894 Those You Could Never Understand (1/2)
The dream was quirky. Ning Que was enjoying the romance while enduring the brutal pain from the slow slicing, which were two completely different and opposite feelings. His mind was about to be torn and he almost surrendered to her divine majesty.
Fortunately, he saw Sangsang's face at the critical moment. The young and familiar face placed some genuine peace in him. He kissed and thus survived the romantic yet brutal nightmare. He woke up to find himself still lying on the freezing rock bed, soaked with sweat.
He realized that the dream was actually a battle between their consciousnesses. He panicked at the thought that he had almost surrendered. By holding his fists tightly and stretching the muscles on his arms, he felt another wave of fierce pain and discomfort. It confirmed his dream. He was again tortured by slow slicing.
He heard some sudden footsteps outside the cell and turned to take a look. This time it was not the deacon from Judicial Department who had been pretending to be deaf and dumb. Instead, it was an acquaintance.
It was a young, tender and good-looking man dressed in an ordinary Taoist robe, with a pale brown oiled paper umbrella under his armpit. It was He Mingchi, the disciple of Li Qingshan who was the former national master of Great Tang Empire.
When Li Qingshan passed away, He Mingchi had taken over the Tianshu Institution of the Great Tang Empire. However, no one knew that he was the Hierarch's most important pawn in Chang'an. He took direct orders from the Abbey Dean and the Hierarch, and accomplished the task that took Taosim over a thousand years to plan for. He made use of the shadow that Haotian left in Chang'an and destroyed the God-Stunning Array, which resulted in the riot of blood and blaze that night. That was all because of him.
In the battle against Tang Empire, He Mingchi was the one who brought the fatal strike. Therefore, he was on top of the revenge list that Tang Empire held. For exactly the same reason, the Hierarch sent him to the south after the battle and did not call him back to the Peach Mountain until the Rite to Lite.
Ning Que looked at He Mingchi, who stood outside the fence. He Mingchi could not find any trace of anger on Ning Que's face. Yet the calmness was just a declaration of his determination. He would only look at a dead man with such calmness.
He Mingchi was a senior brother to him in terms of their Taoist lineage from the South Gate Abbey. But he was already a dead man in the eyes of Ning Que, as well as in the eyes of any person from the Tang Empire.
He Mingchi opened the fence and entered the cell. He placed a box of dishes and fresh water on the rock table, lifted his robe and sat on a rock chair, with eyes fixed on Ning Que who was lying on the rock bed.
Different from the Ning Que's calm and emotionless demeanor, He Mingchi had mixed feelings of envy, jealous, fear, pity and admiration.
When he was in Chang'an, He Mingchi always carried his pale brown oiled paper umbrella in his armpit, and bended it slightly when he walked between the imperial city and the South Gate Abbey. Compared with Ning Que, he was rather low profile and insignificant.
Now Ning Que knew that was just his disguise. He probably had a much higher ranking in Haotian Taoism than anyone had imagined. Otherwise how could the Abbey Dean and the Hierarch have assigned him with such a crucial task? And how did come into the Secluded Pavilion to visit Ning Que? If Prince Long Qing was the brilliant charming prince in broad daylight, He Mingchi would probably be his counterpart hidden in the darkness of Divine Halls of West Hill.
He Mingchi was exceptionally shrewd and probably had surpassed the state of See-through a long time ago. Even after the riot in Chang'an, no one from the Tang Empire was able to figure out whether or not he had reached the state of Knowing Destiny. Now that Ning Que was already a wastrel, he couldn't care less about He Mingchi's state of cultivation.
He just felt some regret. When he was the invincible Ning Que bestowed with Tianqi that day in the front yard of Peach Mountain, he tried to look for He Mingchi while he held his arrows. But either because of his extraordinary insight of predicting danger or pure luck, He Mingchi was able to flee from the Hierarch's sacred sedan and was nowhere to be found.
Neither He Mingchi nor Ning Que said a word. Ning Que did not want to talk to him at all. It was incredibly quiet in the cell until a dripping sound rang.
A drop of rain water fell on the ground from the tip of the pale brown oiled paper umbrella.
Ning Que looked outside the rock window but could not see any rainfall due to the foggy sky.
He Mingchi said, ”It's raining out there. It's a pity you could not see it from here.”
Ning Que replied, ”It doesn't sound like a bad thing to not be exposed in the rain.”
He Mingchi countered, ”Not necessarily a good thing if you would be staying out of the rain forever.”
”You did not come to ask me questions. Even the Abbey Dean or Xiong Chumo was not qualified to ask me questions, let alone someone like you. Then what are you here for? To enjoy the sight of me being imprisoned? Does it count for not being exposed in the rain? How come I sense some jealousy from you?”
There was no trace of any emotion in Ning Que's voice while he looked outside the rock window when he spoke.
He Mingchi replied after a while of silence, ”I am indeed jealous of you.”
Ning Que turned to him and said, ”For someone as great as me, I have a thousand of reasons for you to be jealous of. I can't help being so extraordinary. There's no need for you to feel inferior.”
He Mingchi replied sarcastically, ”Even though you will be imprisoned probably for the rest of your life, you are still so confident and cocky. I am indeed inferior in this case.”
Ning Que confirmed. ”There's no doubt you are inferior to me in every aspect.”
He Mingchi disagreed. ”That's your perception, not mine. I am indeed jealous because I don't understand why Haotian didn't kill you.”
Ning Que found the disappointment and devoutness deep down his gentle eyes and caught some subtle sentiment. ”You are way too inferior to understand this.”
He Mingchi continued, ”I followed Haotian's shadow everywhere in Chang'an and destroyed the God-Stunning Array upon her call. I am the closest human being to her in this world.”
Ning Que disapproved. ”No one is closer to her than I am.”
He Mingchi consented. ”Yes. And that's why I'm jealous of you.”
Ning Que questioned, ”Jealousy drives people crazy. Perhaps you should try to kill me.”