or from growing accustomed to each other, Zhang Qingyue stopped grumbling about Da Huang and Xiao Hui sleeping with him. Tonight he was in splendid spirits. He came in, sat down at the table, and caught sight of Da Huang sprawled lazily, while Xiao Hui had at some point slipped back to the kitchen and stolen his black iron rod again, and was now rubbing it against Da Huang's body.
Something stirred in him; he had a vague sense that Xiao Hui was rather taken with the rod. But he had no mood now to think on it—his heart was wholly filled with joy that his master had unexpectedly allowed him to attend the Seven Veins Martial Contest.
Had Da Huang and Xiao Hui looked at Zhang Qingyue then, they would have seen a human whose eyes shone with light. His eyes were on the monkey and the dog, but he seemed to be speaking to the air: "Look at that—I actually get a chance to go to the Seven Veins Martial Contest. That's wonderful. Master is truly magnanimous; even though I'm stupid, he's taking me along to broaden my horizons. Er—maybe I'll even get to see Jingyu then."
At this he seemed to recall something, and muttered softly to himself: "But if I really go up on stage, I'll probably disgrace Master. Oh well, what will be will be. Da Huang, Xiao Hui, don't you agree?"
"Chee-chee-chee-chee!"
Zhang Qingyue looked up and saw that Xiao Hui's mind was all in Da Huang's fur, carefully picking fleas, and had only cried out a few times to humor him, while Da Huang was even more direct—both dog ears drooping, not even glancing his way.
"You damn dog!" Zhang Qingyue cursed in indignation. Suddenly his vision went dark—Xiao Hui had hurled the black iron rod at him. He yelped and dodged; the rod struck the table, bounced twice, and fell to the floor.
"Chee-chee-chee-chee, woof woof woof!" This time the dog and monkey made a symphony of it. Zhang Qingyue pulled a face at the two beasts and sat down in vexation. Somehow the image of Qi Hao's heroic bearing on Dazhu Peak two years ago floated up in his mind again.