Chapter 168 (2/2)

”How did Senior Brothers and Sisters enter the Academy?”

”Of course, it was the Headmaster of the Academy who accepted them.”

Chen Pipi did not notice that he actually began to talk nonsense after being affected a lot by Second Brother all these years.

Ning Que said reluctantly, ”I'm serious.”

”Was my answer not serious?”

Chen Pipi looked at him confusedly and said, ”Who can draw straighter lines than Fourth Brother? Who can embroider better and be more subtle in the disposition of troops than Seventh Sister? Who can play zither and vertical bamboo flute better than Ninth Brother and Tenth Brother? Is there a better blacksmith than Sixth Brother? As for those two crazy men playing chess, you can't find a third person who can beat them on the chessboard.

”Our Senior Brothers and Sisters are all the top figures of different aspects in the world. They may not be able to beat others, but we can not catch up with them in other aspects.”

Ning Que seriously said, ”I don't think so. I am rather confident with calligraphy.”

Chen Pipi chuckled.

Ning Que also laughed and suddenly thought of one thing, so he asked confusedly, ”Since Senior Brothers and Sisters were already the world's top figures of different aspects before entering the mountain, why did the Headmaster call them into the Academy? Since they are invincible, they're still invincible if they cultivated further. Who can make them go further in their fields?”

Chen Pipi looked at him and said seriously, ”I've said no one can beat them in their own field. In fact, there is a premise for my words. We must rule out the existence of one person.”

”Who?”

”Eldest Brother.”

Ning Que kept silent for a long time before he gradually digested the shock. He stared into Chen Pipi's eyes and said, ”You mean... Eldest Brother knows everything and is the strongest man in any field?”

Chen Pipi said with a long sigh, ”I only know that in the Back Mountain of the Academy, Eldest Brother is responsible for teaching and answering the questions.”

Ning Que was startled speechless and murmured after a long time, ”Is there such an all-round man in the world?”

Chen Pipi looked up at the flying birds in the blue sky and said with a smile, ”Do you feel very frustrated? You are very proud, so am I. Second Brother is even prouder. But even he doesn't have any qualification to be proud of in front of Eldest Brother. The most interesting thing is that if you see Eldest Brother, you will find that he does not even know what pride is.”

Ning Que looked at the sky with hopelessness and said after a long silence, ”In the world besides... a real man who was born all-knowing.”

Chen Pipi did not notice the pause between the words and said, ”In the world, there's no one born all-knowing.”

Ning Que ridiculed, ”If not born knowing, who can teach a person like Eldest Brother?”

Chen Pipi replied with a jibe, ”Idiot, Eldest Brother is the Headmaster's student. Of course, he was taught by the Headmaster.”

Ning Que became silent and suddenly thought that Eldest Brother's teacher was also his own teacher. Not until then did he understand that he had become a student of the legendary Headmaster of the Academy. He could not help feeling excited and agitated.

Ning Que suddenly turned his head and looked at the big fat round face in front of him. He said, ”I have a problem.”

Chen Pipi responded in bewilderment, ”What problem?”

Ning Que said seriously, ”I entered the Second Floor of the Academy for cultivation and learning, not to enjoy the scenery. You showed me around the mountain today. But no one seemed to tell me what I should learn or how to learn.”

”First of all, you are now in the No Doubts State and can manipulate a pitiful amount of Qi of Heaven and Earth. So there are many things you simply can't learn. Secondly, the Back Mountain learning is basically self-taught according to the direction the teacher gives us. It all depends on our own perception and learning. If you have any problems, you may consult Eldest Brother. Now that the teacher and Eldest Brother have yet to return, you can only learn by yourself.”

”Eldest Brother... what's his state now?”

”No one knows, except the Headmaster of the Academy. I even suspect that Eldest Brother doesn't know either.”

”Not again.”

”What I'm talking about is true... because we always feel that Eldest Brother never cares about the state.”

”I suddenly thought of a problem. If Eldest Brother is really omnipotent in all fields, then why don't Fifth Brother and Eighth Brother ask him to play chess? In my mind, playing chess is the most likely to cause a violent atmosphere. No one cares whether the opposition is Senior Brother or not.”

Chen Pipi suddenly laughed as he remembered something. He could not help but shake his head and sigh. ”That is because Eldest Brother has two most wonderful traits. Because of these two qualities, no one will ask him to play chess or do other things.”

”What qualities?” Ning Que asked curiously.

”Eldest Brother takes everything seriously, very serious. So he moves slowly, very slow.”

”How slow?”

”You cannot imagine it.”

”Even if I have to wait for the Headmaster of the Academy to return, I should do something on the Back Mountain.”

”You'll have a lot to do in the future.”

Ning Que suddenly felt that something was wrong and asked with hesitation, ”For example?”

Chen Pipi looked at him sympathetically and said, ”A lot, for example.”

At this very moment, Ning Que finally recalled that Chen Pipi had looked at him with pity from time to time when he met the Senior Brothers and Sisters in the Academy today. He vaguely guessed something and asked in a low voice,

”Now that I am the youngest Brother. Do you think you have ushered in a new joyful stage in your life?”

Chen Pipi smiled at him and said, ”Yes, I no longer listen to those elegant songs every day, or am forced to draw lines on the sand table by Fourth Brother, or am forced to step on the treadmill by Sixth Brother or am forced to insert a flag inside the fog and draw lines by Seventh Sister, or am forced to discuss those confusing things by Sixth Brother, or am forced to count a lot of numbers forced by Second Brother, or am the first one to be hit on the palm.”

Ning Que said thoughtfully, ”Because I am the youngest now.”

Chen Pipi patted Ning Que's chest and said gratefully, ”Thanks to younger Brother, in the Academy.”

Ning Que smiled and opened his hands. He put his hands behind his head and looked at the sky, thinking that he must cherish the leisure time today, and started to ignore Chen Pipi.

”I know you're an ambitious person with amazing ideas.”

Chen Pipi suddenly looked at the sky and said, ”You are concerned about the states of Senior Brothers and Sisters, for you want to go beyond them. In fact, I don't agree with your lifestyle, for it's too tiring.”

Ning Que did not look back at him but stared at the birds flying lower and lower in the sky. He looked at the soft white bellies under their black wings and murmured, ”Living is a tiring thing.”

”I don't know what happened to you when you were young. But I think sometimes you should broaden your mind.”

”You mean that I am a very short-sighted person? Did I give the crab porridge to a pig?”

”You know that I do not mean it in that way. I mean, you do not need to guard against Senior Brothers and Sisters. They are all good people.”

Ning Que said after a moment's silence, ”I met a good man when I was four and I found that the good man wanted to eat me. Of course, I don't think Senior Brothers and Sisters would be such people. But I just met them and will of course feel defensive. You don't need to worry that I will turn out to be a psychopath. If I was going to become a pervert, I would have become one when I was a child.”

Chen Pipi turned to look at the side of his face and said, ”At least here you really don't need to be too vigilant. You can relax and enjoy yourself. The Back Mountain of the Academy is a good place and you should cherish it.”

”Got it. I will cherish it.”

Ning Que seriously said, ”Do you feel bored after staying on the mountain for so many years?”

”Of course it still happens sometimes, otherwise how would I have met you?”

Ning Que retracted his gaze and watched Chen Pipi. He asked curiously, ”When will you return to West-Hill?”

Chen Pipi might have recalled some bad memories when he heard that and looked embarra.s.sed.

Ning Que stared at his eyes and asked enticingly, ”Is it something to do with women?”

Chen Pipi swallowed with difficulty and said with a dumbfounded voice, ”It has nothing to do with you.”

Ning Que laughed and hit him on the shoulder. Ning Que asked, ”What kind of woman do you like?”

Mature men always talked about money and s.e.xuality on the matter of women. Only young men discussed women with innocence. However, no matter if young or old, women were always the object that triggered a conversation.

Upon hearing this, Chen Pipi suddenly became interested and said, ”Do you remember the words I wrote in my first letter?”

Ning Que nodded his head.

”Forget those things, for I was just cursing.”

Chen Pipi said with a smile, ”The girl I like must have black and beautiful long hair, with a slim body and clean facial features. Of course, she must be pretty. It would be better if she can have little red cheeks.”

Ning Que surprisedly asked, ”That's all?”

After a moment, Chen Pipi added seriously, ”As long as she's strong and independent, I'm even fine with a fierce one. No woman can beat a cultivation genius like me. Besides she... must be a good person.”

Ning Que always thought that the words seemed to hide some pain of many years. But Chen Pipi was only a young boy in his teen years when he escaped from West-Hill to the Academy. How did he end up in a bad relations.h.i.+p? Ning Que could not help feeling a little confused.

At that moment, Chen Pipi's eyes suddenly lit up. He pointed at the creek under the slope and said, ”Look, that is Second Brother's goose.”

A plump white goose shook its big a.s.s as it walked to the creek with a small bamboo basket in its mouth. No one knew what was in the basket. And the goose put its thick hard beak into the bamboo basket, and then extended it into the calmly flowing stream.

The disturbing voice in the stream attracted countless fish and they gathered in front of the great white goose. They pecked from time to time, but in a very orderly sequence. After finis.h.i.+ng the food, they retreated quickly to make way for the fish behind.

The white goose looked up from the water and proudly raised his neck against the sky to cry twice. Once again, it took the things in the bamboo basket into the stream and repeated the action with patience.

Ning Que was shocked speechless by the scene in the river... This white goose was actually feeding the fis.h.!.+

”The goose Second Brother raises comes here every day to feed the fish, as if it is proud to think this is the most important task in its own life. It's same with Second Brother, who takes pride in lecturing us every day as if it was the most important task in his life,”

Chen Pipi stood beside him and said with a smile.

Ning Que was shocked and speechless. He thought that the Back Mountain of the Academy was really the most awesome place in the world.

Across Min Mountain to the north, there was a naturally formed mountain pa.s.s on the far northern plateau that was even more desolate than the Wilderness. On the plateau of the southern pa.s.s, a team of thousands of women, children, the aged, and the infirm were struggling to walk on. The nights of this year were much longer than in previous years. As the temperature dipped, the Great Northern Wilderness tribe, known for its cold resistance, could no longer bear the harsher and harsher environment and was forced to leave the hometown where they had lived for more than a thousand years. Stepping on the mixture of snow and mud, they began to migrate southward.

The Great Northern Wilderness tribe, composed of hundreds of thousands of people, had been away from the Central Plains for such a long time that many of them had forgotten there still existed this region of the south in the world and that they had been long forgotten by that prosperous and affluent world.

As the darkness lasted longer and the temperature got lower, besides those poor tribal people, the animals and beasts originally living in colder climates were first to succ.u.mb to the harsh living conditions where they lived.

Listening to the loud crying from the distant northern pa.s.s, a respected elderly man in the migrating tribe, with wrinkles filled with sadness and helplessness, looked solemn. The eyes of the women wearing fur were filled with despair. They had been hunting for their livelihood, and could clearly tell from the roar the scale of this group of herds invading southward from the Arctic region. If these cruel beasts caught up with the tribe, then the tribe would meet their end.

There was a mess at the mountain pa.s.s, full of smudges in the snowy land.

A girl stood in the snowy land with rotten fur wrapped around her body tightly. She wore a pair of dark boots on her feet, with her long black hair braided under the fur cap hanging behind and gently swinging near her knees. The beast tail did not cover her fresh and lovely brows and eyes. But her small face was flushed by the cold wind. She was not more than 15 years old.

Listening to the cries of wild beasts, she tightly held the hilt with both hands, staring at the black line far away at the snow plateau. Her body trembled slightly due to the tension and her young eyes became brighter and brighter.

The hoof beats became gradually clearer. The deep eyes of snow wolves appeared in the Wilderness like stars. The atmosphere was depressed and terrible. The girl looked over there nervously and suddenly shouted childishly, ”Tang Xiaotang, you'll be the strongest woman in the world! Of course you won't die so soon!”

As soon as she finished the sentence, she forcefully pulled a knife out of the snowy land.

The knife was red with a big curve. It was longer and wider than her compact body. Held on her shoulder, it looked like a b.l.o.o.d.y crooked moon.

She held the giant red-moon knife and shouted like a madwoman. Then she rushed at the Snowfield Direwolves spread all over the plateau.

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