Nightfall

There were lots of people around the old library, while the upstairs was quiet as usual.

On the bookshelf lay some precious spiral-bound cultivation books, and inside the books were the ordinary thin paper the Academy students usually used. On the desk beside the west window, a brush, ink, and inkstone quietly lay there. Near the east window, the female professor carefully practiced her small and regular characters. Ning Que, sitting on the floor with his legs crossed, was absorbed in contemplating, except for making some notes on the paper and then tucking them into his book occasionally. When the night came, another fat lad would appear on the second floor and then, after viewing the notes, he would reply with a few sentences or a long comment beside the west window.

Their handwritings, elegantly beautiful or unlimitedly free, were left on the paper. Ning Que and Chen Pipi, two lads who did not know each other, kept communicating by writing letters. The late-spring and early-summer days quickly, but peacefully and happily, passed, accompanied by their every stroke and laugh.

…

…

“Mr. Nobody, do you have some ways to make the sword strength in the book softer?”

“Idiot! How could it be called the sword strength if it was soft? By the way, that math problem about cows on the grassland you offered yesterday was… very weird. What do you mean by the quantitative relation?”

“You idiot, please don’t call everything you can’t understand weird. Besides, isn’t there really another way to make acupoint work? I still can’t believe Haotian would be so unfair to a genius like me!”

“Indeed, there is another way, but I advise you not to count on that. Usually, there is just a short distance between a genius and an idiot. However, if someone counts on such hope, he will be a poor fool at last, no matter what he was before. What’s more, I have to repeat that the math problem you raised yesterday was truly strange and lacks beauty.”

“I heard that the approach Devil’s Doctrine applies is different from others. Instead of resorting to the connection with Breath of Nature, they attempt to absorb Breath of Nature into their body forcibly. Is it a possible way to cultivate for those failing to activate their acupoint? Besides, I will offer you the third math problem in the following. Please think deeply about it and don’t always ask me for the answer.”

…

…

“This problem is very elementary! Are you insulting me? About the Devil’s Doctrine, I have to warn you not to mention the two words, no matter if you are in or outside the Academy. Otherwise, you will tragically be chased and killed by the just and mighty men all over the world. What’s more, I have to smilingly tell you that even if for the way of the Devil’s Doctrine, it also requires the activation of acupoint, because only in this condition can the Breath of Nature connect and flow inside your body.”

“What a pity! I thought that maybe there was another available way.”

“Given that you could deconstruct the character by way of Eight Strokes Calligraphy of Yong, you are an unusual guy. I really worry about you trying the way of the Devil’s Doctrine if you can’t find other ways. Actually, you should feel lucky, but not pitiful. Otherwise, perhaps I will have to cleave you into three parts someday if you resort to diabolism.”

“To be honest, your words make sense, but I feel very disappointed.”

…

…

“I think we are kind of pen pals, right? But why didn’t you ever ask me who I am? Aren’t you curious about it at all? Don’t you feel that it is a great lucky chance for you to communicate with me?”

“I am not curious about others all the time. Besides, you haven’t asked me about my identity, either.”

“Well, who are you? Where are you from? Which classroom in the Academy? Are there some beautiful sisters in your family?”

“I am Ning Que from the City of Wei, a student from Classroom Three in the Academy. There is just a black handmaiden in my family… Who are you and where are you from? You hate women so much because you already have a ferocious wife or concubines?”

“I am Chen Pipi, from West Hill. That’s all.”

…

…

“I heard that a candidate from West Hill got an A+ in six courses five years ago, and that all the instructors of the Academy ran out to crowd around him because that’s the best in the past century. You are that guy?”

“Exactly! So are you revering and adoring me right now?”

“I got three A+, two D-, and I abandoned one test. It is said that this is also a unique result in the Academy in the past century. In which case, why should I revere and adore you?”

“… Three A+, two D-, and one abandoned. It is, indeed, rare and excellent. OK, you are kind of a terrific figure and I temporarily admit that you have the qualifications to talk equally with me.”

…

…

“You are a West Hill guy. Why would you come to the Tang for learning?”

“I was born in a big and powerful family in West Hill. My family’s property is beyond your imagination. You know, a genius like me, I was bound to inherit the family property when I was born. However, the trouble is that I have a talented elder brother who just lagged behind me a little. More importantly, my elder brother has been very kind to me and taken care of me in everything since I was very young. Besides, he doesn’t have any complaints at all when the clan elders in my family decided to let me inherit the property. In fact, I have no thoughts on inheriting the property. I think my elder brother is the best candidate, but the seniorities don’t allow me to refuse it. The more time I stay at home in West Hill and the better my elder brother treats me, the more uncomfortable I feel. Therefore, I just sneakily ran away from home at the age of 10.”

“Ran away from home at the age of 10? Didn’t your clan elders look for you everywhere?”

“They definitely looked for me everywhere. But since they failed, they, for certain, could figure out that I hid inside the Academy. What about you? Why do you study in the Academy, and why did you risk your life in the upstairs for studying during the previous few days?”

“Studying in the Academy is for the official position of the Tang Empire. What’s more, the cultivation is, of course, a more fundamental reason. As for why I study so hard, that’s because I have lots of things to complete. If I don’t fight with all my life at present, maybe I will be killed in the future.”

“What things are so difficult?”

“That’s the story I can’t tell you.”

…

…

The written communication beside the west window of the old library began from the mutual question about cultivation and math, then extended to their mutual lives. As time gently passed, Ning Que quickly recuperated and did not cough after taking Chen Pipi’s prescription. The two young lads gradually became more and more familiar and closer, though they still had not met each other.

Summer came the previous day, and the temperature became higher and higher. At some time, the west window had been closed and the interior building was filled with darkness. The smile on Ning Que’s face gradually disappeared as he looked at the notes Chen Pipi wrote these days. He found a shocking detail: the guy named Chen Pipi said his family could figure out that he hid inside the Academy if they had failed to find him elsewhere. This indirectly meant that there was no place that his family could not reach in this world, and only the sacred and mighty Academy could make his family a little scared.

“In West Hill Divine Kingdom… is there such a powerful and mighty family?”

Slightly frowning, Ning Que thought for a while, but he could not figure it out, and then he kept reading the notes. Yesterday, he asked in the letter for the first time about whether they could meet. Now he was naturally curious about Chen Pipi’s reply since he was sure that the guy was on the Second Floor.

Someone’s handwriting was left on the paper yesterday: “When you enter the Second Floor, you will see me at that time.”

Ning Que, shaking his head, replied with his pen: “The issue is… how can I enter the Second Floor?”

Haotian was so unfair, making the lad’s acupoint blocked. No matter how he read books by the way of deconstruction and in an indomitable spirit, he could not really make a step forward in the cultivation journey. At present, looking at the three words “the Second Floor”, he unavoidably felt a little disappointed.

Putting down his pen, standing up, and looking at the quiet bookshelf around him, he laughed at himself and sighed. He found it both interesting and boring that he was thinking where the Second Floor was while he was standing on the second floor of the building.

Suddenly, with a slight frown, he noticed that there was a shallow scratch on the floor down near the bookshelf leaning against the mountain wall near him. On the dark-colored wooden floor, the scratch was very thin and light, which was difficult to be seen if someone did not look carefully.

After a short silence, he walked toward the area, squatted, and gently touched it. Later, Ning Que was sure that it was caused by the cumulative friction day by day. He looked up at the heavy bookshelf and then his finger pressing the scratch began slightly trembling.

There were some decorative patterns, complicated in style and sophisticated in meaning, on both sides of the bookshelf. The cumulative dust inside the pattern, suddenly round or square, was of irregularity, presenting a very ugly and malformed shape. Every detail of the ornamentation in the old library was very delicate, except the ugly decoration of the bookshelf leaning against the wall. With more and more confusion, he gently touched with his fingers and then closed his eyes, feeling every touch from his fingers.

Was the well-known Second Floor behind the bookshelf? The real Academy was situated behind the wall?

“You can try unclenching the bookshelf and look what is behind it.”

Ning Que quickly opened his eyes and turned around. He noticed that the gentle and beautiful female professor, silently standing behind him, was looking at him with warm, and even a little encouraging, eyes.

He could not comprehend the real meaning of the female professor’s warm and peaceful look, and just looked at the decorative pattern on the bookshelf with a forced smile. Occasionally, some flashing thoughts reminded him of the feeling he had at the sight of the Vermilion Bird at Vermilion Bird Avenue and at the sight of those animal carvings on the eaves in the Imperial Palace. He could faintly guess something and, of course, did not dare to make any disrespectful moves.

…

…

It was midsummer in the 13th year of the Tianqi era, and Ning Que and Sangsang had been in Chang’an for several months. They operated the Old Brush Pen Shop and had some simple food every day. Besides, Ning Que was successfully admitted as a student to the Academy. It seemed that there was no big change in their lives, but, in fact, the real situation was not like that.

The young soldier from a border town had following Chao Xiaoshu and gone through a bloody and murderous fight in the Spring Breeze Pavilion on a rainy spring night. Besides, he had entered the Imperial Palace one time. In addition, the lad had studied hard with those cultivation books in the old library for a few days. These experiences, without a doubt, had helped him view a larger and wider world and make friends with some interesting and talented people, which greatly improved his quality, both in vision and spirit.

During these months, the most important thing was that his first friend was killed, and he ended the lives of censor Zhang Yiqi and Chen Zixian—the first step on his road of vengeance. Luckily, it seemed that the two enemies’ deaths did not attract much attention from the government of the Tang and that mighty General Xia Hou.

“It’s too hot, the only shortcoming of Chang’an.”

Lying on the bamboo chair and looking at the starry sky, Ning Que shook his head and, as he wiped the sweat from his face, said, “It won’t become cooler until the early morning arrives. There is a lake beside that Tea Specialist’s residence. Maybe that will be more comfortable to stay in than ours?”

Taking over the towel and soaking it in the cool water bucket, Sangsang replied in a low voice, “Young master, do you plan to kill him just because his residence is cooler? Is this revenge… so interesting?”