Nightfall

Under the red light of the torch, mottled blood on the footprints was like a dot of ink. Looking at the spot, Ning Que’s face became a little pale, and he discovered that he was directly shaken back to the original place by the inhibition at the entrance of the cave.

His left shoe had already been smashed into something like cotton wool. He stretched out his hand and tore it off. Struggling to sit up and looking at the entrance of the cave, which had been shrouded in the night, he could not help feeling scared.

Previously, he slammed into the wall at the entrance of the cave. At the moment that he was reaching the obstacle, the dense and even viscous Qi of Heaven and Earth seemed to sense something and suddenly rose violently and became an ocean of ​​terror, which directly swept both his awareness and body away!

Ning Que had never been to the Kingdom of Song, nor had he seen the famous Sea of Storms. But he believed that even the real Sea of ​​Storms would not be more terrifying than the ocean he had sunk into earlier.

The ocean, formed by the dense Qi of Heaven and Earth, was shaking violently from the bottom to the surface. Thousands of huge whirlpools had left him no time to react or struggle but pressed him directly to the depths of the ocean. The ubiquitous pressure in the deep Ocean of Qi turned into countless needles, punctured through his clothes, and pierced into his body.

The Great Spirit, which seemed rich in Ning Que’s body, was like a candlelight in this furious ocean. It was extinguished in an instant, with light scattering around with those fine needles. The pain caused by those countless needles directly destroyed the protection of his sense of perception and made him extremely miserable.

Finally, the furious ocean produced a wave that sent him back to shore with ease.

He could feel that the power of the wave was merely 1/10,000th of the strength of the ocean, but it seemed to be stronger than Xia Hou’s fist in the Wildness of the Hulan Sea!

Sangsang heard the sound, hurriedly ran out of the hut, and saw Ning Que lying on the ground under the torchlight. Shocked, she ran into the cliff cave without hesitation.

Ning Que swallowed the blood that had welled up into his mouth, and shouted, “Do not come in!”

Being together and overcoming hardships for so many years, in order to survive, the two people had already developed a tacit understanding. Regardless of the circumstances, Sangsang always did what Ning Que told her unconditionally, and it had become something of an instinct. So upon hearing Ning Que’s shout, Sangsang stopped entering the cliff cave no matter how worried she was.

Leaning against the stone wall and looking at the pale face of Ning Que, she asked with a tremble in her voice, “What happened?”

Using his hand to lift up his left foot onto his right knee, Ning Que closed his eyes and began to meditate.

The Great Spirit flowed slowly in his body, confirming that there were no major problems in the sense of perception, Snow Mountain, or the Ocean of Qi, as well as the whirl of the lower abdomen— especially confirming that the previous violent ocean had not destroyed the Great Spirit in his body. He calmed down and whispered, “I’m fine. Still alive.”

He had had so many injuries during his life and Sangsang had seen him get injured so many times. As long as the injury was not too bad, neither of them would take it too seriously. It was all right if he was not dying.

As the turbulent sense of perception became quieter and quieter, Ning Que stood up and walked slowly to the entrance of the cliff cave. He reached out his hand and pressed something gently in the air, immediately feeling obstructed. It did not feel like water, but more like a skin bag filled with water, soft but unbreakable.

“Why didn’t I feel the inhibition when I walked in?”

He looked at the entrance of the cliff cave and thought about the magic of the inhibition. No wonder the Senior Brothers and Sisters were shocked during the day. It would not be a short time if one really wanted to break through it.

Knowing that it was certainly a long process, he gradually calmed down and made a psychological preparation for the upcoming long-lasting battle. After being silent for a moment, he looked at Sangsang and said with a smile, “No matter what, we should eat first, or we will die of starvation without even aging. Let’s go and see if there’s anything to eat in the hut.”

He wanted to relax Sangsang using these words, but how could Sangsang feel at ease when looking at his pale face, his gloomy expression and forced smile, as well as the blood on his chest?

“We have rice, oil, vegetables, and meat in the hut. I don’t know when they were prepared. I had steamed the rice before, but the water in the tank only lasts for a maximum of ten days. I don’t know where to get the water, either.”

Sangsang reported the current situation to him, and then walked back to the hut to get dinner ready.

On the silent cliffs, the stars were flashing in the night sky, and the floating clouds were faintly visible. This place was so cold and lonely that it seemed not to be in the human world anymore.

Ning Que leaned against the wall of the cave and looked at the night view in front of the cliff, feeling down. Although he knew that there had to be a profound reason for imprisoning him here, he still felt a little bit angry and upset. “I have done nothing wrong. Why should I get imprisoned in this ghost-like place like a repenting cliff?”

A sound of water came from the right front side. He looked over and found that Sangsang was washing vegetables on the edge of the cliff. The little girl probably had no idea of the wonderful scenery of the cliffs or the idea of feeling small in front of the grand world. After finishing washing the vegetables, she poured the muddy water directly down the cliff.

Maybe only Sangsang could ignore such a dangerous cliff and concentrate on washing vegetables at the edge of the cliff. Did the white clouds under the cliff that were always soaked by the clear waterfall have the same feeling as when the muddy water was poured onto them?

Ning Que looked quietly at Sangsang’s figure, thinking that he was lucky that he would not have to hear any sh*tty folk songs nor worry about being thrown away like a splash of water.

…

…

The food was finished. Although the ingredients were simple, the smell of food still wafted into the cliff cave in the mountain breeze.

Ning Que carved a deep line at the entrance of the cliff cave with a stone. When Sangsang was cooking, he slowly felt it many times with his palm and finally determined the range of triggering the obstacle.

Sangsang held a bowl of hot food on the ground outside the cave. Then she used a piece of firewood to push the bowl carefully across the line under Ning Que’s instructions.

“This inhibition really doesn’t work for nonliving things, otherwise, I’d starve to death.”

Ning Que raised the bowl of rice with vegetables and bacon and spoke happily.

They held their bowls full of hot meals, sat on the ground, and ate face to face, just like in the old days when they were in the Old Brush Pen Shop. The only difference was that, in the old days, they were separated by a table instead of the line of the obstacle.

The line was very short, but it separated the cliff into two worlds— the cliff caves and the cliff platform. Ning Que stayed inside the cliff cave, while Sangsang stayed outside of the line on the cliff platform. Fortunately, they were still together.

…

…

Facing west, the cliff was located in extremely high terrain, without the cover of the Academy’s tactical array or the embrace of green trees. The mountain wind was extremely strong, especially at night. The cold wind whistled back and forth, which caused a rapid decrease of the temperature on the cliff platform.

While the bowl in Ning Que’s hand was still hot, the one in Sangsang’s hand already become cold. She huddled herself up subconsciously. She wanted to get closer to Ning Que, but she dared not cross that line.

Seeing Sangsang shivering with cold, Ning Que thought of the fairy tale once again. His mood and eyes turned cold along with the decreasing temperature of the cliff platform. Sangsang had severe hypothermia at an early age. How could she stand this kind of torture? Suddenly, the hatred toward the Headmaster of the Academy, which had already disappeared, revived in Ning Que’s mind and he muttered a curse.

As he prepared to find a way to deceive Sangsang to leave and go down the mountain, he heard the sound of footsteps on the stone path beneath the cliff platform.

Ning Que was only imprisoned for less than half a day, but he was glad to hear those footsteps right now. He shouted, “Who is so nice to come and see me?”

Suddenly, he understood the monkey’s mood when he was crushed under the mountain.

…

…

In the darkness, the Eldest Brother, with his hands clasped behind his back, and the Second Brother, carrying a load, walked toward the cliff platform.

The Eldest Brother was very relaxed, while the Second Brother was carrying a load as heavy as two hills.

When he took the things out of the load, the load turned out to be an all-encompassing case. There was water, rice, vegetables, firewood, wine, books, chess, an instrument, and even two old hens.

Sangsang rushed back to the hut happily with the two old hens in hand, thinking that she could stew chicken soup for her young master. Just now, he had spat out so much blood that he must have needed something good to make up for it.

Looking at the old hens that she held in her hands, Ning Que was shocked and said, “Senior Brother, you are really generous. I don’t know how you carried them up such a steep mountain. Why did you have to bring so many things? Do you really expect me to live in this cave for several years?”

Although the Second Brother was one of the best martial talents of the world, he was not a professional porter. It was also a bit of hard work. He did not reply to Ning Que, but took out his handkerchief from his sleeve and carefully wiped the sweat from his neck. After adjusting his crown cap, he looked at Ning Que and said seriously, “Younger Brother, you should face the reality. It is definitely not a matter of ten days or half a month.”

Ning Que thought the Second Brother was really not qualified to visit a prisoner because he did not know how to say anything lucky at all.

They set a bonfire on the cliff platform. Sangsang dozed off by the fire, wearing a buckskin coat. The coat was sent by Senior Sister Yu Lian and it was just the right size.

The fire shone on the old coat of the Eldest Brother as if it were shining on a broken lantern. The fire shone on the crown cap of the Second Brother, like shining on a solitary peak with a single tree.

Sitting in the cave and looking at this scene, Ning Que could not help laughing out loud and, pointing at the high crown cap of the Second Brother, he said, “It really looks like a piece of firewood.”

“What’s so funny?” The Second Brother asked.

“Why is it funny? I won’t tell you.” Ning Que said with a smile. “In fact, Second Brother, everyone thinks that you are funny with your crown cap. They just fear your anger, so no one has ever told you.”

The Second Brother frowned slightly and said unhappily, “Don’t lie to me. You said that people don’t dare to tell me, so why are you daring to tell me now?”

Pointing at the line in front of him, Ning Que laughed and said, “You see, I can’t get out of the cave, nor can you get in. This is the only benefit I have gotten so far. How can I give up this great opportunity?”

The Eldest Brother looked at them and smiled. He did not say anything and thought that Jun Mo would probably not be so boring anymore since he had met such a funny person like the Youngest Brother.

The bonfire made some crackling sounds.

The Second Brother made four cups of tea. The first cup was reverently served to the Eldest Brother, and the second cup was given to Sangsang. As for the third one, he shot it gently into the cave.

The black teacup fell to the ground, right in front of Ning Que, and stayed still after spinning around three times without a single drop of tea spilling out.

The Second Brother attached the utmost importance to the rules of etiquette, such as the order of serving tea. First, he served the old or virtuous, then the young. As for the third cup which was given to Ning Que, it was only out of sympathy, pitying that he was in jail.

Ning Que thanked the Second Brother and raised the teacup. He sniffed it but did not drink it. “Am I really not able to get out of here?” He whispered.