Chapter 14 — A Prodigy

Su Wan nodded and lowered her voice. "Yes. Back then your eldest senior brother had managed to win two bouts in a row, and your father and I were overjoyed. Then in the third round he met this man and was beaten in a few exchanges."

Tian Lingsu stuck out her tongue and said, "Then he must be very formidable?"

Su Wan did not answer at once. She turned to look at her husband, and saw Tian Buhui sitting motionless, his face ashen. She could only shake her head and say, "Qi Hao's aptitude is indeed far above your eldest senior brother's. There was no trickery in that match. In particular, the immortal sword he wields, 'Cold Ice,' was forged from ten-thousand-year ice crystals of the far north and is exceedingly powerful. Your eldest senior brother is no match for him."

Just then Tian Buhui seemed to sense something and turned to look at Su Wan as well. Their eyes met, and each saw in the other's heart the words left unspoken: if only Dazhu Peak had such talent among its disciples, how wonderful that would be!

Below the dais, Qi Hao was chatting merrily with the disciples. Accomplished in cultivation and trusted by his masters, he often traveled the world and had seen much; moreover he was glib of tongue, his witty remarks falling like pearls, and for a time everyone felt drawn to him. Even Song Dayi, once defeated by him, had long since lost any hostility.

Amid a burst of laughter—Qi Hao had said some joke or other and set them all roaring—his gaze happened to fall on Tian Lingsu, who had stood behind Su Wan all this while, and then on the "Amber Crimson Silk" wound about her waist. His eyes lit up, and he smiled and said, "Could this young lady be the renowned Junior Sister Tian Lingsu?"

Tian Lingsu raised an eyebrow and said, "How do you know of me?"

Qi Hao smiled slightly, stepped forward a few paces, and looked at her. "Junior Sister Tian is but sixteen, yet your attainment in the Taiji Xuanqing Dao is already no small matter—this is known throughout the sect, and I have admired you for a long time. Seeing you today, I find the reputation well deserved."

Tian Lingsu blushed and said crossly, "You've never even seen me fight. How do you know my reputation is deserved?"

Qi Hao was taken aback for a moment, then laughed. "Junior Sister Tian is not only beautiful as a flower but keen of wit as well—you put this senior brother of yours to shame."

Tian Lingsu saw a tall, handsome figure standing before her and heard him praise her beauty. A sudden sweetness welled in her heart, but her face still wore a stern look as she said, "Always talking nonsense—what sort of senior brother are you? Have you no shame!"

Tian Buhui frowned, and Su Wan had already said, "Ling'er, that's no way to talk."

Qi Hao hastily said to Su Wan, "Uncle Su, please do not blame Junior Sister—it was I who spoke out of turn and offended her." Here he paused in thought, then drew a small brocade box from his bosom and handed it to Tian Lingsu, smiling. "Junior Sister Tian, the 'Cooling Pearl' in this little box came into my possession some years ago when I accompanied our master, the Venerable Cangsong, in ridding the world of a band of demonic cult villains. It is no rare treasure, but worn on one's person it dispels heat and cools the body, and they say it also benefits a lady's complexion and skin. I give it to you today as a token of my apology."

Tian Lingsu blushed again. Before she could speak, Su Wan said, "Nephew Qi, this Cooling Pearl is a treasure of sorts. Ling'er cannot accept it. You had best put it away at once."

Qi Hao smiled and said, "Uncle Su does not know—this Cooling Pearl is of little use to me, like a chicken's rib, tasteless yet a pity to discard. But Junior Sister Tian, in the bloom of youth and beauty, is just the one to use it. Let it be a small token of my regard, and I hope Junior Sister Tian will not disdain it."

Tian Lingsu looked at Qi Hao, her expression much softened, and reached out to take the little box. "Thank you, Senior Brother Qi," she said softly.

Qi Hao seemed greatly pleased, his face wreathed in smiles. "No thanks needed, no thanks needed. Junior Sister, your natural gifts are keen and bright, and your future knows no limit. Indeed, though the Canglan Sect has many talented people, few can match your aptitude—I willingly yield to you."

Hearing this, Tian Buhui's face broke into a smile for the first time. Tian Lingsu said, "Senior Brother flatters me."

Qi Hao shook his head. "Not at all. I too was brought up the mountain by my master as a child, but at your age my cultivation was far below yours. However..."

Tian Lingsu, with a young girl's heart, felt greatly well disposed toward Qi Hao after hearing his praise, but at his "however" she could not help pressing him. "However what?"

By now even Tian Buhui and Su Wan had turned to listen, curious what Qi Hao's "however" might mean. Qi Hao said, "However, if we speak of aptitude alone, there is one who might rival Junior Sister Tian."

Tian Lingsu was startled. "Who?"

Qi Hao smiled and gestured beyond the Shoujing Hall. "None other than this junior brother of mine, Lin. Since our master, the Venerable Cangsong, took him in three years ago, his progress in these few short years has been astonishing, and in the way of cultivation he is a prodigy of rare talent unmatched among the disciples of our meridian. In three years he broke through to the fourth layer of the Yuqing Realm—in a thousand years no such figure has been heard of." Here Qi Hao's voice brimmed with affection. "Our master cannot praise Junior Brother Lin enough, calling him a prodigy seen but once in a thousand years, all but comparable to Patriarch Qingye of old!"

"Crack!" A sharp sound startled them all, and they turned toward it. There sat Tian Buhui, his face livid, his expression beyond hideous—and the hard rosewood armrest beside his hand had been wrenched clean off by his grip.

Qi Hao was taken aback and said quietly to Su Wan, "Uncle Su, have I said something wrong?"

Su Wan forced a laugh and was about to speak when suddenly a shout came from outside the hall: "Aiya!" Before the sound had died, a figure came tumbling in through the doorway, landing with a thud on the floor, and such was the momentum that he rolled backward a few more turns—covered in dust, utterly bedraggled. The others looked closely: who should it be but Zhang Qingyue?

The faces of all of Dazhu Peak changed. Tian Lingsu, the closest to Zhang Qingyue, rushed forward first, helped him up, and asked anxiously, "Xiaofan, what happened to you?"

Zhang Qingyue had taken a hard fall and his head was still spinning, but he managed to say, "N-nothing, I'm fine."

Just then Lin Jinghong came running in from outside as well, his face anxious. "Xiaofan, are you all right? I lost control for a moment..."

At once Tian Lingsu knew that this was the man who had bullied her junior brother. Her anger flared, and added to that, Qi Hao had just praised Lin Jinghong to his face, with the implication that she was no match for him—which had left her thoroughly displeased. She thought no more of it now, but rose to her feet in a fury. "What right have you to bully people?" As she spoke she pointed a hand seal, and at once radiant light blazed forth: the Amber Crimson Silk was summoned, and with a "whoosh" it shot toward Lin Jinghong.

Su Wan and Qi Hao shouted at the same moment: "Stop!"

But the Amber Crimson Silk was swift as lightning and in an instant had reached Lin Jinghong's face. Lin Jinghong was startled but not panicked. Seeing only a blaze of five colors before his eyes, he knew it for an immortal's treasure. At once he retreated three steps, his left hand pointing to heaven and his right to earth, gripping the sword seal, and shouted, "Rise!"