157 Illusions of Trees on the Hill Top and Crushed Pastries (2/2)
Gazing at Sangsang's little swarthy face and a few wisps of yellowish hair hanging in front her forehead, the monk put his palms together devoutly and started to speak in his most gentle voice and reverent manner, ”You look astonishingly gorgeous!”
Leaning on the Big Black Umbrella, Sangsang stood up and looked around baffled, and realize after a while that the monk was praising her. Frowning in doubt and squinted at him and returned in earnest, ”Please do not be sarcastic.”
Wu Dao smiled lightly, putting his palms together and bowed, saying, ”You are mistaken. I have a wisdom eye and can spot a jade inside a stone.”
A shade of red crept up her face upon hearing ”a jade inside a stone”. Sangsang reminded him again earnestly, ”Even though I might look good to you, please do not praise someone like so again, as these words are used to scold someone in Chang'an.”
”How could it be?” Wu Dao asked disbelievingly.
Sangsang didn't feel very comfortable with his fervent looks, and turned back to look at the Academy, ignoring his existence.
Wu Dao walked around to stand in front her, and inquired politely and gently, ”May I know who are you waiting for?”
”My young master.”
Wu Dao said in a serious tone, ”No one in this world but I deserve your time to wait.”
Giving him a quick glance, Sangsang responded, ”Given that you have already descended from the mountain, and yet my young master is still up there, I presume that you are not as good as my young master.”
”I just didn't want to walk in that mist.” Wu Dao explained earnestly. As if something clicked in his mind suddenly, he asked confusedly, ”The young master you are waiting for. Is he the student Zhong Dajun?”
Looking at him and staying silent for a while, Sangsang returned, ”Right.”
Wu Dao straighten his face and said, ”Good, I already said I'd kill him before mounting, now it seems justifiable to kill him.”
Sangsang turned her head away from him, ignoring him completely.
”Upon seeing your beautiful countenance like this velvety night, a love poem just occurred in my mind.”
Intoxicated, Wu Dao gawked at her profile, and slowly recited, ”For woman I adore, if you wish to learn Buddhism, I am willing to return back to a young man, mounting on that floating mountain, and accept tonsure despite of scars left on my head. Woman I adore, if you wish to learn Taoism, I am willing to return back to a young man, go to the shabby temple at the back of peach mountain, and wash shoes for those who carry wooden swords.”
Sangsang didn't pay attention to what he said, but stared attentively at the back mountain of Academy, frowning as she seemed to feel the exact pain and torture Ning Que was going through now.
”I couldn't wait any longer while you are waiting for him in pain. I shall take you away to the remotest corners of the earth and accompany you to see the ebb and flow of the sea, would it be alright?”
Upon finishing this, he face turned solemn. He didn't wait for Sangsang's response and stretched out his hand toward her neck.
All of a sudden, the hand he stretched out caught on fire turning his monk sleeve into ashes which flew high in the wind, leaving his bare arm exposed without cover.
Shrieking, the monk retreated miles away as quickly as a fleeting shadow, staring at the meadow warily. He asked through gritted teeth, ”Who's there?”
A sudden clip-clop of a horse broke the night silence, and an eerie-looking black horse carriage emblazoned with intricate patterns was dragged uphill by a strong horse effortlessly. There was no dust rising beneath its hooves, as if it was galloping in mid-air.
Yan Se, the Divine Talisman Master of Tang, drew back his hand from the carriage window. Yet the talisman he drew in mid-air lingered. The grass on the both sides of the road withered and yellowed rapidly.
”Wu Dao, you obscene monk, if you dare stay any long in Tang, I swear I'll dismember you bit by bit using my talisman charm.”
Knowing who was inside the carriage, Wu Dao's face turned gloomy. He placed one hand in front of his body in defense, explaining himself, ”I am not an obscene monk, surely Master Yan wouldn't use your seniority against me?”
”You came from remote wasteland, and how many could use their seniority against you?”
As he alighted slowly from the carriage, Yan Se looked at the young monk aloofly. He said, ”You are some nobody from nowhere and didn't even learn properly the rules of temple. Now remember that, this is the Tang Empire. This here, is Chang'an. If I catch you misbehaving again in front of the Academy, no one in the temple will make a fuss if I were to kill you.”
Finishing this, he turned and looked at Sangsang who held the Big Black Umbrella tightly. He frowned and said, ”Are you Ning Que's handmaiden?”
Sangsang nodded her head.
Yan Se said, ”Why did you wait outside?Come with me and wait inside.”
Sangsang replied, ”I heard that I'm not allowed to go inside.”
Upon hearing her words and knowing Ning Que still up on the mountain trail, Yan Se felt irritated and scowled, ”Come with me! I'd like to see who would dare to stop me in the absence of the headmaster!”
...
...
Prince Long Qing walked out of the mountain mist.
Ahead of him was a large flat plain and at the mouth of the trail stood a tremendous boulder.
Climbing on that boulder should be considered as the success of mounting.
As he was preparing to get going, something clicked his heart. He tidied up his clothes, turned around, and bowed deeply towards a tree in the distance.
Under the starlit sky, the crest looked as though it was bathed in daylight, and the water-like mountain mist shrouded the mountainside.
Sitting under the tree was a man, his face could not be discerned from a faraway distance, yet he didn't seem to be too old. He wore a quaint robe and a high hair piece, looking grand and grave.
Prince Long Qing didn't know who he was, but he did remember that before leaving West-Hill Divine Palace, the hierarch lord had reminded him that students in back mountain were not ordinary and should be dealt with extreme caution. The man's status could be very distinguished, as he could sit under the tree on the crest and wait for mountaineer.
The man under the tree said peacefully, ”My rank is No. 2.”
There was no change on Prince Long Qing's face upon hearing this, though, his heart was pounding fast. He remembered the legendary stories the woman told him, in which the second eldest brother was the most arrogant and yet most powerful figure. He bowed at the man again, deeper this time.
The second eldest brother said plainly, ”Of course, You are good, good enough to enter the back mountain of the Academy.”
Prince Long Qing, though as noble and grand as he was, couldn't suppress his joy, thinking about the praise that was from the second eldest brother.
”As long as you mount on that boulder, you'd be considered as qualified and successful. However, there's another fellow mountaineer still in the mist, you could choose to go ahead or wait for him. It seems rather unfair to ask you to wait for him, but I have to say that the boulder is extremely hard to mount on, harder than anything you'd gone through. So you'd better have some rest first before continuing.”
Prince Long Qing now knew there was another fellow mountaineer and frowned slightly. In his mind, there should be no one making it to the top except that monk, but he couldn't enter the mist given the inconvenience of his identity. As for the other ordinary people, they couldn't even reach the mist. Then who could follow and even catch up with himself?
Second eldest brother said peacefully, ”The choice is in your hand, you can go without delay.”
Prince Long Qing pondered for a moment, and bowed once more. He then sat cross-legged on the ground, giving his answer.
...
...
On the misty mountain trail, Ning Que saw Zhuo Er sitting against the gray wall, drenched, his chest undulating slightly. Ning Que watched his near-death aura in his pale face and eyes, and said after a long pause, ”I could kill you with one swing of my sword, but why should I? You are already dead, why come and stop me again, I can help you with your business only when I reached the top.”
Zhuo Er leaned against the gray wall, watching him with a faint smile. His chest rose and fell deeply, and he made a hissing sound between his lips.
”Fake, these are all fake, but how can I prove them so?”
Ning Que lowered his head in the mist and found that he was standing on Lin 47th Street with that spring rain falling hard.
Suddenly, lifting his head, Ning Que said, ”Sangsang, where are you?”
Sangsang stood next to him, lifting her little head and looking at him, asking, ”What's wrong, young master?”
Looking in front, Ning Que continued, ”Sangsang, get out all silvers and find darkie a nice cemetery, and made him a nanmu wood coffin. Let him die in joy.”
Sangsang replied, ”Well, fine... but young master, darkie is already dead, you can't get him to die again in joy.”
Ning Que continued, ”Since he is alive again, why not let him die again.”
With this, he walked up to the gray wall and raised his sword. With a whooshing sound, Zhuo Er's head rolled and hit the gray wall which was soaked in the rain. The illusions cleared and the steep trail towards the top showed up.
He looked over his shoulder and found Sangsang nowhere to be seen.
”I've said that these were illusions and wouldn't scare me off.”
Looking ahead at the real mountain trail in front him, Ning Que said towards the end of night mist, as if explaining to them. ”In my memory, Sangsang was a perfect handmaid, yet the real Sangsang isn't like this. Maybe you could trigger my mind to create a life-like situation, yet you didn't know that my memories weren't all real.”
A baffled sound wafted from the mist, ”I don't know what's going on in your mind though, how did you know that Sangsang wasn't real?”
”Sangsang is kind and benevolent, but she definitely wouldn't spend all our silvers on a dead ma. Not on Zhuo Er, not on herself, even not on me.”
Ning Que beamed, then lifted his sleeve to wipe the bleed oozing out from the corner of his mouth, walking up toward the crest.
...
...
The crest shone under the silvery light. Instead of Chen Pipi's favorite date trees, old-resistant needle-leaved trees scattered hither and thither.
Prince Long Qing sat on the grass, closing his eyes tightly, and adjusted his breath.
A faint sound wafted from behind a distant tree, saying ”Elder brother, thanks.”
Second eldest brother sat cross-legged in front the tree, looking serious and serene. He said emotionlessly, ”You can ask for such trivial favors occasionally. Furthermore, Prince Long Qing took advantage of taking one step ahead than Ning Que, so it's fair to ask him to wait.”
As the saying of the Academy went, ”Rules are made by the stronger fist. The fairness of the examination of the Second Floor depended on who was looking at it.”
Prince Long Qing did start mounting a period of time earlier than Ning Que, yet he waited longer than a period of that time.
Stars moved slowly in the night sky, with time ticking by.
No one knew how long it took, and the mist was disturbed and cleared down the trail.
Prince Long Qing opened his eyes and looked in that direction.
Walking slowly out of the mist was Ning Que, shattered and shabby. His face was haggard and visibly bruised as if he was a beggar who had been chased by some fierce dog, bedraggled and dejected.
Prince Long Qing considered his face and recalled who he was. He stood up slowly with this right hand clenched fist tightly.
Ning Que fished out pastries wrapped in cloth, stuffing them in his mouth while walking towards the top, muttering in a vague voice to the person under the tree, ”I'm terribly sorry about being late, sorry.”
When he noticed it was Prince Long Qing under the tree, Ning Que said in surprise, ”It's wonderful that you're here.”
Then passing him a pastry, Ning Que asked, ”Fancy a pastry?”
Staring at the crushed pastries wrapped in cloth, Prince Long Que lost his words.
...
...
-