923 The Mean House (2/2)
Ning Que was hit by mixed feelings and answered, ”I hope to find a solution when the time comes. The original plan I thought of now seems impractical.”
Chen Pipi asked, ”Is it possible to fix the God-Stunning Array without her?”
Ning Que answered, ”Whoever started the trouble should end it. She had lived in Chang'an for many years, and her footsteps and breath had broken the God-Stunning Array. To fix the array, she must be back to Chang'an.”
Chen Pipi looked at him quietly, and then suggested, ”I only hope that you have no regrets when the time comes. If you have any doubts, then it is better to change your mind now, for there will be no turning back when the time comes.”
Ning Que said, ”When I left Chang'an and went to Peach Mountain to pick her up, I had already made my mind. Even though I have to choose one day, it won't be that hard.”
Chen Pipi sighed, for he understood the hidden determination in his words.
Ye Su kept quiet all the time and looked at the streets and the sky outside the window with a smile on his face. His pale face was covered by the sunlight and it seemed very gentle.
All of a sudden, he said, ”Play with god, you can only end up hurting yourself.”
Ning Que turned to him and asked sincerely, ”Do you mean that we will do nothing?”
Ye Su turned around and smiled to him. ”Doing well in your own business is more important than anything else. Haotian to Haotian, and Earth to Earth. Why bother meddling with things beyond our reach?”
Haotian to Haotian, and Earth to Earth. This was the Tao that Ye Su believed.
Ning Que was somehow woken up, and then asked, ”The Divine Hall of West Hill won't allow you to continue to preach, and even the Sword Garret can't protect you. What are you going to do next?”
Ye Su said, ”Linkang City is getting better. I am ready to leave.”
Chen Pipi was surprised, for he had learned that the Elder Brother intended to leave Linkang for the first time.
”You are going to Chang'an, aren't you?”
Ning Que was also surprised. Since the Divine Hall won't allow him to continue to preach, Ye Su can only go to the Tang where he can be tolerated after leaving the South Jin Kingdom. ”Like I once said, the Tang is too good, and the world is too bad.”
Ye Su continued to say calmly, ”Since I plan to experience human sufferings and save humans, I have to step foot on the soil where sufferings happen and really understand the people who are suffering.”
The sunlight penetrated the window and landed on him. His old shirt seemed to shine, and the chopsticks used in his Taoist bun seemed to be more beautiful than the most expensive ebony.
Ning Que suddenly asked, ”Do you remember the first time we met?”
Ye Su shook his head. When they first met at the foot of Tianqi Mountain in the Wilderness, Ye Su was still a proud traveling disciple of Taoism and had his eye on the position of Eldest Brother, and he had no impression of who Ning Que was.
”But I am very impressed with you.” Ning Que looked at him and said, ”I have never met a person so lonely, as if your feet were not standing on the ground but on another world. Although you are clearly alive, I still felt that you were dead for many years. To be more accurate, you seemed to be alive and dead at the same time in my eyes back then, and I pitied you.”
Ye Su laughed and said, ”You should pity me now.”
Ning Que shook his head and said, ”No. Although you are far less powerful than you were in the past, you are not pitiful at all. I think you will become a sage.”
Ye Su said, ”The world can only see a sage once in a millennium. You just give me too much credit.”
Ning Que disagreed. ”If you can make everybody become sage, then you are indeed a sage.”
At this moment, the door was pushed open. Tang Xiaotang held the basket and shouted merrily, ”Look, we brought so many vegetables back. Throw away the leftovers!”
Dinner was very simple, mainly vegetables.
In order to please Haotian, Chen Pipi went to the butcher shop to buy streaky pork and braised it with Chinese cabbage. Then he went next door and brought back two buckets of light wine.
Meat and wine can always liven things up. After a little while, the atmosphere in the house was lively. Ning Que was a wimpy drinker and was no longer his normal self after a few drinks. He asked for paper and ink, and then wrote the famous article, ”An Epigraph for My Humble Room”.
”A mountain needn't be high; it is famous so long as there is a deity on it. A lake needn't be deep; it has supernatural power so long as there is a dragon in it. My home is humble, but it enjoys the fame of virtue so long as I am living in it. ”
With her hands behind her back, Sangsang stared at the and then asked, ”Who is ”I”?”
Ning Que answered angrily, ”Why are you asking me such a philosophical issue?”
Sangsang pointed to the word ”I” on the paper.
Ning Que then understood what she meant and pointed to Ye Su. All of a sudden, it occurred to him that Sangsang must had some expectations since she brought this up. So he pulled back his finger and answered, ”I didn't mean me.”
”Then who is that?”
”I am you, and you are me. Who do you think I am talking about? ”
Sangsang knew he was lying, but she seemed satisfied.
Chen Pipi was very dissatisfied and said sarcastically, ”When you wrote the article, I just thought you are still shameless. After listening to your explanation, I realize that you can be worse.”
Ning Que was angry and shouted, ”I am always like this. Suck it up!”
It was time to say goodbye.
Sangsang couldn't stand this kind of human custom so she stood afar with her hands behind her back.
Chen Pipi looked at Ning Que and said, ”Take care.”
”I will.”
Ning Que answered with smile and walked to Sangsang.
Sangsang suddenly turned around and said to Ye Su, ”You will be burned to death.”
At this moment, the sky was covered with the sunset glow which was like blood and fire.
Ye Su stood in the twilight and it looked like he was standing in fire.
…
…