Chapter 401 (1/2)
Chapter 401: I Pulled My Blade Because I Recognized It
Liu Yiqing was startled but not angered by Ning Que's words; instead, a look of recognition flashed through his eyes, ”I have been meditating on the futon for the past few days,” he explained indifferently. ”Even though I did not mean to, I affected the cleanliness of the Academy. That is why I tried to clean up by myself. I have practiced this a lot, so it's not really worth admiring.”
Ning Que did not expect that Liu Yiqing would remain calm and so grew vigilant, even though he did not allow it to show on his face. He smiled and said, ”I am more accustomed to using a broomstick.”
Liu Yiqing smiled at him mockingly, wondering if they had to argue for a while before commencing the battle. It seemed like the rumors about Ning Que were correct; he would never miss the opportunity to mess with his opponent's mood.
Just as he was about to reply, Ning Que suddenly wiped the smile off his face. He flicked at his Academy uniform with his left hand and held up his right hand in the air. He looked at Liu Yiqing attentively and said, ”Please.”
His posture was imposing. The calmness and dedication on his face coupled with the simplicity of his words instantly led the crowd to cheer.
Liu Yiqing narrowed his eyes at the rapid change in the atmosphere.
According to the cultivation world's description of Ning Que, Mr. Thirteen of the Academy was cruel, decisive to his enemy, and in the habit of talking rubbish and bickering like a child.
The Judicial Department of West-Hill Divine Palace had once a.s.sessed him with the following words, 'His bickering and childish impulses are all an act, he uses these means to disrupt his opponent's state of mind.'
Liu Yiqing felt that he had a deep understanding of Ning Que's character, which was why he could face Ning Que so calmly. Even as Ning Que uttered that mocking sentence that would frazzle many people and make them vomit blood, Liu Yiqing was prepared to speak for a long time with him under the stares of many.
However, he did not expect that Ning Que would be so direct and simple today.
Was it possible that he had really undergone some amazing change after practicing penance in the cave for three months?
Liu Yiqing glanced at Ning Que vigilantly. Then, he turned to walk to the center of the clean, green-tiled ground. His emotions gradually settled to his initial calm as he walked.
Ning Que also walked to the center and quietly waited.
Everyone stared at the two as they walked from the Academy's side doors.
Sangsang walked out from the side doors when no one was paying attention to her.
Neither Tang Xiaotang nor Pipi turned up, probably due to Tang Xiaotang's ident.i.ty as a follower of the Devil's Doctrine.
Liu Yiqing raised his left hand, which was slender and muddy, holding a cyan-steel sword.
He stared at Ning Que before saying emotionlessly, ”I know that your strongest weapon is your arrow, so I shall use my sword.”
Sangsang, standing beneath the tree at the field, dropped her heavy load when she heard that. She placed the big, black umbrella to one side and searched for the dark iron arrow box, ready to send it over when Ning Que spoke.
Ning Que was silent.
Staring at the cyan-steel sword in his left hand, Ning Que slowly rose his eyebrows.
He recognized that sword.
Two years ago, when he came to the city of Chang'an from the City of Wei, he rented a shop on Lin 47th Street with Sangsang and opened the Old Brush Pen Shop. Business was bad back then, so he remembered his first customer clearly.
It was raining in Chang'an that day.
A man stood under the canopy of Old Brush Pen Shop to take shelter from the rain. The man wore a turquoise robe and looked handsome and carefree. His smile looked as though it could brighten up the gloomy skies.
The middle-aged man was the landlord of the shop, and was often armed with a sword at his waist.
Ning Que remembered this middle-aged man not only because he was the first customer of the Old Brush Pen Shop.
The middle-aged man came to the Old Brush Pen Shop holding an oilpaper umbrella on yet another rainy day; Ning Que was squatting on the ground and eating noodles. The middle-aged man squatted beside him and said something to him,
”I'm going to kill someone.”
”I need a man by my side.”
Ning Que followed the middle-aged man into the rain at night due to these words, five hundred taels of silver and Darkie's request. He led him to the run-down Spring Breeze Pavilion and began to kill with that man. Having killed everyone, they returned to the shop and ate a bowl of noodles with fried eggs.
The middle-aged man had a very arrogant surname but a very gentle first name.
His surname was Chao, as the word in Tang Chao (Tang Dynasty).
His name was Chao Xiaoshu.
Ning Que and Chao Xiaoshu had only met a few times.
But he remembered Chao Xiaoshu, and would never forget him.
He could also recognize the seemingly ordinary cyan-steel sword on Chao Xiaoshu.
However, that sword was now in the hands of a powerhouse from the South Jin Kingdom. Liu Yiqing raised the sword in the spring breeze.
This was not the Spring Breeze Pavilion.
Ning Que looked at the sword and after a moment of silence, said, ”I won't use my arrows today. I shall use my blade.”
He did not ask Liu Yiqing where he had got the sword.
Instead, Liu Yiqing brought up the sword himself.
”Do you recognize this sword?”
Ning Que nodded, ”That is the sword of Old Chao from the Spring Breeze Pavilion.”
Liu Yiqing looked at him and asked calmly, ”Don't you want to know why I have the sword?”
Ning Que thought it over, and replied honestly, ”Yes, I do.”