Chapter 18 — Answering the Summons

That morning, everyone on Dazhu Peak of the Canglan Sect was in high spirits, the disciples especially, every face wreathed in smiles; some nervousness there was, but it was mostly drowned in excitement.

Among them all, the only ones who had taken part in the last Seven Meridian Martial Contest were the eldest senior brother, Song Dayi, along with the second, Wu Dayi, the third, Zheng Dali, and the fourth, He Dachuan. As for the fifth, Lu Daxin, and the sixth, Du Biyan, they were all disciples Tian Buhui had taken on in recent decades; and the young Tian Lingsu and Zhang Qingyue had certainly never witnessed this grand event, held once every sixty years in the Canglan Sect.

Tian Lingsu was the happiest of all just then. Seizing the moment while Tian Buhui and his wife were making their final preparations, she pestered Song Dayi, the most experienced of them, with a stream of chatter: "Eldest Senior Brother, will there really be that many fellow disciples at the Seven Meridian Martial Contest?"

Song Dayi wore a smile, clearly in excellent spirits as well. "That's right. The Seven Meridian Martial Contest is the greatest event in our sect; every meridian regards it as a matter of the first importance. And those senior and junior brothers chosen to represent their meridians are all outstanding figures without exception. As for how magnificent and thrilling the spectacle is, that goes without saying."

At this, the fourth brother, He Dachuan, overheard from nearby and came over. Stealing a wink at Tian Lingsu, he said with a smile, "Little Junior Sister, what you don't know is that our eldest senior brother has left something unsaid."

Tian Lingsu gave a little "oh!" and, ignoring Song Dayi's astonished look, pressed on: "What is it, Fourth Senior Brother?"

He Dachuan smiled. "At the contest grounds, hundreds of fellow disciples gather to watch. The victor stands on the platform amid thunderous applause, and that pride is his beyond question. But if some pretty young junior sister from another meridian is won over by our eldest senior brother's brilliance, screaming and cheering—well, isn't that an even greater delight in life?" At this point he turned to Song Dayi with a perfectly straight face. "Eldest Senior Brother, would you say that's so or not?"

Song Dayi's face suddenly went red.

Tian Lingsu saw it plainly and found it truly strange. "Eldest Senior Brother, why did your face suddenly go red?"

Song Dayi shook his head like a rattle drum. "No, no, who's red? I'm not red..."

He Dachuan cleared his throat, and saw that the other senior and junior brothers had gathered around at some point, unaware. The younger ones, like Du Biyan and Zhang Qingyue, understood little of it, but Wu Dayi and Zheng Dali both wore smiles. So he laughed and said, "Ah, so Second Senior Brother and Third Senior Brother are here too. My memory's been poor lately—it seems at the last contest, when our eldest senior brother won two bouts in a row and reached the third round, there was a young and beautiful junior sister from our sect. What was her name now? I've forgotten..."

Wu Dayi immediately took it up: "Ah, I can't recall clearly either. But I believe she was a junior sister from Xiaozhu Peak. Extremely beautiful, she was. Her name, though..."

Zheng Dali, his face all smiles, said, "Her name, well, we've all forgotten it. But the one who clapped loudest that day, the one making eyes at our eldest senior brother—we all remember what she looked like."

"Whoa!"

At these words the crowd erupted. Tian Lingsu led the interrogation: "Eldest Senior Brother, which senior sister was it who was so good to you?"

Song Dayi looked deeply embarrassed. He shot He Dachuan a fierce glare and said with a dry laugh, "N-nothing of the sort. Don't listen to Fourth Senior Brother's nonsense. Junior Sister Wen Pei of Xiaozhu Peak was only doing it for our master's wife's sake, cheering us on a few extra times."

"Oh?" He Dachuan said at once. "Eldest Senior Brother, that's odd. Second Senior Brother and Third Senior Brother and I didn't even know that person's name, so how is it you came out with it straight away? Though when you think about it, Senior Sister Wen Pei really was good to our eldest senior brother..."

The crowd roared with laughter. Song Dayi knew he had let something slip, and knew still better that in a battle of words he was no match for He Dachuan, the shrewdest man on all Dazhu Peak; the more he said, the more he would err. So he gave a snort, and relying on his rather thick skin, said with a dry laugh, "Idle gossips. Heh heh. I'll go see whether Master and Mistress are ready."

Tian Lingsu was about to press him further, but Song Dayi had already slipped away faster than the wind and vanished in the blink of an eye. She had to grab He Dachuan instead, her bright, limpid eyes full of excitement. "Fourth Senior Brother, quick, tell me—what does that Senior Sister Wen Pei actually look like?"

He Dachuan laughed. "Little Junior Sister, don't you often go back to Xiaozhu Peak with our master's wife to visit Master Shuijing? How is it you've never once seen Senior Sister Wen Pei? She's Master Shuijing's prized disciple."

Tian Lingsu shook her head. "Whenever I go to Xiaozhu Peak with Mother, we go straight to see Master Shuijing. I've hardly met any of the senior sisters there. Come on, tell me!"

He Dachuan laughed. "No hurry, no hurry. Today we go to Jietian Peak, the home of the chief meridian, for the Seven Meridian Martial Contest. You'll most likely see her there."

Tian Lingsu gave an "oh," and then her eyes turned slyly, as if she had realized something. "No wonder our eldest senior brother looked so radiant the moment I got up this morning—he's been nursing a secret scheme!"

The crowd stared blankly for a moment, then caught on and burst out laughing. Tian Lingsu laughed too, and the last trace of nervousness she had felt about the Seven Meridian Martial Contest melted away into nothing. She looked around: every face was wreathed in smiles, every heart light. But when her gaze fell on Zhang Qingyue, she suddenly started. He wore a smile, yet over these years she had grown closest to him of all, and at a glance she could tell he seemed somewhat distracted.

While the others were caught up in laughter and talk, Tian Lingsu quietly drew Zhang Qingyue aside and said in a low voice, "Xiaofan, is something the matter?"

Zhang Qingyue started slightly. His lips moved; his right hand unconsciously went to his chest. At last he said, "It's nothing, Senior Sister."

Tian Lingsu looked at him and said flatly, "What is it? Let me see."

Zhang Qingyue hesitated, then drew out what he carried in his bosom and showed it to her. Tian Lingsu would have been better off not looking; the sight only astonished her the more. "Why are you carrying that black iron rod around with you?"

Seeing her face full of surprise—and even with a touch of reproach, she looked so beautiful—Zhang Qingyue stammered, "Master's grace, he let me come along to see the world. My cultivation is shallow; I have no magic treasures, and I don't know how to use them..."

Tian Lingsu's face lit with understanding, and she could not help bursting into laughter. "Ah, ha ha, so that's it. Then you're going to the Seven Meridian Martial Contest carrying this—this black iron rod? In two thousand years of the Canglan Sect, we already had one oddity in Sixth Senior Brother with his dice treasure, and now—and now you, you're actually bringing a black iron rod... Ha ha ha ha, I—I'm dying of laughter."

The disciples of Dazhu Peak standing nearby heard Tian Lingsu suddenly laughing so hard and came over one after another. Having heard the reason, they could not help another round of laughter. Zhang Qingyue looked around at all the smiling, happy senior brothers and sisters, yet in his heart there suddenly rose a surge of anger.