Sangsang was a little handmaiden.
But Sangsang was not an ordinary little handmaiden.
Her memory was amazing. From the time she learned to count, she had been able to easily remember all the numbers she had ever seen. All the soldiers and citizens of the City of Wei could testify this.
She was also very smart. This could be testified by Chen Pipi, who found himself dejectedly walked out of the Old Brush Pen Shop several times. Chen Pipi was a true genius, having been certified as such by both the Haotian Taoism and Chang’an Academy.
The reason why Sangsang often seemed clumsy, or even dull, was not true because she was dumb. In Ning Que’s opinion, she was just lazy and couldn’t be bothered to think too much.
Ning Que’s understood Sangsang’s special features far more than anyone else in this world. He was well aware of her unique abilities, like her intelligence. Yet over the past ten years, he made no effort to train or even think about these special gifts that Sangsang possessed.
This was a choice he made on instinct.
He had only picked up this baby girl from among the corpses on the side of the road in Hebei County, but he had never imagined that she might hide some secrets of her own. Deep in his heart, he had his own faint fears about her.
The Great Divine Priest of Light had escaped from the clutches of West Hill and come all the way to Chang’an City. Here, he took Sangsang as his disciple, and so Sangsang became the best successor candidate for the seat of the next Great Divine Priest of Light of West-Hill Divine Palace. Seeing how all this had happened, Ning Que realized that this was all the guidance of fate upon Sangsang, a Lucky Chance for that baby girl who had lived through such hardship in her early life.
The trappings of fate and the secrets of destiny had already grasped both Ning Que and Sangsang in their clutches. They could no longer afford to fear their fate. They could only recognize and accept it. In the past six months, Ning Que had stopped trying to escape and instead began to train Sangsang, trying to explore her true potential in cultivation.
Today, the heavens above Yanming Lake were stormy and booming with the roar of thunder.
Sangsang stood on the edge of the cliff. As she held the big black umbrella out in front of her, she said that she could feel everything.
Two years ago, during their trip from the City of Wei to Chang’an City, the elder Lyu Qingchen had once told Ning Que that when cultivators first gained enlightenment, the range of the Qi of Heaven and Earth that they could feel represented the qualification of the cultivator, and could even predict how far they could go in cultivation.
Some cultivators perceived a pond, while others could feel a lake. Liu Bai, the Sage of Sword, had encountered a raging river.
Ning Que had perceived a warm sea. He had never spoken to anyone about this, as even he himself could not believe that his spiritual potential might be stronger than that of the Sage of Sword. In fact, it had already been proven several times that this feeling seemed to be misleading.
Sangsang claimed that she could sense everything. This did not mean that she was more powerful than Liu Bai. Rather, it represented another unique meaning, one which only Ning Que and Sangsang herself could understand.
“Are you going to give it a try right now?”
Sangsang handed the big black umbrella back to him.
Ning Que took the umbrella from her tiny hands. There was rainwater everywhere upon it, flowing in little streams in between his palm and the handle.
Psyche Power seeped out from his sense of perception. It went through his palms and floated into the handle of the big black umbrella. Reaching the tip, it silently covered the oily surface of the umbrella, then passed through the heavy rain and spread into Yanming Lake under the cliff.
Now, even Ning Que could feel everything.
He felt the lake being beaten by the storm, with its surface rippling like boiling water. He felt the lotus leaves in the field being hit by rain, sounding like the steady beat of a drum. He felt the terrified frogs that were huddled under the lotus leaves. He felt that the rocks in the depths of the lake that resembled small iron cans.
Ning Que looked up at the sky and leaned the black umbrella back as the rainwater drenched his body within a second.
The clouds in the sky were roiling and rumbling. The dark clouds overtook the sky, stretching into the horizon. Torrential rain poured down from the layers of dark clouds, like countless black snakes biting and lashing at everything within their reach.
All of a sudden, a thick and straight bolt of lightning flashed through the sky from over the northwest corner of Chang’an City, instantly tearing through the roiling rain clouds without any resistance.
The thunder came soon after, and it exploded over Yanming Lake.
Boom!
At the same time, the water over Yanming Lake rippled violently and splashed everywhere. The lotus petals shuddered from the shock, as if they could split apart at any moment.
Ning Que looked down at the surface of the lake, where the water had erupted like a fountain just a moment ago, and the debris of the flowers and leaves that had been pushed to the shore by the waves. He silently said, “Good.”
Sangsang wiped the rainwater from her face, not saying a word.
That horrifying flash of lightning seemed to only signal the start of the sky’s wrath upon the earth. Flashes of lightning appeared one after another, and Chang’an City, which had just earlier been covered in the shadow of the dark clouds, now lit up under the periodic bright light. The sound of thunder boomed without pause, refusing to give any respite to the people of the city.
Standing amidst the raging thunder, Ning Que held the black umbrella as he looked toward the northern shore of Yanming Lake. He opened his mouth to speak. However, drowned within the sound of the thunder and the torrential rain, only Ning Que himself could hear the words he spoke.
Pointing at the house on the north bank, he said, “Start from the courtyard.”
He pointed at the turbulent lake and said, “Continue to the lake.”
Then he looked at Sangsang, then at Yanming Mountain, at where he currently stood. He said, “It ends here.”
Sangsang took the big black umbrella from him and said, “We can’t let him get to the mountain.”
Ning Que remained silent for a moment, then said, “I’ll handle it. Even if we’re unable to kill him at the lake, we cannot let him come up. I will go down to him instead.”
Sangsang said, “What should I do if you go down?”
Ning Que said, “Stay on the mountain and watch over me.”
Sangsang said, “I can help you.”
“I don’t doubt that you can help me, but that’s only before I have to go down. Still, I believe that there will certainly be many people here on that day, such as Second Brother, so you will be safe as long as you stay here.”
Ning Que finished his words and walked down the hill.
The heavy midsummer rain was rough and torrential, appearing and disappearing just as suddenly. It seemed to have no hesitation at all. By the time Ning Que and Sangsang reached the shore of the lake, the rain had stopped.
As the downpour had finally ended, they went back to the boat.
Ning Que picked up the boat with one hand and overturned it, dumping the accumulated rainwater in the hull.
The boat floated atop the calm Yanming Lake once again.
After the heavy rain, the air around the lake had become clean and refreshing. The summer heat had been swept away, and the lake breeze was filled with the sweet tangy smell of broken green branches.
The boat sailed into the corner of the field of lotuses.
Here, branches lay broken and lotus petals lay scattered across the lake surface. The lake water seemed turbid and seeped an aura of misery.
No matter how powerful thunder and lightning may be, they could not have caused this.
Among the lotus leaves and debris floating on the lake, traces of iron residue could be vaguely seen.
Looking over the broken branches in the lake, Ning Que smiled and said, “With the crack of thunder, naught but a ruined lake remains.”
Tuyang City was located near the northeastern border of the Tang Empire. It lay beside Min Mountain, close to the Wilderness. It always remained extremely cool, even in the searing heat of midsummer. During the summer months, the rain would gradually increase, though the sound of thunder was rarely heard.
The gradual increase of rain did not mean that the locals could luxuriantly dig lakes to plant lotuses like the people in the southern parts of the country. In Tuyang City, only the General’s Mansion had a lotus pond, and only a few people were able to see the lotus blossoms. In any case, there weren’t too many people in this border town that had an appreciation for poetry and flowers.
However, when the people of Tuyang City saw returning troops of the Tang Empire cavalry with their broken and miserable appearance on the meadow outside the city, they were shocked and even speechless.
It had been several years since the Tang Empire Army had last suffered any kind of loss. In fact, the Northeast Border Military led by General Xia Hou had never been defeated. So why did the cavalry outside look like they had just suffered a bitter defeat?
In truth, this was no more than a misunderstanding
The Tang Empire Cavalry on the meadow outside Tuyang City had not defeated in the Wilderness. They had traveled a long distance, their armor was dyed gray with dirt and mud, and their horses were tired. The most critical thing was that all the soldiers’ faces revealed expressions of numbness. There was a bitter atmosphere among the troops, which was why they had been regarded as broken troops.
The cause of this numbness among the soldiers of the Tang Empire’s army was the tribes of Desolate Men in mountain woods.
A sole man’s leather robe had already been torn to tatters. Blood and water mixed with dust smeared on his clothes, which themselves were stolen from god knows where. He looked extremely tired, as if he might even fall down at any time.
It was such a seriously injured man who had followed the Tang Empire cavalry from the depths of the Wilderness to the outskirts of Tuyang City and had never fallen.
The Tang Empire Cavalrymen looked at the man in the distance with a numb expression. There was even some respect in their eyes.
Over these past few days, this man had been following the Tang Empire cavalry, ready to attack the camp and assassinate General Xia Hou anytime. He tried seventeen times and failed seventeen times, but he still hadn’t given up.
The Tang Empire Cavalry did want to kill the man, but with his strength and perseverance he had proven impossible to kill, especially when the Tang Empire soldiers weren’t willing to pay the price of their life to do so.
Assassination, counterstrikes, geurilla tactics, and encirclements happened again and again during this long journey. Yet, the man could not kill General Xia Hou.
Neither could Xia Hou and his invincible cavalry kill the man.
After having faced him time and again, like a group of beggars in the face of an aristocrat, all of the Tang Empire cavalry, even their proudest generals, could only feel numb now.
The sound of approaching horse hooves warned the cavalry to split into two and create a path.
Xia Hou dashed over on his horse and looked at Tang, who stood on the meadow in the distance. There were no emotions on his face.
In the past few days, the Tang Empire cavalry had tried every possible tactic to kill that great warrior of the Devil’s Doctrine. They had even almost succeeded several times, though they always failed eventually. Tang had also successfully approached Xia Hou several times and forced Xia Hou into a fight against him.
However, Xia Hou was never alone. He had countless horsemen as his guards. Hence, in this continuous battle of attrition, Tang would eventually find himself on the losing end.
Today’s Tang was close to that breaking point. He had suffered serious injuries over the past few days. There was no longer the look of a great warrior of the Devil’s Doctrine on him, he was now more akin to a poor beggar. However, Tang was not dead yet. And Tang still persevered in killing him.
Xia Hou had also suffered severe injuries. His Academy-made special armor had also been destroyed by the huge blood-red blade in Tang’s hands just the day before.
“Tuyang City now lies behind me.”
Xia Hou looked at Tang on the meadow in the distance and said indifferently, “You no longer have any chance.”
Tang said, “I have told you that you are old.”
Xia Hou said, “And I have told you that words like old and frail mean nothing to you or me.”
Tang said, “The problem is that your heart is getting old. From the moment you decided to retire, you became old, and old is weak. Even if Tuyang City is less than a hundred miles away, you will definitely still die by my hands.”
Xia Hou kept silent as he realized Tang the truth in Tang’s words.
“But I own Tuyang City. And Tuyang City contains countless loyal troops.”
Xia Hou said, “And you have only yourself.”
Tang said, “If only you could understand that fighting is ultimately a matter of one person, maybe you would not have made so many mistakes, and you would not have been as old as you are now.”
In the sweltering heat of summer, the grass rippled underneath as the eagle soared overhead.
There were countless wounds upon Tang, and his blood was still flowing. It fell on the grass and began to burn.
Xia Hou covered his mouth tightly with his fist and began to cough. There was blood left on his fingers. He was like an injured eagle that huddled to recover on the rock wall.
A bald eagle is still as majestic as any other eagle.
But an old man is less than half another man. [1]
[1] – The original ending phrase was a Chinese pun that used the Chinese words for eagle and hawk, where the word for ‘eagle’ (老鹰) is obtained by adding the character for ‘old’ (老) in front of the character for ‘hawk’ (鹰). The second line says that in a similar way, putting the character for ‘old’ in front of the character for ‘man’ only creates a person who is full of the stress of old age, and nothing more.
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