499 We All Saw the Darkness at the End of the Road I (2/2)

The Headmaster knew it was him and it seemed that he even knew what he was thinking about. He motioned for Ning Que to sit down next to him and said, ”You can tell me whenever you are ready.”

Ning Que wanted to ask the Headmaster many questions. Although, after hesitating for a long time, he failed to do so. Looking at the Headmaster reminded him of the person in his dream.

It was very nice to live in the Tang Empire, and it was even nicer to live in its capital city, Chang'an. Ning Que felt that he had so much happiness at the Academy, and he worried that he might lose everything by telling the Headmaster his secret.

The Headmaster took a piece of beef and put it into his mouth. His face was full of giddiness as he chewed it slowly. He said approvingly, ”I will never worry about anything as long as I have beef to eat and liquor to drink.”

Then he grabbed the bottle and took a sip.

Ning Que sat next to the Headmaster and threw a piece of beef into his mouth. He frowned when he first tasted it, because it seemed flavorless. But after a moment he knew he was wrong. The piece of beef turned out to be tastier and tastier the more he chewed it. It was very stringy and eventually his mouth was full of the taste.

”That's good!” He said with surprise. ”Master, your beef and liquor are very good.”

The Headmaster took out a steel bottle from the side of the meal box and threw it to him. He said with a smile, ”I know you just want to try my liquor. But actually the liquor is average, and the beef is what's rare. It's great that the stoves in the building here can be used to cook beef, and what is better is that Old Huang cannot chase me here.”

Ning Que knew that ”Old Huang” referred to the old yellow bull and it would be a little awkward to eat beef in front of it. He suddenly realized that the bottle looked very familiar. He saw the straight lines engraved on it and recognized that it was the iron kettle he had used to trick Xia Hou.

”Don't look at me like that. I just think that it is suitable for liquor. Of course I have smeared something on it to prevent the steel from polluting the liquor inside.”

The Headmaster drank from it and said, ”A knife can be used to kill people or to cut vegetables, and your mouth can be used to speak your mind or to eat. It is all up to you; there is no right or wrong.”

Ning Que didn't understand his words. After being silent for a while, he asked, ”Master, I have been having a dream for the past few years. And the story in the dream keeps developing.”

The Headmaster asked, ”Why are you telling me this?”

Ning Que replied, ”Because you are in my dream.”

The Headmaster smiled and said, ”I am not Sangsang for you to be dreaming about me.”

”Master, I am serious. Don't make fun of me!” Ning Que replied embarrassedly.

The Headmaster answered by saying, ”Then continue telling me about your dream.”

Looking at his eyes which seemed to know everything in the world, Ning Que was a little nervous. He said hoarsely, ”I think you know about my dream. Last year, when we were talking about the Underworld Invasion here, you asked me which direction the Underworld was in.”

Wonderingly looking at Ning Que, the Headmaster replied, ”And I still want to ask you the same question.”

Ning Que said, ”I saw the night... coming from the north.”

The Headmaster said with a smile, ”That is in line with what the research I have done these past few years tells me.”

Ning Que asked, ”What is the Underworld Invasion and the coming of the night? You told me that they were in the tales, but you didn't give me any details.”

”Details? When the whole world is enveloped in the dark night, no one can see anything in detail. And when a civilization is cut down, nothing in detail can be recorded.”

The Headmaster looked at the sky and watched the stars. ”It is said that the night and the day rotate control. Sometimes the day rules the world for thousands of years and sometimes it is the night that rules. And history is a recording of their war. When Haotian wins the fight, the world is what we see now. But, when Yama wins, the Underworld will arrive.”

”When the Underworld invades, there will be no sun in the daytime and no stars at night. The world will be extremely cold, and all the living things in the world can only get warmth from the heat below ground. The heat from volcanoes, hot springs and the South Sea will become the most precious resources in the world, which will cause numerous wars.”

”The wars won't last for long, and most of the population will die of hunger, or the cold. It will be a world of unbelievable cruelty. And after only a couple of years, the whole world will fall asleep and never again awaken. Only the strongest can survive.”

”The Buddhism Sect calls this Dharma Ending Period and the Haotian Taoism calls it the arrival of Yama.”

He continued, ”But I call it...the Everlasting night.”

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