The cliff cave was very high and birds flew in and out of it. There was a two-story wooden building on the gentle slope outside the cliff. There was a square desk in front of the building and a grey-haired old scholar behind the desk.
Except for the Headmaster of the Academy, no one knew how long the old scholar had stayed in the Back Mountain of the Academy. No one knew his name or how old he was. From Ke Haoran to Ning Que, the people in the Back Mountain only knew that the old scholar had been reading, copying, reading and reciting books here all the time.
The Academy called him a scholar, and he was a scholar of the Academy.
The Abbey Dean stood in front of the desk and looked at the old scholar. He smelled the pungent smell of ink and Huangzhou bud paper. After a long silence, he suddenly laughed and sighed with emotion.
This was the Academy.
"Hello." The Abbey Dean said to the scholar.
The scholar seemed not to have heard him. He held an old book in his left hand and a half-bald brush in his right. He was murmuring something and occasionally wrote a few words on the paper, as if he was making annotations.
The Abbey Dean raised his voice and asked, "Sir, have you seen an old book?"
The scholar woke up and looked up at him. He looked confused and did not know what the Abbey Dean was talking about. Then he became more sober and felt inexplicably angry at being disturbed. His eyebrows moved wildly.
The Abbey Dean was not angry. He gestured and said, "A very old book."
The scholar thought for a moment, then picked up the half-bald brush in his hand and dipped it into the ink stone. Then, he wrote a character on the Huangzhou bud paper. His writing was as solemn as a mountain.
The word was dripping with ink and full of meaning.
It was a word "book".
The scholar handed the paper to the Abbey Dean and said, "This is the book you wanted."
The Abbey Dean looked at the paper and the word quietly. After a moment of silence, he said, "Interesting."
He reached out to take the paper. His movement was very slow and solemn.
It was really slow, like a moving mountain or the sky above the clouds. After a long time, his fingertips touched the slightly rough edge of the bud paper.
With a light bang, the yellowish paper was burned.
The paper burned slowly and the flame spread to both sides. The edge was burnt to ashes until it almost burned their fingers. The Abbey Dean did not let go and neither did the scholar.
They looked at each other in silence.
"I've read a lot of books too."
The Abbey Dean suddenly said, "Even though I'm not as obsessed with books as you are, I've lived for a long time, so I've read as many books as you."
Time was a very important thing, whether it was studying or cultivating.
The scholar did not speak. He looked at the burning paper in his hand.
"Why isn't this scroll in Chang 'an? Well, at that time, we were not sure if Ning Que could return to Chang 'an. Without him, Chang' an was indeed not as safe as the Academy. "
The Abbey Dean looked at the scholar and said calmly, "Li Manman was right to entrust the Arcane Tome to you for safekeeping. But it's meaningless, because … a scholar is useless."
As soon as he finished speaking, the paper was completely burned. There was nothing left in the scholar's fingers. The ashes fell slowly onto his shoes. However, there was still a piece of yellow paper in the Abbey Dean's fingers.
The winner had been decided. The scholar looked at the mountain-like books on the table and the ocean-like inkstone. He was silent for a long time. It was the first time in his life that he doubted reading.
The Abbey Dean walked into the cliff cave with his hands clasped behind his back. He looked at the bookshelves on both sides of the cliff cave, which were more than a hundred feet high. He looked at the tens of millions of books on them and gently waved his sleeves.
A gust of wind blew out from his sleeves. It was not slow but gentle in the cliff cave. The dust on the books was swept off and sent to a corner, leaving only a clean space.
The Abbey Dean walked up the stairs and came to a row of bookshelves on the fourth floor. He took out a book from one of them, like a person who wanted to read a book at random without making any choices.
That book was the "Ming" Handscroll of the Tomes of Arcane.
…
…
The snow in Chang 'an had stopped. The wind was calm, and the clouds were gone. The red sun shone on the world.
The Abbey Dean appeared outside the city.
This was the third time he came to Chang 'an.
Ning Que was on the city wall the previous two times. Today was no exception.
He looked at the Abbey Dean walking slowly in the snow and remained silent.
"He got the seven volumes of the Tomes of Arcane."
Sangsang said with a pale face, as if she was afraid.
Ning Que laughed, "Gathering the seven Dragon Balls can summon the Dragon God. What can he do by gathering the seven volumes of the Tomes of Arcane? Summon Haotian? If he really wants to do that, just ignore him. "
He did not take off the iron bow on his shoulder because he had used up the Primordial Thirteen Arrows. He had a feeling that even with the help of the God-stunning Array, the Primordial Thirteen Arrows could not threaten the Abbey Dean.
The seven volumes of the Tomes of Arcane were finally together. What did that mean?
The Academy had been guessing and calculating this matter, but to no avail. No one knew the function of the seven volumes of the Tomes of Arcane except the Abbey Dean. Of course, Sangsang knew it very well.
"How did I come about?"
"You? You were born by your mother. "
"Now is not the time for jokes."
"I am a little nervous."
Ning Que said after a moment of silence, "You have to allow me to tell some jokes."
Sangsang said expressionlessly, "I won't allow it."
"Well … if you mean Haotian, it is the combination of rules, born in chaos."
"No, I am the combination of objective rules and subjective beliefs of human beings."
"Then?"
"I am the choice of human beings." Sangsang turned to look at him and said, "If so, when human beings chose me, why didn't they leave some means to keep me in check?"
Ning Que was silent.
He knew what Sangsang said was true.
Countless years ago, the gambler who founded Haotian Taoism made a bet on behalf of human beings. He gave the whole world to Haotian to protect. So it was very likely that he had set up a backup plan in advance.
Legend had it that the seven volumes of the Tomes of Arcane in the Zhishou Abbey were the crystallization of Haotian's will, or Haotian's gift to human beings. In fact, it was the real means of Haotian Taoism to control the world.
With the seven volumes of the Tomes of Arcane, they could cancel the bet that happened countless years ago. They could invite Haotian out of the Divine Kingdom and let Haotian return to chaos. Only the master of Haotian Taoism could master this method.
The current master of Haotian Taoism brought the seven volumes of the Tomes of Arcane to Chang 'an City.
…
…
"Is this the last resort of Haotian Taoism?"
Ning Que held the array eye pestle and asked the Abbey Dean under the city wall.
The Abbey Dean said calmly, "Ke Haoran said that we are dogs. Lotus said that we are dogs. People in the Academy and many others said that we are dogs of Haotian Taoism. But no one has ever thought that this iron chain is actually tied around our necks. Human beings are Haotian's dogs, and Haotian is also a human being's dog."
He looked at Sangsang beside Ning Que and said, "We worship you and give you endless years and even eternity. So you should be willing to be in eternal loneliness and protect the human world in the Divine Kingdom. You should not sneak into the human world for a night of pleasure. Don't you think it's reasonable?"
Sangsang said nothing. Her face became paler and paler. Even when she was extremely weak in the past, she had never been so afraid. Because she could clearly feel that the Abbey Dean had the ability to destroy her.
The Abbey Dean took out a scroll from his chest.
Deep in the blue sky, a thunder sounded.
The thunder came from the Divine Kingdom.
…
…
(I can't bear to write it. I will write the last one tomorrow … I love you all.)
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