Ning Que was extremely disdainful of this statement. As a student of the Second floor of the Academy and someone like Chen Pipi, he was more and more convinced that he was a genius.
Because he was very tall, the old man always felt a little cramped sitting in the chair. He changed several positions before finally finding a slightly more comfortable one. He leaned against the back of the chair and supported his chin with his hand. He looked at Ning Que and asked, "You want to kill people when you're unhappy. Have you killed people before?"
Ning Que put the empty wine urn at his feet and said, "I won't tell you how many people I've killed. That's against the law of the Tang Empire. But you can think about it this way."
The old man shook the empty wine urn in his hand and grumbled angrily. He asked the shopkeeper to bring two more urns and then looked at him and asked, "But why do you want to kill people?"
Ning Que thought for a moment and shook his head. He said, "Although I'm almost drunk and you're drunk, I still can't tell you this."
The shopkeeper trotted all the way to the terrace and respectfully put the two urns beside the old man. Then he bowed and retreated, not daring to say a word, let alone urge him to pay the bill.
He didn't know who this old man was. Even the real owner of the Building of Pines and Cranes, a high-ranking official in the imperial court, didn't know the real identity of this old man. It was just that the Building of Pines and Cranes had been hiding a portrait and a simple rule for countless years.
The rule was that if an old man who looked like the old man in the portrait came to the Building of Pines and Cranes, everyone in the building must treat the old man like an ancestor and ignore him as if he had killed his father. This was to avoid upsetting the old man.
It didn't matter even if he was not the old man in the portrait, because recognizing the wrong ancestor would at most make the Building of Pines and Cranes lose some money and face. But if the ancestor came back and they didn't treat him well, then what reason did the Building of Pines and Cranes have to continue to exist in Chang 'an?
The old man patted open the spring mud urn and happily took a sip. He said, "In fact, when I was as young as you, I often wanted to kill people."
Ning Que looked at his face and couldn't determine the specific age of the old man, but he thought he should be very old. Then when was he young? How many years ago was it?
"Who did you want to kill back then?" he asked curiously.
The old man put the wine jar on the small table beside the chair and looked at the bare winter branches in front of the balcony. He said, "My mother was my father's third concubine. My father died when I was three years old. After that, the clan did not tolerate us. My mother took me away from the old house and wandered around. She lived a hard life and was bullied by the world."
"So, when I had the ability to kill, the first thing I wanted to do was to return to the old house and kill all the old women and relatives who had bullied me and my son. Then, I would dig up my father's grave, crush his bones, and scatter his ashes."
He was talking about the most sinister things in the world, such as murder, arson, and extermination. The old man's expression was very calm and gentle. At this moment, he did not look like an old man who had experienced the vicissitudes of life, but like a child lying on top of a haystack in a valley. His childish face floated with white clouds as he recounted the events of the past.
Ning Que looked at the old man in silence and suddenly frowned. He asked, "Did you kill him?"
The old man's slender index finger tapped on the spring mud wine jar on the table, making a clear and loud sound, like the sound of a memorial tablet falling on the ground in a secluded ancestral hall of a century-old house.
He looked at Ning Que and said with a smile, "I won't tell you."
Ning Que was speechless. He thought to himself, "You are so old, why are you still so petty and vengeful?"
"The person I want to kill … He has killed many innocent people. Of course, I am not a saint. I just want to get real peace of mind for revenge. That person destroyed the best part of my life and killed my parents who loved me the most. I want to take revenge for my personal grudge, which is similar to what you thought back then. But those people in your clan were relatively easier to kill. "
He continued after a moment of silence, "But the person I want to kill is very powerful, has a high position, and has a background that even I find tricky."
The old man looked at him and frowned. He said, "You don't look like a person with no status."
Ning Que smiled and said proudly, "Old man, you are really experienced and have seen countless people. You are born with a pair of big eyes. To tell you the truth, I am … a person with a very high status. Because my teacher is very great, so of course I am also very great."
The old man said unhappily, "Nonsense. Your teacher, of course … Even if he is great, what does it have to do with you being great?"
Ning Que ignored him and continued, "Now, even compared with the tycoon I want to kill, our status can be said to be similar."
The old man sneered. "Then why are you still worried? If you want to kill him, just find a chance to do so. "
Ning Que was silent for a long time, with a helpless expression on his face. He sighed and said, "The problem is that my status comes from my teacher, and my teacher seems to be very willing to be unreasonable like us students. But in fact, he is very stubborn and very reasonable. He always says that the law of the Tang Empire is the first. Don't you think this statement is very unreasonable? If the law of the Tang Empire is the first, how can it be unreasonable?"
Hearing this, the old man's face suddenly became ugly. He scolded unhappily, "Of course it is reasonable. What does being unreasonable have to do with the law of the Tang Empire? Can't I kill people without using crooked ways? "
Ning Que did not notice the old man's expression. He staggered over and took the initiative to pick up a new pot of wine. He patted the seal and poured the wine into his mouth. He said, "If the law of the Tang Empire is the first, then I have to find evidence for a lawsuit. The problem is, where can I find evidence? If I don't use crooked ways, how can I kill people? Do I have to walk up to that person and say that I want to kill him, and then be beaten into a meat paste? "
The night wind blew gently. The old man sat up straight and stared at Ning Que. He could not suppress his inner anger because of this guy's stupidity and confusion. His slender hands clenched the back of the chair. It seemed that if nothing happened, he would directly slap Ning Que's head.
Ning Que was so drunk that he could not notice these details. He poured the wine into his stomach and expressed his lament about life. Those lament about revenge, reluctance, and the moon became more and more repetitive and boring. They always revolved around some key words. Fortunately, he still subconsciously sealed most of his heart when he was drunk and did not say Xia Hou's name and who he was.
"Old man, I knocked on the Building of Pines and Cranes with a silver note. How did you come here?"
"You have never seen the moon, have you? Poor old man. "
"So you are really rich. How do you earn your money? I earn it from the gambling house in the western city. Do you have any business with them? "
"Don't be fooled by my ugly cotton-padded jacket. It is said that the style was designed by my dead teacher."
"Oh, you look so funny when you blow your beard."
Ning Que kept muttering and pointing at the old man in the chair and laughed.
There was a muffled sound.
The laughter stopped abruptly.
Ning Que covered his forehead and looked at the old man in front of him in shock and confusion.
The old man held a very thick short stick in his hand and looked at him angrily. "You are so full of nonsense! My scalp is swollen. How could you want to kill Xia Hou with such a look? "
Ning Que did not hear the last sentence clearly. His eyes rolled up and he fainted.
Just as his body leaned backward and was about to fall heavily on the balcony, a gust of wind blew.
The old coat fluttered slightly and the straw shoes made no sound. Eldest Brother of the Academy appeared on the balcony and held Ning Que who was about to fall. He reached out his right hand and grabbed the jar of wine that was falling quickly.
Holding the unconscious Ning Que, Eldest Brother looked at the old man and asked blankly, "Teacher, what happened to Younger Brother?"
The old man secretly put the short stick back into his sleeve and coughed awkwardly. He said, "Nothing. He offended my dignity, so I punished him with the Academy rules."
When the Eldest Brother saw the short wooden stick, he was so shocked that he almost fainted. He thought that his teacher had used this stick in his hand to banish the Taoist in indigo to the South Sea. Tonight, he had used this thing to hit the Youngest Brother. Even if the Youngest Brother was not beaten to death, he would probably become an idiot after being saved.
Thinking of this, Eldest Senior Brother's face turned pale.
The old man looked at his pale face and did not expect that he was worried about Ning Que's safety. He frowned slightly and said, "I told you to slow down ten years ago. Why are you still so fast?"
Eldest Brother came to the balcony of the Building of Pines and Cranes with the wind because he sensed something wrong with Ning Que. He did not care about his own loss. He looked at the old man and said worriedly, "Teacher, will Younger Brother be okay?"
The old man looked at the unconscious Ning Que and said, "This boy has learned the skills of your Youngest Uncle. His muscles and bones are unbelievably strong. He was just hit by a stick. How could he die so easily?"
Perhaps the old man felt that his words were not convincing. He coughed twice and explained very seriously, "He has used too much energy today. It's good for him to sleep for a while."
…
…
Eldest Brother of the Academy only had one teacher.
That old man was naturally the legendary Headmaster of the Academy.
The words of the Headmaster of the Academy were even more powerful than the imperial edict in the Tang Empire. For Eldest Brother who loved his teacher all his life, everything the Headmaster of the Academy said was the truth. If the Headmaster of the Academy said that the night was white, then it must be white. If the Headmaster of the Academy said that Haotian was black, then Haotian must be black. If the Headmaster of the Academy said that Ning Que was fine, then Ning Que would be fine no matter whether he was fine or not.
On the streets of Chang 'an late at night, the Headmaster of the Academy walked slowly on the scattered dead leaves with his hands clasped behind his back. He looked very elegant. Eldest Brother carried Ning Que on his back and walked behind him with difficulty.
"You are right. There will always be a special one among thousands of lights."
The Headmaster of the Academy looked at the faint lights in the alley and the patrolling soldiers of the Yulin Royal Guards in the distance. He said, "Although your Younger Brother is not untainted by mud, nor is he a good person, there is still some affection in his seemingly cold-blooded and heartless body. It's just that the affection is hidden a little deeper."
…
…
(Chapter One, Next Chapter Before Ten O 'clock.) (To be continued. If you like this work, please come to Qidian.Com to vote for me. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
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