153 The Fourteenth Year, Last Summer, and Going Upstairs Today (2/2)
Because the thin water flow suddenly turned into an impetuous yellow waterfall and hit him, as if it wanted to knock him out, onto the big moss-covered stone at the bottom of the deep pool.
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He continued walking forward with attentiveness and strength as before. Each step he took was intense and heavy. He walked slowly and steadily through the jungle along the mountain road and then came to the middle of a meadow.
Without any tree shade, the blazing sunshine was unceremoniously splashing down to coat the meadow with a layer of red, as though it would ignite everything on the sides of the mountain road.
Ning Que took a glance at the sky with his hand covering his forehead, and then uttered a tired sigh. He noticed that a small lake reflecting light like a mirror was located beside the mountain road in front of him.
The lake was small, tranquil, and clear enough that fish could be seen swimming silently inside.
A little yellowish flower bloomed in a crack by the lakeside.
It was shivering amidst the blowing breeze, seeming to be extremely frightened.
Small ripples spread out on the calm lake, where small fish flicked their tails and disappeared among stones.
An angry sea then appeared in the eyes of Ning Que. The seawater was extremely blue and even as black as the ink that he was familiar with. It kept rolling, setting off mountain-like waves, making an angry roar, continuously lapping against the embankment and against Ning Que, who was standing on the embankment.
His feet stood like a nail on the embankment, staring at the overwhelming raven-black waves. Even though his body seemed to be hit by boulders and his drenched clothes were torn apart and brought back to the sea by the seawater, he still never took a step back.
Then the sea stood up.
The seawater that was as raven as ink, stood up like a wall. No, like the earth actually.
The sea cutting the sky into two halves slowly pressed toward him. In the sea that divided the sky and the earth vertically were seen a whirlpool that was larger than a mountain, seabirds that were fruitlessly flying everywhere with a plaintive whine, and death.
Then the sea fell down.
Ning Que fell down as well.
He fell heavily on the mountain road, painfully tightening his brows and spraying a mouthful of blood.
The lake was still calm, with nothing other than a few ripples.
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A peaceful but proud voice was heard in the depths of the mist.
The style of this pride was different from that of Prince Long Qing, who pretended to be nonchalant. The one who the voice belonged to did not bother to hide nor deliberately show his pride. His pride lying in his strong inner heart was totally the genuine one, which was not disgusting.
”A legend tells that the handwriting on the cliff is engraved by the former predecessors from the Academy. If someone opens the inhibitor and intends to break through it, the more he will be able to endure the pain and power implied in the Talisman. In return, the pain and power that the mountain road gives to this person will be stronger.”
That calm and proud voice continued. ”Many years ago I fought with the eldest Brother, whose temperament you are quite clear about. It was impossible for him to be ruthless to me, but I still couldn't defeat him. Out of fury, I crumpled the mold that the instructor often used for making plum cakes, so the teacher made a brutal decision in a huff to punish me to go through the mountain road.”
A burst of exclamation was heard in the mountain mist, and various reasons for this phenomenon could be included. Some people were marveling at the powerfulness of the eldest Brother; some were amazed at Second Brother , who was powerful enough to crumple the Headmaster's stainless-steel pastry mold engraved with Fu unarmed; some were impressed with Second's extreme bravery, who dared to let the Headmaster skip having plum cakes...
”That year while I was crossing the mountain road, the movement that I stirred was certainly much bigger than that caused by this guy. In the end, I didn't fall to the ground until galactic meteorites flew everywhere. However, it isn't easy that this guy's capable of getting the sea into a rage.”
Someone in the mist agreed, and said with emotion, ”It just seems that the more pain you can bear, the stronger pain that you have to suffer. This guy is a bit unlucky.”
”Unlucky?” someone asked in anger.
”Unlucky,” the man quickly explained.
”'You have never seen the Youngest Uncle, only the eldest Brother and I have seen him,”
Second Brother proudly said, feeling relieved a bit, as if it was a very proud thing itself to have seen the Youngest Uncle before.
”The Youngest Uncle once said that fate itself is a very cruel guy. If you're chosen to assume the mission, and then before confirming that you're qualified, it will do everything possible to break every bone in you and to strip every trace of your flesh and blood, allowing you to suffer the most extreme pain in the world so as to make your volition and temperament tough and eligible enough to be chosen by fate...”
Someone was talking and recalling freely amidst the thick fog, while others whisperingly argued. ”It seems that whom Second Brother admires most is the Youngest Uncle, ah.”
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”It's nothing to get every bone broken, to strip every trace of flesh and blood, or to bear the most extreme sufferings in the world. While I stayed on the grassland of Min Mountain, which of my bones wasn't broken? Which part of my body wasn't wounded?”
Ning Que bent over to the hard mountain road, feeling the edges of the gravel beneath him. It seemed that all of the bones in his body had been shattered by the sea, but his eyes did not have the slightest fear, only indifference existed.
With both hands propping him up, he struggled to get himself up and then lifted his sleeves to wipe away the blood on his lips. He looked back at the long winding road that he had walked through, shouting, ”I read your book in the old library last summer!
”I have seen your needles hidden in the books, the bamboo leaves as well! I was stunned by the damn waterfall! I was also swallowed by the stinking sea, but how about me? I am still standing here! Last year I was just an ordinary person knowing nothing, but I wasn't overthrown by all of that. Not to mention that I'm already a genius who has embarked on the road of cultivation now.”
A quietness hung over the clear lake in the meadow, with some arrogant shouts echoing there. No birds were frightened to fly out of the forest, no insects were startled to raise their heads up—only then did the echoes fade away and then disappear, and it finally returned to peace. Those little fish, shaking their tails, drilled out from the stones and then swam into the sunlight.
Suddenly looking up to the blue sky that was not separated by branches, Ning Que gradually smiled and murmured, ”Haotian master, you made me suffer a lot during these years, so you plan to pay me back here?”
Ning Que turned around and, while wiping away the blood dripping from his mouth and nose, he was struggling forward in slow and hard movements. He looked to be awkward and in pain, yet had a sincere smile on his face.
He suddenly thought of something and he then said, full of regret, ”Thank God? You should thank yourself first, since you're not easy in life and you're so capable. These are what you deserve.”
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A long period of silence prevailed at the end of the mist.
Second Brother suddenly had a sigh and said, ”Although the state the guy stays in is bad and his cultivation ability is poor, his arrogant manner looks the same as Pipi's to some degree.”
Another faint voice was heard, ”Second Brother, why do I feel that his arrogant acting embodies your style to some extent?”
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With the sun gradually setting, the temperature decreased a bit, but the mountain road was still bright. Ning Que was walking with difficulty, wiping away the blood and sweat. He did not care about his slow and hard paces because from the time he began to flee at the age of four, and especially when he climbed over the vast Min Mountain carrying Sangsang, he had understood a truth—that it did not matter even if someone walked slowly, if only could he keep walking, then one day he would reach the place where he wanted to be and surpass all those people by the roadside who did not dare to start.
At this point in his climb, Ning Que finally saw a peer.
He took a gaze at the young man sitting by the side of the road, and glanced over the official sword at the young man's waist. He remembered that he had heard from his classmates in the Academy that this man appeared to be a swordsman from South Jin Kingdom and the forces the guy belonged to were hostile to Xie Cheng Yun's family. Ning Que just did not know whether the guy had anything to do with Liu Bai, the Sword Sage.
Thinking of Liu Bai, Ning Que could not help remembering the words that the female professor said in the sword forest this morning. He then wiped the sweat from his forehead, recalling those soul-stirring incidents along the road, and could not refrain from feeling a bit of regret, but he immediately dispelled all of that remorse.
The young swordsman from South Jin Kingdom fell down to the roadside, with pain and horror filling his face. His hands were clinging to a small tree like a drowning man holding the last piece of wood in the sea. No one knew what kind of spiritual impact he had experienced on this mountain road.
Seeing Ning Que going by, the swordsman showed a few hints of shame on his face. He subconsciously bit his teeth and gradually seemed persistent in his eyebrows, ready to get himself up.
Ning Que just quietly passed him by rather than stop to talk to him. Not knowing whether it was due to suffering too much impact today, those grievances and bad habits hidden well in his heart after coming to Chang'an City started to irrepressibly break out.
What if this guy gets up again after gaining my motivation? What if this guy can stand the spiritual impact on the mountain road? What if this guy can learn something from the pain just like I had, and even directly break through that state? Although this kind of small probability event only happens to such a guy like Prince Long Qing, won't I inspire a potential competitor with my own determination? What if the back mountain of the Academy is a place for creating miracles?
Ning Que thought and gradually stopped his steps, considering that he would not let such things happen. He turned to the young swordsman who tried to stand up with difficulty by holding onto a small tree, and said with the most sincere tone and expression, ”Please give up if you can't stand any longer. We're just up here on the mountain, not knowing what else is lying ahead. Just now I saw lots of people being carried off the mountain on stretchers. The Instructor of the Academy said that two of the climbers had suffered such a great spiritual impact that their future cultivation might be affected.”
He raised his finger to point at his own forehead and sincerely said, ”If you want to continue, of course, it is something to be admired, but I advise you to think it over.”
The so-called courage and determination were often the matter of an instant, and if someone took serious consideration, then everything would turn into a bubble. If that small tree was the last piece of wood that the young swordsman was holding onto in the sea, then what Ning Que said would become the last spindrift that would bat the wood away.
The young swordsman took a glimpse at Ning Que and let go of the small tree that was tightly held in his right hand after pausing for a moment. He sighed to be re-seated and lowered his head, painfully and sadly.
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The second person Ning Que met on the mountain road was a young monk.
The young monk, who was walking down rather than climbing up, was not so embarrassed as the young swordsman was. He was faintly smiling with his tattered robe flying in the wind, which revealed a sense of an immortal, while walking down from the mountain road.
At the foot of the mountain, Ning Que had already figured out that the young monk's state was quite high, and that he was equal to, if not better than, Prince Long Qing. It was obvious that the monk still had some strength left now, and Ning Que could not understand why this person would give up.
”You're not continuing?” Ning Que asked.
The young monk shook his head with a smile and said, ”The mist isn't good, so I will give up.”
Upon finishing these words, the young monk kept an eye on the blood leaving Ning Que's face and body. He then asked, with his brows slightly wrinkling and his smile fading away, ”Why are you so embarrassed?”
”I'd also like to ask why you aren't embarrassed,” Ning Que replied.
The young monk suddenly said, quietly looking at Ning Que, ”I suddenly feel that you might threaten me in the future, and I'd like to get you killed before you become strong enough.”
Ning Que shook his head, pointing to the end of the mountain road, and said, ”There's the Academy, and here's the back mountain, you don't dare to kill me. Besides, thanks for telling me that. I'll try hard to kill you first if there is still a chance to meet you next time.”
”Want to get the other one killed? Shall we tell each other our names?” The young monk smilingly said, ”My name is Tao Enlightenment, from the Wilderness.”
Ning laughed and replied, ”I thought you were a monk from the Yuelun Kingdom. I still have a question that has bothered me for a long time, but it seems impossible to ask about it now.”
Tao Enlightenment smiled and asked, ”Your name?”
Ning Que tidied up his clothes, and solemnly said, greeting him with a bow with his hands folded in front, ”I am from the Academy, Zhong Dajun.”
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Shortly after passing by the young monk, Ning Que encountered a third man on the mountain roadside, a young Academy student named Wang Ying, who had fallen into a coma.
Ning Que held a handful of water from the side of the road and poured it onto Wang Ying's face, then looked back down the road, thinking that the monk must have seen this unconscious lad, yet did not stay to do him a favor. So he really did have no compassion, then what he said about killing might be true.
Among six students from the course of magic skills, in addition to Xie Chengyun, only Linchuan Wang Ying still insisted on climbing on the road, but in the end, the lad could not hold up for too long. Ning Que took a glance at Wang Ying's flushed face, knowing that his fainting was caused by a frightened mind. Although he knew how to handle it, he really had no energy nor time to go picking herbs in the valley.
He stood up and shouted toward the foot of the mountain, ”Where are the four porters?”
Following which, a noise of the vibration of clothes was heard in the woods, where the four deacons of the old library were running toward him carrying a simple stretcher. They took a look at Wang Ying, who was unconscious, and explained to Ning Que, ”We were taking a rest just now, so we didn't discover him.
”In addition, we're deacons of the library, not porters.” That person was seriously explaining it, but then screamed in great fear when he suddenly saw Ning Que's face. ”How is it you again!”
Ning Que sourly replied, ”I said that at the foot of the mountain.”
They were all acquaintances, naturally skipping some explanations. One of the deacons patted on his chest looking at Ning Que, and said with fear, ”Fortunately, mountaineering is a one-off deal. If you ascend the mountain as you went upstairs last year, you, a person alone, can wear us out?”
Ning Que laughed, and then blood gushed out from his lips, since his wound was affected.
”Bleeding,” a deacon kindly reminded.
”Nothing serious.” Ning Que obliviously rubbed the blood from his lower jaw and curiously continued. ”How are you able to enter the mountain road?”
”We're not cultivators,” the deacon explained.
Ning Que gave a whisper, thinking with regret that if he could not cultivate on this day last year, then was it easy to ascend this vast and tough mountain?
”Stop wishful thinking. A lot of trouble is still lying in front of you on the mountain road,” the deacon reminded.
Ning Que laughed, pointing at Wang Ying. ”That little child depends on you, I've to go now.”
After finishing the last word, he waved to the four acquaintances who had witnessed his ascension, and continued to move forward again, putting his hands on his back and humming a ditty.
”Arrogant. Actually, isn't he also a child?” A steward shook his head and emotionally said, gazing at the figure at the top of the road, ”The guy's unexpectedly able to cultivate, he doesn't know what kind of luck he has met.”
One of the stewards said with a smile, ”Thinking of his tragic situation where he tried to go upstairs every day last year, I considered that if a child like him, who can endure such hardship, cannot cultivate, then we can say Haotian is so unfair.”
At this moment, Wang Ying awakened after a simple cure. He lay on the stretcher looking at that fuzzy figure, and then subconsciously rubbed his eyes, but he was still unable to believe what he saw after getting a better view.
Wang Ying murmured in shock, watching the disappearing figure, ”Ning Que? How can this be? How did he come up here? He... he... why is he still humming?”
In front of the mountain road came a children's song about the frontier fortress that was arranged by Ning Que. His voice was very hoarse, but very powerful, with an obstinate sense of strength like that of life.
”I have a knife, yeah, cutting off all the grass on the mountains, ah...
I have two knives, yeah, cutting off the enemies' heads, ah...
I have three knives, yeah, cutting off all bad things, ah...
I hacked you with one knife, ah...
I hacked you with two knives, ah...
I hacked you with each knife, ah...”