Chapter 154 — The Old Abode
The Sword Questions the Heavens · Page 5 of 6
The steps you took through time, the roads you crossed—after many years, do you still remember to look back? Have you ever thought of turning back?
The sunlight fell warm upon his body, yet it was as though he stood in an ice cellar.
He Da Chuan and Du Biyan fell silent as well; it seemed that even they found the topic they had inadvertently raised oppressive and unanswerable. They busied themselves in the room for a while, then came out carrying the water bucket. He Da Chuan gently pulled the door shut and looked at the green grass and swaying pine boughs in the little courtyard; though it was brimming with the spirit of spring, there was somehow a note of loneliness about it. As though, with the master of the house absent, even this patch of spring light had dimmed a little.
He shook his head, sighed, and left together with Du Biyan.
A long while later, Ming Li slowly stepped out from behind the pine tree. The familiar mountain wind blew against his face and stirred his hair. He walked to the door, raised his right hand, and laid it upon it.
His movements were very, very slow, as though a weight of a thousand jun pressed upon his hand, and even the expression on his face was that of a man who could scarcely breathe. Yet that strange, indescribable feeling, like an invisible force, at last pushed the door open!
As though he had pushed open a window onto the years gone by, and caught sight of former days.
The familiar bed, the familiar table and chairs, and the horizontal scroll bearing the character for "Dao" hung upon the wall, which after all these years had taken on a faint tinge of yellow; even the kettle and teacups on the table looked exactly as they had in those days!
Who could know how many times this plain, simple room had appeared in his dreams? Even the air here seemed to carry a faint breath of old feeling. He walked slowly into the room, to the bedside, and slowly sat down, gently stroking the edge of the bed and the quilt with his hand; a soft sensation passed through his palm.
Who could see that he had suddenly bitten his lip, so hard, so deep!
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In the Shoujing Hall, Tian Buhui and Xiao Yichen sat down together. Tian Buhui seemed somewhat distracted; facing Xiao Yichen, his eyes were fixed elsewhere, as though he were pondering something. It was not until Xiao Yichen coughed and said, "Martial Uncle Tian," that he was roused.
Only then did Tian Buhui start as if waking, and nodded. "Hm, all right, out with it. What does Senior Brother Dao Yan want that he should send his prized disciple running all this way?"
Xiao Yichen smiled faintly. "You flatter me. It is like this: my honored master has two matters on which he wished me to consult Martial Uncle Tian."
Tian Buhui said, "Oh? Go on."
Xiao Yichen said, "The first is that the number of comrades of the righteous path coming to Canglan Mountain has continued to grow of late. The other branches have all received a good many, and Dazhu Peak has likewise settled more than a hundred comrades in the houses on the mountainside. Even so, there is still not enough room, and so my honored master wished me to beg Martial Uncle—might some more comrades of the righteous path be arranged on Dazhu Peak?"
Tian Buhui's brows went up, and he glanced at Xiao Yichen. Xiao Yichen looked a little embarrassed, but still kept a smiling face as he said, "Martial Uncle, this too is because the great calamity now looms over the world, and it cannot be helped. Moreover, our Canglan Sect has always styled itself the leader of the righteous path—surely we cannot push our comrades out the door?"
Tian Buhui gave a humph. "Don't take me for a fool. Of those so-called comrades of the righteous path, when it comes to actually fighting those beast-demons, not even three in ten will be of any use. More than half of them are here because of Qingyun's name, come to take refuge."