8 Drinking at Night, Dreaming of the Ocean (2/2)
”Shall all living creatures, suffer from no aging nor ailment, prosper in longevity, and gain wisdom with fierce courage.”
As he gradually fell asleep, his mind and spirit began working alongside the seemingly simple yet deeply abstract and enigmatic words on the pages.
As time went by, the wool blanket that covered Ning Que and Sangsang seemed to have disappeared, as did the little tent, the grass outside, and the little stream evaporated into a cluster of fog and vanished, too. The whole world became an abstract realm where he became the world, and the world became him. In this realm, one could almost feel a subtle sound of breathing in an enigmatic rhythm, and the breath of nature slowly abounded into a vast ocean of warm.
Ning Que was not unfamiliar with the sensation. In fact, he was often able to sense it ever since he read 'the article' many years ago. But at the same time, he was clearly aware of the sad fact that it was not a genuine form of ”sensing” upon meditation, but merely a dream.
The vast warm ocean was probably an illusion of the dream, since the tightly wrapped little feet he was holding finally started to warm up. At least it was a wonderful illusion after all.
While consoling himself, Ning Que fell soundly asleep throughout the night.
...
...
Waking up the next morning, Ning Que slept really well, even though he looked utterly surprised and upset, as if he craved to sleep for another three days.
”Why change the route at such short notice?”
Looking at the poker-faced maidservant, he contained his temper and as gentle as possible he explained. ”We will go through Min Mountain to go straight to Huaxi Path. There will be no problem with this route I have chosen.”
No one in the tent showed any response to his concern, not even the maidservant.
”I'm the guide, and none of you are familiar enough with the Min Mountain,” Ning Que looked at the maidservant again and after a brief silence went on to say, ”I understand you are worried about being ambushed. I can assure you that, no one can stop you if you listen to me.”
The maidservant glanced at him as if he was insignificant, almost like saying, who gave you the right to request any sort of explanation from me?
As he returned to his tent, Sangsang was packing their belongings. He told her, ”We shall part from them soon as we send them off the main path.”
Looking at the simple map he drew years ago, he pointed at a place and said, ”This is the furthest we will go, because if we went further in, we could all be annihilated if the enemy sent a few cavalries our way.”
”You should go and convince them.” said Sangsang looking at him.
”I guess the princess is expecting reinforcements once they get there. Therefore they won't listen to me.” Replied Ning Que. ”It's not my strong suit to convince a bunch of idiots.”
Sangsang said nothing but looked at him inquisitively. If there will be reinforcements, what is worrying you so much that you have even decided to run off halfway?
”My gut feeling tells me that something is not right.”
”Because I'm confident that, a tough character who dares to plot the assassination of Fourth Princess of Great Tang shouldn't be as stupid as that woman, and I bet there will be a few backup plans.” replied Ning Que.
Sangsang hesitated but went on to remind him. ”You should respect her a little... ”
”I already know her real identity,” said Ning Que with a raised eyebrow and mocking tone. ”she is the princess and so what? I said it back in the City of Wei, and I insist, she really is a stupid princess.”