Nightfall

The Headmaster loved eating and ate well. As long as he was present, no one else would be in charge of ordering food. As the saying went, hot and cold dishes, meat and vegetarian dishes, they each have their own uses. When put together, the meal was refreshing and looking at the menu alone would make one salivate.

The dishes looked simple, but much attention had been paid to the ingredients used. The dishes had to be cooked on the spot and there was some time before they could be served. The Headmaster had long made preparations for this. He placed a basin of iced mashed taro on the table.

“Desserts are supposed to be sweet. I despise gourmets who want light deserts the most. If they want it to be light, then they might as well drink clean water. Why eat sweet food?”

The Headmaster doled out a bowl of iced mashed taro for Sangsang and indicated for her to enjoy herself before serving himself. He looked at Ning Que and said, “It is a great joy to fight with Heaven, but why should we do that?”

Ning Que was serving himself mashed taro. When he heard that, he paused and thought that the Headmaster changed the subject really suddenly. He had been talking about the art of choosing dishes and drinks and had switched to an expansive topic like battling with Heaven the next moment.

The Headmaster said, “Did the little monk Qishan tell you about this, back in the Lanke Temple?”

Ning Que thought about the scene before the Buddhist temple in the rain and what Master Qishan had said to him then.

Master Qishan mentioned the legends of what was above the Five States in that conversation. He mentioned the few uppermost states in the human realm like the never dying Devil’s Doctrine State, Nirvana of the Buddhism Sect, the ascension to heaven and immortality of Haotian Taoism and the Beyond Mortality State of the Academy.

Master Qishan had said then, that there might be one person in the past millennium who could slowly walk to the end of the cultivation path. There might have been one person who could reach the shore astride, and one who could achieve living forever. Then, they would return to Haotian’s embrace.

Ning Que was most concerned about Haotian’s embrace and whether it meant death or immortality. Master Qishan could not answer the question. In the past, the Buddhas who had gotten to this step and Taoists who had managed to ascend to heaven and become immortals could not answer the question either. This was the greatest temptation and fear one would have in cultivation.

At the end of the conversation, Ning Que asked if there were any cultivators who did not ascend to the Heaven even if they got to that stage. Master Qishan’s answer was that no one could escape the rules of Heaven.

The Buddhist temple in the autumn rain was cool and cheerless, and the sky in the autumn rain was very desolate. Ning Que felt really cold because he had once again discovered that Heaven’s Way was ruthless.

Master Qishan had already entered Parinirvana, and even if he had any thoughts now, he would not be able to tell Ning Que. Ning Que recalled the conversation and vaguely guessed what the Headmaster wanted to say. His body stiffened.

It was noisy below the restaurant while they were discussing matters beyond the mortal realm upstairs. The stark comparison made him feel odd and absurd and he felt helplessly lost.

The Headmaster said, “Why do we fight with Heaven? First, we have to understand what Heaven is.”

Ning Que thought of the conversation he had with his teacher under the starry night sky after he had read the “Ming” Handscroll of the Tomes of the Arcane at the back of the mountain of the Academy. At the end of that conversation, the Headmaster had pointed at the sky and made four statements.

“We do not know whether Haotian is alive or not, whether it is tangible or not and where it could be. But we do know it is conscious. Younger Brother proved it, at the expense of his life.”

“If the Heaven’s Way really exists, when it oversees the world, those mortals striving for life on earth or the cultivators capable of controlling wind or rain, are all ants in its eyes.”

“If the Heaven’s Way really exists, it would never pity or care about ants. But if there are some ants beginning to notice its existence, approaching it in the sky and even trying to challenge it, how could its consciousness and will ignore that?”

“If the Heaven’s Way really exists, it would be intangible and ruthless.”

These four statements were what made up Ning Que’s initial understanding of Haotian or the so-called Heaven’s Way.

After spending a long time fleeing with Sangsang, he had seen the gathering dark clouds and crows, and the sky bright on one side and enshrouded in darkness on the other; he had seen the peering Giant Golden Dragon and the arrival of the Divine Guard of Light. Matching it with the four statements, his understanding of Heaven’s Way naturally deepened, and the fear in his heart grew as well.

Ning Que looked at the cloudless blue sky outside the restaurant and was silent.

The Headmaster held a spoon, scooping mashed taro into his mouth. He leaned against the railing, looking relaxed. Suddenly, he pointed the ladle to the sky outside the window and said, “Haotian is not Heaven.”

Ning Que asked, “Then what is it?”

…

…

Heaven is a very special word that appears in the human language many times and often represents extremely intense emotions of either fear, awe or anger.

For example, in old Chinese sayings, “heaven has eyes and tears”, or “should heaven have feelings, it would age”. There are also terms like “damned heavens”, “dratted heavens” and “good heavens etcetera”. Even the most commonly used Chinese exclamation has the word in it— “heavens”!

Heaven represents supremacy, omnipresence, endurance, compassion and love, indifference and ruthlessness. It represented everything.

“Heaven’s Way is a rule. A straight line would always be the shortest between two points. Three-sides would definitely be more stable than four. Light is the fastest, water always flows downwards, you need air for a fire to burn. These are the rules of the world and is called Heaven’s Way.”

The Headmaster ate his mashed taro and said casually. Then, he threw the spoon in his hand out of the window. There was a shout of pain below as the spoon seemed to have hit a pedestrian.

“Like water, everything has to fall downwards. This is also a rule.”

There were sounds of bickering coming from below. The person who had been hit must be coming into the restaurant to find the culprit. The Headmaster disregarded it. He looked at Ning Que and continued, “When water gathers at the lowest spot in the sea, it will not continue to flow downwards. When the spoon lands on the ground… or on a pedestrian’s head, then it will not continue to fall. This does not mean that the rule was broken, but just that another rule is coming into play.”

“If there was no external force or other rules functioning, then what kind of situation would it be? The ladle would continue to fall until it fell into the abyss. Maybe it would appear on Yama’s dining table. Of course, I’m now more certain than ever that there is no Underworld. So naturally, there is no Yama.”

The Headmaster placed the empty bowl on the table and pushed it to Sangsang. Sangsang picked up the bowl and spooned mashed taro into it.

The Headmaster pointed to the bowl in Sangsang’s hands. He said, “If this table was large and smooth enough, and if the bottom of the bowl was smooth enough, and if there wasn’t a girl called Sangsang who picked up the bowl, then what would happen? Like the ladle that kept falling, the bowl would keep moving forward without stopping.”

Ning Que scratched his head and asked, “Isn’t this called inertia?”

“Inertia? This is a good word for it, but I’d like to call it the conservation of rules for everything.”

The Headmaster continued, “This is what life is as well.”

“Life?” Ning Que did not understand at all. He asked in confusion once more, “Inertia is life?”

The Headmaster said, “When humans are alive, they can walk, jump, think, eat, blink and shit. When they die, their bodies become rotting corpses and white bones that cannot do any of the above. Their shape, structure and characteristics have all changed.”

“We have to walk, jump, think, eat, blink and shit when we are alive to conserve our looks as human beings, and to conserve our shape, structure and characteristics.”

“This conservation is life.”

Ning Que was baffled. He asked, “But animals can walk, jump, eat, blink and shit.”

The Headmaster said, “But they cannot think.”

Ning Que replied, “The yellow bull and Youngest Uncle’s donkey can definitely think.”

The Headmaster said, “But they are not shaped like humans.”

Ning Que responded, “What if we can make them resemble humans?”

The Headmaster answered, “If you can do something like that, then they would be considered humans.”

Ning Que shook his head saying, “How can this be?”

The Headmaster asked, “Why can’t it be so?”

Ning Que paused and finally figured it out. Wouldn’t a life that looks human and can walk, jump, eat, blink, shit and think be considered human?

“Everyone wants to stay alive. They want to retain their shape and inner existence. This is life. In broader terms, human society wants to maintain its shape and development. For example, the writing system, calligraphy and painting, and organizations. In this way, society is also a manifestation of life.”

The Headmaster said, “A stone is alive as well. It wants to retain its shape. It is tough, so one has to overcome its toughness to snuff out its life. Water has life as well. It could be clear or turbid, or it could be a wide ocean or a little stream. To change its characteristics and to destroy its life, you have to boil it or expose it to the sun.”

“Life is a continuation of its own form. Since Heaven’s Way is the rule itself, if it also has life; its life is to ensure that these rules are always effective and not destroyed.”

Ning Que did not know what to say at all at this point. It was fortunate that the dishes were served just then.

The three ate a scrumptious meal of 18 dishes.

The Headmaster kept refilling Sangsang’s bowl and said, “You have to try this dish, you poor child. You have never led a good life with Ning Que all these years and you don’t know how many delicacies there are in the world, and how much fun there is out there. Just enjoy yourself with me these days.”

Ning Que and Sangsang were beyond full after having barbequed gigot and dishes from the Kingdom of Song. Luckily, the Headmaster was known to be a good eater. He cleared all 18 dishes like a hurricane.

The Headmaster drank a cup of pickled vegetable to aid in digestion, looking like he was enjoying himself very much.

Ning Que burped. He thought of what the Headmaster had said earlier, and his heart felt as burdened as his stomach. He rubbed his slightly numb face and was prepared to ask questions.

The Headmaster put down his teacup and said, “There are two sides to Haotian. One is the one made of rules and objectivity while the second has to maintain rules and objectivity. Then, it will appear to be as alive as any living thing.”

Ning Que asked, “So?”

The Headmaster pointed to the table littered with cups and plates and said, “Humans have to eat to stay alive and it has to do the same.”

Ning Que looked at the plates filled with sauce and suddenly felt terrified and disgusted.