Nightfall
Page 361One would die if they didn’t drink water. Ning Que thought about this statement and asked solemnly, “If you want to eat the crab porridge that you love, you won’t be able to drink water. What would you do?”
Chen Pipi waved his hands impatiently and said, “There would not be a situation like that. Where can you not find water?”
Ning Que asked persistently, “If the water had legs and could think for itself, and it wouldn’t allow you to drink it and would run away when you get close to it. What would you do?”
Chen Pipi was stunned. He thought about the question for a long time before answering helplessly, “If this was the case, then I’d better drink the water in order to survive, even though life would be a little more bitter.”
Ning Que looked at the ripples of light on the lake’s surface and lamented sadly, “Everyone else could have concubines… Alright, to put it in a better way, everyone else could have many different relationships, why can’t I? Why did the one I have at home learn to be jealous even when she’s still a child?”
Chen Pipi looked at the shadow that the Yanming Mountain cast on the lake. He said, “Don’t ask me about things like that. I’ve never understood women. They’re weird”
Ning Que glanced at him.
Chen Pipi shook his head and said, “Do not think that you can get any help from the Senior Brothers and Sisters. There’s no one experienced in matters like this in the back of the mountain. They’re all geniuses and idiots.”
Ning Que lamented, “I had thought that happiness was the most important thing in life, but I did not expect that she was so unhappy. It has already been ten years, and I have never once won over her at anything. Why’s that so? Those in the world are all very good, and I like them very much. But she doesn’t like them, and it seems that there’s nothing that I can do. Is this fate?”
Chen Pipi comforted him, “Then you have to learn to accept fate.”
“I don’t think this counts as comforting me.”
Ning Que said, “Right, why did Senior Brother want to take me back to the Academy?”
Chen Pipi said, “Everyone wants to know if you want to choose Shanshan or Sangsang. But it seems that we don’t have to ask. I approve of your choice.”
Ning Que asked with a strange expression, “Why?”
Chen Pipi looked at him and said, “Because I know you would choose her.”
Ning Que was silent for a long while.
Chen Pipi frowned and rubbed his face. He asked concernedly, “How will you settle this?”
After a moment of silence, Ning Que said, “When Sangsang was little, she did not want to wash her clothes. I taught her something then, that you have to deal with your own things. Since this issue belongs to me, I have to settle it myself. And it must not drag on.”
Chen Pipi said worriedly, “Aren’t you worried you might hurt her?”
Ning Que said with a smile, “Aren’t I a fickle and heartless person?”
Chen Pipi looked at him and said solemnly, “Your smile is fake and cheerless.”
Ning Que smiled gloomily, not knowing what to say.
Chen Pipi said with emotion, “The matters between men and women are really the most troublesome things in the world. It looks like I’ve really got to thank Ye Hongyu, for I do not have any thoughts about women thanks to her. As such, I do not have to experience the distress that you have.”
…
The two passed around the lake and left Yanming Mountain and returned to the noisy streets. The morning sun was high up by then, and the citizens of Chang’an have roused and were queuing up by the stalls.
There were two monks standing beside a shop selling buns. One of them was a skinny martial monk. His hands that hung outside his robes looked like steel. The other monk was middle-aged and slightly tanned. He looked as if he had had a hard life.
The two monks were silently chewing on the snow white buns in their hands. There were two bowls of clear water on the stones at their feet. Their robes were old and their expression indifferent, forming a sharp contrast with the lively city around them.
“It’s rare to see sadhus in Chang’an.”
Chen Pipi frowned as he looked at the two monks from afar. “Especially sadhus as strong as they are.”
Ning Que looked at the two monks who chewed on their buns with their heads down. He lamented, “Everyone who has been born would experience suffering. I thought that I had suffered enough, and to think that there are people out there who are suffering more than me. They don’t even have fermented beancurd to eat with their buns. They’re really sadhus who have renounced the worldly life.”
Chang’an City was the largest city in the world. There were many odd people coming and going every day. Even though sadhus rarely appear, the two did not think much about it and walked past them.
When they passed the two monks, Ning Que glanced at the middle-aged monk.
The monk raised his head to look at Ning Que at the same time.
Ning Que stopped.
The middle-aged monk’s gaze at Ning Que was quiet and strong, as if he had been quietly scented by incense for thousands of years before a Buddha statue, and was without any impurities.
The aura of the middle-aged monk was also extremely quiet and strong. Although he was standing in the crowded city and had half a white bun in his hands, it looked like he was standing in a Buddhist country with blooming lotuses, holding a green branch with dew on it.
Chen Pipi stopped with Ning Que. He furrowed his brows silently and looked at the middle-aged monk. He suddenly said, “A world devoid of ugliness, and becoming Buddha… are you from the White Tower?”
The middle-aged monk placed his palms together and said, “I am Dao Shi of the White Tower Temple. Greetings, Mr. Twelve and Mr. Thirteen of the Academy.”
Dao Shi was a little-known sadhu.
Chen Pipi had never heard of his name. Most cultivators have never heard of him. That was because Daoshi had been practicing penance in the countryside since he left the White Tower.
But a cultivators fame was not directly related to his powers.
Chen Pipi looked at the sadhu who stood in the mortal world, but exuded a godly image and knew that the monk’s state was very high.
Chen Pipi glanced at Ning Que.
Ning Que looked at the middle-aged sadhu and suddenly asked, “Did you come to look for me?”
Dao Shi said calmly, “Please, teach me something, Mr. Thirteen.”
Since he had entered the human realm, he would continue to face endless challenges. Youngest Uncle had defeated the powerhouses of the world with a sword and created a name for the Academy in the world. Ning Que was mentally prepared for a situation like this, but he was not prepared for it today.
Ning Que did not like the Yuelun Kingdom or the White Tower temple at all because of the stories told on the journey to the Wilderness, the conflict with the Flower Addict, and because of that vile old woman called Quni Madi. However, his perception of the disciples of the Buddhism Sect did change after his battle with monk Guan Hai earlier.
Dao Shi said calmly, “The Buddhism Sect is particular about fate. I have come a long way from Yuelun and met you in this vibrant city of Chang’an. How could I miss this opportunity?”
Ning Que frowned slightly.
Chen Pipi looked at his haggard expression and knew that his emotional state these days and he was not well and that he had not rested. He could not help but shake his head. He smiled at Dao Shi and said, “How about me?”
Dao Shi said seriously, “I am not an opponent of Mr. Twelve.”
Chen Pipi was stunned, and smiled in anger. “If you really want to challenge the Academy, it wouldn’t make a difference whether I or my Younger Brother fight. Are you monks shameless?”
A slight smile appeared on Dao Shi’s tanned face. He said, “Those who serve the Buddha do not need to feel shame.”
Ning Que had not slept, ate or drank since yesterday morning. He had been tortured by fear and frustration and yelled at the lake for an entire night. It did not make him feel better, which was why he was very annoyed at the moment.
When he heard what the monk from the White Tower Temple had said, he got even more irritated. He was so irritated he couldn’t breathe, and was so annoyed, he was bordering hysterics. He was so annoyed, he just said, “I admit defeat.”
The middle-aged monk said, “You have admitted defeat before we even got to battle. This is meaningless.”
Ning Que looked at the middle-aged man’s darkish face and the deep wrinkles that looked like mountain streams on his face. After a moment of silence, he said, “You pick a place then.”
The middle-aged monk said, “The Buddhism Sect is particular about fate. Since I have met Mr. Thirteen here, this place shall be it.”
Ning Que looked at the people walking by him, and at the children not far away who were salivating over the hot buns. He asked coldly, “Have I offended you?”
The middle-aged monk replied calmly, “We have never met.”
Ning Que asked, “Then why do you have to torture me so?”
The middle-aged monk looked into his eyes and said, “You have insulted Aunt in the wilderness.”
Ning Que frowned slightly and said, “It’s not like you’re Yang Guo.”
Chen Pipi came to his side and whispered, “Even though I don’t know who Yang Guo is, but I think you have succeeded in stirring up his desire to battle. I have to remind you, that there’re very weird arts in the Buddhism Sect. This sadhu walks on the path of lotus flowers and a world devoid of ugliness. You might not be able to beat him. Shall we just leave? Since I am here, he would not dare to stop you by force.”
Ning Que turned around to look at him and said, “Do you not feel that he is the one who had stirred up my desire to battle?”
Chen Pipi asked, “Why do you wish to battle?”
Ning Que answered, “Because I am annoyed.”
…
…
The middle-aged monk smiled at Ning Que and put down the bun in his hand.
A bun appeared, a mud bun and a grave mound appeared before Ning Que’s eyes.
The solitary grave became clearer and bigger in his eyes, gradually obscuring the fog from the businesses on the streets, and were about to hide the happy smiles of children holding meat buns.
Ning Que was not astonished. He knew that the disappearance of the real world in front of him did not represent anything in reality. It was just that he had been dragged into the sadhu’s spiritual world.
The middle-aged monk was a Psyche Master!
A Psyche Master could use his Psyche Power and attack his enemy’s sense of perception directly. He would use his Psyche Power to control the Qi of Heaven and Earth and attack his enemy’s internal organs. It was strong and left no traces and was hard to defend against.
The cultivation community had always been aware of the fact that among cultivators of the same state, the Psyche Master was the most powerful.
Ning Que had met a Psyche Master before.
The first cultivator he had met in this world was Lyu Qingchen. He was a Grand Psyche Master in the Seethrough State.
But he had never fought with a Psyche Master.
He had not expected that a Psyche Master from the Buddhism Sect would be so powerful.
The desolate solitary grave before him grew closer and closer.
Reality grew closer and closer.
Ning Que’s sense of perception was empty.
On the streets of reality.
He closed his eyes, pulled out the chopper at his waist and chopped at the bald head.
Before the grave in the spiritual world.
He opened his eyes, and pulled out the chopper at his waist, and chopped down at the grave.
It was filled with annoyance and a killing intent that had accumulated over a day and a night.
It was all within this blade.
.
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