Nightfall

The yellow river formed a line of falls. Water smashed into mists, thundering and surging with mud. The magnificent scene was awe-inspiring.

Ning Que stood quietly by the river while Sangsang walked toward the black reef. When her bare foot stepped on the reef, the sword cuts began to fade until they completely disappeared.

Those cuts were made by Liu Bai, the Sage of Sword. They represented the strongest will and decisiveness of mankind. She came here just to erase them. Watching the traces of predecessors being erased, Ning Que felt some hollowness in his chest. Yet he could do nothing to change it.

He looked eclipsed as he was placing his blade back into the sheath.

The Great River Kingdom was situated to the south of the roaring yellow river. If they were to go there, then they had to cross the river. With the torrential and horrifying flow and lines of falls in front, it was impossible for any ordinary human to cross. They had to walk toward either direction for miles before they could find some sheepskin rafts to cross.

Ning Que stopped himself from becoming more depressed because that was exactly what Sangsang was looking for, just as he was wishing for her to be humanized. Thus, he decided to do something to cheer himself up.

“Little sister needs to cross the river. Who would carry me?”

He looked at the surging river and sang with dancing eyebrows. Sangsang heard him sing this song when she was little. She turned to him and said, “Your world is really noisy.”

Upon saying these words she held her hands behind her back and walked toward the river. It seemed like she was walking on a grassland and the surging river suddenly stopped by her feet.

Rather than coming to a stop, the river looked more like it was unable to get closer to her. The muddy yellow river repeatedly lapped against an invisible shield by her feet and smashed numerable fine bubbles.

Sangsang continued to walk across the river while muddy waves divided in front of her. The sludge under the water immediately solidified into flat rocks and her bare feet stepped on them like white lotus blossoms.

Muddy water rushed down from the upper reaches. Yet no matter how fiercely it roared, not even a single drop of water was able to reach to her green dress, not even to her feet.

Ning Que knew that it was her world. Upon witnessing this miraculous scene, he could not help but think of the legend of Moses’ Crossing of the Red Sea. He led the big black horse and followed closely.

The group of two people and a horse entered the roaring river. With the river divided and the sludge turning into rocks, a dry path was naturally formed. Rushing water came down from upper reaches but was not able to proceed. It accumulated by the invisible shield, and reached several meters high when they crossed halfway through the river.

Ning Que looked at the translucent water wall and the swirling river and sand in it. He wanted to reach out and push his hand through the wall to feel the water and sand, but he did not dare to do anything.

This miraculous scene was astonishing and startling. He worried that if he were to break the water wall, the roaring Great River would drown them.

Although he had reached the state of Knowing Destiny, he still did not dare to challenge the Great River. It was because the power of the river came from nature, which was something that humans would never be able to withstand.

Sangsang looked calm without any solemnity or vigilance. She walked along the water wall with her hands held behind her back, as if she was passing by a beautiful meadow.

Only Haotian could overcome nature.

The yellow water wall was reaching higher and almost blocked the sun. The rocky path crossing the river became dark and the big black horse seemed worried.

Ning Que was also worried about the water wall. If it were to continue accumulating and never collapse, floods would be formed in the upper reaches, which could be catastrophic for people living by the river banks.

Then, the yellow water wall collapsed. From the roaring river a straight white wave was formed and poured onto the rocky path and the group of two people and a horse.

Instead of being engulfed by the river, Ning Que stayed dry. The yellow water wall collapsed but did not fall on them. Instead, it flew over their heads.

The path turned into a tunnel formed by water. They walked through the tunnel. It was dim but they could still see clearly through the water.

Lights penetrated the muddy water and sprinkled on them like a scattered painting. The river water flew from above carrying swirling sands picturesquely.

The big black horse neighed in surprise. Ning Que stared at the beautiful underwater scene and was not willing to blink. Only Sangsang was as calm as always.

…

…

They kept walking south and came to a populated town.

It was a day of a fair. The small town was crowded and lively. Various stalls lined up along the streets, selling shoe-pads, bamboo baskets, eggs, and mostly food.

Entering into this lively scene, Ning Que calmed down from the previous astonishment. He held the rein and took Sangsang on a stroll. This was his world.

There was a stall by the corner. A swarthy man wore a white coif and sat by an iron stove. He pedaled so that something was spun inside the stove.

Sangsang lowered her head with her hands still behind her back. She looked very calm as if she was an elder collector who was preying in an antique market, or an old official checking on the inventory in a barn.

The sweet smell and some indistinct burnt scents reminded her that was sugar inside the stove. However, she could not understand why he could pedal to spin the sugar inside, and why the sugar was spun into charming wisps of clouds.

The man wondered why a girl could be so lofty but did not pay much attention. He made a fluffy ball of cloud wisps and handed it to a cheerful kid standing by the stove.

“This is marshmallow. I used to buy this for you when you were a kid,” Ning Que said.

Sangsang kept quiet and just watched with fixed eyes. In a short while, another marshmallow was ready. The man got the marshmallow on a stick and handed it to her.

She frowned and hesitated.

Ning Que took two copper coins and gave them to the man. He took the marshmallow and offered them to Sangsang.

The man took the coins and found them to be Tang currency. He was surprised as well as pleased because Tang currency was better than their official currency in the Great River Kingdom.

Getting out of the fair, Sangsang held the marshmallow but did not eat it. She explained to Ning Que, “I’ve seen marshmallows. I just didn’t remember how they were made.”

Ning Que doubted and thought, You are Haotian. How could you not remember something you had seen?

Sangsang continued, “Now I’ve figured out how they’re made. Why did you buy this?”

Ning Que said, “To eat, of course.”

Sangsang looked at the marshmallow in her hand and wondered. “I have forgotten the taste of it.”

It looked a bit funny when a plump and lofty girl held a fluffy marshmallow. It was cute especially when she took a bite and left some sugar wisps around the corner of her lips.

Ning Que smiled at her and said, “If you still can not remember the taste, we can try a few more times.”

The smile on Ning Que’s face was a bit weird. It was like parent’s affection towards their kid, but also complacency after a trick. Both were hateful to Sangsang.

She frowned and applied some divine power. The sugar wisps by her lips were immediately cleaned.

She looked at the marshmallow in her hand, and offered it to the big black horse after some hesitation.

The big black horse was surprised and then excited.

It was a great honor to be rewarded with food by Haotian, or more precisely with some food left by Haotian. Anybody would have taken it as a great honor except for some unappreciative idiot like Ning Que.

He rolled in the marshmallow with his tongue and smacked his lips. It fell to his belly so quickly that he was barely able to figure out the taste and tried to recall the flavor.

Ning Que was a bit disappointed that Sangsang did not finish the marshmallow. He saw that the big black horse was trying to recollect the pleasant taste and got angry at him. “When was the last time you had a meal? How could you be so greedy? Have I ever underfed you? Was that marshmallow for you? How could you have eaten it?!”

The big black horse thought, It was her who gave it to me. As long as she was happy that’s none of your business. He turned to Sangsang for more reward only to find that Sangsang looked a bit angry as well. He grieved, If you liked it then why did your highness give it to me? Could you not drag me into your fight please?

Two kids were playing outside the fair and both held a marshmallow. They licked it carefully from time to time, as if it was a treasure. They want to leave some for when they return home.

Sangsang looked at the marshmallows in the their hands and seemed sad.

Ning Que mocked her. “Keep pretending that you don’t regret it.”

Sangsang kept her behind her back and walked toward the outside of the town, as if she did not hear him.

Although it was late winter, it still felt warm in the Great River Kingdom in the south. The sun was dazzling and it felt hot in the sunlight.

Ning Que kept talking about the marshmallows until they got to a hill to the south of the small town.

Sangsang stopped suddenly and snapped a twig from a tree by the side.

Ning Que wondered what she was about to do.

Sangsang reached the twig to the sky.

It was cloudless.

Then above the stormy ocean afar in the Song Kingdom, black clouds gathered all of a sudden. A piece of cloud drifted away with the wind and traveled for thousands of miles to atop a small hill in the Great River Kingdom in the south.

Then it landed on the twig in her hand.

It blocked the sun and cooled it down in the trail.

Sangsang remained calm. With one hand behind her back and the other holding the twig, she continued walking south.

The cloud on her twig was bigger than the hill.

What a massive marshmallow.

Ning Que was stunned by this shocking scene.

He would have never expected her to grab a cloud from afar to fake a marshmallow just because she was mad.

After all, she was Haotian.

This Haotian who possessed human emotions was truly unpredictable.

Thinking of having such a wife like her, he looked at the cloud on her twig and felt exceptionally proud while inferior at the same time.

However, upon arriving at the Great River Kingdom, all of his sentiments turned into rage because there was a wedding preparation.