Chapter 60 — Storm
劍問蒼天 · Page 4 of 5
"You -- why must you do this?" Zhang Qingyue lowered his head and said softly: "I guessed your father must be someone important, and that you must be a pampered young lady in daily life. Why risk so much for a mere disciple of Qingyun, and come here to suffer?"
The wind and rain sighed, heaven and earth were solemn and desolate. In the vast night rain, it seemed the whole world had left only this one place, only the two of them.
Bili seemed to feel a slight chill and leaned closer to Zhang Qingyue. The gesture was intimate and familiar, just like that day in the Blooddrop Cave, when the two of them had faced life and death.
Her voice now carried a note of vagueness: "No, I am not suffering. You don't know it, but the truly bitter things in this world are all in people's hearts..."
Her voice gradually lowered, and the words that followed became inaudible. But Zhang Qingyue suddenly felt her quietly lean her head against his shoulder.
The sound of wind and rain swept past, and Zhang Qingyue felt only that his mind had gone completely blank.
Only that faint fragrance beside him, in this cold wind and rain, so truly entwined about him.
At dawn, the clouds parted and the sun rose; the rain stopped and the wind died.
Tian Buhui walked out of the cave alone. In the distance he saw that his little disciple was, incredibly, still kneeling at the edge of the distant forest, motionless.
He frowned and walked over. As he drew near, Zhang Qingyue heard the sound, raised his head, and saw that it was indeed his master, Tian Buhui. His mouth moved twice, and he whispered: "Master."
Tian Buhui saw that his clothes were soaked through, water still dripping from his hair now and then, and his face looked all the paler. Clearly the torrential rain of the night before had caused him considerable suffering.
At the thought, he could not help frowning. Now he also heard voices faintly coming from the row of caves behind him, and guessed that the disciples of the various sects had risen. Tian Buhui gave a snort, then set off walking toward the woods. As he passed Zhang Qingyue, he said lightly: "Come with me."
Zhang Qingyue hurriedly answered and tried to rise, but he had barely gotten halfway up when his legs suddenly gave way and he fell back down. His feet felt numb and sore beyond measure, no doubt from kneeling all night.
Tian Buhui, walking ahead, paused. He seemed to hesitate for a moment, but still did not turn back, and went on straight ahead.
Zhang Qingyue gritted his teeth and repeatedly rubbed and massaged his legs with his hands. Fortunately he was not one who had been raised in comfort; the body he had built up in his early days chopping bamboo on Dazhu Peak now answered him, and after no long while his blood and breath flowed a little better, and he could walk.
Zhang Qingyue stood up and looked ahead, but saw that Tian Buhui's figure was already about to disappear into the forest. He hurried after him at a run. Not long after, by the time the righteous disciples came out of the caves, the two of them were nowhere to be seen.
In the forest on Liubo Mountain, ancient towering trees were everywhere; trees an arm's span around could be found on every side, and even giant trees that two or three men together could barely encircle were seen from time to time. No doubt this was because the place was remote and had always been uninhabited.
Zhang Qingyue followed behind Tian Buhui, walking slowly through the forest. The faint light of early morning filtered down through the treetops and scattered over the shrubs in the wood.
In this forest after the rain, everything seemed to have been washed clean, and green was everywhere. Now and then some nameless little flower bloomed in a lonely, untrodden spot, giving off a faint, fresh fragrance.