898 The Days In The Divine Hall Of Light Part I (1/2)

When Sangsang was still a human being, she seemed a little naive and clumsy and didn't talk much. It was just a facade because she had an indifferent personality. To dig deeper, she acted this way because she had no attachment for the world she lived in.

Soldiers and civilians of City of Wei, Second Brother and Chen Pipi all cared a lot about her, and Xiaocao sent many gifts to her. However, she rarely paid them back in the old days.

These were her bonds with the human world which she couldn't entirely cut off. She could only compensate these people who treated her nicely back to put an end to her earthly bonds. However, Ning Que was an exception.

She gave all of her attention and life to Ning Que back then, thus she owned him nothing. To cut off her bond to Ning Que, she should ask him for compensation, such as was.h.i.+ng her feet, making her bed, and attending upon her.

She didn't think it was a matter of whether or not it was meaningful, but it was just what should be done.

Ning Que didn't see the matter like Sangsang did, but was.h.i.+ng her feet was just a trivial act compared with death by a thousand cuts, so he had no hesitation in doing so.

He didn't feel humiliated about this, as he didn't feel humiliated when he wors.h.i.+ped on his bended knees towards the Divine Hall of Light on the peak during the Rite to Light. You had washed my feet on your knees many times over the years. So what if I washed yours for return?

The temperature of the water in the copper basin was just right for the feet, but a bit hot for the hands. Ning Que poured water to her feet and carefully ma.s.saged them, not even missing the spot between her toes.

Her feet were as white as before but softer, and the skin above her ankles was white too. Staring at her feet in the basin, Ning Que was distracted by the memories of the old days and found his hands to be red from the hot water. Then, he suddenly remembered her hands were the same as his when she washed his feet in the past.

Sangsang hadn't worn any shoes since she woke up in the broken peak of farthest north. A charming woman in the city of the Song Kingdom once gave her a pair of shoes, but she tossed them away.

She walked across Wilderness, the countrysides, the cities, and to the Divine Hall of West Hill with her bare feet, leaving the mortal world behind. However, her feet were so clean that no dust could be found between her glossy toenails, looking beautiful and charming.

Ning Que washed her feet for a long time. The water in the copper basin was still clear, which even gave an impression that fishes would like to swim in there and drinking the water must be refres.h.i.+ng.

However, he continued to wash carefully, for he knew that the reason why Sangsang made him wash her feet was not that she needed it, but she wanted him to do so.

With her feet held and ma.s.saged by a man, any ordinary girl would laugh like a silver bell even if it tickled. Whether Ning Que's ma.s.sage was light or heavy, Sangsang had no reactions. She looked very serious and solemn, like she was attending a baptism, which was a little ridiculous to be was.h.i.+ng her feet at such an event.

Ning Que took her feet from the basin, put them on his laps, dried her feet with a white towel and put them back on the bed. Then he laid the towel on his shoulder, picked up the copper basin, walked to the terrace and poured the water down the cliff and into the blizzard.

The blizzard and the cliff were picturesque, and the water that Ning Que poured was like a naughty child holding an ink pen, unreasonably doodling on a beautiful painting.

Ning Que remembered that when he was locked in the cave on the cliff in the Back Hill of Academy by his master many years ago, Sangsang was there to look after him. She poured the used water and the excreta in the chamber pot into the beautiful cliff, disturbing the white clouds and silver waterfall.

It was interesting that the scenarios were so alike.

Through the recent battle between them and the ritual-like feet-was.h.i.+ng tonight, he had a better understanding of today's Sangsang, who was also Haotian fallen on earth.

She was the collection of rules of the world. As Headmaster of Academy said in a restaurant at Song Kingdom last year, she was objective and extremely calm and thought with absolute logic. Even though she possessed subjective self-consciousness and animacy resulted from self-perpetuation, it was the way she lived.

This kind of advanced manifestation of life indeed frightened people. However, in Ning Que's point of view, Sangsang was frightening but could also be cute. He still saw her as his little handmaiden who was always clumsy.

She was never stupid, just a little clumsy.

She wanted to completely cut off her bonds with the human world. After finding out it was impossible, she chose to end it by liquidating her connections on earth instead. However, she didn't realize that the connections were not just cold numbers, and things like attachments and life couldn't be calculated.

She thought she could break off with the human world and return to the Divine Kingdom of Haotian if she paid back what she owed and reclaimed what Ning Que owed her.

However, she didn't understand that for humans, sometimes love was not an unilateral commitment or an unilateral demand. Even though she could perform G.o.d's Plan, it was still impossible to calculate all the details of such a complicated matter. Quite on the contrary, the more she thought and calculated, the deeper she went in the human world.

When she began to think like humans and value human emotions, she would gradually lose her objectivity, becoming more and more like human beings.

Ning Que began to think that the whole matter was getting more and more interesting.

The Divine Hall of West Hill ruled the whole world. In the old days, treasures from all kingdoms were sent to the West Hill endlessly to support the disabled elders of the Zhishou Abbey. The elder Taoists in the cave lived such lavish lives that they even used the fur of snowfield giant wolves as mattresses. Since the Divine Hall of West Hill enshrined Haotian now, it was conceivable that how many rare food ingredients would be sent to Peach Mountain when Haotian demanded food.

A young handmaiden in white took Ning Que to the kitchen. He never thought that a kitchen could ever be more resplendent than a palace or that he would ever see so many rare ingredients. Looking at the bear paws piling up like they were cabbages and shark fins soaking carelessly like they were pickles, he couldn't help but shake his head and said, ”Is the Divine Hall gonna turn to a restaurant?”