The carriage was running on the ground, and on the ground was the world of humankind. If the Headmaster had figured out “how”, he would’ve left for battling with Haotian early instead of sitting in the carriage.
“I thought about it for a long time but did not have any idea how.” The Headmaster said, “Hundreds of years passed by, and one day I met the guy named Ke Haoran, your Youngest Uncle.”
Ning Que was depressed at the moment, but his face lighted up at the mention of “Ke Haoran”. He was excited and he could feel the Great Spirit of his Youngest Uncle flowing in his body.
The Headmaster then said, “Your Youngest Uncle was talented, or a genius as others called. He learned things quickly. He never knew what a Knowlege barrier was, but it was a pity that he had such an odd temper, and there were many things he refused to learn.”
Ning Que then said, “Lotus told me that the Haoran Sword was the one and only method Youngest Uncle knew. And he also told me that through the ‘one’ the Youngest Uncle learned the way to ‘all’.”
“No matter what it was, I would say it was quite limited since he finally killed himself.”
The Headmaster then said, “Back to our topic. I was totally impressed by your Youngest Uncle because he was more talented than me. And I hoped he could live up to my dream if I cultivated him with great effort. By that I mean the dream to defeat Haotian.”
“And then?”
“I told you he had such an odd temper.”
“Was it pride?”
“That is odd enough.”
“Well… you’re also pretty proud, teacher.”
“I’m always impersonal and objective.”
“I think we’re straying from the topic.”
“That’s your fault… well, your Youngest Uncle was a proud one. Actually, he was so proud that he even refused to be a student of mine. So I asked him, ‘If I am not qualified to be your teacher, then who on earth is?'”
The Headmaster said, “His answer was ‘no one’, and that he could teach himself. I was irritated by him at first till I saw myself in him— I used to be the one who was self taught! But still, I wanted to teach him some shortcuts in cultivation. Therefore, I lied to him that ‘someone’ wanted him to be his student, and when he asked who the ‘someone’ was, I said it was ‘no one’. That was when he agreed.”
The Headmaster halted for a second and continued, “I was hoping I could teach him some shortcuts in cultivation but in the end, I found myself erring completely.”
Ning Que asked, “Why?”
The Headmaster answered, “He was walking so fast on those shortcuts that he was almost flying in the end.”
The metaphor was a little bit complicated, but Ning Que had the gist of it.
“He was making progress too fast, and that made me nervous. So I picked up my travels around the world, and during the journey, I met your Eldest Brother in a small town, then Jun Mo afterwards.”
“Your Youngest Uncle left the Academy on the back of a donkey. He traveled to Chang’an, and around the world. He wiped out the Devil’s Doctrine. Then he was back in the Academy and continued to make progress at an unbelievably fast speed. It was believed that he was at his peak when wiping out the Devil’s Doctrine with just one sword, but he was even more powerful when he was back in the Academy.”
“He finally experienced the same problem as I did. He questioned the heavens and decided to fight Haotian. I objected to it firmly. I told him there was no way that he could defeat Haotian. Yet he said to me, ‘Senior Brother, you’ll never know if you can do it till you’ve actually done it. So do it before you draw conclusions.'”
Ning Que didn’t say a word. In his mind, he was picturing his Second Brother from whom he could see part of the Youngest Uncle. Then he raised up his chin and asked, “And then?”
After a moment of silence, the Headmaster answered, “Then he left for the fight.”
“Then he lost it.”
“Then he died.”
The Headmaster laughed out loud after he finished the story, in loneliness and bitterness.
Ning Que might feel distant from the world in the Headmaster’s story, but he could share the Headmaster’s feelings now.
Powerful people are lonely. The Drunkard and the Butcher were not of the Headmaster’s kind. It had cost the Headmaster so much to finally find a man who had a common ground with him, but sadly, they were separated before they had the chance to fight side by side.
The Headmaster finally calmed down, and he said, “I’ve been concentrated on teaching your Eldest Brother and your Second Brother since then. I taught them through my experiences gained from my 1,000-year lifetime. I taught Manman kindness and righteousness and taught Jun Mo propriety. And they’ve lived up to my expectations.”
“It is a pity that they’ve been following my ways too closely, and no matter how well they do, they’ll only be the second and the third ‘me’ or Ke Haoran. That is not a good sign if they want to defeat Haotian. As for your Third Sister, her cultivation is one of a kind, however; she’s also trapped in the world of Haotian.”
“So I wanted to find other possible ways. I traveled around the world and tried to find talented people in all fields. I brought them back to the Academy, including your Fifth Brother, Song Qian, and Wang Chi. Instead of teaching them how to cultivate, I let them study what they were interested in. We tried to find a way to defeat Haotian by studying mathematics and geometry.”
“I told you that West-Hill’s Haotian Taoism was the starting point, where I began cultivating. So, in the end, I went back to the beginning. Your Twelfth Brother, Chen Pipi, was the most outstanding genius among all in Haotian Taoism. He had the best qualities of Haotian Taoism but was not hindered by backward ideas. That’s why I chose him.”
“But my time was limited. And now I know that there may be a chance that those efforts would also fail. Even if the plan was to succeed, I would not be alive to see it. It’s lucky that I have you now.”
Ning Que was listening without saying a word until he heard his own name. He looked up in surprise, and asked, “I am not as talented as Chen Pipi. And I could barely win against my Senior Brothers or Sisters in Talisman or in Go games. Why am I the one?”
“Firstly, you are a selfish man.”
“Should I take that as a compliment?”
The Headmaster said, “Thousands of years ago, I taught people kindness, righteousness and propriety so that they could be well-behaved and moral. And I brought them laws to maintain social stability. Now the Tang Empire and your two Senior Brothers have all made this a reality. People are living peacefully and quietly, but they’re not aggressive enough. Only the selfish can push society forward.”
Ning Que argued, “I know that love can save the world. I never heard that selfishness could do the same thing.”
The Headmaster then said, “Sometimes a new world has to rise up from the old one’s ashes.”
Ning Que sighed, “That is a lot of pressure on me.”
The Headmaster laughed, and then halted. He looked at Ning Que and said, “The most important reason why I chose you as my last student was that I could never get you.”
“On Peach Mountain, Wei Guangming saw a boy in Chang’an born with knowledge. I’ve seen it, too. He thought you were the Son of Yama, but I didn’t agree. I did feel confused and wonder why there would be a man born with knowledge, especially when it was you— a boy who seemed no more than ordinary.”
The Headmaster said, “And my question had its answer recently after I knew that you were not a man of Haotian’s world. You’re from another world. That’s the answer.”
They hadn’t talked about how to defeat Haotian, neither had they discussed the world Ning Que belonged to. The two had already ascertained the two facts without conversing.
Ning Que was looking down at the footprints the little Vermilion Bird burnt on the floor. After a long silence, he looked up and then at Sangsang. The Headmaster was wise enough to accept his identity as a man from another world, but what about Sangsang?
What would she think of him?
There was nothing like terror or resentment in her. She was surprised and looked at Ning Que curiously. When she found Ning Que looking at her, she laughed out loud.
Ning Que was touched by Sangsang. He didn’t care if Sangsang was the Daughter of Yama or not. All he cared about was Sangsang being herself. And Sangsang didn’t care where Ning Que was from. All she cared about was Ning Que being himself.
“So far I haven’t found a way to defeat Haotian, neither did your Youngest Uncle. Actually, nobody in this world has succeeded, because the world we’re now in is Haotian’s territory.”
The Headmaster smiled at Ning Que and said. “But you’re an outsider of this world. At least your soul and your mind do not belong here. If the world we’re in now is an endless circle of living and death, and you are not of this world, then you will be the person who will break the cycle. This is good.”
That put even more pressure on Ning Que. He looked out of the window. The blue sky and white clouds there suddenly became so heavy. Ning Que felt like his mind and heart were being crushed into pieces by the pressure.
“Am I going against Heaven?”
There had been a well told cliche about how a rookie screamed and vowed to go against Heaven . For thousands of years, the Headmaster had been considering and practicing to break the chain of the world and let folks breathe fresh air. When a man like the Headmaster said “going against Heaven”, he literally meant it. It was going to be a really brave and great fight.
Ning Que used to be a selfish man. His reasons for fighting were quite limited. Now, he knew he was going to fight for the freedom of humankind.
“Why do I have to do that?”
Ning Que felt confused but he was afraid to ask.
The Headmaster once mentioned that he was not a man of this world. But in this world, he had gone through pain and sorrow, laughter and joy, partings and reunions. How did that happen?
Everything happens for a reason, and everyone has his reason for living.
But Ning Que’s reason to live now seemed too burdening.
He looked up to the Headmaster and for a long time, he said nothing.
Just as the Headmaster and Sangsang though Ning Que was about to refuse or avoid the burden.
He asked, “Then how can I be as powerful as you are?”