Chapter 58 — Heartbreak
劍問蒼天 · Page 6 of 7
Zhang Qingyue was taken aback; Lu Xueqi's face rose in his mind, and he recalled how below the Death Spirit Abyss she had saved him time and again, and gratitude welled up in him. "Senior sister Lu, out of regard for our fellow discipleship, I naturally..." He got halfway through when something struck him, and he turned to Tian Lingsu: "Sister, you weren't there then—how do you know senior sister Lu was frantic?"
Tian Lingsu stuck out her tongue, made a face, and laughed: "I heard it from senior brother Qi Hao."
Zhang Qingyue froze. Looking at sister Ling'er's sweetly smiling face, suddenly the heart that had been seething ever since their reunion went cold.
The next day, the righteous and the demon factions clashed again.
In the midst of the fighting, a virtuous monk of the Brahma Sound Temple saw the trees laid waste and the wild boars, hares, wild dogs, and wild snakes of the forest slaughtered—could not but sigh deeply and chant the compassionate rebirth spell. When he had finished, with a "Amitabha," he waved a Buddhist finger, and a magic treasure burst forth with earth-shaking force. The demon cult figures dodged aside, and with a boom another hillock was obliterated, and lives were slaughtered once more—so again he chanted the rebirth spell.
"Baldy thief, dead monk, if you've got the guts shut your mouth and come fight to the death! All day long gibber-jabbering your damned spells—if you don't curse us to death you'll nag us to death!"
"Amitabha. Benefactor Wild Dog, your sins are deep and heavy; if you do not turn back, I fear after death you shall fall into the Avichi Hell!"
"Bah, bah, bah! Baldy thief, are you even a monk? Cursing me right to my face!"
"..."
Zhang Qingyue, listening from behind, found the voice quite familiar; looking closely, it was indeed the grotesque-looking Wild Wolf Daoist from the Ten Thousand Bats Grotto of Kongsang Mountain that day. He now stood at the front of the demon cult ranks, face furious, spittle flying, finger stabbing at a Brahma Sound Temple monk as he cursed. And Elder Nian, Lin Feng, Liu Gao, and that beautiful young woman were all standing among the demon cult figures as well.
Zhang Qingyue was just thinking that these fellows had come here too when he heard someone behind him chant a Buddha's name: "Amitabha. Greetings, junior brother Zhang!"
Zhang Qingyue turned and saw acquaintances: Facheng and Fajing of the Brahma Sound Temple. Of the eight in the Ten Thousand Bats Grotto before, these two monks of the Brahma Sound Temple had always been friendly with him, and Facheng especially had looked on him with particular favor. And from Tian Lingsu he had also learned that though it was this Facheng who, against Lu Xueqi's objections, had made the decision to leave the Death Spirit Abyss that day, his grief at doing so was said to be such as could not be feigned for any sake.
Zhang Qingyue had been grateful ever since hearing it, and now, seeing it was Facheng and Fajing, he hastened to salute: "Greetings, senior brothers."
Facheng looked him over carefully, let out a long breath, and a smile rose to his face. "The ancients said, 'Heaven surely protects the good.' Now I believe it. Junior brother Zhang has escaped great calamity—cause for rejoicing; blessing must follow."
The tall, broad Fajing stood behind his master, a head shorter than he, and boomed in his deep voice, "Junior brother Zhang is blessed indeed!"
Zhang Qingyue was grateful at heart. "Thank you both for your concern, senior brothers."
Facheng nodded with a smile, then glanced at the field of battle, where the Wild Wolf Daoist had already begun dueling that Brahma Sound Temple monk. He reached out and patted Zhang Qingyue lightly on the shoulder. "We'll talk again when there's time."
Zhang Qingyue answered hurriedly, "Yes."