Chapter 95 (1/2)

The professor's eyes brightened slightly, and the tenseness in her brows lightened. She looked at the stairwell calmly, only to find that the one arriving was not that student, but another who looked flighty.

Chu Youxian walked upstairs nervously. He had once fainted upstairs and have heard of the numerous painful experience of his peers. Even someone like Xie Chengyun would vomit blood in the middle of the night after reading it. The various rumors surrounding the book upstairs were as scary as the underworld and it frightened him badly.

He bowed deeply, looking extremely cowardly as he walked towards the eastern windows and spoke respectfully to the female professor.

She furrowed her brows slightly and smiled at him in a peaceful manner, ”So he's sick… And he even thought of informing me. That child is really so lovely and polite. Please pa.s.s on my word and tell him to rest well and recuperate.”

Xie Chengyun, the third young master of the South Jin Kingdom has given up on studying cultivation upstairs. Now that a certain someone had taken medical leave, the second floor of the old library was even quieter than usual. No one came upstairs for days. The female professor who was used to this peace and quiet in the place lowered her head and practiced her calligraphy in lower script. Outside, the spring breeze followed the eastern windows to the west while the blossoming trees waved outside the windows.

But there was someone who was not aware that the lad had taken medical leave.

In the dead of the night, the stars shone into the old library, casting a silver glow on the wooden floors. The carvings on the shelves at the end row glimmered before opening silently. Chen Pipi squeezed through it with great difficulty. He wiped the sweat off his forehead with a damp handkerchief as he walked slowly towards the shelf.

His chubby hand picked out the thin book. Chen Pipi flipped through the book randomly. The sheet of paper that he had left in it was still there. No one had touched it nor left behind any words. His eyelids twitched as he mumbled angrily in a low voice. ”How many days has it been, why has it not been read? I, the mighty genius have gone against the rules of the Academy to teach you and you did not treasure it!”

This situation was rather odd in any case.

Chen Pipi has always held himself by the standards of a genius. He had always thought that geniuses had to do things differently. For example, Eldest Brother always had that annoying smile on his face and he liked to drink straight from the lakes and rivers. Second Brother liked wearing that weird tall hat and lecture sternly to the female students of the Academy on psychology. Teacher had even more weird quirks. So he always wanted to do things that geniuses should do. Things that could be written in the history books of the Academy. Great things. For example, teaching a poor soul against the Academy rules. He would leave behind thoughtless words that would change somebody's life.

He would not care too much of course, since it was a sudden decision. Whether the poor soul would understand and digest the comments he wrote on the paper regarding 'Primary exploration on Ocean of Qi and Mountain of Snow' was not something he considered important. However, when he returned to look at the reply on the second night to find that his comments had been unanswered, he turned serious.

Ning Que's fever subsided the same day the spring rain stopped. It was under Sangsang's glare and coercion, that he had a messenger inform Chu Youxian to request for five days of sick leave on his behalf.

He had hot and spicy noodles with fried egg and chicken and potato stew every day and wasn't allowed to touch his ink and paper. He wasn't allowed to sharpen his swords nor practice his sword fighting skills. He wasn't allowed to visit the House of Red-Sleeves to drink and relax. He was only allowed to sit in his chair and lay in bed to recuperate. Ning Que's previously pale face had attained a healthy glow over the past five days. His face was no longer haggard and his cheeks have rounded off, the slight bounce of it making him look adorable.

”I'm going to puke if I eat anymore hot and spicy noodles.”

He pushed away the large bowl before him determinedly, disregarding Sangsang's glare. Stealing two buns from her bowl, and retrieving two vinegar soaked turnips, he slurped them up with the remaining half of her porridge before walking out of the shop. He said, ”I'm going to run away from home if you cook chicken and potato stew for dinner.”

Sangsang held up his bowl of untouched sour and spicy noodles and looked at the thin slices of beef floating in it. She thought to herself, ”why are you turning up your nose at good food? Would you get to eat something like this in Wei?”

All the horse drawn carriages rented by the students of the Academy would have an obvious sign on them indicating so. It goes without saying that you'd need doc.u.mentation for it. Ning Que went through the Southern gates of Chang'an towards the Academy beneath the mountain.

Dawn was just breaking.

There was an unavoidable commotion as he stepped foot into the cla.s.s. It didn't matter whether they were close friends or not, the students came up to him to ask about his health after his return from sick leave. Ning Que smiled at the crowd, all the while seizing them up. He realized that other than Chu Youxian who was genuinely concerned, Situ Yilan and Jin Wucai were genuinely worried too.

The subject of the day was literature and the topic they were discussing was the literature of South Jin Kingdom and the appreciation and a.n.a.lysis of various works. Ning Que who was good at calligraphy, should by right be interested in this. However, no matter in his previous life or now, he was only excited looking at the characters. The characters that formed the sentences and lines that made up poetry and works bored him to tears. He listened to the cla.s.s half-heartedly and when the dismissal bell rang, he answered the instructor politely before rus.h.i.+ng out of cla.s.s and towards the mess hall.

He had two portions of lunch and walked three rounds around the wetland as usual. The other students who had been watching him could not suppress their curiosity and thought to themselves, third young master Xie had given up on getting into the second floor after vomiting blood for an entire night while Ning Que had returned to the Academy looking like nothing happened after he was gravely ill for days.

At the doors to the old library, Chu Youxian peered at his face worriedly and asked, ”Are you still going upstairs?”