Nightfall

Yu Lian was the first school fellow that Ning Que knew from the back of the mountain of the Academy. Back then, she was a female professor of the Academy, while he was just an ordinary student who ascended the old library every day, fainting and vomiting blood repeatedly.

In those memorable days, she and Ning Que sat beside the east window and the west window, respectively. One would copy regular script and the other would ponder over books. They seldom talked, except for the occasional greeting with a nod.

Later in the Sword Woods, they had a short conversation. And before Ning Que had left the Academy and gone into the Wilderness, she gave him a gift. Then, they had no further communication.

Logically, they should have been in harmony because they had spent the spring and summer together in the old library, appreciating the newly bloomed flowers and the chirping of the cicadas. However, he actually had no idea how to communicate with his Third Sister.

Among the disciples of the back of the mountain of the Academy, Yu Lian was a special one. Ranking only after Eldest Brother and Second Brother, she was actually ordinary in her state of cultivation. She was quiet and gentle, not willing to communicate with others, as if nothing could arouse her interest. So she seldom appeared in public.

In people’s eyes, she seemed to be copying the Hairpin-style Small Regular Script all the time with her head lowered. She did it while sitting in the old library, getting together with other schoolfellows. Even when the Headmaster opened the gate of the back of the mountain and imprisoned Ning Que, she still did it in her ventilated hut.

When Ning Que and Prince Long Qing ascended the back of the mountain, all those from the back of the mountain were gathered at the peak and talking with each other about the result, except for her, standing in the clusters of flowers alone, smiling quietly.

As for Ning Que, the greatest difficulty in getting along with Third Sister was that he did not know in what manner he should communicate with her because he could not judge how old she was. She was quiet and elegant, or even indifferent. Her loose Academy uniform and the unhurriedness in her eyes had endowed her with a calm disposition. And her pretty face and delicate figure would always mislead others to believe that she was a young girl.

…

…

“Senior Sister, what book is that?”

“A forbidden book.”

Her voice, though soft, greatly surprised Ning Que as he raised his head.

“This book, called the Origin on Primordial Qi of Nature, was dictation of some Grand Cultivator over 100 years ago, and has greatly disturbed the field of cultivation. It was enlisted as a forbidden book by the West-Hill Divine Palace because it goes against the doctrine of Haotian. People last saw it in a big family of the Kingdom of Song. But the family was miserably exterminated because of hiding this book.”

Holding the book, Ning Que’s hands slightly froze. He did not expect that the book would have such astonishing history. So, he felt puzzled and asked, “How did the Academy get the book then?”

Yu Lian smiled and answered, “It is called the Academy, so it should have all the books.”

Recalling the huge cave that stored numerous books besides that scholar’s room, Ning Que shrugged.

“Senior Sister, what if I can’t understand the book?”

Yu Lian answered, “The Headmaster told me to visit your cave every ten days. You should study this book during those ten days. If there is anything you don’t understand, write it down and ask me then.”

It was not until now that Ning Que knew it was the arrangement of the Headmaster.

Yu Lian said nothing more but asked him to study hard. Then, she went down the mountain elegantly.

…

…

So, during the entire day, except for having his meal, Ning Que did nothing but read that book.

As his reading progressed, he gradually understood why it was listed as a forbidden book by the West-Hill Divine Palace.

It was because, in the beginning, the book directly pointed out the details that it would illustrate and the arguments that it would use: With the creation of the world, all creatures were born. Then, the sun appeared in the sky and bestowed a condition and spirit on all creatures. With the circulation of living and dying, the spirit lingered between heaven and earth and in the wilderness, and it was the so-called aura of nature that cultivators could perceive. That was the Qi of Heaven and Earth.

Originally, Ning Que did not have any idea about the origin of the world, but he felt that the viewpoint was interesting. Perhaps it was this novelty that had led to it being forced out by the West-Hill Divine Palace. The book asserted that the aura of heaven and earth came from the creatures themselves, instead of Haotian in Haotian Taoism. If people were convinced by that idea, then how could Haotian Taoism maintain the reverence of cultivators toward Haotian?

After entering the Academy, Ning Que read many classics of cultivation in the old library, and the first one he read was A First Exploration of the Qi of Heaven and Earth. However, the book called Origin on Primordial Qi of Nature that he was reading now was deeper and more obscure than that one had been, so he had to read it slowly despite his great interest.

From sunrise to sunset, he sat beside the entrance of the cave, silently reading the forbidden book under the sunlight. He was immersed in the wisdom of previous men and formed a new knowledge of the constitution of the world, especially the origin and quantity of aura, and the law of evolution.

He did not know how the book might help him solve the problem left by the Headmaster and finish his seclusion. However, now that the Headmaster had asked him to read it, he would have no reason to stop. Because he believed that what the Headmaster wanted by imprisoning him in the cliff cave was not merely to make him a professor in the Academy.

Ning Que was reading inside the cave, while Sangsang was watching him read the book from outside. He still felt that it was interesting even though a long time had passed. Every time he figured out an obscure narration, he would feel happy. However, Sangsang began to feel bored. Fortunately, she was already accustomed to boredom, so she washed her hair in passing.

Gradually, Chang’an City, the wilderness, the flowing clouds, and the cliff were shrouded in the darkness of night.

After Sangsang had cooked a meal, Ning Que hurriedly ate it and then started reading again. Seeing that the torch was going out, Sangsang went into her hut and, after quite a long time, she found an oil lamp and placed it in the cave.

Under the relatively dim oil light, Ning Que continued reading attentively. The memory of his past life made him unwilling to study, however, it was still those memories and experiences that urged him to quickly learn from the book and use the knowledge. So he had to be absolutely attentive.

Ning Que did not put down his book until midnight, when the oil in the lamp was about to exhaust. And he did not go to bed immediately but reviewed what he had learned today with his eyes closed.

Because he had stayed up late at night, he still felt sleepy when he was awakened by the whistling wind outside of the cave the next morning. He thus could not help feeling annoyed as he thought to himself, “Where the hell is that noise coming from?”

He rubbed his eyes and went to the entrance of the cave with a single-layered coat. Suddenly, his expression changed when he saw that fat guy, who supported his waist with his hands and was appreciating the view from the cliff. He was actually out of breath, yet still pretending to be something important.

The sound that had awakened him was exactly the gasping of Chen Pipi as he climbed the stairs. But he never expected that a man’s gasping could be so thunderous.

“How could you be so exhausted?” He asked helplessly.

Chen Pipi did not turn back. Supporting his chubby waist, he was looking at the lofty and steep cliff, the drifting clouds between the cliffs, and Chang’an City under the morning light far off in the distance. He gasped and sighed with a hoarse voice like a scholar, “Alas, once I ascended a peak to appreciate…”

“Hiss!”

Ning Que stopped him in the way to stop a donkey.

Chen Pipi turned back and constantly waved his head, criticizing him, “Vulgar! Vulgar! Although Youngest Uncle indeed rode a donkey back then, yet facing such marvelous scenery, how could you spurt out such coarse words?”

His expression enraged Ning Que, who then said in annoyance, “Now that you know I’m in a bad mood, why still pollute my ears with those acidic and pedantic words? I might kick you off the mountain.”

Thinking of the steep cliff that was close at hand when climbing the mountain, Chen Pipi got cold feet. He patted his chest with lingering fear and said, “The cliff is too sharp. I nearly lost my life when coming up. I really can’t be in a good mood when I think that you will stay here for eight years or more.”

Ning Que smiled coldly. “Because you are too fat.”

It was Chen Pipi’s soft spot, so he muttered this, not knowing how to counter him.

Suddenly, his eyes brightened at the cliff cave, and he said in praise, “This is where Youngest Uncle once lived. Blocked by the sharp cliff, I didn’t have a chance to see it previously. The cave is not an ordinary one. It has historic significance. It is a great honor to be able to live here. I really envy you.”

A stone was thrown out from the cave and nearly hit Chen Pipi’s foot. The stone hopped on the cliff plateau several times and fell off into the clouds, vanishing forever.

Chen Pipi was taken aback, pointing at the cliff cave and shouting, “You wanna kill me?”

Having sought in the cave for some time, Ning Que really could not find a second stone, so he darted to the entrance and scolded him, “You shameless creature! If it is so meaningful, then how about you live here? I’ll give all the honor to you! You come in! You come in!”

Chen Pipi coldly smiled. “If you are so capable, you get out.”

Ning Que insisted, “If you are so capable, you come in.”

Sangsang was standing beside the cliff cave, looking at the two Brothers as they quarreled with each other. Then she could not help saying, “I think both of you are capable.”

Ning Que and Chen Pipi turned to her at the same time.

After a moment of hesitation, Chen Pipi earnestly asked, “Is that true, or just sarcasm?”

Sangsang looked at him, offering no answer.

Chen Pipi had always thought that he was a peerless genius. However, after he went to the Old Brush Pen Shop several times and played chess with Sangsang, he did not have such confidence, at least not in the face of Sangsang. On the contrary, he cared quite a lot about what Sangsang thought of him and her praises of him.

So Sangsang had hurt his pride to some extent with her silence.

Looking at Ning Que inside the cliff cave, he mocked him, saying, “Only monkeys who are imprisoned in cages will throw stones at others, for they are so bored. So, I forgive you.”

Ning Que said, “I don’t care. You can say anything you want. If you are capable, you can hit me too.”

Chen Pipi grabbed something from his arms and threw it into the cave.

Ning Que was nearly hit because it happened so unexpectedly. Fortunately, he reacted quickly and leaned sideways, reaching out his right hand to seize that thing.

It was a wrinkled book, with no title on its cover, but it had something like sweat stains.

Ning Que felt disgusted at the thought that those sweat stains might be from the fat guy.

“What book is this?”

Choking down his nausea, he asked Chen Pipi.

Chen Pipi said, “It has no title.”

“Then what is it about?”

“The no-boundary spirit of the Academy.”

Ning Que did not understand and asked, “What?”

Chen Pipi thought that he was tricking him again and said in great anger, “It is about the no-boundary spirit of the Academy! If you insist on saying that you don’t understand, I will go and tell the Headmaster!”

…