Chapter 474 (1/2)
Chapter 474: Hoisting the Flag
On the cliff in the back of the Academy's mountain .
The Headmaster of the Academy in black overclothes sat by the edge of the cliff and looked in the direction of Chang'an from a distance . The snow looked like salt flowers spread by Haotian .
”Fifteen years ago, I was sitting here and watching the woodshed in the Official of Counsel's Mansion . ”
”I watched him as he walked out of the woodshed, palefaced and holding a chopper . I watched him hiding in the well grasping a rope . I watched him climbing over the wall and walking into the crowd . I watched him leaving Chang'an . He reminded me of your Youngest Uncle from a long time ago . ”
The Eldest Brother stood beside him and asked, ”What did my Younger Brother and Youngest Uncle have in common?”
The Headmaster shook his head and said, ”I could not tell . Maybe they were both eager for freedom . ”
”I agree with you on my Youngest Uncle's part, but were freedom and what had happened to Younger Brother relevant?”
The Headmaster said, ”The so-called freedom, is your right to choose . Choose to live, choose to die, or not to choose . Your Younger Brother chose to take the chopper to kill the housekeeper and his best friend . At that moment, he had taken his first step toward freedom . ”
The Eldest Brother said honestly, ”Teacher, I don't understand?”
The Headmaster said, ”You are like the clearest stream in the world and flowing among the hills freely . Maybe you have run into some shoals and reefs, but you never came across a real danger or faced the option your Younger Brother faced once . ”
”No one was qualified to judge the choice Ning Que made at that time, but it was unusual for him to do that . Your Youngest Uncle made a similar decision in that year . No matter what happened to them, they both did what they wanted . ”
The Eldest Brother said, ”That's why teacher took him as a disciple . ”
The Headmaster sighed and said, ”In the spring, I met your Younger Brother in the Building of Pines and Cranes and had a talk with him in the hut . I was a little disappointed when I found he was different from your Youngest Uncle . ”
”But that's how life is . How can two leaves be exactly the same?”
He watched the snow and the city with relief . ”However, today, his choice surprised me . I never expected he was brave enough to challenge Xia Hou face to face . I like the clumsy choice he made . ”
He turned around looked at his eldest disciple and said with a smile, ”You are the clumsiest one among your brothers, but I like you the most . However, you need to study from Jun Mo and your Younger Brother about some of their ways . ”
The Eldest Brother agreed with his teacher . He watched the snow and could not help worrying about his Younger Brother . He hesitated a while and said, ”If Younger Brother indeed loses to Xia Hou, what should I do?”
This was an interesting question . It suggested that in the Eldest Brother's opinion, Ning Que was not qualified to have a fight against Xia Hou .
”I don't believe in Heaven or fate . I only believe in myself . ”
The Headmaster had a look at the grey sky and said, ”Everyone believes in himself . This is your Younger Brother' s choice, and this is also his ridicule and contempt toward fate . Except for a fair chance, he asked for nothing . ”
The dead silence in front of the palace lasted for a long time . The snowstorm crumbled the b.l.o.o.d.y flag, swayed the big black umbrella and froze people's faces as well .
The Nation Master, Li Qingshan looked at Ning Que complicatedly and said, ”Is that all?”
Ning Que kept quiet .
Li Qingshan sighed and shook his head . He said, ”His Majesty said that if you insisted on fighting against him, you had to hand over the thing first .
”He said you know what he means . ”
The tip of Ning Que's eyebrows slightly tilted up and he asked, ”Why?”
Li Qingshan said, ”It's your personal grudge . ”
Ning Que said, ”Yes . ”
Li Qingshan said, ”Since it is your personal grudge, you are not allowed to use it . ”
Then he seriously said, ”If you are able to survive after the battle, you can get it back . ”
Ning Que looked at the snow under his feet and did not say anything . After a while, he took out a thing enveloped by a piece of cloth, but he refused to hand it over to Li Qingshan .
Li Qingshan frowned and said, ”Can't you even trust me?”
”Except for myself, I trust n.o.body . Sorry . ”
Ning Que gave it to Chen Pipi beside him and explained .
Li Qingshan smiled with a bitter expression and walked toward the palace .
People in front of the palace were curious about what it was . Xia Hou could clearly feel the fluctuation from it, so he frowned and said to Ning Que, ”You have the array eye . That's why you believe you are qualified to challenge me?”
Ning Que said, ”I said once, I still have many more powerful tools . ”
Xia Hou slowly and gently stroked the arms of the chair, as if he did not notice that there was nothing there . He said, ”Now that you don't have the array eye, do you still insist on killing me?”