Nightfall

Aunt Quni Madi had to be carried out of the tent by disciples because of her physical discomfort. Whether it was the occasional cold or an urgent heart attack, one could only guess by watching the Yuelun Kingdom and White Tower Temple monks who seemed to emit fire from their eyes.

Ning Que looked at the old woman’s frail silhouette, showing no sympathy. He thought in his heart, “I haven’t even seen the Headmaster of Academy. You actually want to blame him. What kind of stick do you think you are?” 

He turned his eyes and suddenly had the absurd idea of putting the big black umbrella that sat behind him over his head. He secretly thought that he would be more like Second Brother if he did so.

He was showing his arrogance for the teachings of Second Brother. Although his idea was absurd, it was natural for him to have this association.

Everyone in the Academy tended to be proud and arrogant, including the legendary Youngest Uncle, Second Brother, Senior Brothers, Senior Sisters and Ning Que. The people in the tent had been somewhat shocked and angry. But when they thought of the long-circulating stories, they had to keep silent. The Academy had an arrogant quality. If it was weak, it would be bullied even if it wasn’t arrogant. If it was strong enough, no matter how arrogant it was, others dared not to offend it, just like Quni Madi.

Because of the things that had happened, the follow-up meeting agenda had become much simpler. Ning Que did pay much attention and let his thoughts drift. When he came to himself, the Divine Hall meeting was over and many of the people in the tent had dispersed.

The Revelation Department Priest smiled slightly and left to rest. General Shu Cheng looked at Ning Que. With a smile, he said, “I know it’s comfortable to stay with refreshing girls. But we have a camp here and you have already shown your identity. Are you still going to the barrack of Black Ink Garden? It might not be good for the imperial court’s reputation.”

“I see. Of course. I’ll go with you.”

Ning Que felt quite embarrassed by the general’s mockery. He knew that in many people’s eyes, it was improper for him, a disciple of the Academy’s Second floor, to follow Great River Kingdom girls all the way north into the Wilderness under a disguise.

The young girls and students of Black Ink Garden were still surprised. They wanted to come forward and talk to Ning Que but dared not considering his true identity.

Ning Que smiled at the girls, preparing to say something. But unexpectedly Mo Shanshan stood up silently and went outside the tent without a word. He could not help feeling startled.

Zhuo Zhihua sighed in her heart and apologized to Ning Que with a smile. She stopped Cat Girl who was about to move forward and asked her sisters to bow to the Tang army. Then she followed Mo Shanshan outside the tent.

Ning Que could not help touching his head. He wondered what was wrong with Calligraphy Addict.

…

…

It was quiet in the Tang camp. All the patrol soldiers looked serious. Under the escort of a few guards, Ning Que and General Shu Cheng walked slowly among them. No one dared to disturb them.

A banner blew above the camp in the cold winter wind. Ning Que looked up and could not help thinking of life in the frontier fortress of the City of Wei. He missed it so much. He was about to mention it when General Shu Cheng looked back at him with a faint smile. And then Shu Cheng said expressively, “Calligraphy Addict is a good girl.”

Ning Que knew that he must misunderstand them. He could not help but bitterly smile.

General Shu Cheng shook his head, touched his beard and said, “Mr. Thirteen, no need to say more. She is Calligraphy Addict, a proper match for a disciple of the Academy’s Back Mountain. The Tang Empire and Great River Kingdom have had a good relationship for generations. I believe both the Academy and His Majesty will be very satisfied with this marriage.”

Ning Que suddenly understood why the General and the previous Revelation Department priest had had such gentle eyes when giving their farewell, just like matchmakers.

Because of his current identity, his marriage was no longer a purely private affair. He needed to ask for permission from the imperial court and the Academy. Besides, among female disciples in various sects of the world, few could match with a core disciple of the Headmaster of the Academy. Of course, Calligraphy Addict was the best candidate.

Ning Que did not really know how to explain. He really appreciated Calligraphy Addict. She wore a white shirt with a blue ribbon and stood on the branches. But no matter what, it was his own affair after all. How could it become a thing for others to decide? In order to resolve his embarrassment, he changed the conversation topic by saying, “I thought that the Priest would tend to maintain the dignity of Divine Hall by any means. I didn’t expect his punishment to be rather fair.”

“The Revelation Department is in charge of the Revelation Institute. And Prince Long Qing had a pleasant experience in Revelation Institute during those years.” General Shu Cheng said, “So the relationship between the Revelation Department Priest and Prince Long Qing has been somewhat subtle. Especially in recent years, the Judicial Department has become more and more powerful and Prince Long Qing has become well-known in the world. So the Revelation Department is under tremendous pressure.”

Ning Que said with a lament, “I see. But I didn’t expect there would be so many secular disputes in Divine Hall.”

“Divine Hall shines all over the world. But after all, the resources available to it are not unlimited. So three Great Divine Priests lead their own forces separately and certainly compete with each other. However, the three Great Divine Priests are above God. So naturally, they can’t fight like individual rogues or gangsters. As a result, the real contests appear among the three Priests. ”

General Shu Cheng continued to explain. “There are two bigwigs in the Judicial Department. Tao Addict is addicted to Taoism and doesn’t care about specific matters too much. Prince Long Qing takes a specific management of Judicial Department deacons, Apologetic Divine Forces and secret spies. If the Revelation Department wants to crack down on the arrogance of the Judicial Department, of course, their efforts should first be aimed at Prince Long Qing.”

He looked at Ning Que and said, “In spring, you won against Prince Long Qing. It was an intolerable humiliation for a lot of people in the Divine Hall. But the whole Revelation Department probably felt very grateful for you.”

Ning Que thought of the Revelation Department Priest with silver hair but a young face. He frowned slightly and said, “The Revelation Department Priest, how old is he? Is he stronger or weaker than Long Qing?”

If he could know this, he could roughly infer the true strength of the younger generation in the Divine Hall. The reason he wanted to know this was that he always tended to compare the Academy with the Divine Hall.

“The Revelation Department Priest Cheng Lixue should be just over thirty years old this year. And as for his cultivation state,” General Shu Cheng shook his head before continuing. “Both the Military Ministry and Imperial Center Administration have only a rough estimate on the cultivation states of the Divine Hall people. Just like Prince Long Qing, everyone says he only needs one step to enter Knowing Destiny State. But no one knows how big that step is.”

Ning Que no longer thought about these issues. He looked at a quiet faraway tent. After a short moment of silence, he said, “General, there’s one thing I may need your help with.”

…

…

The disciples of Black Ink Lake walked on yellow winter grass towards their camp. Cat Girl saw Ning Que and the Tang general go into the Tang camp. She reluctantly took back her gaze. With knitted brows, she asked curiously, “Brother Zhong… no, Senior Brother Ning had a strange expression when he finally faced Aunt Quni Madi. I don’t know how to describe it.” ..

The girls thought of the previous scene. Aunt Quni Madi had been so angry that her body trembled. Her face had been dark, as if she was likely to drop down at any time. However, Ning Que had stood in front of her with a gentle smile, even raising his face instead of hiding or avoiding her. It was difficult to explain the temperament or feeling revealed from his body.

Cat Girl bit her finger and thought for a long time. She was suddenly enlightened. She clapped her small palms excitedly. Looking at her Senior Sisters, she said, “I know, Senior Brother was really bitchy at the time… haha, but I like it.”

The Great River Kingdom girls were startled. Then they realized that the word “bitchy” was indeed the best choice to describe Ning Que at the time. They could not help covering their mouths and laughing. They also liked his bitchy manner.

Only Mo Shanshan in front did not laugh. She did not have the slightest expression on her silent face.

Zhuo Zhihua looked at Shanshan and gradually hid her smile, showing a trace of anxiety.

Back at the camp, Mo Shanshan seemed to have completely forgotten the previous conflict and scenes in the tent. She calmly poured water, grinded an inkstone, wet her brush and sat in front of the desk, ready to write.

Zhuo Zhihua waved her sleeves to signal for the sisters to leave temporarily. She walked to the table and half sat with her knees bent. She looked silently at the expression on Shanshan’s white cheeks. After a long time, she whispered. “Why did you leave like that?”

Mount Mo Shan stiffened her right hand which held the brush slightly. After a moment of silence, she replied, “Then how should I leave?”

She was Calligraphy Addict, a Hill Master with the highest status in Black Ink Garden under Mogan Mountain, and the last core Master disciple of Calligrapher Master Wang. But she was not old. In the eyes of Zhuo Zhihua, she was more like a childish sister who was addicted to Calligraphy.

Zhuo Zhihua quietly looked at her and gently said, “Mr. Thirteen has helped us a lot all the way. Today in the tent if he hadn’t shown up to defend us, I’m afraid Black Ink Garden would have more troubles. Even if it’s not for his company these days, just out of gratitude, you should say goodbye to him.”

Mo Shanshan gently turned her wrist. The ink brush touched the yellow paper. She wrote a horizontal character stroke and whispered. “I’ve never told anyone before, but actually, the Horse Gangs came for him. Since then, we have no reason to be grateful to him. On the contrary, it’s he who has dragged us down. He should have opened his mouth to speak for us in the tent today.”

Zhuo Zhihua looked at the crooked horizontal character stroke on the paper. Zhuo Zhihua could not help laughing and immediately said with a soft sigh, “You know it’s not what I’m talking about.”

Mo Shanshan looked at the earthworm-like ugly characters on the paper, feeling slightly angry. “Then what are you trying to say?”

Zhuo Zhihua looked at Shanshan’s slightly annoyed eyes and said with a smile, “I mean since you’ve secretly liked Sir Ning for so long, now that you’ve seen the real person, why not go tell him?”

Mo Shanshan was startled yet continued to bend forward and write. “I don’t know what nonsense you’re talking about.”

Zhuo Zhihua smiled and said no more. She left the tent, leaving Mo Shanshan alone to contemplate.

Mo Shanshan did not think anything, for the thoughts in her mind had become a mess. She just unconsciously held the brush and kept writing. She opened her thin lips slightly. With annoyance, she muttered to herself. “So you’re that guy. But you’ve been hiding it from me. Why should I go talk to you? I can’t be so bitchy… ”

As she murmured to herself, a touch of shame and annoyance appeared in her eyes at times. A slight blush also appeared on her heaved pink cheeks.

On the yellow paper were tangled ink characters, which were so ugly that even she could have written better when she was three years old.