Chapter 675 (1/2)
Chapter 675
Ning Que flew towards the light, hugging Sangsang . They had already flown for a long time; the people on the Wilderness were looking like little black spots and he could barely make out the Big Black Horse .
They were already very far off the ground, and logically speaking, nothing else, other than flying swords or arrows would be able to reach where they were . Unless the person was very tall, he would not be able to reach out all the way into the sky and grab hold of his leg .
Ning Que and Sangsang crossed the cloud of golden dragon's breath and landed softly on the surface of the Wilderness . He hugged Sangsang closely and looked up, realizing that the figure in front of him was very tall indeed .
The person looked at Ning Que and Sangsang, his back against the sky and the Giant Golden Dragon . His face was shrouded by darkness, and could not be made out clearly . The edges of his body seemed to be plated with golden light as if he were on fire .
The person stood on the Wilderness, his tall figure seeming as if it were about to touch the sky .
The person smiled and said, ”Choices might seem meaningless, but sometimes, our choices might affect those of others . This will make things interesting . ”
In the mirage he faced during the entrance test to the Second floor of the Academy, Ning Que had had a conversation with the tall man . He had not seen the face of the man clearly then .
”Which side would you choose between light and darkness?”
”Why do I have to make a choice?”
”How did you make a choice in the past?”
”I am in the dark, but my heart yearns for the light . ”
”I never thought that I would still be able to see any strand of wild gra.s.s that would bend with the wind after so many years . ”
”Look, I've told you that making a choice wasn't necessary . ”
”But what if the sky collapses?”
”Why would the sky fall?”
”What if?”
”Then there will be someone tall to support it . . . someone like you . ”
Ning Que found out who the tall man was some time after he had ascended the Academy's mountain . The dream became a reality many years later in the Wilderness . He realized that what he had said was just as accurate . So what if the sky fell? There would always be a tall person like his teacher who would hold it up .
Ning Que knelt before the tall figure and said respectfully, ”Teacher, you're here . ”
”Yes, I thought about it and still could not understand . So I came . ”
The Headmaster looked up at the bright light and the fading night in the sky, using his body to create a shade in the Wilderness for Ning Que and Sangsang . His black coat swung in the air as if it was going to burst into flames .
”I thought for more than a millennium on which side I should stand on in the battle between light and darkness . However, the problem is that I have never seen Yama and have never crossed paths with him . I don't like the cold, but I don't like the quiet boring world Buddha saw . I don't like Haotian either, I even hate it . ”
The Headmaster said, ”So I have always wanted to be a gra.s.s on the wall, leaning on whichever side the wind blows . Over the past years, I asked you which side you would walk on, but in fact, I was also asking myself the same question . When I asked you in your dream then, you said you wanted to be a gra.s.s on the wall, and it comforted me a lot . It is more important not to choose . Unfortunately, being a gra.s.s on the wall isn't that easy . The wind might be able to find out which gra.s.s is the strongest in the gale, and tear it off . ”
Ning Que looked at the Headmaster worriedly and said, ”But you still made a choice . ”
The Headmaster glanced at Sangsang and said calmly, ”Perhaps my choice might prove to be wrong . But at least, right now, I want to make this choice, so I choose this . ”
Ning Que did not know what to say, but he was very touched and a little sad . He was fortunate because he had his teacher and that he and Sangsang were both alive . However, he worried for his teacher and how he would face Haotian's wrath .
The Headmaster looked at him and smiled . He continued, ”Not making a choice is indeed a form of freedom . However, if you do not make a choice out of fear, then that isn't considered freedom . Making a choice doesn't have to have any meaning, but it might have some . We live on Earth, not for any meaning, but to be meaningful . ”
The Headmaster looked at him and smiled . He continued, ”Not making a choice is indeed a form of freedom . However, if you do not make a choice out of fear, then that isn't considered freedom . Making a choice doesn't have to have any meaning, but it might have some . We live on Earth, not for any meaning, but to be meaningful . ”
The statement was simple but profound .
Ning Que did not have to think much to understand what his teacher was saying . That was because he was a student of the Academy . Meaning was the goal while being meaningful emphasized the process . The Academy did not care about the goal but the process .
When Youngest Uncle had wanted to wage war against the sky with a sword, he must have considered that it was something very meaningful .
The light bore down on the world and many knelt on the ground, not daring to look directly at the sky as they prayed silently, filled with respect and fear . Those who dared to stand died, or were about to die . However, on one spot of the Wilderness where the light shone the brightest stood a tall man who s.h.i.+elded the Daughter of Yama with his body .
This was a provocation against the majesty of Haotian and was an unforgivable act of blasphemy .
The Giant Golden Dragon's lake-like silent eyes burned with the divine fire of wrath . Its solemn roar reverberated through the Earth once more, followed by a powerful dragon's breath .
Countless rays of burning Divine Light mixed with clear golden gravel sprang forth from the dragon's head in the sky to the Wilderness . The power behind the dragon's breath this time was much stronger than before, burning up the air where it pa.s.sed . A golden-white projection appeared on the surface of the Wilderness .
Ning Que looked over the Headmaster's shoulders and saw the shocking image in the sky . He saw the smoldering dragon's breath heading towards them and paled, yelling, ”Teacher, watch out!”