Chapter 190 — Anomaly
The Sword Questions the Heavens · Page 3 of 7
And at this very moment, just as Ming Li and Jin Pingyue were about to enter the mysterious, uncanny Hundred Thousand Savage Mountains in pursuit of the defeated, fleeing Beast Sovereign, within the sacred Yuheng Hall atop Jietian Peak of Canglan Mountain there erupted a quarrel of no small size.
After the beast-demon calamity, the heads of the six branches of the Canglan Sect other than the chief branch of Jietian Peak had gathered once more in Yuheng Hall—a rare occurrence. But what mattered most was that they had not come at the summons of the sect master, Dao Yan; they had come of their own accord. And the one who received them in the great hall was not Dao Yan either, but Xiao Yichen, whose face bore a faint look of embarrassment.
Among the six branch heads, Qi Hao of Longji Peak and Chu Yuhong of Chaoyang Peak were both of the second generation and of the same generation as Xiao Yichen, so naturally they could not speak as bluntly as the other four martial uncles; for most of the time the two of them remained silent. But the heads of the other four branches—Dazhu Peak, Xiaozhu Peak, Fenghui Peak, and Luoxia Peak—did not mince words.
Tian Buhui, head of Dazhu Peak, had the loudest voice of the four. Seated upright in a chair of red sandalwood, he said coldly to Xiao Yichen, "Nephew Xiao, we six have been here two hours now. Why does our senior brother the sect master still not come out to see us? In his eyes, have we old fellows sunk so low as this?"
Xiao Yichen's face was steeped in embarrassment, a bitter smile all over it, and he said with an ingratiating air, "What words are these, Uncle Tian? You have always been a man of great virtue and prestige in our Canglan Sect, and my master has always held you in high regard—everyone knows it..."
Before he could finish, Tian Buhui gave a snort and said with a cold laugh, "So our senior brother holds me in such high regard that he leaves me to cool my heels here for two hours and gives me not a thought?"
Xiao Yichen was checked for a moment, then said with a bitter smile, "Uncle Tian, I have already told you: my master did indeed enter the Moon Mirage Cave-Heaven ten days ago for secluded cultivation and has not come out since. At present the affairs of Jietian Peak are temporarily in my hands."
The four elder branch heads seated below gave a simultaneous cold snort, plainly disbelieving Xiao Yichen's words. Master Shuijing of Xiaozhu Peak, seated to one side, said coldly, "Nephew Xiao, these ten days, though I have been at Xiaozhu Peak, I have several times heard that our senior brother the sect master has been behaving strangely on Jietian Peak. Worse still, some days ago, late one night, word spread that the sect master, as if gone mad, stood atop Yuheng Hall howling at the sky. Is this so?"
Xiao Yichen shook his head at once. "Nothing of the kind, nothing of the kind. Uncle Shuiyue must have heard wrongly. My master is a man who has attained the Way, leader of the righteous path under heaven, of immortal bearing—how could he do anything so wild and unreasonable?"
The four elder branch heads exchanged a glance, and each saw in the others' eyes grave doubt concerning Xiao Yichen's words. Daoist Tianri, who sat beside the head of Fenghui Peak and had succeeded Tianyun Daoren as head of Luoxia Peak, looked lean and ascetic, clad in a Taoist robe, his brows tightly knit, and said, "Nephew Xiao, it is not that we, your martial uncles, mean to make things hard for you. The truth is that our senior brother the sect master is the very heart of our Canglan Sect; should anything befall him, I fear the foundation of our Qingyun itself would be shaken. It is for this very reason that we insisted on coming up to question you—do not take it to heart."