劍問蒼天 - 第201章 異人 - 清風書屋

Zhou Yixuan choked on that, his old face flushing slightly. He coughed twice, turned away, and gave a dry laugh: "Fine, fine, let's not talk about that. What I mean is, we have no place to stay now, so we'd best think of something."

The Wild Wolf Daoist shook his head. "There really is no household here to take us in. Senior, you know this area better than we do—think, is there some broken temple or the like nearby where we might make do for the night?"

Zhou Yixuan snorted and said with a cold laugh: "How is it you've decided I know this place well? I may have been born in He Yin City as a boy, but I've always roamed the world—when was I ever familiar with this place, eh!"

He suddenly seemed lost in thought, and stopped mid-sentence.

Xiao Wan and the Wild Wolf Daoist both found this odd. Xiao Wan said, "Grandfather, what were you going to say?"

Zhou Yixuan frowned, as though something had come to mind that he could not quite pin down. Slowly he turned to look ahead, seeming to be straining to recall something:

"That—I think I actually do remember. Not far ahead there's a fork in the road. If you go in along that small path, it's a bit of a distance, but there really is a house there."

Xiao Wan and the Wild Wolf Daoist both brightened. Xiao Wan laughed, "Really? Then what are we waiting for—let's go."

For some reason, Zhou Yixuan seemed hesitant, his brows knitted as he strained to remember. "But somehow I keep feeling something's not right. It's been too long—I only vaguely recall that there is indeed a house in this direction outside He Yin City, but it seems that house wasn't any good place. What it actually was, though, I can't recall..."

Xiao Wan shot him a look and started off first, paying him no mind. "All right, let's hurry. At least it's a house—no matter how broken, it doesn't matter. At least it beats sleeping out in the open."

Xiao Wan went first, and the Wild Wolf Daoist naturally followed. Zhou Yixuan brought up the rear, trailing along willy-nilly, but kept lightly tapping his head with his hand, brows tightly knit, muttering under his breath: "What kind of house was it, why can't I remember!"

They walked on a stretch, and by now the sky had gone completely dark, but by the faint light of a few stars in the sky, the three of them did indeed find a little path, all but swallowed up, branching off the main road and leading deep into the wilderness.

Xiao Wan and the Wild Wolf Daoist both nodded and set off up the path. The Wild Wolf Daoist even quickened his pace, walking ahead of Xiao Wan while keeping a wary eye on their surroundings. Only Zhou Yixuan still brought up the rear, grumbling from time to time in a complaining tone, as though he still could not recall just what that house in his memory had been or what it was for.

This little path turned out to be quite long. The three walked for nearly half an hour and still saw no sign of any house. Xiao Wan grew somewhat doubtful and turned her head to Zhou Yixuan: "Grandfather, are you sure you haven't misremembered?"

Under Xiao Wan's glance, Zhou Yixuan felt somewhat guilty and gave a dry laugh: "Well, well, you know how it is when people get old—sometimes they can't help misremembering a thing or two. But I really do remember there was a house on this road; it's just what that house was for that I can't recall at the moment. Besides, it's been so many years—it's quite possible someone tore it down. And even if no one did, with wind and frost and rain and snow, it may well have collapsed."

Xiao Wan was at a loss for words. She shook her head and turned around, when suddenly the Wild Wolf Daoist ahead came to a stop and called back loudly: "Come quickly, the house is here."

Xiao Wan and Zhou Yixuan both started. Then Zhou Yixuan was overjoyed and laughed aloud: "Aha, I told you! With this Immortal's brilliance, how could I fail to remember there was a house here? How could I be mistaken!"