684 Water Gushing out to the Ship at Nigh (2/2)
Ning Que had been to many famous mountains and rivers, among which the most famous and dangerous one was the Min Mountain's north region or the Tianqi Mountains. But compared with this Snow-capped Peak, they were much lower.
”Walking from anywhere in the south to the north without stopping, one would definitely reach the Snow-capped Peak.”
The Headmaster looked up towards the Snow-capped Peak under the starlight, and said, ”In the past, when the Hot Sea was in full sunshine, this Snow-capped Peak was even more spectacular. No one could climb it with sheer power alone, so this was the northernmost part.”
Ning Que noticed two key points in this sentence. First, one could walk to the foot of this Snow-capped Peak from any place when heading north. Second, no one could climb it with strength alone.
Then, could one be regarded as a person if he could climb it?
Ning Que was thinking about this question when the black horse carriage appeared on the other side of the Snow-capped Peak. He looked at the tall figure of the Headmaster.
It was a vast sea.
The reason why the color of the sea was black was because there was no blue sky or any sunlight here. Although the stars seemed clearer, there were not as many of them here.
Ning Que knew that what he saw was a place that was not recorded in any Classics, so he was shocked. But what shocked him even more was that there was a ship in the black sea.
This ship was very large; the Big Black Horse could gallop freely on the deck.
Ning Que stood by the ship's rail and looked at the Snow-capped Peak under the sky at night. He felt so shocked that he could not speak a word.
The Headmaster went to him, looked up at the dark night sky, and said, ”The night starts here and then gradually spreads southward.”
Ning Que looked towards him and asked, ”Teacher, this ship...”
The Headmaster said, ”Many years ago, I was worried about being found and eaten by Haotian. So I kept thinking about how to escape or hide. I thought that since this was the beginning of the night, it was probably close to the Underworld where Yama is strongest, so Haotian's strength could hardly reach here. Thus, I made a large ship, so that I could flee here and board the ship on the dark and never return if Haotian wants to eat me.”
Ning Que was shocked. Through these words, he could infer how anxious and uneasy the Headmaster had been over the past thousands of years, living in Haotian's world.
”Afterwards, I became stronger and stopped worrying about being eaten by Haotian. Therefore, this ship became useless. But then I suddenly found that the night here was very clean and was very suitable for watching stars, so I came here again. I really took a trip to the depths of the sea by boat, and I found something interesting during that trip.”
”What is it?”
”The world is not flat.”
”I don't get you, teacher.”
”I brought you here to help you understand.”
”Understand what?”
The Headmaster said, ”Why would I fight with Haotian? Of course, because it wants to eat me. However, since such old cowards as Drunkard and Butcher could hide for so many years, I could too. Besides, I could pray for it like Buddha. The reason why I would fight with Haotian was for a reason that is very important to me.”
”What's the reason?”
”In the past, I've said in the back of the Academy's mountain that I had seen plenty of sunsets and sunrises in many parts of the world, including here in the sea where it still had sunsets then. The sea was transparent under the sunshine, like an endless abyss, and the sun sets in this sea.”
”At that time, you said that the moon was a reflection of the sun. I said that the sun does not really rise and fall. If the world is a ball, all would be connected. Now, at least it proves that what I said was right. Our sun is a fake one.”
”Other than watching the skies, I also watched the stars. I watched the stars in the back of the Academy's mountain, as well as on this large ship. As I said before, there are not as many stars here but they are way clearer, so they will stay at their original positions without any change no matter how many years have passed.”
”Later, you made a star-gazing telescope, from which you observed that the stars still did not change. They could not be enlarged like figures and sceneries, which indicated that these stars' positions were fixed. The distance between them and the ground was infinitely close yet extremely remote, and it could not be measured with distance.”
”Teacher, can you say it in a simpler way?”
”In brief, this is a closed world.”
”Even simpler?”
”This is a boundless world.”
”But you just said it was a closed one.”
”It is a closed one just because it is boundless and is always connected.”
”Is the night sky where the stars are located not its border?”
”It is not the real border because no one can reach it. The border is in your eyes and your heart.”
”Teacher, I'm even more confused.”
”Haotian doesn't want people to see its border because it does not want it to be broken.”
”So?”
”So, it proves that this is a closed world.”
”You are returning to our original topic.”
”Yes, it is just like this world.”