Chapter 45 — The Golden Bell
The Sword Questions the Heavens · Page 5 of 5
Whether or not her words had any effect, Zhang Qingyue gradually quieted, and the terror on his face slowly subsided. But what followed was an expression of utter heartbreak.
His eyes stayed tightly shut, and he murmured low, "Senior Sister, Senior Sister, don't ignore me. I, I want to... don't ignore me..."
Bili was taken aback; a sudden ache rose in her heart. But she knew not whence the courage came, and said softly, "No, no — your senior sister is here. She won't ignore you."
At once a smile broke over Zhang Qingyue's face, as though this were the happiest moment of his life. "Senior Sister, Senior Sister..." he murmured without cease.
Bili looked at that face, anguish shot through with a faint sliver of happiness, and a pang of pain passed through her heart.
What sort of woman was this, whom he cherished so? This senior sister whom he could not forget even in his sleep?
She suddenly remembered that day at the bottom of the Death Spirit Abyss, when Zhang Qingyue had defended so fiercely the Canglan Sect girl disciple with the blue immortal sword. Could it be her?
Bili frowned. She remembered clearly that the woman had a beauty to beggar description — one might say a beauty that could overthrow a kingdom, and no mistake. Small wonder Zhang Qingyue was bewitched by her! Yet clever as Bili was, she could never have guessed that the one Zhang Qingyue could not forget was Tian Lingsu, who was even then still on Dazhu Peak in the Canglan Mountains.
In the days that followed, as Bili stayed ever at Zhang Qingyue's side, she heard more of his affairs in his ravings. She learned that he had been born in a place called Willow Temple Village; she learned of that dreadful massacre of the village; and she learned that the woman he cherished in his heart was his senior sister on Dazhu Peak — though she was still not quite certain whether this senior sister was the woman with the blue immortal sword that day.
Yet in those days of caring for Zhang Qingyue, even Bili herself felt that she had come to regard the youth with a strange feeling. Each day, gazing at his haggard face became almost the only way she had to pass the endless hours.
She would often gaze at him so, for a very long time, and never once did it occur to her that in the stone chamber on the other side lay the demon cult's classic wonder, the Book of Heaven.
Sometimes, after Zhang Qingyue had fallen asleep, she would pace slowly to the passage Lady Golden Bell had left behind and gaze at it a while, then say softly, "My lady, the old tales of the cult say you left a warning that the men of this world are all faithless. But did you ever see this man called Zhang Qingyue? He is devoted indeed!"
In the empty, silent cave no one answered her. Only, as she turned away, the little golden bell gave out its clear, sweet note, echoing softly around her, through the cavern, as though telling of something.
As though in the hidden dark, those eyes so gentle, that lingering ghost that would not depart, were gazing upon them, twining about them.