Chapter 272 - Wait and Watch (1/2)
My sword was but only an inch away from the Taoist priest’s chest. But it could go no further; an invisible force was gripping at my wrist, preventing me from going any further.
I tugged at my arm, indicating my intent to yield and the invisible force that held me vanished. I looked back, searching for the source of the voice and saw a little boy, dressed in traditional Taoist garb, emerging from within the midst of the frozen crowd. The unusually placid look he gave when our eyes locked told me enough that this was no ordinary boy, for his gaze was as deep and unfathomable as the deepest waters of a quiet lake.
Lin Feng and Chongxi formed up beside me and we bowed to him. “Our humblest apologies, Esteemed Celestial Master,” I said, “I hope you understand that we have had no choice.” “I understand fully, Master Shiyan,” the little boy that was one of the Celestial Master Zhangs who was now an immortal said, “And I want to thank you as well, for showing kindness.” I smiled, even though the edges of my lips twitched uncontrollably with slight irritation; I was nowhere near comfortable and accustomed to addressing a teenager with such respect and reverence. Yet despite his juvenile outlook, he spoke with the glacial pace of an elderly and that was what peeved me greatly.
Unexpectedly, the Celestial Master failed to not notice the look on my face but he took little heed in it, turning his attention to the Taoist priest now flabbergasted beyond words not far away. He was rooted to where he was standing with shock and bewilderedness. But that was only understandable, I guess. I, for one, might even go nuts if Father’s teacher would appear to me in such a fashion as well.
But the Celestial Master said nothing to the old priest. He merely held the priest in a long, serene stare before he promptly turned and walked into the crowd with all of us watching him wordlessly and disappeared among the copse of petrified people.
Big Sister whispered into my ear, “Who’s this brat?” “Celestial Master Zhang,” I uttered as a-matter-of-factly which elicited a greatly-startled “Ah?!” from her before I explained, “Not Zhang Daoling, I believe. The title of ‘Celestial Master Zhang’ is passed down through generations. This one, I believe, is the next greatest one after Zhang Daoling. One of the most illustrious and brightest among all of the Celestial Master Zhangs.” Big Sister could only nod, her eyes still wide with astonishment, although she quickly recovered and spun to face the nonplussed Taoist priest. “So,” she yelled, “What say you now?! Would you give up now?” The priest shuddered as if he woke up from a dream and his legs buckled as he sank to the ground, sitting dejectedly.
Chongxi walked back to the side of the wall where the three peach trees were standing. “Tell me what happened here,” he commanded and the three Peach Nymphs reappeared, kneeling on the ground and they began talking at the same time, leaving Chongxi confused with the muddled jumble of discombobulated gibberish until he waved them off exasperatedly. “One by one! Not all at once!”
The Taoist priest suddenly spoke, “Perhaps, I should be the one to do the asking.” He was already standing beside Chongxi. With a curt nod from the latter, he looked at the three Peach Nymphs. “The family of this residence has made a deal with the demolition team and they have received fair compensation. But the team could do nothing because of your meddling. Why?”
Edelweiss and I stood at the sidelines, watching the proceedings unfold with a cigarette each. Big Sister tapped on my head and asked, “What’s with these three Peach Nymphs? Why are they so special that we have to get ourselves into a fight for them, that even the great Celestial Master Zhang appeared too?” Edelweiss whirled her head around and gave me a prodding look too, expecting an answer from me as well.
I chuckled and said, “It’s simple, actually. These three peach trees were planted here by no than us so many years ago.” “WHAT?!” Big Sister, Edelweiss, and even Yuanyuan cried out as one. Lin Feng smiled and joined us, answering, “Well, it was during our quest of pilgrimage. We chanced upon these three Peach Nymphs and subdued them. Then we realized that Chongxi could use them as a means of protecting himself. So they became his weapon. We were not going to stay in the past forever, but we had no idea of bringing them back with us. So we came up with an idea. We planted them here as trees and bade them wait three centuries for our return.”
“Wait, that means that three little lassies of yours have magic even greater than mine?!” Big Sister blurted, her eyes as large as eggs. “Course not,” I shook my head and said, “In theory, all three of them together are still no match against you alone.” “No way!” She stammered with incredulity. I took a long swig off my cigarette. “Plants are different from animals when it comes to gaining sentience and magic of their own. Wood and plant nymphs require thousands of years to reach your level of magic, Big Sister.” And Big Sister nodded slowly in deep contemplation.