It was true that Ning Que was very talented in Talisman Taoism, but he was not as concentrated on cultivation as Fourth Brother or Mo Shanshan. Besides, due to the huge difference in their states, he could not understand a word of their conversation. So he spent a while standing next to the window and feeling really bored, then he left silently when he realized that no one wanted to talk with him at all.
He left the smithy and went to a stream to wash his face. The cool water refreshed him and got rid of the dizzy feeling the high temperature and vapor got him. Then he sat on the bank, watched the big water wheel turning slowly and started thinking. He wasn’t feeling sad because he was forgotten by those two people. It was the thing happened two days ago that kept his brain busy. He wanted to know how things should go after he said he liked her that night. Apparently Mo Shanshan treated him the same way she used to, normal and polite, did that mean he should take his time and don’t be in a rush? He also got a strange feeling that he forgot something really important, but what was it?
“I heard that you brought the Calligraphy Addict to the Academy?”
Ning Que was startled by a voice sounded behind him. He turned around and found Chen Pipi walking towards him while saying something, whose hands hidden behind his body. Ning Que frowned to him because he knew what Chen Pipi would do after he found out Mo Shanshan was here, after all, he knew him too well. He knew that Chen Pipi would tease him a lot, rather than being so serious.
Therefore, he said, “Stop thinking about using this thing to tease me. I just followed Eldest Brother’s order.”
Standing next to the stream, Chen Pipi looked somehow great and tall, despite that he was a little chubby. With his hand still hiding behind, he said slowly, “Have you really thought through it?”
Ning Que asked with a surprised expression, “Thought through what?”
Chen Pipi darted a look to him and said in a serious expression, “Thought through whether you really want to be together with Mo Shanshan.”
Ning Que said scornfully, “Don’t try to stop others from getting into a relationship just because you were bullied too hard by Ye Hongyu earlier and lost all the confidence in girls. That is too pathetic.”
At the moment when Chen Pipi was about to say something, Ning Que leaned back suddenly and looked at his hidden hands.
He was shocked when he saw two really red and swollen hands. He drew a breath and jumped to his feet. “What happened?” Asked Ning Que with concern.
Chen Pipi looked at the grass and flowers across the river and said in a painful tone, “I spoke ill of Second Brother to Eldest Brother on the day you two returned to the city.”
Ning Que nodded and then asked, “Then?”
Chen Pipi sighed when raising his swollen hands, “That was the end.”
Looking at his badly injured hands, Ning Que couldn’t help but shiver a little. He said doubtfully, “Was it Second Brother?”
Chen Pipi nodded.
Ning Que said with great anger, “How could he treat you like this? How could he beat you for no reason?”
Chen Pipi looked at Ning Que and said with moist eyes, “Youngest Brother, I am finally sure that you are a good man. You dare to blame Second Brother just for me! But it was not out of no reason, Second Brother beat me as I violated a rule of the Academy.”
“I have learned the rules too, there was no such rule as forbidding people to bad mouth others.”
“Lying was forbidden though.”
“You lied at the Old Brush Pen Shop?”
“Umm… not exactly, I just exaggerated the way Eleventh Brother ate flowers.”
“To what extent did you exaggerate it?”
“I said that he ate all the flowers, but he actually only ate the tasty ones.”
Ning Que said unbelievably. “And Second Brother punished you just because of that?”
Chen Pipi said in a sad voice, “Second Brother is a Gentleman, he follows rules strictly.”
Ning Que exclaimed, “But it is all nonsense to me.”
Chen Pipi said seriously, “You should remember, what Second Brother says is the rule and he is the only one qualified to make rules as long as Headmaster of Academy and Eldest Brother don’t disagree with him.”
Ning Que nodded to show that he had remembered that rule firmly and patted Chen Pipi on the shoulder as a comfort. He realized the back of the mountain of the Academy was no safe place either. In this case, it wasn’t too bad to be sent to suffer in the secular world.
At this moment, Chen Pipi became stiffened and disengaged himself from Ning Que’s hand. He ran away along the stream towards the back of the mountain. His plump body was like a leaf, flying ten feet away at one second. Then he disappeared into the woods and lost track.
Looking at him disappearing in the wood, Ning Que was amazed at the cultivation ability of the young prodigy; although he was not the athletic type of person, he could use the Qi of Heaven and Earth to move really fast.
“I heard that you brought the Calligraphy Addict to the Academy?”
Another voice was sounded behind him. Although this time it asked the same question, Ning Que reacted very differently. His body was stiffened, then he turned around quickly and bowed. “Second Brother, I am following what Eldest Brother said, at the same time, I also want to show her around.”
Second Brother nodded.
Ning Que straightened up. He restrained himself from looking at the ancient crown on Second Brother’s head, his sweat pouring down on his back. He realized that his last sentence saved himself from being punished by Second Brother because without the last sentence, Second Brother would think that he thought Eldest Brother was more powerful than him and use the rules of the Academy to punish him.
The expression of Second Brother was a little strange while he was thinking about something. After a while, he asked Ning Que, “Do you know why Senior Brother wanted to have the Calligraphy Addict as his sworn sister?”
This question was hard to answer, as Ning Que was also unclear of what made Eldest Brother agree to it on the way back to the Academy. Mo Shanshan was of course a lovely girl, she deserved appreciation from everyone. But given that the back of the mountain of the Academy was not a normal place, and Eldest Brother was not a normal person, this whole thing seemed a little strange.
“It is complicated.”
Second Brother walked to the stream, looked around at him and said, “You did well in the war at the Southern Gate Temple.”
Being praised by Senior Brothers for the second time, Ning Que smiled with pride. Then he remembered the no-boundary spirit he thought after the war, he asked curiously, “When I climbed the mountain, I saw the sentence ‘An upright man has no boundary’ at the outside of the wooden door, but what did Prince Long Qing see?”
“He saw ‘An upright man doesn’t compete with others’.”
Looking at him, Second Brother said, “Master once said, ‘A man of integrity should not compete, if so he will be shot dead’. But he still wanted to defeat you so much, so I guess he deserved to be shot by you.”
Hearing what he said, Ning Que was shocked and amazed at how Headmaster of Academy predicted future so accurately. The words he left on the stele out of the wooden door already hinted what would happen that day.
Second Brother was still thinking about the tricky problem. He noticed the admirable expression on Ning Que’s face and said encouragingly, “You need to work hard the whole life to reach master’s level.”
Ning Que nodded his head unconsciously.
Senior Brother continued, “Master never got married so that he can concentrate on cultivating. It is the same for you; better not thinking about marriage if you want to become as powerful as him.”
Ning Que said surprisingly, “Temporarily?”
Second Brother said seriously, “Better never getting married.”
Ning Que was so shocked dead right now that he forgot how dangerous it was to argue with Second Brother. He waved his hands and exclaimed, “It is impossible! If I were single for the whole life then I would become someone as sad as my teacher!”
…
…
Mo Shanshan and Ning Que left the back of the mountain at dusk. At that time, all people living at the back of the mountain gathered together at the yard of Second Brother near the waterfall for a very important meeting.
Everyone was present.
Everyone except scholars came there, found a place and seated. For this meeting, all of them, no matter those who were practicing vertical bamboo flute or string instrument or those who were in the middle of a chess game, stopped what they were doing.
Normally they would never be so obedient. Even Second Brother sometimes could not find them when they were hiding from him. But today was different because Eldest Brother was back.
As long as Eldest Brother was in the Academy, it was always easy to spot these people, no matter they pretended to be a stone, a squirrel, a flower or grass in the wood.
There was no news recently in the Academy. The fact that Ning Que entered the secular world and defeated Monk Guan Hai, the successor of the Elder of Lanke Temple failed to draw their attention, as in their mind, their own Younger Brother would never lose to anyone, although in terms of cultivation state, he was a long way away from themselves.
Beigong Weiyang held Eldest Brother’s shoulder and said bitterly, “Dear Eldest Brother, what on earth happened? Please can you make this meeting short, I am at the key point of composing my music.”
Fifth Brother said impatiently, “We already threw a welcoming party when you were back. What is this time? I am about to checkmate Eighth Brother. I can’t give him an excuse to cheat.”
Eighth Brother sneered and said, “I think the truth is you are about to lose. Why don’t we just continue the game?”
The yard was full of noise. Looking at the noisy crowd, Eldest Brother said helplessly, “Don’t worry, don’t worry. Take it easy.”
At this moment, a hand clapped on the table.
Clap!
The room became deadly quiet. Second Brother glanced at the crowd coldly, and everyone’s head lowered.
Eldest Brother frowned and said, “Jun Mo, don’t be angry.”
Second Brother stood up quickly and said respectfully, “My bad, Senior Brother.”
That was the biologic chain at the back mountain. Second Brother could deter all the Younger Brothers and Sisters, who were not afraid of Eldest Brother at all. But when facing Eldest Brother, he became extremely obedient.
Chen Pipi blew at his swollen hands. Looking at the docile Second Brother, he smiled, thinking that Second Brother was like a doormat.
But with Second Brother watching them with cold eyes, no one dared to leave or talk anymore. The room was so quiet that you could hear the little noise made by a pen moving on a piece of paper.
It was Third Sister, Professor Yu Lian, who was writing Hairpin-style Small Regular Script attentively as if all this was not her business.
“I gathered you today because something has happened recently,” said Eldest Brother, “Since Youngest Brother entered the human realm, there have been speculations. Many officials in the imperial court tried to see whether he could agree to a designed marriage. Even His Majesty sent people to the Academy two days ago and expressed the same hope, and he asked about our opinion.”
Chen Pipi asked in surprise, “What kind of marriage is it? A perfect match? Or marrying down?”
Eldest Brother explained to him seriously, “Youngest Brother is a man, for him, it is not marrying down. But still, I think the idea is not interesting, neither master nor Youngest Brother himself would like it. Cultivators should live with cultivators after all, not a girl from the imperial family, besides, it is up to himself really.”
He said in the end, “The Calligraphy Addict came here today and you have met her. What do you think of this girl? I personally really like her and I would like to see her marrying Youngest Brother. They would be as good together as the sound of a string instrument and a flute. But don’t decide your opinion based on the relations between me and her.”
His words made the crowd discussing curiously. They didn’t understand why Youngest Brother’s marriage gained so much attention from Eldest Brother, and he even consulted them.
Only Seventh Sister noticed that Second Brother looked unhappy after hearing the words.