Nightfall

When Sangsang was very young, she would hear something about a moon, a Miss Jie Geng and a dog from Ning Que. She would hear things about a ring and a bottle but she wasn’t interested in them.

After a while, Ning Que stopped mentioning them and she had slowly forgotten about them. However, Ning Que would still mention the word moon from time to time. She thought they were nonsense until tonight. As she stood beside the Headmaster and kept silent while hearing about all these, she realized they weren’t nonsense but rather, dream talk.

She raised her head as she tucked her hair, which had been blown into a mess by the wind, behind her temples. She followed the Headmaster’s and Ning Que’s gaze to the night sky. She thought to herself that if there was a bright thing there, it would be very pretty.

The Southern sea that was under the stars was incredibly quiet and calm. The sea breeze was warm as the waves rose gently. It seemed to be shaking the ship like a baby in a cradle. It was a sea of quiet by the side of the ship.

From the north of the Wilderness, they had traveled further north to the south of the world. They had seen too much and eaten too much over the ten over days. They have heard teacher talking too much and Ning Que couldn’t help but feel something was amiss.

His eyes suddenly turned bright and said, “I feel like I have seen this somewhere… It is called what world?”

The Headmaster was slightly shocked as he asked, ‘What world?”

Ning Que shook his head and said, “I have forgotten where I have seen it and I have forgotten the name too. I only remember that that world is fake and the hero of the story was trying his best to steer the boat to the side…”

Many of the memories from that world has become vague. He tried everything he could to recall it and to recount all the details to the Headmaster.

After the Headmaster finished listening, he thought in silence for a while before taking out a short wooden rod from his sleeve and banged it heavily on Ning Que’s head before chiding, “Fool, do you think we are acting for others?”

Ning Que first saw the Headmaster on the Building of Pines and Cranes in Chang’an City. Back then, he was knocked unconsciousness with this rod. He was hit in the head with this rod again and he couldn’t help but lose his temper.

He couldn’t understand where teacher usually hid this rod but he couldn’t be bothered to find out now. He pointed to the night skies above his head and said, “Perhaps Haotian is watching a show from above. This could be possible.”

“Of course not.”

Headmaster said, “We are in a world that doesn’t have the physical boundaries that you speak of. The internal structure of the world is definitely incredibly balanced. Just like the entropy that you speak of and the laws of thermodynamics. They seem to be ineffective here. Hence according to your logic, our world must be an independent world and doesn’t communicate with anything outside.”

Ning Que nodded.

The Headmaster said, ‘Such deduction is based on the idea that the Haotian world is the only world. If there is another sky outside of our skies, will there still be a real world outside the world?”

Ning Que said, “It is possible. The Haotian world would then be an independent world that is floating in the orbit of time.”

The Headmaster shook his head and said, “Impossible.”

Ning Que asked perplexedly, “Why is it impossible?”

The Headmaster said, “Because that would be too boring.”

Ning Que was speechless. He thought to himself that such a righteous tone was indeed the temperament of those from the Academy.

“If there is a sky above the skies and a world besides the Haotian world, or perhaps that the Haotian world is in another bigger world, why would it not be able to communicate with the outside world?”

Headmaster continued saying as he extended a finger and pointed at the night sky. Some starlight landed on his long fingernails before condensing slowly and forming a dim light bubble.

“Based on the theories that you have mentioned the past few days, I guess the person of great wisdom in your dream would think that we are living in a bubble if he knew the real situation of the Haotian world.”

“A bubble?”

“Or perhaps fragments of space? No, a bubble is more appropriate.”

“A bubble that is floating in the outside world?”

“The phrase ‘floating’ isn’t accurate. it is within the space of the outside world but not in it too.”

“Teacher, anyway I do not understand. Please continue.”

“For some reason, this bubble isn’t connected to the outside world. it is stable, self-sustainable and independent. It can even be described as perfect and can survive like this forever.”

“And then?”

“I only want to prove to you that your earlier guess is wrong. There are no observers in the Haotian world. This is because Haotian is also a participant. If we are acting, he must be one of the actors too.”

“Why?”

“If any intelligent lifeform were to observe this bubble from the outside world, there would be a link between the inside of the bubble and the outside world. Every observation will affect the state of the thing being observed. Wasn’t this the logic that you have been talking about the past few days? If that is the case, our world will no longer be perfect and stable. Since something like that hasn’t happened, this must mean that there are no observers.”

Ning Que had no idea what else to say. He had told the Headmaster whatever remaining knowledge that he could remember. How would he have expected the Headmaster to remember this much and to easily deduce so many things? Even though he still had no idea if these deductions were correct or not, they seem to be correct.

The light bubble that was plated with silver on the fingertips of the Headmaster disappeared into thin air. He tapped Ning Que’s shoulders and said, “I know what you are afraid of. You are afraid that all these is just a dream or a game. Such a situation would indeed leave one frustrated. However, you do not need to worry about such a situation.”

Ning Que said, “Because of your deduction?”

“Not only that.” The Headmaster said, “No matter what kind of world we are in, so long as we are real, that world will be real.”

Ning Que looked at the Headmaster and complimented sincerely, “Teacher, if you were to live in the world of my dreams, you would be the best philosopher, scientist, connoisseur and revolutionist.”

The Headmaster stoked his beard lightly and said with pride, “It turns out no matter where I live in, it isn’t that bad?”

Ning Que smiled and said, “It is not only not bad, it is strong.”

The Headmaster brows trembled lightly as he couldn’t suppress his joy and said, “The rest might be hard to say but I definitely am qualified to be a connoisseur.”

In the early morning, the fishes in the sea were woken up by the red morning sun. After eating the oyster porridge prepared by Sangsang, Headmaster brought Ning Que to the front of the ship to enjoy the sea breeze and return to sleep.

Ning Que leaned against the soft chair and pulled the blanket. He cocked his head and took a sip of the coconut juice. He felt such a life was blissful to the maximum and if they could continue like this without going on shore, it would be better.

However, they were bound to go ashore at the end of the day. As the ship continued going north, they could see the black coastline vaguely in the distance. There was even the illusion of the smell of the harbor.

They would return to the mortal world when they go ashore and they could face many things. Especially when he kept thinking of the uneasiness that was hanging over him, Ning Que’s emotions became a little strange.

Listening to the sound of waves hitting against the front of the ship and looking at the floating clouds in the blue skies, he kept silent for a long time. Thinking back to the battle in the Wilderness and the image of the Giant Golden Dragon sucking that Qi of Heaven and Earth from the corpses of the Desolate Man, the image of Haotian in his heart became increasingly greedy.

Ning Que furrowed his brows and thought, “Because it is a closed world, the energy can only flow continuously within it and would eventually tend to destruction. Haotian wouldn’t understand this. Why then did he not break this world and find new sources of energy from the wider world?”

“Firstly, Haotian is the rule of this world. If this world is shattered or if it connects with the outside world, it could be directly destroyed. Secondly, I think it is afraid.”

The Headmaster laid on his chair, playing with the colorful shells in his hand.

Ning Que passed the coconut over and squatted on the chair while he asked in confusion, “If it is so afraid, what is it scared of?”

The Headmaster took over the coconut and peeled a small piece of coconut meat from the hard shell and put it into his mouth. He slowly chewed as he sighed and said, “When one chews the coconut longer, it tastes better than peanuts.”

Ning Que was waiting patiently for his teacher’s answer and he didn’t expect to hear something like this. He gave a bitter laugh and said, “However, no one has said this before and no one has taken coconut flesh as peanuts.”

Headmaster put down the coconut and said, “You asked what Haotian was afraid of? It is afraid of the unknown.”

“Unknown?”

“Humans are afraid of the unknown too. Just like how many people hadn’t eaten the flesh of coconut before and throw them away like trash. Many people hadn’t eaten chili before and think it is the devil. However, humans also yearn for the unknown and hence, there will be the first person to eat the crab. there would be someone like me who loves eating the flesh of coconuts and there are those who see chili as their life.”

“There will never be a lack of those who are courageous enough to try when it comes to facing the unknown. Because humans are fearful, they are curious too. Unknown and curiosity are 2 concepts that are linked. They are the most defining characteristic of humans.”

“Just like what I told you that night. When one sees a mountain, one would want to know what is on the other side of the mountain. When one sees the ocean, one would want to know what is underneath it. When one sees the skies, one would want to know what is above it. Because of curiosity, humans will continuously forge ahead and become stronger.”

“The world is constantly spinning and the beginning is the end. This is really meaningless. Humans’ curiosity towards the unknown has been decided by nature. We cannot live peacefully in an enclosed world forever. Since the world is enclosed, we will want to open it and see the outside.”

“But Haotian isn’t human. Even though it is living, at the end of the day, it is a boring, monotonous and uninteresting objective rule. It is afraid of change and doesn’t have the courage to face the unknown. This is the biggest difference between us and Haotian. It is precisely because of this that we can never live in harmony with it forever.”

“A melon that was forcefully plucked will never be sweet. How can one marry with different outlooks? If one’s world is covered at the top, how can one breathe freely? Hence, we pluck the seedlings, divorce the wife and open the world.”

“This is the thinking of Lotus and your Youngest Uncle. I too believe in this. In actual fact, there have been countless people who think similarly throughout history. Of course, we are clear that even if there is a sky outside of ours, that sky might just be another larger prison. At least we can see more sceneries and experience more things.”

“These things might be very important or not important at all but I believe they are worth fighting for.”