Nightfall

Wind blew into the hut, making the gauze curtains dancing randomly. Mist rose from the Headmaster’s teacup and disappeared in the air. Maybe the wind would make the tea cool down quicker.

Ning Que was not like Chen Pipi. His face didn’t get wrinkles because of the heavy wind, but he looked very worried after being reproached by the Headmaster, “I just want you to analyze for me, do the pros outweigh the cons?”

The Headmaster drank his tea and put the cup down. He shook his head and said, “I’m old, so I don’t waste time thinking about these trivial things. Do you think it is worth it or not?”

Ning Que answered seriously, “I have been thinking after she gave her term. Haoran Sword is indeed the most famous cultivation skill of our Academy, but without the Great Spirit of Youngest Uncle, it cannot be counted as the real secret skill that the Academy couldn’t leak out.”

The Headmaster didn’t reveal his attitude, and he said, “Continue.”

Ning Que thought about the fight with Ye Hongyu in the side yard which ruined the plum blossom there and the paper sword she held between her fingers. He said with hesitation, “I don’t understand her paper sword, but it is interesting, I even think it comes from the South Jin Kingdom…”

The Headmaster frowned unhappily and then looked at Ning Que and said, “Make it simple.”

Ning Que said honestly, “I think it is worth it.”

The Headmaster said casually, “Then, why you hesitate. Just exchange that with her.”

The Headmaster seemed not care about it at all. For him, giving away the secret cultivation skill of Academy, Haoran Sword, was like giving away an old yellowish cabbage.

Ning Que was not used to such an atmosphere. He asked carefully after a while, “Master, do you not want to ask me any questions?”

The Headmaster took the book up and was about to continue writing. He said casually, “Why should I ask?”

Ning Que asked hopefully, “What if I die?”

The Headmaster didn’t even look at him. He stared at the book, waited for the ink to melt and said, “Everyone dies. If you die, there is no need for your reminding in advance, for I will not be too sad.”

His wish died out and his strong heart which was immersed by the body water and became immune to every kind of harm finally broke into two pieces after hearing his Master’s irresponsible and cold reply. He thought that he would save a half of the heart for Sangsang, as for the other half, he wanted to turn it into a fire and burn the Headmaster’s beard.

…

Ning Que first went to the yard of Second Brother and said his requirement with accompaniment of the roaring waterfall. Then he went to the cliff cave, where thousands of books were stored. Finally he went through the Cloud Gate array to the second floor of the old library, and found several books about the Sword Formulas and Skills of Haoran Sword and went to Third Sister to register.

The whole process was strangely easy.

The Headmaster gave him a very irresponsible informal approval, and Second Brother, scholars and Third Sister irresponsiblely gave him what he wanted without asking for anything to prove that he did get the Headmaster’s agreement. He was still in a daze when he was already sitting in the carriage while holding a thick pile of books.

He thought that based on what happened today, it seemed that he could just steal any books from the Academy at any time, and then he would become very rich.

When he was back to the mansion at Yanming Lake, Ning Que went directly to the backyard and threw all the books on the table. He said, “These are what you want.”

Ye Hongyu took a book and frowned. She didn’t expect the Academy to agree to give such valuable cultivation books to Ning Que so easily. It even made her doubt whether these books were real or not. But as soon as she glanced at the first page of the books, she knew they were real.

Ning Que found that the book she was reading was the Introduction to Haoran Sword , the book he read after vomiting blood while entering the old library. He felt very emotional. After a while, he got rid of that emotion and reminded Ye Hongyu, who was absorbed in reading, “Where is my thing?”

Ye Hongyu raised her hands to untie the buttons on her collar.

Ning Que watched her fingers moving. He didn’t know what he was expecting for, the paper sword that carried lots of secrets or the exciting view beneath her Taoist robe.

Ye Hongyu took the thin paper sword out but didn’t give it to him. She stared into Ning Que’s eyes and said, “I have two requirements.”

Ning Que said, “Go on.”

Ye Hongyu said, “You only have one night to observe it.”

Ning Que said, shaking his head, “No way, unless you agree that you also have only one night to read these books about Haoran sword.”

Ye Hongyu smiled and was about to say something.

It suddenly occurred to Ning Que that the girl standing in front of him was a genius in cultivation. Maybe she had the same ability of never forgetting what she read like Sangsang. So he interrupted her immediately, “It is not right to make the time limit so short. Why don’t you give me more time, and I will give you more time too.”

Ye Hongyu stared at him for a while, then smiled. She shook her head and said, “Luckily, you reacted in time.”

Ning Que said, “I can never be fooled.”

Ye Hongyu said, “Three nights.”

Ning Que thought about it for a moment before he answered, “Deal.”

Ning Que asked curiously, “What is your second requirement?”

Ye Hongyu pointed to the paper sword and said, “You are not allowed to smell it.”

The paper sword had been hidden at her chest and got her smell as well. A normal girl would be very shy to give it to other people. Ye Hongyu was not as shy as them, but she still didn’t want Ning Que to do any disgusting things.

Ning Que stared at her and said in a serious tone, “Do I really look like a pervert?.”

Ye Hongyu said with a smile, “Junior Sister Sangsang grows up with you. And you make her your wife even before she turns into an adult. I think that is what a pervert does anyway.”

…

…

In the summer, in the yard you could hear the frogs all the time and sometimes you could hear the sound of cicadas.

Under the dim light of an oil lamp, Ning Que was staring at the paper sword.

Sangsang companied him staring at the paper sword before she went to bed because of being too sleepy.

Ning Que rubbed his fingers against the paper to feel the paper subconsciously.

His movement looked very obscene, but actually he wasn’t thinking of anything nasty. It didn’t cross his mind that this piece of paper was put against the Taoist Addict’s chest before.

He just wanted to make himself less nervous by rubbing it.

It was very thin and felt like normal paper. It was only the size of two fingers and around rough edge, there were inky lines. Beyond the lines were some rough sides of the paper.

In the beginning, it was a picture of a sword drawn on the paper, then someone tore the sword off the paper. It could be seen from the uneven lines that the person who had drawn it was not good at drawing, but his state was so high that those lines looked like real sharp blades of a sword.

The paper looked more dim and yellowish under the dim yellowish light.

Ning Que stared at the paper sword and his face looked more and more serious and tense.

At the lake, the yard at night was not as hot as at daytime, but there were beads of sweat on his face, and gradually sweat flowed down along his cheeks.

He became more and more sweaty. The sweat dripped from his back and legs and wet his clothes. And when his clothes were soaked in sweat, it flowed down the legs of the chair and to the ground.

His body was like a puff of cotton soaked in water, and after being squeezed by the invisible sword style of the paper sword, it started to drip water continuously.

His Psych Power already pushed through the edge of the paper sword which hurt his sense of perception badly and entered into the paper sword. That was why he could feel the real picture the sword style.

A couple of days ago, when they fought and Ye Hongyu took the paper sword out, he felt the sword style of the sword, which made him feel like an endless waterfall was falling from the sky.

Now the paper sword was lying in his fingers, he could feel the sword style slower and clearer. After thinking for half of the night, he finally got it. The sword style was not just imitating a waterfall which poured down from the sky, it was the great river itself.

It proved Ning Que’s guess before.

He felt this sword paper, insignificant in weight before, suddenly become exceptionally heavy.

He felt those huge waves of the river beating his body and hitting his sense of perception. It was so strong as if it could destroy the dams of his sense of perception and rush out to the wilderness.

He felt like he was drowning in the depth of the river and was stuck between the great pressure of water coming from all directions. In this summer night, he was like a real drowning man. He was pale and panting heavily. His sweat poured out like a waterfall.

…

Ning Que woke up from his meditation in the morning.

The armchair in which he was sitting was all soaked in water.

The bricks around the chair were also drenched.

The paper between his fingers was also drenched by his sweat and it even became transparent. But the sword drawn on it was still so clear as if the ink was magical and not influenced by any substances in the world.

Sangsang was looking at him, and her face was full of worry.

Ning Que looked at her and managed to squeeze a smile, “I am fine.”

He was scared by his own voice. It was so dry as if he had been in a desert without any water for a couple of days.

He soon realized it was because he was dehydrated. He said to Sangsang, “Make some porridge and put the Sealwort stored in the study in the porridge, I need to eat something very nutritious.”

“I have already made you porrige with the Sealwort. I also added lots of salt in the porridge because you looked so sweaty.”

Sangsang got a bowl of porridge on the table, which was preserved in well water. She said carefully, “Do you still have the strength to eat it? Do you need me to feed you?”

…

…

After getting his energy back, Ning Que went to the side yard and returned the paper sword to Ye Hongyu. After observing it for a whole night, he had made clear on many things. He knew that at his state in cultivation, this was already the most he could learn from the sword. He wouldn’t make any more progress even if he spent two more nights watching it.

Ye Hongyu saw his pale face and said, “You know very well where the utmost of your ability is. You are not too greedy and able to resist the tempt of the paper sword. I have to admit though you are not that talented, your self-discipline ability is among the first class in the world.”

If it was in the past, Ning Que would be very proud after the Taoist Addict praised him like that. But there was something on his mind today so he didn’t talk much with her. He was still thinking of the sword in his sense of perception and left quickly.

He left the Yanming Lake by the carriage and went to the Academy as quickly as he could. He went through the Cloud Gate array to the back of the mountain and walked past the Mirror Lake to the cliff cave. He furrowed his brows and mumbled to himself all the way. His expression kept changing between confusion to determination. He was so absorbed in thinking that he forgot to greet his Senior Brothers and Sisters at the lake.

Seventh Sister stopped her stitchwork, and put the niddle down.She looked at Ning Que disappearing into the wood. She frowned and muttered, “Youngest Brother looked… a little odd today, he looks a little bit crazy.”

Sixth Brother was repairing the waterwheel near the stream while passing fish to the goose Wooden Fish to play with. He straightened his body and also looked at that direction. He shook his head and said, “Why does Youngest Brother look so much like Eleventh Brother today?”

Ning Que didn’t even notice their discussion. He was like a silly and crazy man, who staggered along the path down to the cliff cave and walked towards the table of the scholar.

The scholar was still reading without looking up at him.

Ning Que stopped talking to himself. He stood next to the scholar in silence for a long time. His eyes lightened when the lines in his sense of perception combined into a certain shape, and then he walked behind the table and pushed the scholar away from the stool. He took a piece of paper, and dipped a brush pen into the ink and started drawing.

The scholar was the most strange person at the back of the mountain. He was always good in temper, but if someone dared to annoy him when he was reading, he would become very angry. So even Eldest Brother and Second Brother didn’t dare to interrupt him when he was busy at reading. Therefore, he became extremely angry when Ning Que pushed him away roughly when he was concentrated on reading a book about agriculture. He rolled up his sleeves and was going to beat Ning Que hard.

But his fists dropped down slowly when he saw what Ning Que was drawing. He walked behind Ning Que and started watching him drawing carefully.

After a while, Ning Que finished what he was doing. He put the brush pen on the ink stone and raised the paper against the sun rays to watch it. He knew he couldn’t copy the same sword style, but this was the best he could do.

He suddenly found the scholar standing behind him and looking at the paper in a daze. “I know it is ugly, but it is not my fault,” Ning Que explained and said.

“It is not bad.”

The scholar put his hands behind him and bent to see the small twisted sword on the paper. He said in amazement, “I haven’t seen such a nice sword for many years.”

Ning Que was very shocked. He thought to himself, maybe the scholar knew about swords too? So he asked subconsciously, “Have you seen anything like this before?”

The scholar pointed to the cliff cave behind him without turning his head around, “There are many books about Sword Formulas and Skills. Some authors liked to use pictures as notes, so I have seen some swords.”

Ning Que understood how he had learned about swords now. He asked curiously, “What do you think of this sword?”

“If you are asking about the sword you just duplicate, then it is not very good compared with the thousands of swords stored in the cave, but your sword reveals some of the spirit of the original drawer, and that makes it wonderful.”

The scholar continued to say, “I don’t understand drawing or swords. But I can see the spirits of the sword.”

“In my view, this sword can rank the top five among all the swords stored in the Academy for the thousand years.”