367 Chronicles of the Building of Pines and Cranes I (2/2)

Though he had lived in the Tang Empire for no more than twenty years, he went through a lot, even experienced death. There were so many things for him to recollect. For example, the men of Hebei County were more vicious than ghosts during the dry season; the men in the Min Mountain were more vicious than beasts, the men on the grassland were more vicious than wolves, and the most enjoyable thing was the love from a beauty which was a thing that never should be given up, etc.

While the old man was complaining about more specific things under the theme of ”the moral degeneration of the world is getting worse day by day”. For example, an unscrupulous manager of a liquor shop added water into liquor; and even the Building of Pines and Cranes tried to fool the guests by faking the beancurd sprouts mingled steamed pork with other meat instead of black pig meat from the south suburb of Chang'an. Even the clay of the spring clay urn was changed, and there was a smell of Huangzhou clay in the liquor.

”The urn is used to hold liquor, not to grind the ink with it for writing. How could they use Huangzhou clay!”

The old man angrily waved his arm, his white beard shaking in the night wind.

As the old man's voice was getting louder, Ning Que turned his head toward the old man and sighed, ”You really take a serious attitude about life, but aren't you tired?”

The old man frowned unhappily, then looked at Ning Que and replied, ”One shall live properly while he is alive.”

After a momentary silence, Ning Que smiled and said, ”That's because you have lived a happy life, so you may never know that sometimes, it can be called the luckiest thing to just be alive.”

The old man waved his hands like driving away mosquitos as if he were to expel Ning Que's cliché and self-remorse out of the veranda.

Ning Que was nearly drunk now, and he didn't realize that the old man despised his subconscious expression of emotions.

”I once thought I would be an ordinary man in a fortified mountain village, seeking neither fame nor wealth. When the situation was getting better, I had the fancy that I could become someone with the power to determine the fate of others and to garner great accomplishments. But now, I finally realize that I am just a man playing house in the mortal world.”

”Life is just like playing house. When you have immersed in the game for a long time, you may take it as real. The original indifference would turn into responsibilities or habits, which I formerly disdained the most with the influence by daily necessities such as fuel, rice, cooking oil and salt. It's probably because I have been thinking since childhood about what she would do without me, then I change my thoughts to what I would do without her. Of course, I could still live, or could I live an easier life? Then what is easiness? There couldn't be any easiness if the habit is broken. You would always have the feeling that something very important is missing from your life and some part of your body is gone too.”

Ning Que turned his head to the old man in the chair and then said smilingly, ”Don't judge me because of these sentimental words. Do you know why there are always sayings like this? Because people would always find a way afterwards to demonstrate that these things are of great significance.”

He raised the spring clay urn, looked at an imaginary moon and said, ”I would feel uncomfortable if these valuable things were gone. Taking the night sky as example, I would be unhappy as long as there was no moon, no matter if it was the night sky fourteen years ago or that of the City of Wei, or Chang'an's.”

The old man found this interesting, so he looked at him and asked, ”Moon? What is it? Is it in the sky? I have never seen it or heard of it before.”

”The moon is a thing which can give out light. Sometimes it is round, sometimes it is curved. It looks very beautiful when it shows up during the night or during the day. The moon has its own uses, such as sheltering the sunlight, causing the tide and transforming werewolves...”

Looking at the old man, Ning Que sighed and said, ”I know that you won't believe this. You can just take my words as the wild talk of a drunkard.”

The old man replied, ”If I were not drunken as well, I would take you to the Imperial Astronomer and force you to search for it with the instrument there in the night.”

Ning Que sneered, ”Never mind, a wealthy landlord like you would not know about these enigmatic things.”

The old man became furious and reprimanded, ”The older, the wiser!”

Ning Que replied dismissively, ”The younger, the more welcomed.”

The old man was speechless.

Ning Que suddenly said, ”Let me tell you one thing seriously and don't be afraid, I want to kill someone now.”

The old man was shocked and said, ”You have just killed two men during the day, and you want to kill more right now?”

Ning Que was drunken at the moment and didn't hear the old man clearly.

He looked at the stars over the night sky with a sigh and said, ”Sometimes a thought flashes in my mind that there might be some defects in my character, for each time when I am unhappy, the lust to kill would arise in my mind.”

The old man looked at him and said solemnly, ”There is nothing wrong with your character.”

Ning Que was stunned, then stared at him and said joyfully, ”Do you really think so?”

The old man sneered and said, ”But there is something wrong with your brain.”