103 Guys with Blocked or Broken Meridians (1/2)
Chapter 103: Guys with Blocked or Broken Meridians
Translator: TransnEditor: Transn
”Morning.”
”Morning.”
”Have you finished copying out the three alternative lesson plans for today's calligraphy course?”
”Not yet. We are just getting to it.”
”Well, you've to hurry then. I heard that generally, the Lecturer gives scores throughout the class, which'll count for a high proportion of this semester's exam. If we can't pass this semester's exam, there'll be no hope for us.”
”Is daily performance actually counted?”
”Yes, it is, according to my uncle. If Dr. Wu does a spot check on the recitation of the official denunciation of 3,748 words, I will certainly fail. Please remind me of each sentence's initial.”
”Sure. My problem is that I still can't recite it even if you remind me of the letters.”
In the morning, students got off the horse carriages in front of the Academy and saluted each other.
The sun was shining and birds were singing in the forest behind the yard. As spring gradually passed and summer approached, the temperature rose higher and higher. The younger students already wore the Academy's common summer uniform which was light and breathable, and whose sleeves flew in the morning breeze. It helped add a little sense of freedom and freshness. They usually begun their day this way. They were anxious and complained, but they all had a unique inner confidence.
Ning Que was standing among his classmates and talking with a gentle smile. He looked at all their innocent faces from which the excitement had been erased. He helplessly laughed in his heart and thought about how things never changed with the passage of the time.
The semester exam was taken three times each year and was one of the Academy's most important teaching ceremonies, which came next in importance to the Academy's final test and the Tang Empire student's internship exam. It would be impossible for young and emulative students to be apathetic. It was likely the students that complained about enough time for the review and little sleep, were now able to recite the words backwards fluently. They, however, deliberately appeared eased and even lazy on the surface.
On an ordinary morning, learning began with the Doctor of literature, Wu Chentian, reading in a strong Jiaozhou accent. The old Doctor was too impassioned to fluently read the great talent Wang Chongren's official denunciation in the year of Chenghua, so students could not really understand his accent. The atmosphere in the class was unavoidably boring. Even when the old Doctor got his three handkerchiefs and half of his green sleeves wet, the students still yawned silently.
Fortunately, the old gentleman didn't promptly call the students to stand up and recite this official denunciation. He likely knew that though he was capable of reciting the oracle fluently after 40 years, he could not hold them to the same standards.
When the bell finally rang for the third time, Ning Que felt relieved. He hastily put away his stationery, rushed passed the other students, and out of Classroom Three. He walked along the stone path and the edge of the wetland to cross Qing Lane and headed towards the old library. He now read books and forgot the meaning by Eight Strokes Calligraphy, and no longer fainted while reading, as he used to. Therefore, he need not be so harsh on diet and rest as before. Most importantly, he was anxiously curious to know how the mysterious commenter would answer the question he asked yesterday.
Thump thump thump thump, Ning Que went upstairs trailing his garment and wiping his face with his sleeves. He respectfully saluted to the gentle female professor by the east window and then quickly walked to the front of the bookshelf to pick out the thin Primary exploration of the Ocean of Qi and Snow Mountain. He speedily opened it and drew out the densely written on paper. He contained his excitement, read it, and fell into a long silence.
”Our body is like a musical instrument, just as breath comes and goes through a vertical bamboo flute, so does psyche power through the body. A piece of wonderful music may not be played out only with a flute and aura, because the sound always comes out from the holes of the vertical bamboo flute.”
”If there're no holes on your flute, then how can you blow? If the heaven and earth can't hear your music, then how can you interact? If most of the acupoints in your Snow Mountain and Ocean of Qi were blocked, what would you do?”
Ning Que looked at the person's messages, and then he raised his head after a while. He shook his head and smilingly gazed at the thick forest and listened to the sound of cicadas outside the window. With a very slight sign, he said, ”So, that's what the truth is. So... I am a vertical bamboo flute that can't be played.”
He then bowed his head to look at his chest and abdomen, and then his eyes fell on his green Academy uniform. He imagined the unknown specific appearance of the Ocean of Qi and Snow Mountain within the flesh and blood under the cover of his clothing. It was as if he saw a lot of holeless, flat trails and the clumsy stone mountain which could not make any sound, no matter how the water patted and how the lake breeze blew.
”Ah, a person who can write words like these really is a genius!” He could not help but look at the writing on the paper again, his heart fluttered, ”To represent the theory of reading and forgetting the meaning with the example of pushing down a woman, and even after that, to come up with the wonderful metaphor as a vertical bamboo flute, the guy must be, if he is a Lecturer, the top Lecturer in the Academy.”