Nightfall

The Headmaster of the Academy asked, “Have you ever wondered what the Heaven’s Way is?”

Ning Que thought for a while and found that he really had no idea about the existence of the Heaven’s Way.

“Never. But didn’t you say that seeing people think always made Haotian laugh?”

“But sometimes, even if we are teased, we still have to think. If the baby gets teased after falling down in his first step and stops trying, he would never learn how to walk. If your writing is too bad when you first learn calligraphy and quit, you never would have become the so-called Sir Ning today.”

“Master, I think you are teasing me now.” Ning Que said with a smile.

He recalled all those years that had been spent on cultivation when he wholeheartedly studied the “Article on the Response of the Tao”, and when he was teased by people in the City of Wei. He did not give up. That was why he was here today.

And then he remembered that he and Sangsang had had a hard time with life which proved he was right. Heaven certainly did not always look down at the secular world and see joys and sorrows, because destiny was unfair to people.

So after a moment of thinking, Ning Que said, “The Heaven’s Way is so ethereal and intangible.”

The Headmaster was somewhat satisfied with his answer, and said, “We do not know whether Haotian is alive or not, whether it is tangible or not and where it could be. But we do know whether it is conscious or not. Youngest Brother proved it by death.”

The cool wind at night stirred the flowing clouds under the cliff, carried cold vapor and determinedly rushed into the cliff. Then, it scattered everywhere, rising to the cliff platform and adding a sense of coldness.

Looking up at the distant and indifferent sky, the Headmaster said slowly.

“If the Heaven’s Way really exists, when it overlooks the world, those mortals striving for life on earth or the cultivators capable of controlling wind or rain, are all ants in its eyes.”

“If the Heaven’s Way really exists, it would never pity or care about ants. But if there are some ants beginning to notice its existence, approaching it in the sky and even trying to challenge it, how could its consciousness and will ignore that?”

“If the Heaven’s Way really exists, it would be intangible and ruthless.”

…

…

Looking at the Headmaster detachedly standing at the edge of the cliff in the night wind, Ning Que was thinking about those words. After a long silence, he firmly said, “But the Headmaster is not an ant.”

The Headmaster laughed loudly, and the laughter was full of grandeur.

The laughter suddenly rose from the edge of the cliff, and spurt towards the dark sky, disturbing the sea of clouds between cliffs, and until the laughter drifted away, the clouds returned to calmness.

Looking up at the stars and clouds, the Headmaster fell into silence. After a while, he suddenly said, “Tiger, chicken and stick. It is a pity that there is no bug.”

Tiger-chicken-stick was one of the simplest drinking games, but Ning Que knew that it was not what the Headmaster meant right now. The teacher was trying to express his view on Haotian by the simple but abstruse analogy. It was just too hard to understand for now.

What the Headmaster had said dispelled some of Ning Que’s doubts, but also generated some newer ones. If the Youngest Uncle was the ant that yearned for the sky, violated the Heaven’s Way, and therefore died by the Heaven’s punishment, then why did he do that?

There were hundreds of millions of ants on the earth and surely more than one of them once looked up at the sky. And in the long years, there must have been many people who tried to fly towards the sky.

Where did they go? Had they heroically died like the Youngest Uncle, or ascended to the glorious Haotian and become immortals as the tales suggested in the West-Hill literature?

If the Youngest Uncle was too powerful to stay in the secular world, then why he did not ascend to the Haotian and become immortal, but choose to challenge the Heaven’s Way?

Was he too proud to do that?

But even the most fierce and proud tiger would not easily challenge a hunter’s stick for no reason.

And there was another question. Why did the Headmaster still stay in the world? Was he not curious about the real Heaven’s Way?

Ning Que looked at the Headmaster, and said, “Teacher, there are still many things I do not understand.”

The Headmaster replied, “Maybe you will understand some of them when you finish the third book.”

Ning Que knew he could not make it in a short time. After a silence, he got his mind out of the enigmatic talk tonight and returned to the real secular world. He sincerely asked, “Now I can disguise the Great Spirit inside me into the aura of the world, but the body is a problem. If it gets touched by a weapon, people from Haotian Taoism would be able to perceive something.”

The Headmaster said, “Have you released the message that you are practicing with talismans and Martial Arts at the same time?”

Ning Que awkwardly smiled, and said, “Yes, but I don’t expect the message to fool everyone.”

The Headmaster said somewhat ironically, “As a cultivator, if you can defeat someone, then you can definitely fool him. If he cannot hurt you, then how could he possibly notice your body’s secret?”

Ning Que said nothing. He thought to himself about how a cultivators’ fight was full of changes and danger. Even if he had improved a lot, how could he guarantee that nobody’s weapon could touch his body? He could not guarantee that even if he was as powerful as Ye Hongyu.

The Headmaster stared at him, kept silent for a moment, and then said, “After Youngest Brother left the cliff cave, nobody could touch him until the day he died.”

…

…

The Headmaster of the Academy left the platform. In the following nights, Ning Que sat between the cliffs and thought about the Headmaster’s words. He carefully recalled the three months in the cliff cave and absorbed what he had grasped in those days.

At dawn, Sangsang came to the platform, helped him to clean up and pack all their stuff. They walked down the narrow stone path to the foot of the mountain.

Along the way, they saw the old beautiful sceneries, the steep stone path, and the waterfalls falling into the sea of clouds.

Walking a few steps eastward along the canyon, they saw the figure of Chen Pipi.

And then the senior brothers and sisters.

All disciples from the Second floor of the Academy came here to welcome their younger brother.

Tang Xiaotang ran towards them. She took some stuff from Sangsang, gave Ning Que a stern look, and led Sangsang to the front hand in hand.

Eldest Brother gently smiled at Ning Que, and said, “You have worked so hard these days.”

Ning Que greeted them with a bow with his hands folded in front and said to the crowd, “Senior Sisters and Brothers, how are you all doing?”

The crowd happily surrounded him and expressed their congratulations.

Eleventh Brother sent him a bunch of flowers which made Sangsang a little bit upset.

Ninth and Tenth Brothers started to play their lute and flute elegantly.

Fifth and Eighth Brothers found themselves idle and it was not a right time for chess. So they had nothing to do but congratulate Ning Que again and again.

Sixth Brother patted Ning Que’s shoulder as a kind of comfort. But his iron-hammering hand almost killed Ning Que. And Seventh Sister affectionately pinched his face, which almost made it bleed.

Second Brother standing at a distance seemed a little bit awkward. Looking at Ning Que’s nervous gaze, he slightly nodded and gave him a rare smile.

…

…

The back of the mountain today was full of laughter and cheers. In the airy thatched cottage, Seventh Sister, Tang Xiaotang and Sangsang had prepared a hearty meal.

The meal was to celebrate Ning Que’s improvement, the ending of the cliff cave life, as well as the teacher’s return from pilgrimage which in fact had been three months ago. More importantly, it was Ning Que’s apprentice ceremony, meaning that he had formally become a disciple of the Headmaster of the Academy.

He knelt down before the Headmaster and respectfully kowtowed three times. But his body was too strong due to the Great Spirit; the three kowtows cracked the blue bricks on the ground without making his forehead swell or bleed. There was just some dust on it.

Ning Que thought it was a great pity that he could not show his sincerity and flatter his teacher.

He stood up, took a cup of tea from his Third Sister, and handed to the Headmaster with both hands. The Headmaster slowly took a sip of the tea, completing the apprentice ceremony. It was very simple.

Seventh Sister came to Ning Que with a pile of clothes in her hands, and asked, “Brother, which color do you like?”

Ning Que was a bit amazed, he looked at the clothes and found that they were all Academy uniforms worn in spring. Compared with the front Academy uniforms, the uniforms of the Second floor were almost the same except for their colors.

He looked at his brothers and sisters and found that their selections were rather random. Third Sister wore her light cyan baggy uniform while Eldest Brother still wore his old clothes. The others wore uniforms of different colors. Some were red, some were grey.

Seventh Sister noticed his hesitation, and jokingly said, “Be cautious, you have only one chance.”

Ning Que subconsciously looked at Sangsang. Since they left Min Mountain and came to the City of Wei, it was always Sangsang who decided what they wore.

Sangsang nodded.

Ning Que understood and said, “Senior Sister, I want the black one.”

Seventh Sister smiled and said, “Good choice. You are the first person to choose this color at the back of the mountain. As a saying goes, the man dressed entirely in black is always a good-looking man. But some idiot would never understand.”

Second Brother behind the Headmaster became somehow serious.

Looking at Ning Que who was putting on his black uniform, the Eldest Brother sighed.

The Headmaster gently stroked his beard, and asked, “Why black?”

With the help of Sangsang, Ning Que buttoned up and sincerely replied, “I do not need to wash it too often.”

He was not joking. It never occurred to him or Sangsang that wearing black would make him good-looking. They cared more about how much water and soap could be saved.

Eldest Brother was stunned.

The Headmaster suddenly stopped stroking his beard, and shook his head with a smile.

…