643 The Beginning of the Blood-Filled Journey to the Throne (1/2)

Eldest Brother said, ”I don't understand why master would say that.”

The Chief Preaching Monk looked at him and gently said, ”You are the Headmaster's student. You should know how he is like. If he really thought that killing Sangsang would cause Yama to invade us, he would have brought Ning Que and Sangsang back to the Academy. Would everything that had happened since autumn happen then?”

Eldest Brother fell into silence.

”I heard Ye Su once said in Lanke Temple that Haotian Taoism is doing the right thing while the Buddhism Sect is doing what we think we should do. Only you all at the Academy have been doing what makes you happy all along.”

The Chief Preaching Monk looked at him and said, ”You people at the Academy do not have beliefs, respect nor fear. You might be infinitely powerful. But in the end, you might discover that you don't understand what would make you happy.”

”I don't know if the Headmaster is happy or not. But I know that he is hesitating. He does not know what is the right thing to do and what he should do to make himself happy. When you return to the Academy, please give him my regards and tell him that to a large extent, the future of the world lies in his hesitation today.”

With that, the Chief Preaching Monk held his monk's staff and climbed up the horse carriage with difficulty. The sixteen horses neighed painfully and pulled the carriage out of the temple.

Eldest Brother remained silent as he watched the slow retreating horse carriage. He thought to himself, ”Could teacher be hesitating? If he wasn't hesitating, he would have long acted.”

Winter had ended, but spring had not yet fully arrived. Among the hills in the north of the Yuelun Kingdom, vegetation was turning green, but it was still vaguely hidden between the withered and frosted leaves.

Both sides of the path were rather bare, and when the horse carriage sped past, it looked like a single block of color moving. It was no better off than the plainness in the Wilderness.

In the carriage, Sangsang was dressed in fur clothing and was huddled under thick bedding. Her face was pale and she held a leather pouch filled with strong liquor. She would take a few gulps whenever she felt cold. It could slightly warm her chest and abdomen, but it could not stop her cough.

Ning Que stared at the small medicine bottle above the copper basin. He'd count the time carefully and cough softly every now and then. The injury he had suffered in Chaoyang City was basically healed, but he still had some small problems with his lungs.

Sangsang was injured by the arrow but had recovered under his care. What made him uneasy now was that he did not know if it was due to the continuous escape that the cold aura in her body seemed to show signs of acting up again.

The slightly pungent smell of medicine gradually spread through the carriage. He took down the medicine bottle and placed it on the floor to cool. Then, he took the liquor pouch from Sangsang and stuffed a Buddhist scripture into her hands.

”I can memorize it,” said Sangsang, looking at him pathetically.

Ning Que's heart was like steel and he was unmoved. He said, ”Master Qishan said you have to continue reading scriptures and studying Buddhism. It's pointless even if you can memorize it. You have to understand Buddhism through reading the scriptures.”

Sangsang said, ”I've read so many scriptures, but I don't know if they're useful.”

”Didn't we confirm that it is useful in Chaoyang City?”

Ning Que walked to the windows and said, ”Think about it. The Chief Preaching Monk spoke in the voice of Buddha, and look at how impressive that was. If you can learn that trick, maybe with just a command, the cold aura would be so frightened it would disappear.”

Sangsang laughed, and continued reading the scripture.

Ning Que lifted the curtains and looked toward the back of the mountain path.

It was a scene of desolation with the occasional green. However, there were plenty of coniferous forests that had not yet produced new leaves. His eyes did not stay on this scene but strayed towards the more distant south.

He wondered how his Eldest Brother was.

This was what Ning Que was most worried about other than Sangsang's health after leaving Chaoyang City. However, he thought that since he had left with Sangsang, the Chief Preaching Monk would have no reason to cause trouble for Eldest Brother, risking the wrath of their teacher. Then, Eldest Brother should be safe.

They were already several hundred miles away from Chaoyang City. They had long lost the tail of Master Qi Mei and the Yuelun Kingdom's cavalry. Ning Que made the Big Black Horse stop at the side of the path for them to rest for a while.

Ning Que got off the horse carriage and saw a stream on the side of the path, which made him feel very satisfied. He patted the Big Black Horse's back and filled his water pouch. Then, he began to stew dried meat and fed the horse an old ginseng.

The Big Black Horse chewed frantically and swallowed the ginseng in seconds. It was a little bitter, but it knew that it was very nourishing and did not dare to show Ning Que his displeasure.

Ning Que had stolen the old ginseng and other cooking herbs in the medicinal vat inside the carriage from a rich manor in Chaoyang City back in winter. They were all extremely precious goods.

The dried meat gradually bloated up in the boiling water and a rancid smell emerged from the pot. The Big Black Horse turned his head with disdain and went searching for flowers by the road to chew on. It wanted to get rid of the bitter taste of the ginseng in its mouth. However, there was but a few stalks of grass on the ground, much less flowers. It grew annoyed.

”Passing winter in the green hills really turned you wild. Only my Eleventh Senior Brother would do something like eating flowers. Why would you want to chew something like that?”