Chapter 23 — The Contest
劍問蒼天 · Page 8 of 8
Zhang Qingyue shouted along with the rest, and louder than any of them. As the others went off to make their preparations—three of the next eight matches would feature Dazhu Peak disciples, so Tian Buhui and Su Wan split up to watch—Su Wan saw Zhang Qingyue still standing there and, after admonishing him a few times to "watch carefully on your own," went off. Zhang Qingyue thought for a moment, meaning to find Tian Lingsu and pick a platform with her to cheer on their senior brothers. He looked around, and suddenly saw, ahead in the crowd, Tian Lingsu walking briskly forward—and before her stood Qi Hao, elegant as a jade tree, smiling as he watched her.
Zhang Qingyue's heart sank at once.
Tian Lingsu went up to Qi Hao and chatted with him a few words, all smiles. Qi Hao at once beamed and began talking incessantly at her ear, and Tian Lingsu laughed without cease; both looked utterly delighted. After chatting and laughing a while, the two went off together, as though they had chosen a platform to watch the matches.
Zhang Qingyue stood where he was, dazed and staring. In a trance he felt a vast grief and disappointment surge up in his heart; all his seething blood ran cold, cold to the very bottom of his being.
Note 1: *Records of Gods and Demons · Chapter on Spirit Beasts*, Three-Eyed Spirit Monkey: It comes from Mount Sumeru in the West. Clever and mischievous, it lives beyond a thousand years and so opens its spirit eye, which sees a thousand li, and it can command grass, trees, earth, and stone. It serves as a guardian beneath the Dipankara Buddha.
Note 2: *Records of Gods and Demons*: An ancient book of marvels recording the strange phenomena of heaven and earth, rare treasures, wondrous birds and beasts, demons, monsters, gods, and spirits. It is said to have been written by the ancient eccentric Yunhai Shuku. The original work had ten chapters; most are now lost, and only four survive in the world.
Further note: Of Yunhai Shuku himself, no official history records a thing. The unofficial *Notes on Mountains and Rivers* by the Hermit of Nine Peaks says: "A man of the Xiao clan in ancient times, birth and death unknown. Clever from childhood, he never forgot a thing once he had seen it. He traveled the world, visiting every famous mountain and ancient marsh, and so wrote the ten chapters of *Records of Gods and Demons*—splendid and wondrous, the finest book of marvels under heaven. Most of it is lost. What a pity!"