Nightfall

Back then, Youngest Uncle first retreated in the cliff cave and then in the hut.

The first time, he perfectly joined the human realm by using the Great Spirit within three years. However, when he became the strongest one and needed not trick others, he, on the contrary, had to confront more troubles.

Therefore, he retreated again and reflected on it. It was unknown how long had passed before he left the Academy, finding that he had no way to trick himself. He decided to confront the Firmament and thus disappeared forever.

Watching the night sky far away from the cliff platform and the twinkling stars on it, Ning Que, for the first time, attempted to touch the dark sky behind those stars with his eyes.

“Except for Haotian Taoism, no one dared show disrespect to the Academy, which thus became proud, or even arrogant, based on its powerfulness. But Youngest Uncle was still a legend at the back of the mountain. Now that the Headmaster had accepted Tang Xiaotang, the girl from the Devil’s Doctrine, it showed that the Academy didn’t strictly distinguish itself from the devil, or at least, it didn’t discriminate against the Devil’s Doctrine. So why had the Headmaster imprisoned Youngest Uncle that year, and imprisoned me now?”

He murmured to himself while looking at the dark sky, “Does he want to conceal us from your eyes? But you are the Heaven’s Way, and the Divine Light, how can you have eyes?”

Ning Que felt somewhat puzzled, feeling nervous in an instant. He knew he still had a little knowledge of the true origin of the world, so he was not qualified to think about those things at all. Once he did, it seemed that those stars were all laughing at him, so he had to solve the most urgent problem now.

That was, how to leave the cliff cave.

Back then, Youngest Uncle had perfectly solved the problem.

Now it was his turn.

…

…

At night, those in Chang’an who were qualified or who needed to know that thing were all summoned by the Academy. Later they knew two things. The first one was, after a two years’ tour, the Headmaster had finally returned to the Academy. The second thing was, Ning Que, Mr. Thirteen of the Second floor of the Academy, was required by the Headmaster to retreat and practice cultivation.

Zeng Jing, though a Grand Secretary of the Imperial Library and a first-rank official, was not qualified to be summoned by the Academy. However, since he had recently found his long-lost daughter, his mansion was actually the first place following the royal palace to know these two things.

“Retreat and practice cultivation? How long will that take?” Zeng Jing frowned and asked.

Eunuch Lin shook his head and said with hesitation, “One month, or two months? Who knows. Perhaps those eccentric people of Second floor of the Academy think differently than us.”

Zeng Jing asked with confusion, “Based on the law of our Tang Empire and the rule of the royal palace, affairs concerning Academy, especially the Second floor of the Academy, should be dealt with by the Ministry of Rites. Nobody is qualified to know these things except the royal palace and the Military Ministry. So why did His Majesty tell you to inform me of these things?”

Eunuch Lin bitterly smiled and answered, “That’s because of the young mistress of your family. The Headmaster has asked her to take care of Mr. Thirteen. Now that Mr. Thirteen had to retreat and practice cultivation, your young mistress would accompany him. Don’t ask me when she can return, I really don’t know.”

His words made Mrs. Zeng anxious.

…

…

Two Senior Brothers said something to Ning Que before they left. Realizing that the Headmaster and the Academy wouldn’t throw him in the cave and let things run their own course, he somewhat felt relieved. He found a place that could shelter him from the wind, made the bed and had a sound sleep.

When he woke up, he found it was still dark.

He walked to the entrance of the cave and looked outwards. The Chang’an City, in the far distance of the sea of clouds, was shrouded in the morning light, giving a beautiful sight. Now he realized the cliff faced the west, from where he could appreciate the view of the sunset. But if he wanted to see the morning light, it would take more doings from him than those people under the cloud.

The burden Second Brother shouldered held many things, most of which were from the Old Brush Pen Shop. Perhaps it was Chen Pipi or some other Senior Brother or Senior Sister who had fetched them from Chang’an City. Before sleeping, Sangsang checked them and found that the big black umbrella, the Primordial Thirteen Arrows, and the Box of notes were all there, and even toiletries were included.

Sangsang handed those things to Ning Que who was in the cave. He then washed his face haphazardly and rinsed his mouth. After that, he suddenly felt refreshed and came upon a question, then, he frowned.

“Here is the closestool.” From his expression, Sangsang knew what he was worrying about.

Ning Que said reluctantly, “It will be stinky.”

Sangsang said, “I will wash it frequently.”

Looking at the sea of clouds among the cliffs, Ning Que shook his head and sighed, “What a pity! The clouds will be polluted by the smell. But Youngest Uncle produced those stinky things too, then it will be no big deal if we do the same.”

After being refreshed, Ning Que pinched his nose when lifting the closestool.

Sangsang couldn’t help laughing at him, saying, “When you were young, you always did those things by yourself. But only a few years later you actually detest the smell.”

Ning Que replied seriously, “One’s disposition will change with the environment, and physical condition will change with what one eats. Now our status has changed, so naturally, I will feel differently about it. Wait, I have something important to negotiate with you.”

Sangsang asked, “What?”

Ning Que replied, “I’m thinking about buying a maid.”

Sangsang pointed to herself and asked in confusion, “Aren’t I a maid?”

Ning Que smiled and said, “Although you are still my little handmaiden, you are still the daughter of the Grand Secretary. It’s all right for you to make the bed for me, but how can I ask you to do that heavy housework?”

“I’m not accustomed to being served.”

Sangsang added, “I will feel uncomfortable if someone else lived together with us in Old Brush Pen Shop.”

Ning Que thought it over, and replied, “It is indeed uncomfortable.”

Sangsang shook her head with a smile, and then entered the cave with a basin of clean water, asking him to wash his hands. Then she went to the corner to take the closestool and poured those dirty things down into the cloud from the edge of the cliff.

After washing, Ning Que pulled off the towel to dry his hands and reminded her, “Put it further away. Although it is my own odor, I still find it disgusting.”

Sangsang agreed with an “Eh”.

Suddenly, Ning Que’s hands froze in the air. Looking at her figure, he felt his eyesight blur.

Suddenly he recovered and shouted in big surprise, “How did you come in?”

Sangsang turned back with a big surprise too. It was only until now that she found she had entered the cliff cave, and she had already done it when taking the closestool. So she was astonished and hurriedly jetted out.

A second later, she supported herself against the wall and carefully looked into the cave, asking, “Are you OK?”

Ning Que was puzzled and answered, “I’m all right, but how about you?”

Sangsang looked down at herself and then patted her chest, confirming that she was not hurt, and she didn’t vomit blood either. She then said, “It seems all right… Do you want to try again?”

Ning Que walked to the entrance of the cliff cave, standing inside the line drawn yesterday. He reached out his hand to press the air, and disappointedly found that he was still blocked by something.

“I can’t go out.”

He knew what was the matter, and then shook his head.

The inhibition at the entrance of the cliff cave was specially made by the Headmaster to imprison Youngest Uncle and was targeted at his Great Spirit. The simple aura placed at the entrance of the cave would be activated when interacting with the Great Spirit. The stronger the Great Spirit was, the more power would be activated.

Both Youngest Uncle and he had the Great Spirit inside their bodies. If he wanted to walk out of the cliff cave, he had to make the Great Spirit powerful enough to break through the aura left by the Headmaster, and destroy the Qi of Heaven and Earth condensed at the entrance of the cave. Or he should know how to harmoniously integrate his Great Spirit into the Qi of Heaven and Earth, and thus avoid activating that ocean of primordial Qi.

And there was the last option, which was, to destroy the Great Spirit in his body.

…

…

Ning Que lamented when looking at the entrance of the cave. The inhibition set by the Headmaster was very simple, which was just his aura. But it was actually a big obstacle for those who wanted to break through it.

There were many challenging questions in the world. The key point was, how to find the true answer out of numerous and complicated clues. This question given by the Headmaster was difficult, because it had several answers.

It was hard to choose from so many answers. In case you were not confident enough to defeat the Headmaster by using the Great Spirit, were you willing to part with your powerful and precious Great Spirit?

Time elapsed in his hesitation and struggle. Day after day, it would become more difficult to make a choice, which, thus became a great torture.

If you finally decided to give up after being imprisoned in the cliff cave for years, you would be in great agony over why you didn’t destroy the Great Spirit when you first entered the cave. It would be silly of you to do it after so many years of persistence. Under such anguish, were you still willing to give up?

Obviously, Youngest Uncle didn’t choose the last one, because he still had the Great Spirit when leaving the Academy and entering the human realm. Using his Great Spirit, he could behead all those devils. A peerless man like Youngest Uncle would definitely know earlier than him the real purpose of the Headmaster when he set the question. Judging from his temperament, Youngest Uncle would give up the first time if he really wanted to, instead of hesitating and wasting three years here.

Ning Que never thought there was a possibility for Youngest Uncle to break through the inhibition directly with the Great Spirit, because he felt it unreasonable, and it had no sense of beauty.

Youngest Uncle must have chosen the second method.

“Three months.”

Ning Que kept looking at Sangsang who still dared not enter the cliff cave. He repeatedly said, “Three months. I’m not as powerful as Youngest Uncle, so I need three months to think about whether I should use that last method. If I’m still unwilling to destroy my Great Spirit then, you know what you should do.”

Sangsang nervously asked, “You want to use that way? I’ve never used it.”

Ning Que said, “I need your help.”

After a moment of silence, Sangsang asked, “Are you sure?”

Ning Que answered, “I’m sure.”

…

…

A piece of indigo clothing appeared beside the cliff, and was drifting to and fro with the wind. One could faintly see a delicate figure under the clothes. It was Yu Lian, the Third Sister who was the first to visit Ning Que today.

Yu Lian stepped on the cliff platform, and sat before the line at the entrance of the cave. She took out an old book volume from her sleeves and handed it to Ning Que who was inside the cave, and then she softly said, “There is only one way for you to solve the problem.”

On the cover of the book were seven characters, meaning “Origin on Primordial Qi of Nature”.

Ning Que glanced at the book and earnestly asked, “Which way?”

Yu Lian stroked her hair and put it behind her ears, saying, “Study.”